1969 c-10

[SuperBuickGuy]

I don't know if my Dakota RT had a "mini transmission" behind the 360 Magnum engine or not.
It towed my enclosed MX race trailer, our 4 wheeler trailer, and my boat like no factory S-10 could dream of doing. I put 80K on it with zero issues
.
In contrast, our 07 Grand Cherokee (with a Hemi) was in the shop more than any vehicle I've ever owned... it was my wife's daily.
Lifetime drivetrain warranty my ass, she dumped that pig for a STI hatchback

Uh, not to be mean, but is that a upward move? Subarus have a bit of a reputation for really liking a new set of headgaskets....

Too many people I know know of the 60k trans replace requirement of the midsized Dodge....

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

Uh, not to be mean, but is that a upward move? Subarus have a bit of a reputation for really liking a new set of headgaskets....

Too many people I know know of the 60k trans replace requirement of the midsized Dodge....

HaHa , nope, except in the fun department.
The Grand Cherokee was much nicer when it actually worked. It was just too much hassle. The dealership was an hour away. We needed warranty work every few months. It was like that thing was cursed. At that time she was commuting 90 miles a day. The WRX paid for itself in fuel savings when prices were spiking the last time.

The subie was great fun and reliable for us. That is, until it was rear ended at a stop light .....by a texting driver. She would have gotten another, but the hatchback was phased out in the WRX line.

[DanStokes]

I'm with you, DWB. My 318 Dakota was great and it hauled the Camaro to the track many times w/o fail. When the track moved over a mountain range from here I bought the Diesel and that's been even better.

I agree that the WRX hatch was a good thing. Our DIL just bought a clean WRX sedan (2019 I think) and it's a nice car though the hatch would have been a nice feature. SBG - the head gasket failure was on one specific engine family (EJ25 IIRC) and there's a MLS head gasket available that fixes it forever - I've done 2 of them for/with my brother. We got one fixed then he just HAD to have a Baja so we did a second one when he sold the wagon to get the Baja. The newer ones don't do the head gasket thing.

Dan

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I'm happy to report, the Road Warrior van completed its 1500 mi. journey without any drama......

I've had a couple days in the shop, so I'll post up a couple pix.

Not for your entertainment, but to try to stay motivated There's plenty of actual skilled people here for y'all to be entertained by. 



Just a little hot glue to go......I hope







I thought this was going to be a quick one. It only had very few holes, but the front lower bits and pieces were all paper thin.




Now I have something to weld to....I don't have the skill to weld the paper thin stuff......"A man has got to know his limitations" -Harry Calahan

Hopefully the fenders will be ready for mock up this weekend.

[Captain]

"Beautimous" !!!

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

This weekend has been dedicated to a couple science experiments.
(I didn't want to sandblast in the heat/humidity...cooler next week)

I didn't have much expectation from this product from Harbor Freight.
I soaked a paper towel with the evap-o-rust and let it soak on a pitted spot on the hood for 2 hours.
A quick pass with a wire wheel in a drill and I was pretty happy with the result.
This spot had been gone over with a da sander with little result.






The other experiment was to see how bad I could F-UP the front of the hood.
It was very thin and had several small holes.
I believe mostly from a series of mouse nests packed under the brace in the nose of the hood.
This hood has NO access for planishing a weld should you need to put in a patch.
So the decision was made to try to weld them up...I'm glad no one was here to watch.
The worst case was that I might have to cut it out and make a patch.
















Still a work in progress.
I think putting in a patch would have been faster for me, but this should take less filler due to lack of access to the back of the panel.


Feel free to chime in on the proper way. I really didn't want to remove the brace, but that was all I could think of.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

[DanStokes]

Looks fine to me but I'm not MP&C!

[Deaf Bob]

Old days. Lead?

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

A little more cleaning on the fenders, and welding on the hood.
It looks like I didn't get all of the mouse house out.
To borrow Dave's term....Ah, the smell of burning "used mouse food" just before bed. I could taste it

[Captain]

That left over "Mouse House" cauterized the remaining rust out !!

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

That left over "Mouse House" cauterized the remaining rust out !!

You must be right. It got media blasted today and it only gained a few pin holes I kind of expected worse.

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

Ugh, I feel like it's never going to end. chomp chomp chomp

Once this door is welded up and the trim/speaker holes filled, it will finally be time for body work on the cab/doors/fenders YAY

[langleylad]

Exactly , one bite at a time

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I hauled it out of a field 11 months ago this week.....Maybe a little more gooder

On to the bed sides

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I have been dreading dealing with the bedsides for nearly a year. My biggest concern being that there's no room to planish the seams from shortening the bed.

At least my square hole drill bit worked.

It's not pretty but I think this one will be salvageable. on to the next side.