Draker's 1979 620 King Cab Deluxe

[Draker]

Well I removed the battery tray. It was about what I expected. Tray was in decent usable shape. Underneath was pinholes. It was packed with a mouse nest previously.. so nothing good ever comes from that.

 

ill probably buy the replacement tray and metal and get to forming/welding.

 

[]2eDeYe]

I just finished fixing that lol. It was pretty fun, I used a sand bag and plastic mallet from amazon. 

[Draker]

4 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I just finished fixing that lol. It was pretty fun, I used a sand bag and plastic mallet from amazon. 

And you didn’t make a spare for meeeee? Lol

[]2eDeYe]

Youtube plug 🙂
 

 

[Draker]

34 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Youtube plug 🙂
 

 

Did you go with 18ga sheet metal?

[]2eDeYe]

I used a spare 620 door 

[Draker]

Ah.. good call. I'm out of doors. I'm guessing it's 18ga or around 1.2mm.

1 hour ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I used a spare 620 door 

 

[Draker]

Bought some 18ga metal and got started 

 

[Draker]

Got to work on 4 more patches. Got some really good ideas from @]2eDeYe's youtube video. I don't have the nylon hammer or sand bag, but I got started anyway. Took a little creativity in some areas, but it's coming along nicely I think.

 

This was the hardest piece so far.

 

Here's where I ended the day. Probably have about 3 more patches to go.

Edited November 10, 2024 by Draker

[]2eDeYe]

Heck ya, nice work

[Draker]

Nearly completed the battery tray area. got a few pin holes to address. Also need to make that half moon hole round again. Should be able to get a coat of primer on it soon.

Edited November 11, 2024 by Draker

[Draker]

Got the under side welded probably didn’t need it, but penetration was not great. Filled a dozen pin holes.

Removed from valence and fender. Broke 3 bolts. Could be worse but not great at the same time.

Tape and mask

 

Got some DTM rust paint down and ran out. 



 

 

gotta hit up the paint store for color matched 1k paint and some more rust protection paint. 

Edited November 12, 2024 by Draker

[Draker]

@]2eDeYe do you recall if KF620-13B is the new style battery tray? I emailed them but no reply. I’ll probably email or call again this week.

[]2eDeYe]

That's the one. You can tell the later one as it is not angled at the bend like the early one. 

[Draker]

Got the new battery tray ordered. Ordered some paint as well. 

[Draker]

Getting ready for paint. Mud

 

Sanded with 220

 

High build primer and wet sanded with 400 to delete the scratches. I'll probably go over it once more with 600 after etch primer on the bare metal spots.

Edited November 17, 2024 by Draker

[Draker]

I probably went a little overboard with the filler. Most of it will be covered with the battery tray, so I tried to focus on the exposed areas. I had to wire wheel off some rust and removed some paint. Wanted to float that out so it hides the repair.

 

Also I bought some paint... but realized I ordered 1k with no hardener. So.. I need to go back and order the correct type. Dumb, but I haven't ordered paint in probably 8 years. oops. Single stage acrylic is probably fine for the engine bay, but I think brake cleaner and cleaning solvents might eat away at it with no hardener.

 

[]2eDeYe]

I have a bunch of can of rustoleum for mine 🙂

[Draker]

 

Been trying to find the OG position of the battery tray. they both look like they angle a bit clockwise. I didn't take a good enough before picture.. scrounging around to find one. If anyone has a top down of the original, I'd take it.

 

Edited November 19, 2024 by Draker

[Draker]

After watching part 1 of @]2eDeYe's video, looks like it's actually pretty well aligned with the core support. I may have to tweak the new battery tray to align a bit better. Although to be fair, the old tray sits about the same as the new.

[]2eDeYe]

Looks way better than the crusty one. 🙂

[Draker]

Shifted gears for a moment and continued to put the engine back together. I have two front covers.. both are bad. One has a crack from the timing chain or other obstruction. The second is excessively worn from the oil pump drive spindle. Fun!


 

[Draker]

Back to the engine bay I’m trying to figure out how to mount the battery tray. I liked Steve’s idea of making it bolt in. I made some tabs to bolt it in. Still working on how to add some additional points to somewhat mirror the factory spot welds.

 

[datzenmike]

 

With it off test fit the distributor to the spindle and add steel shims (washers) on the pump side so that the top of the spindle engages it with no play, but not tight. Inspect the spindle for wear at this point also and replace if needed. Lack of oil? Was the oil slinger on the end of the crankshaft? There is an oil jet just above the crankshaft sprocket and below the tensioner between the chains and another (just a small hole) on the front cam tower. Both for lubricating everything under the timing cover. 

[]2eDeYe]

I like the tabs, was still trying to figure out if I wanted to just countersink screws where the old tacks were. 
I do plan to use rivet nuts for retention.