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Index > Body Exterior > Thread: Removing wheel wells from bed
Thread: Removing wheel wells from bed
rotormunky


Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
posted April 25, 2004 10:11 PM

Removing wheel wells from bed

Hey all. Last weekend I finally removed the wheel wells from the bed. I decided this was necessary when I noticed an alarming amount of rust built up in the seams of the sheetmetal. Afraid that I'd put 1000+ hours of work into my truck only to see the paint job ruined in a couple years by rust I was too lazy to go after while I already had things torn down I decided that I'd go as far as necessary to try to make my truck 100% rust free.

Pics of the general process are here for anyone interested:

http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU/2004-04-16_Removing_wheel_wells/index.html

I used a drill bit specifically for drilling out spot welds but as I bought it from Harbour Freight ( http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=2553 )the quality was dubious at best. The steel used for the blade portion was soft and flattened easily. But if you use a center punch to make a dimple for the mandrel to ride in and aren't afraid to resharpen the bits on the ol' bench grinder they'll do the job. Worth noting tho that you could probably do just as good a job with a regular bit and just patch weld the holes later. It probably all adds up to the same hassle in the end.

Two things to note:

The PILE of rust that fell out from under one of the flanges as I seperated it from the bed sheetmetal.



And where the ospho that I tried to get into ever nook and cranny didn't wick across the entire surface of the unseen rust. This is worth remembering when you're trying this process yourself.



Anyway, that and replacing the blown oil cooler lines on my '91 convertible was what I did last weekend. Despite the cursing and three quarts of oil I absorbed into my blood stream it was a great weekend and I feel great and refreshed. Going back to work last week really took care of that tho :)


____________
-Martin
Orlando, Florida

http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU

'77 REPU (Some assembly required :)
'91 Cabrio (Battered and bruised, but she's still my baby.)

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