Dodge D15T

[Zero-Five-Two]

Guessed you would have done something with it. I've been using some stuff called Neutrarust 661 lately, seems to be pretty good too

[Pete Ashby]

I think Rob the lighting in the photo has made that inner panel appear worse than it actually was,  the problem here was not from direct water ingress it was more a result of 77 years of atmospheric corrosion so the rust treatment to pacify and seal the surface did the job followed by a squirt of Zn rich primer from the spray gun.

I'm not familiar with Neutrarust 661  there are a number of products on the market these days that all do a similar job some are a bit more expensive than others and some need secondary treatments after application.  It's a case of finding something that works for you both in terms of cost and application, all a long way from the days when we used to dab Jenolite onto BL's best offerings more in desperation than in hope 

Pete

[Pete Ashby]

A bit of an update regarding work on the scuttle in the last set of photos I posted I'd started to repair the RH side screen recess after a couple of false starts it's now complete.  originally the whole panel was stamped out in one hit probably hot and by a break press. As I don't have such luxuries I ended up making the repair patch out of 4 separate pieces welded together and then ground to shape.

It looks a fairly simple repair however the indented pressing has to curve upwards and also lay back following the contour of the scuttle to get an idea how it all worked I made a pattern out of some very thin steel cut out of a biscuit tin it was thin enough,  0.8mm to let me to shape it easily but stiff enough the hold the form once made

So this is how it looked when I started this section

That's what is going on here 

Here is the first section in place, welds ground down and awaiting the addition of the curved section, the trial pattern is on the scuttle

The finished 18 gauge section welded in and ground back, some lead work will finish this off after blast cleaning

Next job is to tackle the the vent and drain............ some serious tea drinking needed here I think

Pete

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[Rootes75]

Thats a neat piece of metalwork, from experience getting the shape/contour of window or screen recesses is quite tricky. 

I had to fabricate a complete rear screen recess on one of our lorries, it took a lot of patience and in the end a few attempts!

[Pete Ashby]

On 7/6/2020 at 10:32 PM, Rootes75 said:

Thats a neat piece of metalwork, from experience getting the shape/contour of window or screen recesses is quite tricky. 

I had to fabricate a complete rear screen recess on one of our lorries, it took a lot of patience and in the end a few attempts!

Thank's yes it was certainly 'tricky'

I used several other descriptors for it while doing the the job, if it had just been in the horizontal and vertical plane it would have been fairly straightforward however as the upward curve begins so the whole molding  starts to lean back into the scuttle something like 15 to 20 degrees from the vertical following the pressing for the door post.   The difficult bit was trying to form a series of bends and depressions two of which form 90' bends into three orientations while not introducing distortion,  needless to say the first attempt ended in the scrap pile  

Pete

[Rootes75]

The rear window recess I did took ages and lots of bad language! It looked really great when complete and with paint on it.

The problem came when we fitted the rear window in its new channel, it sat proud by a good few mm at the bottom corners. 

Because there was very little pattern left I based the bottom corners on the top ones, the shape was right but it didnt take into account a slight camber on the actual metalwork on the back of the cab!!

It was too late to do anything the the painted metal so we ended up very very carefully using a file to take some rubber off the window channel, in the end we did enough to make it fit and it does look right.

I totally understand frustrations in this sort of situation and think all the more when you see results like you are getting.

[Pete Ashby]

Effort over the last couple of weeks has focused on the scuttle vent, the vent lid and operating gear fortunately were in not too bad a condition the seal channel, the drain and surrounding area was just toast.

So first job was to remove the lid and operating gear 

View under the dash complete with original return spring which is nice

 

Lid and operating arm removed

 

Lid, operating lever and hinge bracket disassembled ready to go into the molasses bath for a couple of weeks

4

Pete

Edited July 28, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[67burwood]

Fabricating the repair pieces for the scuttle panel should be fun🤨 I done a similar job a few years ago on a dodge WC51, trying to get the same gap around the vent flap was just a little time consuming!! but satisfying when finished. 

[Pete Ashby]

After a couple of weeks in the molasses tub the vent parts were fished out washed off and given the standard treatment the lid will need a touch of spray filler to finish it off, the glove box hinge has also crept into the act in this photo

 

Meanwhile it was out with the slitting wheel take a deep breath and bash on.......... no turning back now

This photo shows all that remained of the seal trough and drain, ah well there we are then.

