Time for some rust repair on the Tahoe.

[n8in8or]

Today I did something I should have done years ago: I mounted a headlamp to my welding hood. I had a big LED work light shining where I was working, but it never failed that I would be in front of it when it came time for me to start welding, especially in tight spaces. This makes it so much easier to see your work before you strike an arc, even with an auto-darkening hood. I highly recommend this mod to anyone that welds. I simply got a battery powered headlamp, removed the head gear and then taped it to the helmet with double-stick tape. Voila!



Here are a couple pics from inside my hood. Of course the way it looks with a camera doesn’t represent how it looks with my eyes, but still you can see quite a difference.

Without the light.



With the light.

 

[Will L.]

DUDE!! Straight Genius!

 

[n8in8or]

DUDE!! Straight Genius!

Thanks! You know I did some Google searching and I was surprised something like this isn’t all over the internet. I could have sworn that I saw one that clipped on the helmet on Amazon around Christmas time but I couldn’t find it. I found one by Miller I think that was basically 2 Mag lights that clipped on the sides of the hood - that seemed excessive....plus it was pricey. I started looking at headlights to adapt on Amazon but I got frustrated reading reviews and trying to choose all the options I wanted so I just picked this up at the local Menards while I was there for wire wheels. I really enjoyed using it! I think one that had rechargable batteries so you could use it for a day and then charge when not in use would be ideal....as long as the Lithium batteries could be sufficiently protected from sparks....

 

[n8in8or]

Ok more progress to report. Everything around the driver wheel well is rebuilt.



Now I’m working on the rear cargo area floor. Wheeeeee

 

[MrMarty51]

Nice job. Its getting there.

 

[n8in8or]

Nice job. Its getting there.

Thank you.

 

[n8in8or]

Not a ton of progress this week, but I did do one thing today I’m proud off. I bought a floor patch panel for the cargo area that is just a rectangular piece of the corrugated steel. There are missing details to match the existing floor. Those details are there for strength and clearance, so it’s necessary to have these shapes. I could have done a simple miter to make it fit, but I wanted to challenge myself to make the factory radiused indent. Even further, I wanted to do it by just making relief cuts, shaping and welding, not by patching together multiple pieces of metal. I should have taken pics of the process along the way, so sorry all I have is the beginning and the end. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Yes it could be better, but I didn’t want to continue to work the metal any further and make it too thin - it is for a floor after all, which needs to be strong and will never really be seen. I also learned I need to take it easy with the pick hammer so there aren’t so many unsightly pocks in the metal! Anyway, here are the pics....not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Here’s what I started with:



And here is what I ended up with:



By comparison, this one I cut the factory indent out and welded it to the patch:



And here they are side by side. Mine is the shorter leg and the GM splice is the longer leg:

 

[n8in8or]

Last night I made some progress and forgot to post.

I painted the inside of the crossmembers I exposed by cutting out the floor pan with Rust Seal.



While paint was drying in between coats I made another patch panel. I took a few more pics of the progress this time. Here is one end of the panel:

 

[n8in8or]

Here is the progress on the other end:

 

[n8in8or]

And here is the finished panel. It went more smoothly this time with the practice I gained from doing the first panel. Again, not perfect, but more than good enough for a piece of floor pan.

 

[n8in8or]

Tonight I drilled plug weld holes, sprayed weld-through primer and finally welded the patch panels in.



Tomorrow I will start making the flat panels to fill in the remaining gaps on this side.

 

[BIGR]

Its all looking very good, do you travel and do jobs in the South?

 

[n8in8or]

Its all looking very good, do you travel and do jobs in the South?

Thank you. In my dreams I do.

 

[BIGR]

Keep up the great work your doing, I wished I had your ability and the resources to repair vehicles like you do.

You ever come down to the south east maybe I can show you some great country, no I won't make you work on my trucks.....

 

[n8in8or]

Keep up the great work your doing, I wished I had your ability and the resources to repair vehicles like you do.

You ever come down to the south east maybe I can show you some great country, no I won't make you work on my trucks.....

Thank you, you’re too kind.

I’ve never been in the south east. A tour guide would be nice.

 

[Will L.]

Your continued efforts is impressive. A true diesel tahoe fanatic to go through this effort. Kudos.

 

[n8in8or]

Your continued efforts is impressive. A true diesel tahoe fanatic to go through this effort. Kudos.

Thanks Will. Fanatic is probably accurate

 

[BIGR]

Thank you, you’re too kind.

I’ve never been in the south east. A tour guide would be nice.

I could show you some places that you would be amazed at, I call those areas Gods Country. Some places are a little rough and behind times, but I could get us out of those areas unharmed, I know those folks they are good as gold.

 

[ak diesel driver]

I get tired just looking at the pictures. LOL

 

[n8in8or]

I get tired just looking at the pictures. LOL