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Since I was working in the cab and I had the sheet metal out of the way, I took a peek in the transmission. This is the T98 that came with the truck, and I’m surprised it looked as good as it did! Then I went back to working on the bed area of the truck. The toolbox floor was pretty bad, so I used it as a pattern to make a new piece. I initially thought I could save it, but once it came back from the sand blaster it was revealed to be thin in most places and Swiss cheese everywhere else. So, I ended up creating a new floor in 3 pieces which were then welded together to form the full floor of the tool box. In addition, I bought a new front crossmember from John at Midwest as the old one was beyond saving. The other cross member that makes up the rear wall of the toolbox was solid, but also quite bent from a log or something that had jammed up underneath the truck at some point in its life. It was straightened and saved, and is now back in the truck.

A couple pictures of building the new toolbox. I tried to keep it fairly simple, and did not add in the ribs that the old toolbox had on each end. I think being boxed in as it is it should be plenty rigid.
And here’s a picture of the bed floor back on over the toolbox. I painted the interior of the box white which will hopefully make it easier to find things inside it.

And that brings us to where the truck is at today. I’m working on the sides of the bed and the inside and outside wheel arches which had some significant rust. I’ll show you soon how I’m tackling that. It won’t be a professional fix, but it will look pretty good once I’m finished I think. Here’s a shot of the truck right now, and my very messy shop. It’s going to be nice to get back to work on the truck, and I’m hopeful to make a good deal of progress this winter.

Great pix, and the tranny internals look fantastic!
Gary

Finally some update. I had the same problem with the toolbox. Seems to be a great place for humidity to accumulate and do its job. Had to replace almost its entire floor.
Winter, at least in cold places like yours, it's the perfect time for making progress. Hope you jump in and update us soon.

Argie1978 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:17 am Finally some update. I had the same problem with the toolbox. Seems to be a great place for humidity to accumulate and do its job. Had to replace almost its entire floor.
Winter, at least in cold places like yours, it's the perfect time for making progress. Hope you jump in and update us soon.

I think you’re right. On my truck it didn’t help that the exhaust was pretty beat up too and seemed to be shooting soot all over the underside of the box. I’m sure that added to the moisture.
Winter is definitely the best time for me for working on the truck. I find I really lose momentum in the summer as there are so many other jobs to do. It makes picking up where you left off a little difficult.
A good example of this is today, I went out to assemble the inner and outer fenders with the side of the box. It makes a lip where everything meets in 3 layers and is held together with 7/16 bolts and welded nuts. Well, I had accidentally mocked it up in the wrong order and tacked the nuts on the wrong piece. Looked really nice until I put it back onto the truck, and realized my error because nothing fit right.
So next time I’m out there I’ll be buzzing those off and starting over… and then double checking before I weld them back on!

Well, time for another update!
I have been trying to make a push to finish up the bodywork and I am finally at a point where I’m seeing the end of the rust. I’ve just about finished welding up both rear fenders, with only the outer passenger side to do still. As most of this was cutting and patching and fiddling to get everything lined up, I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

A couple more pictures-
The black paint is just to protect the fresh metal for the time being. We have been getting some pretty large temperature swings, and bare metal will flash rust if not covered. Once I’m done the welding I’ll be doing some sanding and smoothing so that the large imperfections won’t be visible.

And finally, today’s job was some work on the tailgate.
What I was starting with was fairly straight, although there were cracks in all four corners, the hinges had seized, and the top right corner had a fairly significant bend, and a crack where the metal had folded. So, with some pipe clamps, some heavy hammer and dolly work, and a bit of heat it was all brought around. It isn’t perfect, and that’s ok. I also left the bullet hole, because… it’s a conversation piece.

Last of the tailgate pics


About the center support for the tailgate: Mine sits a bit low and doesn’t seem to do much. Has it been flattened? Off the truck the part doesn’t look warped, but on the truck it just doesn’t seem to sit quite right. Does anyone have a picture of theirs they could share so I can see if I need to tinker with this?

Glad all this hard work is giving results, Rob.
Note that before acquiring my tailgate (the truck lost its original who knows when...) the ones I was offered had the lower corners above the hinge rusted. I don't know why but the frames on the sides were rusted too (I've seen tailgates having a thick piece welded from top to bottom on the sides for this). Regarding the center support, I have never seen a truck having the tailgate up and the support completely fitting, it sit a bit lower. Sorry I don't have pics now.

Nice progress!
Those center tailgate brackets always seem to sit low-a vise and a BFH will get 'em where they should be. I wouldn't hammer it within the mount or you could break off a well nut.
Gary

Is the tailgate supposed to be able to drop all the way down until it hits the bumpers? Mine hangs up on that center support, leaving the tailgate in the way when I'm trying to load heavy objects.

John Mc wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:25 am Is the tailgate supposed to be able to drop all the way down until it hits the bumpers? Mine hangs up on that center support, leaving the tailgate in the way when I'm trying to load heavy objects.

No. Mine did the same as it was very bent. I took it off.
No more issues.

I have not removed mine. I'm thinking I might want that support in there for when there are heavy loads on the tailgate.