Pete

Edited July 28, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

I was very fortunate some time ago to have the opportunity to purchase a set of blank pressings produced by Richard Taylor.

The pressings have to be worked up from the blanks and then modified to fit the specific  area under repair. the first two photos are from Richard's post, I forgot to take photos as I worked up my pressings so I include them here to show the work required.

 

 

These are my pressings drain and drain channel at the bottom of the photo and the seal channel and the repair to the top of the scuttle at the top

Without these pressings making a good workable repair would be very hard indeed the seal panel and the drain channel have to be welded together to form one unit before welding into the scuttle.

Here it is tacked into position

 

Pete

 

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[67burwood]

Very impressive 👍looks really good. 

[Pete Ashby]

Well I don't know about the rest of you chaps but it's been some exciting but sweaty old weather out here in the West.  So having nearly melted cutting the grass around the yards I took some time out when the rain and thunder started and got down to some serious welding and grinding.

I'm pretty pleased with the result,  it still needs finishing off and there's a couple of small holes to weld up on the top right of the scuttle but over all not a bad result,  one I could not have achieved with out Richard Taylor's excellent pressings.

First photo with the vent lid in place

 

Second photo showing the vent lid seal channel, drain gutter and the repair patch to the scuttle.

Pete

 

[Rootes75]

Very impressive again Pete.

I have tried doing work on the car but its simply sweltering.

[Pete Ashby]

11 minutes ago, Rootes75 said:

Very impressive again Pete.

I have tried doing work on the car but its simply sweltering.

Granted it was a bit warm for face mask, goggles, and welding gloves but I thought the better option than wandering around outside with a six foot metal pole with a strimmer blade on one end and a pint of petrol on my back at the other while the weather was doing a fair imitation of the opening scene from Mordor (Lord of the Rings for those that think I've lost it.....or perhaps it's heat stroke )

[Richard Farrant]

56 minutes ago, Pete Ashby said:

Granted it was a bit warm for face mask, goggles, and welding gloves but I thought the better option than wandering around outside with a six foot metal pole with a strimmer blade on one end and a pint of petrol on my back at the other while the weather was doing a fair imitation of the opening scene from Mordor (Lord of the Rings for those that think I've lost it.....or perhaps it's heat stroke )

Pete,

I can think of a better plan, give yourself a day off, get a comfortable chair in the shade with a pint of cider or beer and enjoy the day, there is always tomorrow, and you can plan that while resting in the shade 🍺

[Pete Ashby]

On 8/12/2020 at 9:16 PM, Richard Farrant said:

Pete,

I can think of a better plan, give yourself a day off, get a comfortable chair in the shade with a pint of cider or beer and enjoy the day, there is always tomorrow, and you can plan that while resting in the shade 🍺

Sounds tempting but here's the rub Richard I'v'e been schooled in the Ward ethic of working,  so there are only two excuses for inactivity one is death and the other is....... ah yes I remember now that's death to.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[Richard Farrant]

Ah well, I would not believe everything Mr Ward tells you! 😉. Anyway he is miles away and will not know.

[Pete Ashby]

At last work on the scuttle is finished, it's been a bit of a long haul and at times a bit like completing a jigsaw using a grinder and a welder but it's done now and ready for media blasting when the rear cab section and roof have been seen to but all that's for another day so a few photos to close this chapter.

This bit was a bit tricky due to the tight curves and internal lip 

 

But with a bit of bish and bosh it came good

 

Here the same area had to be repaired on the other side as well a result of being hidden under the inner wing 

And the repair in place

 

Here another section of the windscreen recess had to be repaired this time on the left hand side thankfully only a short section this time 

Job done with a bit of careful grinding using a dia grinder to keep the profile of the pressing

Last but not least a few extra holes in the dash added during the trucks civilian life  needed attention

 

Suitable sized washers are welded into the holes and ground back flush, that's what's going on here.

And finally the last bit of the jigsaw in place Hurrah !!

 

Pete

Edited September 24, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[67burwood]

It’s all coming along nicely, it will be ready for paint in no time. 

[Rootes75]

I like the work round the windscreen recess. Looks very neat.

