Jballard81's 1994 super cab 4.0 4x4 Restore

[Terrys87]

sgtsandman gave some great advice.

It looks like it already has bondo in it. You will need to sand the rust off as best as possible and then get some rust killer or converter on it. It will come back thru if not killed out.

Working with body filler I do not lie to go over the thickness of a nickel or something similar. Sometimes you have too but when you see it real deep, it will crack out. Body filler sometimes called Bondo meaning the same thing gets a bad name. When used right, it is a great product. Only way of getting a truly level panel at times. I am still not good enough to paint a truck black. White hides flaws.

Temperature determines how much hardener you use. The colder, more hardener. Warmer take less hardener. Basically, I go about the size of a big egg of the filler and add about an inch of hardener. Once it is mixed you really don't have much time to apply it. Maybe 2-3 minutes then it just gets a grainy look to it.

Once I have the surface prepped for filler, I use 80 grit paper then go over it with 180 paper. You will hear the term Featheredge. To me it looks like a smear where the filler and the other level areas or paint/primer start to blend. Once I am done, I like to prime and then wet sand with 320. You can dry sand 320, but I can see when it is wet and helps keep paper clean and last longer in my opinion. This is where you will start seeing Highs and Lows on your repair as well.

If you have a solid edge or somewhat of a defined line, you do not have it "Featheredged". It should feel level without looking at it, but when you run your hand over the repaired area, you should not notice it. It takes time to get the feel of it.

You have to look at different angles to see a dent. I can sometimes see dents but not feel them. Other times feel dents and not see them.

It is hard to explain but you are not going to do any more damage then what is done already. Cover your filler with primer when done. Filler will absorb moisture. Primer will eventually absorb moisture as well and is only a temporary cover.

All of my primer on my truck will need to be sanded off when I go to paint it as it is contaminated with all kinds of things.

 

[jballard81]

Quick update. after it rained inside my truck the other day i was getting some weird electrical gremlins. like the door locks would actuate 2-3x whenever i started it. I thought it was surely b/c some rain hit my janky passenger door switches.

so i took those apart and found that the switch contacts were pretty corroded:

kind of hard to tell in the pics, but a couple of the pins were turning green. took some high grit sandpaper to the pins, then rolled some into little tubes so that i could run them through the connector side in the doors.

here is the cleaned up pins

plugged and unplugged them into the connector side on the truck a few times to help with any residual corrosion and tested them out.

i no longer get the locking when i start it, and the passenger door lock works ~90% of the time now. i think the actual lock wire is bent and binding up sometimes in the door card.

passenger power window switch now works perfectly. just need to replace the window regulator since it needs assistance coming back up

finally was able to take it for a ride and check the trans fluid level with it hot and idling and there was nothing on the stick. I've been checking, no leaks so it must still be low. I added a bottle of Lucas Trans fix. will drive it around and see if that helps with the overdrive issues I still have. will check fluid levels again and add more ATF as needed later. would be really nice if this fixed overdrive

**Update2** Took it for a ride and let it get up to temp in the neighborhood. the low gear shifts felt much better and there was no dropped gears (i was dropping out of gear when it was cold a couple times). got it into OD range and as soon as the revs drop below 2k and i give it 'maintenance gas' it still shudders. Though, no where near as bad. brought it home and checked the trans fluid and it was off the stick again. added about half a quart and it's on the hash now. need to take it for another drive later.

**Update3** after topping off the trans in the last update I went for another ride and it let me 'maintain' overdrive once, then went back to the shudder. Checked fluid level once home and it was barely on the dipstick. Added maybe a quarter of a quart. Gonna let it cool down then check the vacuum hose going to the pressure regulator on the trans.

 

[jballard81]

Good news, after cleaning up my passenger side window switch, the power window started working better. It goes up and down without issues now!

I thought I had fixed the auto lock issue, but it's still there. When I start the car (not just key to run, it only happens during cranking), the doors will lock on their own... It sounds like the lock is being pushed 3x.

Any ideas on what could be causing that? It started happening after being in the rain last weekend. Kind of vague, I know. Any ideas on what I should check?

 

[jballard81]

Finally decided to put my full size spare under the bed. Hit everything with WD-40 and it still fought me all the way. Once out I ran the bolts through the wire wheel and then greased them. Finally, I go to put my spare in and it doesn't fit. Apparently the 265/75/15 is just a hair too wide.

So back in the bed it goes. I guess that really seals the deal when I finally get new tires I think I'm going to get 235s (much cheaper too).

Spent about an hour fiddling with the door alignment. Never would have thought there was that much adjustability in those hinges. It's definitely not perfect but it's way better than before and I don't get wind/rain coming through the top of the door. Good learning experience as well.

 

[SenorNoob]

When you loosen bolts on both sides of the hinges, you can move the door like 3 inches in every direction. I can never get seem to get the gaps even AND the door to close smoothly. Always seems to be one or the other.

 

[jballard81]

When you loosen bolts on both sides of the hinges, you can move the door like 3 inches in every direction. I can never get seem to get the gaps even AND the door to close smoothly. Always seems to be one or the other.

Like anything, I'm sure there's some artistry to it. I managed to get it so that the top was against the seal and the body lines were "close". I'm sure someone that does it daily would have laughed at my process . It actually closes a tad better than before as well. I hope I have the good fortune to NOT have to adjust a ton more doors in my time

 

[SenorNoob]

I've used everything you can imagine to shim the bottom of the door up while closed to let me tighten the bolts. Cheap ink pens work pretty well for me.

 

[jballard81]

I've used everything you can imagine to shim the bottom of the door up while closed to let me tighten the bolts. Cheap ink pens work pretty well for me.

See, that's good to know! Though I'm curious if you had some other body panel off or I did this completely wrong bc I don't know how I would be able to tighten the hinge to door bolts with it closed...
I only loosened the bolts on the door side of the hinge, used a jack and block of wood to lift the bottom of the door up, adjusted the top hinge until it was pulled in closer to the frame (then lightly snugged the bolts), then I adjusted the bottom hinge until it was pulled out a bit and snugged the bolts.
Then I would check the door and gaps see how wrong it was and try again. And again, and then a little more