[Mad Max]

Nice OEM fitment.

 

[89dime_5speed]

Nice OEM fitment.

Yep, wasn't too bad. I was very happy when I found that on Rock Auto and it was a very close match to OEM. It's a Walker catalytic converter. Not sure who actually made the OEM cat but this was super close. She's running very nicely right now and is pretty quiet which is exactly where I want this 2.5. I'll let my V8 trucks be loud but I want this 4 cylinder to be pretty quiet lol

 

[89dime_5speed]

Dusting this thread off a little bit. Nothing has happened of late other than just driving it and teaching my 15 yr old to drive on it.

tonight I snatched up a new to me 95% rust free, dent free bed to replace the jank bed that’s currently on it. This one just needs some minor refreshing, paintand she’ll be ready to throw on. I’ll POR 15 the underside of the bed and the frame during this process to clean things up. I’ll probably also replace the fuel send unit and all that while I have the bed off and easy access to the top of the gas tank

I’ll have more pics as this phase of the project takes shape but here’s a pick from tonight as I tote home the new purchase

 

[Mad Max]

Welcome back!

 

[89dime_5speed]

Welcome back!

Thanks! I'm hoping to have more to share in the coming weeks and months so that I can contribute more regularly to the forum. I'm ready to continue to improve this little truck I'm definitely pumped over the bed find.

 

[89dime_5speed]

Ordered POR15 tonight.

Tossing around the idea of taking this time to move up to the later style side moulding or sticking with the moulding that came on the 89. I like the later style better but this truck has been painted before and I’m not confident in the quality of the paint job. I’m worried it might open up a can of worms lol

 

[89dime_5speed]

Undercoating complete of the S10 bed. Tonight I’ll flip it over and get started on bodywork. I’ll take before, during, after pics. She’s straight but has a small amount of rust above each wheel well that I need to cut out and patch. Not a big deal but a time sucker when you’re trying to make her presentable 🙂

 

[89dime_5speed]

Bed is flipped over. Here are pics of the rust I will be cutting out and patching over the next week or less depending on how my time goes. Not bad for 30 year old bed and she’s pretty darn straight other than the dented rear quarter (pictured) and I got a patch panel for that, too.

 

[89dime_5speed]

Started cutting the patch panels and then cutting out the rot tonight. Hope to start welding in the new metal tomorrow. My goal is to have body work done by the end of this weekend (I’ll have more pics as progress is made). Then I can start planning when I can throw on the primer and color and the next steps of the project. Since this truck is driven daily it’s kind of a logistics thing but I can daily my dually if needed so we’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, here are a few pics from tonight. I didn’t take a pic of the passenger side but it’s very similar to the driver side. I got both sides cut out. Need to cut out the driver rear lower quarter and a few other small spots and then welding will commence.

 

[Mad Max]

Too bad you're in (wherever you are) I have 2 pretty much rust free beds...

 

[89dime_5speed]

Too bad you're in (wherever you are) I have 2 pretty much rust free beds...

That definitely would have been useful! I'm in the Kansas City area. Finding a solid bed here for anything over 10 years old regardless of make or model is not an easy task. So much is eaten up and/or beat to crap. The hardest area of this bed is the top of that front panel. The round part is pretty eaten up and where there not a hole yet it's super thin so about to be a hole. I'm trying to work on it but I may cut that part out of my original bed and weld it in to this bed if my current attempt doesn't work or takes too much time and welding supplies.

 

[Mad Max]

It's almost worth the drive to have a clean, rust free bed.
Unfortunately, where you cut out - there is still rust there.
Rust NEVER sleeps...


Ha - It's only a 12 hour ride one way to Baton Rouge.

I've done way too much rust repair in my time working on vehicles. It's worth it to me to drive instead of hacking and slashing.
I'd rather buy a new fender than use bondo.

 

[89dime_5speed]

It's almost worth the drive to have a clean, rust free bed.
Unfortunately, where you cut out - there is still rust there.
Rust NEVER sleeps...


Ha - It's only a 12 hour ride one way to Baton Rouge.

I've done way too much rust repair in my time working on vehicles. It's worth it to me to drive instead of hacking and slashing.
I'd rather buy a new fender than use bondo.

Completely agree. Once done, the amount of filler I'll need to finish off the patches will just be a skim coat so from that stand point it'll be fine. With that said, like you said rust never sleeps and eventually it'll rust again in this same area at some point down the road. So we're just not going to talk about that! 🤣 If I ever do run across a 100% rust free bed I'll definitely jump on it and either set it back for when these repairs run their course or throw it on. I just don't have the time available to me right now to make a 24 hour round trip. 4 kids in sports and work do that to a guy

Here are the raw pics of the patches welded in on the driver side of the bed (over wheel well in the rear quarter). I haven't done any finish work on the welds yet in these pics and obviously no filler work done. I hope to be getting around to bodywork by the end of this weekend or maybe sooner. Still haven't decided the route I'll take for that round top of the header panel. Still leaning towards cutting it off my old bed and welding it on this one. I'm thinking that'd be the quickest route.

 

[Mad Max]

You're right. It always looks good until it returns.
How many times has that happened to me?
it may not be the original patch... BUT ... the surrounding area!
Yep.

Rust free is the only way!

 

[89dime_5speed]

You're right. It always looks good until it returns.
How many times has that happened to me?
it may not be the original patch... BUT ... the surrounding area!
Yep.

Rust free is the only way!

Absolutely! Lol

 

[89dime_5speed]

Welp, I've made my decision on that round part at the top of the header panel of the bed. I initially tried welding the rust holes shut and quickly found the metal to be WAY too thin and it would have taken far too much wire and time to go that route. SO, I went for it and cut out the piece off the bed currently on the truck and spliced it into the bed I'm working on. Turned out pretty decent. I'll body work it a little bit and clean it up a bit but in the end I'm going to have a drop in bed liner in this thing so any imperfections I might have won't be seen.

On to the pics...

This is what the original piece looked like. You can see near the bottom of the pic where I'd attempted to weld the holes shut. Just was not working out well due to how thin the metal was and the angle with which I had to get at the holes. This bed is up on saw horses (30+ years old) and I don't trust them enough for me to climb into the bed to sit down and really get at those holes so this worked out better anyway.

 

[89dime_5speed]

Progress is being made. Getting closer every day. Just about ready to start sanding the whole bed through the higher grits and get ready to spray primer after just a little bit more work. Should have it in color and about ready to throw on the truck within a couple of weeks. I'll be out of town a lot of next week so that'll cut into my progress on this.

 

[944v8indfw]

looks like you are making nice progress

 

[Mad Max]

Mmmm... Bondo dust

Looks good

 

[manbearpig]

Is that a Missouri plate?