[Pete Ashby]

After the usual Equinox rain and gales down here yesterday was a bit calmer so I could get the workshop doors open and move stuff around ready for phase two of the cab repair

Completed front scuttle parked out of the way on the back of the Retriever

 

And so it starts all over again on the rear floor and back panel, first job was to crane it off the tank at the back of the workshop and get it on a pallet where it can be worked on 

Quick look round and asses what needs doing 

Out with the chalk to mark up what needs replacing.

The whole top section of the cab and the inner band that forms the joint between cab back and the roof will need replacing, an area in the floor where the tank change valve sits (that has been attacked with a cold chisel) I suspect to gain access to change a faulty valve at some point in the trucks life and some short sections at the base of the back panel. 

Although the repairs cover a comparatively large area there are no complicated pressings and profiles that took the time with the front scuttle.

Onward and upwards bash on with the slitting disc

Pete

 

[Pete Ashby]

Up date on the rear of the cab and floor in the last post I'd started to mark up the areas that would need attention and the same design issues of butt closed non sealed seams that caused issues on the front scuttle were evident on the rear section as well, it's a miracle that any of these closed cabs have survived frankly.

This feature was the cause of the problem around the top of the rear panel, the cab roof can be removed for shipping purposes and the joint between the rear panel and the cab roof is closed with nothing more sophisticated than a metal strip that's what can be seen here 

 

And no surprise that after 77 years water has got between the joint and done it's worst so it looks like this

So it was out with the slitting disc once again and replace the whole top section of the cab sheet this was seam welded in place working on short sections at a time from opposite ends and using a copper heat sink to prevent  distortion in the panel here's the finished job. 

The roof section bolts through the outer closing strip through the lower cab panel and also into a second inner strip which has now been added here. The two mating faces on the back panel were sprayed with weld through Zinc rich primer before plug welding together, the original was spot welded,  here it is in place.

Effort will now move on to sorting out the problems where the back panel meets the floor pan this may need more than tea to aid the thought process.........did I say somewhere it wasn't going to be as tricky as the scuttle...... where's the Gin.

Pete

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

Well after a bit of a think and a couple of snifters and a lay down I decided the only way to sort out the corrosion where the rear skin meets the floor pressing was to once again bash on with the slitting disc.

I have decided to cut a strip out of the back skin and removed 120 degree lip in the floor pressing.  The rear skin is folded around the 120 degree lip and spot welded in place and that was the cause of the extensive corrosion due to water and muck becoming trapped in the fold.

Rear skin and lip removed

 f

The next challenge was replicate the lip in the floor pressing and fabricate and attach a replacement strip to the rear skin.  The tricky bit here is the radius of the lip as it turns round to the door post. 

I decided not to try to replicate the 120 degree lip in the floor pressing  but to use some 90 degree iron suitably modified in dimensions and plug welded to the floor.  Enter the last of my stock of metal bed frames the radius is exactly right,  in fact it seems to be an industry standard for producing curves in this gauge steel as I've used it in a number of other applications. 

Here is the bed frame trimmed down to size and welded in place the silver paint is weld through primer

Outside view

Inside view 

Using clamps to hold the angle tight on the floor pressing was a problem as there is no way to get them in position while it was welded so I used self drilling steel roofing screws.   Living where I do we always have a bucket of these around to fix errant  bits of tin back down in the teeth of a westerly.  The advantage of using these over standard self tappers is that is they will take higher torque without stripping,  a  useful feature when working on thicker steel. Once welded the screws were backed out and the small holes welded closed.

 I'm  replacing the whole bottom section but you may notice I'm only doing one half at a time.  The rear cab skin is stressed and given shape by being drawn down and folded round the floor section in the factory using a jig then spot welded. The upshot of this is if I cut the whole bottom section off in one go the skin would lose tension and 'paint can'  and heat produced during welding would just make the problem worse so doing one half at a time hopefully will help to prevent  this..................... time will tell.

Pete

 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Pete Ashby

[67burwood]

The joys of fabricating lovely curves 🤨 it will be worth it when it’s done👍

[Rootes75]

It does look a tricky piece of fabricating. Talking about clamp Pete, I have a good set of magnetic ones and they have been god sends in situations like this.