My DD 92 Ford Ranger

[packman]

These are some pics of the pillar rot on my 92 Ranger. As you can see it is completely rotted away. The other side is approaching this stage as well; I am pretty sure that if I poke it with a screw driver, it will poke right through the blistering paint. As a temporary fix, I am thinking of filling that area and the inside up with foam insulation (the spray stuff that you use on houses) and either bondo-ing or epoxying it. Eventually I will get some sheet metal bent up in that shape and weld it in before I throw some paint on the truck. I am also going to find a service manual and a parts catalog for this truck as well. Do any of you guys with body work experience have any suggestions? Any and all help is appreciated and welcomed. Thanks guys/gals!
Packman

[boXman]

Is that the only rust on the cab area? Cuz I think I'd be looking for a new cab...

[packman]

That is the only rot that I see on the cab. The clear coat is peeling off in other areas of the truck including the cab. It doesn't leak yet, but I want to see if I can repair that and get it painted within a year.
Packman

[p71towny]

Don't use that foam stuff unless you really want some rust!

[nitroracer]

As a side note I've seen people fill cavities in unibody cars with that foam to stiffen them up.

[zwack88]

There is a difference between structural foam and expanding foam you get a lowes. Structural foam is used on alot of SUV's today. Anyway fix it right or don't fix it at all.

[LTDMan83]

If you are gonna fix it yourself,Fix it the right way.First Go to the junkyard and find the model year ranger you need.Cut the piece(s) you need off the junk ranger,a little larger than you actually need.

Then On your Truck:

1.Disassemble entire area,which includes anything within 2-3 feet of the area were you will be welding which could melt,catch on fire,or explode.
2.Completely cut out the entire rusted area,and any pieces which are pitted or otherwise unrepairable.
3.Take the junkyard piece(s) you have and measure/cut it to fit.
4.Paint the entire area and the replacement piece with Weld-Through Primer.
5.Tack weld it in place slowly in a crisscross patten to minimize warpage.
6.After it's tacked then run your weld bead along the seams slowly,stopping every 20 seconds or so to let the metal cool down for a minute.
7.Afterwards use body seam-sealer to seal up the interior seams around the area.
8.Grind down the exterior weld beads to be even with the surface.
9.Seal up everything with Primer.
10.Bondo Smooth and Paint.
11.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.

If you have never welded sheet metal before,and are looking to start on a vehicle,you will be in for a very steep learning curve.I would suggest that you practice on a POS car before you weld on anything that you may care about.

[murphmobile2]

1.Disassemble entire area,which includes anything within 2-3 feet of the area were you will be welding which could melt,catch on fire,or explode.
2.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
3.Completely cut out the entire rusted area,and any pieces which are pitted or otherwise unrepairable.
4.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
5.Take the junkyard piece(s) you have and measure/cut it to fit.
6.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
7.Paint the entire area and the replacement piece with Weld-Through Primer.
8.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
9.Tack weld it in place slowly in a crisscross patten to minimize warpage.
10.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
11.After it's tacked then run your weld bead along the seams slowly,stopping every 20 seconds or so to let the metal cool down for a minute.
12.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
13.Afterwards use body seam-sealer to seal up the interior seams around the area.
14.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
15.Grind down the exterior weld beads to be even with the surface.
16.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
17.Seal up everything with Primer.
18.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.
19.Bondo Smooth and Paint.
20.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.

Revised lol.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Why is body/paint work so often associated with alcohol? Are all bodymen alcoholics?

[LTDMan83]

Revised lol.

lol,I would be too buzzed to continue by step 13.

Why is body/paint work so often associated with alcohol? Are all bodymen alcoholics?

I don't really like to say that any group of people are automatically anything,but back when I did bodywork a few years ago most of the pro guys there were heavy Hard Whiskey drinkers.Everyone has there own way of dealing with stress I guess.

[zwack88]

I tell you what being in school for autobody you do hear alot about alcoholics in the business.

[packman]

If you are gonna fix it yourself,Fix it the right way.First Go to the junkyard and find the model year ranger you need.Cut the piece(s) you need off the junk ranger,a little larger than you actually need.

