Repairing a rusted Rad support for a 1986 style

[david85]

Honestly hadn't thought about getting paid to do this kind of work. My idea with this thread was to offer and instructional so others could repair their own.

But since you asked, let's look at the numbers. I've been doing the work in roughly 3 hour evening blocks, and the last update was the 5th evening. So...5 x 3 = 15 hours of shop time. I still have to prep & paint. Most of us would have a very hard time justifying more than about $300 for anything on these trucks. Most shops around here are probably charging more than $60/h (CAD). But if we assume rates from a few years ago, that would be $900 before any shipping gets calculated.

If I had the option to buy a new one at $600, I would have happily gone that route. If this was in the middle of summer, when I had zero time to spare because of work, I would have grudgingly paid $900...if I could find a clean one.

With practice, a good tin-basher could probably do it in half the time, but you're still having to charge more than what I think most would be willing to pay on an old truck like this.

I guess the short answer is, I probably wouldn't do it for money.

 

[laserjock]

Having gutted and straightened one of these, I would say first that it looks good. Second I would say I hope you took good measurements. Mine is pretty close but the radiator really doesn’t rest much on the pins.


At some point a couple years back I saw someone had produced a kit to fix the lower hoop or change the lower hoop on a gasser support. No way I’ll ever find it again. It was not inexpensive.

 

[Fredrickson]

(sort of relevant..mildly related half baked idea)

There has been chatter about a BOOB Power Tour in the events section..

When the time gets closer, maybe we post up a wish list of parts wanted/needed but are hard to source locally or too expensive to ship, and for those of us near decently stocked pick-a-part yards, if time permits, we gather up some of those parts, and have a low-tech courier service.
(just a thought)

 

[david85]

Having gutted and straightened one of these, I would say first that it looks good. Second I would say I hope you took good measurements. Mine is pretty close but the radiator really doesn’t rest much on the pins.


At some point a couple years back I saw someone had produced a kit to fix the lower hoop or change the lower hoop on a gasser support. No way I’ll ever find it again. It was not inexpensive.

I remember that. I think it cost more than what most aftermarket rad supports go for on the internet, and you had to assemble it yourself. But...is it really fair to compare the price of an offshore part made in china to a small kit made locally in some guy's shop? No, but we do anyway and the market adjusts accordingly.

(sort of relevant..mildly related half baked idea)

There has been chatter about a BOOB Power Tour in the events section..

When the time gets closer, maybe we post up a wish list of parts wanted/needed but are hard to source locally or too expensive to ship, and for those of us near decently stocked pick-a-part yards, if time permits, we gather up some of those parts, and have a low-tech courier service.
(just a thought)

I'm all for hoarding. Hoard early, and hoard often! Most wreckers won't keep anything older than 10 years up here.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

(sort of relevant..mildly related half baked idea)

There has been chatter about a BOOB Power Tour in the events section..

When the time gets closer, maybe we post up a wish list of parts wanted/needed but are hard to source locally or too expensive to ship, and for those of us near decently stocked pick-a-part yards, if time permits, we gather up some of those parts, and have a low-tech courier service.
(just a thought)

Absolutely. I've been thinking about this myself. I've been thinking about things off of my red rust bucket truck that I'm going to strip down. It does have a nice red interior. I know that someone would like the trim pieces.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I've seen those special spot weld tools, but never laid hands one one. I just use a half decent 1/4" drill bit in a cordless impact gun (hex shank means no slipping in the chuck). Once you get used to finding the center of a spot weld, they're pretty easy to drill out. The trick is to find the center and avoid going through the bottom layer. This is easy to do on this rad support, since most of the steel is relatively thick. Thinner sheet is a bit trickier because the metal contact patch of the weld tends to be wider, and it's easier to drill through by accident.

I've done this basic procedure MANY times at work.

 

[david85]

Absolutely. I've been thinking about this myself. I've been thinking about things off of my red rust bucket truck that I'm going to strip down. It does have a nice red interior. I know that someone would like the trim pieces.

What year and what kind of interior? I'm looking for a dash.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

1988. It would probably take a lot of work to make it work in your truck.

 

[frankenwrench]

What year and what kind of interior? I'm looking for a dash.

I have a red dash in the 85. But that truck is a parts wagon. I really haven't looked real good at the condition. Mainly keep alit of stuff for trading material for other parts I need. Lol.

 

[david85]

Yeah, I don't want to convert the whole interior to match the 87 style. I have the burgundy "maroon" Interior and finding a dash that isn't cracked and rotted out is about as easy as finding a rad support. I nearly bought one off Ebay a little while ago but it would have been over around $1000 by the time it got to my door. I do have a grey interior parts truck and may try to repaint that instead. The price is right.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I do have a grey interior parts truck and may try to repaint that instead.

I think that some of the interior paints are pretty good these days if you do all of the prep work beforehand.

 

[david85]

Home stretch.

After reading Laserjock's reply here about his rad not perfectly resting on both pins, I decided to test fin mine just in case. Better to fix it now than later. Fortunately, it fit nicely.

You can also see the whole frame covered in coroseal before painting. Time will tell how well it holds up but so far I'm happy with the product (used it on my Dana 60 axle on the other thread).

The last photo shows the 1990s style rad support mount with a later of 60mil vinyl as an insulator. Then all of it smothered in axle grease. The mounts were actually taken apart and painted over the last few days but as you can tell...I hate rust.

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[david85]

And finally, it's back on the truck!

All the paint used here was either rolled on or brushed on. I'm using a single component oil-based industrial enamel. The grey is "Battleship Grey" while the black is...well, black. All of it was applied heavy and will take weeks to fully cure. But the advantage of this stuff is its easy to use and can be touched up at any time. No mixing, no cleaning the gun afterwards. Just grab the can and a brush. I was also able to pour it into most of the overlapping metal joints to try and protect the hidden areas.

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[david85]

More photos of it back on the truck. Before the face goes back on, I'll be drenching it in Fluidfilm as the final protection against rust. I've used many products over the years and this one seems to work best for hidden areas that are prone to rust from the inside out.

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[chillman88]

What's the thought behind the vinyl over the rubber body mount?

I'd be concerned with fluid film affecting the paint before it's fully cured.