My Bulkhead Rebuild

[thixon]

Below is a post I put on another board. I thought some of you here might want to see the progress. This was done last Saturday. I won't be able to work on it again until next weekend, so I'll update it then.





"I got started on my Bulkhead yesterday. As most of you saw, really the entire lower section (footboxes and doghouse) are shot. Mostly because the previous owner did a half-arsed attempt at fixing things. As you'll see, he was probably the greatest welder I have ever known (to be read with much sarcasm).

I started by drilling out the spotwelds on the driver side footbox. To do this I just simply used a 5/16" drill bit, and punched straight through. I did'nt worry about making a hole all the way through because I'm using new footboxes, and will have metal to weld to for my rosette welds. Where I did want to re-weld to original metal, I used a harbour freight spot weld remover. Cheap and effective.


Below is what I ended up with after drilling for a while.


http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1721.jpg

There is a stiffener across the top of the doghouse, on on the inside top of both footwells. On the driver side (still had original foot box), this was not problem, I just drilled out the welds. On the passenger side, it stunk. The metal was in bad shape, and the previous owner simply welded around the edges when he tried his new footbox repair. See below.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1726.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1728.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1731.jpg

I was finally able to remove the piece by grinding off his weld.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1734.jpg

Sadly, the passenger side end of the stiffener is shot.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1736.jpg

So, a quick pass of the plasma cutter, and the bad metal is gone.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1737.jpg

I'll clean this up later, and make a new piece to weld in. I couldnt do it today, because I did'nt have the right gauge sheet laying around.

I went ahead and cut out the other footbox, using the plasma. Remember, this was the side that the previous owner had tried to repair, so I was really just cutting through his bad welding job, and blowing off bondo with the wire wheel.
Here it is, no footboxes.



Notice the missing tab above where my had is. It was badly rusted, so I cut if off. I now had to remake, and weld on a new tab.
To make the tab, I measured the length, and used the shape of the good side to mimmick the curve. I then used a cut-off tool to cut out the shape.
If you don't have one, I can't recommend it enough. See below.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1724.jpg

To cut out a shape using this tool, draw your shape, then cut a small groove in the metal first. The groove will provide the guidance you need to cut through the metal later. See below.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1743.jpg

Before the piece is welded:



And after:

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1744.jpg

I then went to work on the door posts. I cut them off straight with a recip saw when I was removing the foot boxes.



I used a new set of door posts with the feet already welded in place. I used the j-nut holes for mounting the wings as a reference point, to make sure I was at the right hieght.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1747.jpg

I then bolted the bulkead to the frame. Every thing measured out height wise (which was a big relief).

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/tdhixon/DSCN1746.jpg

I hav'nt mounted that foot box you see above yet, its just sitting in place.

The only bad news is that I think the bottom sections of the dog house are shot. I may go ahead and fix it, but right now I'm leaning on just buying the center repair piece from RN.

My plan from here is to attach the footboxes and center section to the upper section using sheet metal screws. This method draws the assembly together tightly, and allows for a very good fit. Then I'll tack weld the assembly together while its bolted to the frame, and remove the sheet metal screws. Then the fun of welding up holes begins. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!! Not bad for a Saturday afternoon.

I was brief here on purpose. If you see anything you have questions about, ask away.

To be continued....."

[jp-]

Nice work Thixon. I would recommend dumping that grinder though. I have used them and they suck compared to a 4-1/2" right angle grinder with a cutoff blade. Much Much faster to use the 4-1/2" grinder.

[thixon]

Nice work Thixon. I would recommend dumping that grinder though. I have used them and they suck compared to a 4-1/2" right angle grinder with a cutoff blade. Much Much faster to use the 4-1/2" grinder.

Thanks JP. By the way, I have about four angle grinders. I usually have two out on a job like this. One with a grinding disk, and one with a wire wheel. The air job in the photo is what I used to cut the curve in the sheet metal on the tab I re-welded. Its much easier to use that tool than an angle grinder with a cut off disk in. You just can't maneuver the angle grinder well enough. I thought about making a jig, and cutting the peice out with the plasma, but that takes too long!

[jp-]

You just can't maneuver the angle grinder well enough.

Fair enough. I would probably still cut it out with a right angle cutter, and then just grind the radius into it, with it clamped in a vice, using another right angle with a grinding wheel. I wish I had a plasma cutter! How much do they run? And what's the max thickness you can cut?

[thixon]

JP,

I cheated. I got mine used from a machine shop that was going out of business. So far, I've cut up to 1/4 plate, and it went through like butter. The only complaint I have is free hand cutting. I'm just too shakey to make a neat cut, But if you take the time to jig it up, it does great.

By the way, the next time I make a panel, I'll try it your way. If its easier, I might convert. I'll let you know.

[S11A]

Hi,

A friendly warning - I saw a ring (wedding?) in one of the pics - might want to take that off when doing this sort of work...

[thixon]

Hi,

A friendly warning - I saw a ring (wedding?) in one of the pics - might want to take that off when doing this sort of work...

SIIA,

Its funny you mention this. As you noticed, I forgot to take it off. The night I finished what you see in the photos, I got a scary reminder that I'd left it on. I kept feeling something rubbing on the inside of my fingers. I looked, and saw that I'd embedded some slag in the ring somehow. I still hav'nt figured out how yet, which is even scarier. At that point, I got weak in the knees thinking of my ring finger looking like a burnt hotdog, or off my hand completely.

Great advice. I appreciate it!

[S11A]

Travis - given the nice work and knowledgable posts here, I figured you knew better, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to remind people.

[Bertha]

Who are the door posts from? Its been a while since I have seen the inside lip in them. The ones from our host come without the lip.

[thixon]

Who are the door posts from? Its been a while since I have seen the inside lip in them. The ones from our host come without the lip.

Beleive it or not, they did indeed come from our hosts.

[SafeAirOne]

Looks like you're off to a nice start with your bulkhead. I hope your project takes less time than mine--I started in the fall of 2006, lost the motivation to work in a 14-degree garage during the winter of 2006-2007, got sidetracked in the rest of 2007, and made a final push in the beginning of 2008. I expect to be re-rovering in the next few weeks--I'm just waiting on a few parts that I had plenty of opportunity in the last year-and-a-half to order.

By the pictures, you are fortunate in two respects: 1) your damage seems to be confined to the lower bulkhead so you don't need to fabricate vent channels and 2) your bulkhead is out of the truck so you don't need to do a whole lot of vertical welding (unless you enjoy the additional challenge).

I'm curious--with the bulkhead off the truck, how do you ensure the proper spacing and alignment of the doorpost feet? Did you make a jig, or do you have the access to put it back in place on the chassis to weld the doorpost in?

[thixon]

I'm curious--with the bulkhead off the truck, how do you ensure the proper spacing and alignment of the doorpost feet? Did you make a jig, or do you have the access to put it back in place on the chassis to weld the doorpost in?

Luckily,

I have plenty of space. The rolling chassis is sitting right next to everything. I removed the entire lower portion of the bulkhead, and then cut off the old door posts. I then welded the new posts on, and bolted the bulkhead to the frame. As of last night, I have now set the pans and center section in place, and begun fitting, and screwing the assembly together with sheet metal screws. Once everything is fit together the way I want it, I'll tack it, and them back out the screws, and weld up the holes. I hope to have blasted and in primer this weekend.

BTW, I normally love a challenge, but welding on vertical surfaces is for the pros!

[thixon]

Safeairone,

One more thing I did'nt mention. I overcame the problem of correct hieght for the door posts by measureing the distance between the openings for the j-nuts that hold on the wings.