Then On your Truck:

1.Disassemble entire area,which includes anything within 2-3 feet of the area were you will be welding which could melt,catch on fire,or explode.
2.Completely cut out the entire rusted area,and any pieces which are pitted or otherwise unrepairable.
3.Take the junkyard piece(s) you have and measure/cut it to fit.
4.Paint the entire area and the replacement piece with Weld-Through Primer.
5.Tack weld it in place slowly in a crisscross patten to minimize warpage.
6.After it's tacked then run your weld bead along the seams slowly,stopping every 20 seconds or so to let the metal cool down for a minute.
7.Afterwards use body seam-sealer to seal up the interior seams around the area.
8.Grind down the exterior weld beads to be even with the surface.
9.Seal up everything with Primer.
10.Bondo Smooth and Paint.
11.(Optional) Enjoy a Cold One.

If you have never welded sheet metal before,and are looking to start on a vehicle,you will be in for a very steep learning curve.I would suggest that you practice on a POS car before you weld on anything that you may care about.

That's why I asked about the temporary fix. I know that later on I will have to find a junked Ranger and cut it up. My father knows how to weld so I can ask him to weld the posts for me. Eventually I will enroll in a welding class and a sheetmetal fabrication class to learn how to weld and fit metal panels. For now I just want to patch it up until I have the time and a little more balls to take on the permanant fix.
Packman

[GoodSamaritan]

If you plan on turning it into a show truck or else keeping it for your grandkids to inherit, ignore the rest of this post. On the otherhand if this is just a DD you plan on driving until it drops in a few years (if that long) then I'd use the foam. True, it isn't the right way, but I have used it more than once, with positive results, as long as you don't care too much about the appearance.

A couple of things to caution you though, that stuff won't come off once it hardens, and will barely come off with acetone when it is right out of the can.

If it were me, here's how I would do it.

First, get some disposable neoprene rubber gloves, (usually blue, they don't seem to disolve as bad with acetone as the really cheap ones do)
A can of acetone.
disposable shop towells
garbage bags
masking tape,
a couple of utility knifes.
small can of bondo
a few feet of aquarium tubing
and last but not least, sandpaper.


I would get 3 or 4 cans of the minimally expanding stuff if the pillar is really rotten. In an enclosed area this stuff can build up a bit of pressure and it might push it's way out somewhere you don't expect.


Open up the door, and clean off as much rust as you dare.
Mask off the surrounding area, and the area around the hole you are going to put the foam in through. The foam will stick to the tape, and not the surounding area, for easier clean up.

Put a piece of the flexible aquarium type tubing on the nozzle of the can (make sure it has a tight fit, or you will have a mess on your hands!
Put the tub down inside the pillar, and start filling it from the bottom up. If the can runs out before the pillar is full, pinch the hose off right after the can with some pliars, and cut the tube, stick it on the new can and finish filling it up. (note is the bottom of the pillar closed? if not, you need to plug it somehow so it doesn't get down in the dash, or elsewhere, as it will be nearly impossible to remove once it does. If you filled it good you will probably have some foam come out of the hole you had the tube in. Let it bubble out all over your masked off are. Wait for it to harden, then take your utility knife to cut off the excess. Once it sets up sand it down, bondo as needed, then paint the whole mess with rustoleum type stuff.


A couple of things to note, the stuff hardens on the outside pretty quick, but really big blobs can take days for the center to cure. I found this out the hard way once. It shouldn't be a big deal unless you are fillin a whole fender with it.
Also note,any can you stop squirting with before it is empty, will be useless less than a minute later.The foam seals up the cans/tubes pretty darn fast. so have both sides ready. That way you don't waste any. You will almost certainly have one of the tubes get stopped up before the job is done, so get extra.



Another simpler alternative, is metal tape. I have been known to make temp repairs that just never got replaced with metal tape. Clean up the rust, and paint it with rustoleum, then use smooth aluminum tape to cover the pilar. With a little patience, you can smooth it out and trim it to fit with a utility knife, then paint it. Depending on the climate, I have seen it hold up for 2 or three years, and the cars looked better than they did with the rust. Works fine for something you arent worried about lasting for years to come.

One last thing, if you foam the pillars, the stuff will likely burn and catch fire when you try welding in new ones, so you might avoid it if you truly want to do a professional job of it.

[zwack88]

Wow that is horrible.

[GoodSamaritan]

Wow that is horrible.

yup... it works though.

As I said... don't do it to a future show car, or something you want to still drive a decade or three from now. But it works. I had an elcamino that I did the metal tape trick to back in 98, that still runs around. It held up until well after 9/11, which is longer than I expected the car to last. (BTW, the buyer was made aware of what I did to it, before they bought it.) As a friend of mine says... "It looks GOOD from far, but FAR from good"