Rusty 87 build thread

[Frochevy]

Keep up your momentum!!! It's looking great! Temporary plywood or not,you're moving forward! We had ice and temps in the low teens this weekend so I didn't get much done on mine...

Originally Posted by kidharris

Food for thought...was it easier because you didn't take the time/effort to square and clamp it to keep it square?


Do you know of any paint primer that is made for welding over? Red iron oxide type primer?

I agree it is harder to build ahead and then fit it in place. But I'm anal so I have to make it square... lol

Yep they make weld through primer. I haven't used any on my bus, but have used some on cars in the past...

[musigenesis]

This is sort of a major milestone for me. Still some things to do (like paint and seal the underside of this entire rebuilt section, clamp this section to the chassis rails, permanently attach the panels in the center tray, and put new mudflaps on) but essentially I have an actual complete floor now instead of a giant TODO: list floating above my rear axle.







Welding into rust, good times:









View from below. This underside of this shelf will be part of the underbody storage for the propane.





Temporary wood. Sigh.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by kidharris

Food for thought...was it easier because you didn't take the time/effort to square and clamp it to keep it square?

Well, I did take the same time and effort to keep it square, just failed at it since what I'm squaring off of is a bit wonky to begin with. I think this one was mainly easier since I didn't go through the multi-day process of de-rusting, priming and painting.

Do you know of any paint primer that is made for welding over? Red iron oxide type primer?

@banman recommended that before. I haven't seen any locally and haven't ordered any online yet.

[JDSquared]

You're getting so much done. It's awesome. Shel Silverstein has a song about having nothing left to roll. What's going to happen when you have nothing left to weld?

And a question about welding to rust. I thought it wouldn't hold? I'm on my underside trying to avoid cutting anything out (except those few spots you saw) and wondering about welding storage boxes, and tank supports etc. And how clean I need to be. Might end up trying to bolt things to the c channels.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

You're getting so much done. It's awesome. Shel Silverstein has a song about having nothing left to roll. What's going to happen when you have nothing left to weld?

I'm going to dance and sing, no concerns there. I'm honestly getting kind of sick of cutting and welding right now, but I have to keep going and take advantage of this fantastic weather.

And a question about welding to rust. I thought it wouldn't hold? I'm on my underside trying to avoid cutting anything out (except those few spots you saw) and wondering about welding storage boxes, and tank supports etc. And how clean I need to be. Might end up trying to bolt things to the c channels.

I'm welding into floor metal in the pic that I made that comment on, it just has a nice layer of surface rust on it - so it's more like I'm welding through rust than welding into it, really. You have to hold the arc on the rusty side a little longer to make sure the weld pool sucks from the solid metal underneath it.

It holds well enough for sheet-metal-on-sheet-metal connecting, but I wouldn't trust it for holding up anything heavy on the underside. My tub tray is entirely welded into the new steel of my frame, and for my gray tank I'm probably going to do something like a heavy T where the top of the T rests on the floor inside spanning two cross-beams and the vertical part projects through the floor to the underside and be attached to the tank (like one T for each corner of the tank). My underside is just too rusty to have anything heavy welded directly to it.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I'm going to dance and sing, no concerns there. I'm honestly getting kind of sick of cutting and welding right now, but I have to keep going and take advantage of this fantastic weather.

I'm so spoiled here lol. No time no money though in this 74F winter.

Originally Posted by musigenesis

My underside is just too rusty to have anything heavy welded directly to it.

My C channels look good. I go back and forth on how bad my rust is. I was a bit depressed yesterday after post Ospho grinding. But I went back a minute today and it looks good. A lot of bare metal on the channels and some rust around what I assume are weep holes.

Every fourth or fifth is an angle iron though, instead of a channel. Those are in bad shape for some reason. And the two I did so far turned black, mostly, like it should. But it's chunky. I'm not sure yet if I can weld to it.

We'll see. Lol I should be posting this to my own thread instead of here.

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by Frochevy

Yep they make weld through primer. I haven't used any on my bus, but have used some on cars in the past...

Product names or types of paint?

[EastCoastCB]

Heres a self etching weld-through primer-
https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-20-16...37586035&psc=1

Most of the "cold galvanized" cans can be welded through, too.

[Frochevy]

Originally Posted by kidharris

Product names or types of paint?

Sorry I should have put a link in before... I've used Eastwood stuff in the past along with their Rust encapsulator for converting rust. On the bus I'm using POR15 because it was available on Amazon. Here is a link to the weld through primer from Eastwood.

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-self-etching-weld-thru-primer-16-1-oz-aero.html?SRCCODE=PLA00010&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Leo9 t-A5wIVSb7ACh1MrQNFEAQYASABEgIyEfD_BwE

[musigenesis]

[musigenesis]

[Frochevy]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Attachment 40734

Attachment 40735

Attachment 40736

Attachment 40737

Attachment 40738

Well was worth a try. Did the tile break when it heated up?

Have you tried grinding the edge of the joint on the bus side to remove everything down to bare metal?

You have a nice sized gap that should weld good without any backing. (Judging by the picture)

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Frochevy

Well was worth a try. Did the tile break when it heated up?

Have you tried grinding the edge of the joint on the bus side to remove everything down to bare metal?

You have a nice sized gap that should weld good without any backing. (Judging by the picture)

The instant I hit the trigger on the welder, the tile broke with a really loud bang and made me think I had somehow broken something on the frame. It kept breaking more as I kept going - definitely not the correct material for this.

I could normally weld over a gap this size, but the bus metal is too pitted (on top and bottom) for the weld pool to grab it and it just burns it off instead. I should really be replacing much larger areas of the floor, but I just don't have the heart for it right now. I'm able to weld small patches successfully in this area if the patch is on top of the hole (with about 3/16" of overlap), but I was trying this technique with the tile so the patch could be flush with the floor.

[Frochevy]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

The instant I hit the trigger on the welder, the tile broke with a really loud bang and made me think I had somehow broken something on the frame. It kept breaking more as I kept going - definitely not the correct material for this.

I could normally weld over a gap this size, but the bus metal is too pitted (on top and bottom) for the weld pool to grab it and it just burns it off instead. I should really be replacing much larger areas of the floor, but I just don't have the heart for it right now. I'm able to weld small patches successfully in this area if the patch is on top of the hole (with about 3/16" of overlap), but I was trying this technique with the tile so the patch could be flush with the floor.

I see. Makes sense. I'm glad you tried so other people know it won't work well.

Looking in the picture the top left I agree it looks like the metal was super Rusty. If it disappears the instant you strike an arc, it is probably mostly rust and the patch should be larger. Are you trying to initiate the arc on the thicker new piece of metal, then wash over on to the bus side after the puddle has started?

The weld on the bottom right of the patch looks great! Looks fairly flat like it burned in well and welded to good metal!!

I feel helpless trying to help you over a message board. I've always taught people by showing them in person... Lol

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Frochevy

I see. Makes sense. I'm glad you tried so other people know it won't work well.

Looking in the picture the top left I agree it looks like the metal was super Rusty. If it disappears the instant you strike an arc, it is probably mostly rust and the patch should be larger. Are you trying to initiate the arc on the thicker new piece of metal, then wash over on to the bus side after the puddle has started?

The weld on the bottom right of the patch looks great! Looks fairly flat like it burned in well and welded to good metal!!

I feel helpless trying to help you over a message board. I've always taught people by showing them in person... Lol

Well thanks for your concern, but you don't have to feel helpless on my behalf. These little holes are just for fun now that I've got the big one closed up.

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Attachment 40712

Attachment 40713

Attachment 40714

Attachment 40715

Attachment 40716

Attachment 40717

Attachment 40718

Attachment 40719

Attachment 40720

looks good enough, but if you blow up the pic of the rear, I can see something, but bot alarming

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by kidharris

looks good enough, but if you blow up the pic of the rear, I can see something, but bot alarming

You wouldn't think the entire corner would need to be rebuilt just from that pic.

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

You wouldn't think the entire corner would need to be rebuilt just from that pic.

correct, I wouldn't think that

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by kidharris

correct, I wouldn't think that

You need to go farther back in this build thread and see what he did to the back corner. This is the same bus, and what the dealer showed him before he bought it.

[musigenesis]

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/ru...tml#post342877