Project: Beat Old F150 aka "BIG SIX"

[Kaan]

Also, Saturday May 3rd I'll be at the house drinking beer and working on the truck if you guys get bored and want to watch

[Senor_Taylor]

I see everyone talk about wrenching at your place all the time. Does that mean you're close to the burg or something?

Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

Sylvia and I live in Middletown VA... where where I-81 and I-66 meet. I can get to harrisonburg in 45 minutes or so. I'm closer then the guys in NOVA lol

I think most of the track kids are at VIR next weekend so i dont expect much participation, but i figured i would throw out the invite.

[Senor_Taylor]

Oh, I see. I was thinking earlier that when everyone heads to VIR, they should stop at my house for a cookout or something. I'm only about 10 minutes off the path when heading through lynchburg to VIR.

[Kaan]

just a little update... these will go under each one of the 6 bed bolts after the monstaliner is done. I'm also trying to source (not trying to hard at this point) 6 new grade 8 stainless nuts and bolts. they are rated to 1500lbs/tie down... slight over kill

[Kaan]

Saturday started with cleaning up the rear fenders. I already knew I was welding a patch in on the passenger side fender, but it turned out I didn’t need to patch the drivers side…


Cutting the patch… drill a hole, run a screw into it so you can move it around the fender….



Weld weld weld…



Drill some more holes so you can pull it tight. (I also drilled some hole around the fender lip to blow up all the crap that was in there and to spray in some sealant.

While the welder is out… welding up the self tapping screw holes the previous owner decided to put in the bed. Weld, grind, prime on both sides... there were at least 80 holes (i dont know what this guy was doing with the damn self tapping screws but he wasnt afraid to keep going at it)


Bondo sucks… but its part of life. You have to use some sort of filler to make it smooth. Just a tip, dont bother with the buddy knife they sell next to the bondo... go get the window tint credit card smoother, it worked like a charm and its flexible enough that it was easy to clean off once the residue dried.



Sand Sand Sand…. (insert joke here)


Sunday began with sanding off the over night primer and using the skimming bondo. If you left any air into your bondo or worked with it when it was getting hard, you get rough spots and this stuff will fill that in and gives the “better” look.

One inch diameter skimming bondo, one inch line of red hardener… I read the instructions


Skim skim skim… sand sand sand



Prime it… show it the finger… cover it up with bed liner! I still have some work to do to the passengers side wheel arch, its pretty beat up and depending on how you look at it, it either looks good or it looks terrible.


The front fender had a rust spot on it, so we got a new one from JC Whitney. You basically disassemble half of the front end, then fight and curse at it until you wiggle it out. After the fender was off I sprayed sealant and rust stop on the inside fender locations (I don’t plan on pulling fenders very often)


Sylvia was a little worried the 80ish pound hood was going to come crashing down on our heads... the 2x4 wasnt enough... she had to add the stool... the dowels were my added joke lol


Transfer over all the crap….


Fight curse and wiggle in reverse order… we had some major gaps to shrink but i'm 99% sure this aftermarket fender will never fit like the OEM... who cares? its getting monstalinered and abused as a work horse.

[Goodspeed]

Awesome. With all the welding, bondo'ing and sanding it was like I was watching an episode of Wheeler Dealers for a sec. Welding is something I wouldn't mind learning someday.

[Kaan]

so the first real issue with the truck popped up. the next issue is with the shop i sent it to. I heard the rear drive shaft squeak on the way home one day. parked it, climbed under, and checked the front and rear drive shafts for play. only the front had play but i KNOW the sound was coming from the back. well since the truck wont fit in the garage AND i have grown to hate u joint work i look up a shop with tons of great reviews locally.

two days after dropping it off i get a call... "uhhh we got the front drive shaft done, but the rear caused some issues and the ear broke off when pressing the u joint out... we are looking for a new one but its a rare transmission and bed size so it might be a while." i tell him thats fine its our 3rd car i dont need it ASAP.

4 more days pass and i call them. "oh hi, we were going to call you this afternoon. we had to send your drive shaft to a machine shop to be repaired since it wouldnt hold a u joint (the story has changed). they cut off the bad end, welded a new one on, and balanced it... we are sending a guy to pick up the part now and it should be ready this afternoon."

1. I sent it to the shop so things wouldnt get broken, i can break thinks damn near free at my house. but i realize shit happens...
2. the story changed from them breaking the part to basically the part being worn out... so they dont have to pay. the rear had ZERO play in it which means the shaft wasnt worn out.

in a couple of hours im going to go down there and pay for all of this... point out the error of their ways, and trash them on the internetz.

[V1GiLaNtE]

In for interwebZ review post

[Kaan]

it wont be exciting. i'm just going to tell it like it is. i sent it to them for repair, they broke a part associated with the repair, and to try to get me to pay for it... they changed their story.

[V1GiLaNtE]

it wont be exciting. i'm just going to tell it like it is. i sent it to them for repair, they broke a part associated with the repair, and to try to get me to pay for it... they changed their story.

Damn, I guess I was hoping for the literary storytime genius of Rex. Get him to write it. :lol:

[Kaan]

i'm too pissed off to write something funny

I walk into the shop office this afternoon to pay for the truck. The owner, a service writer, and a mechanic are in the shop.

Owner: hi how can we help you
Me: i'm here to pay for the F150
Owner: uhhh its not done yet
Me: I know, i'm in town, i figured i would pay for it now and pick it up later night
Owner: oh okay, well the total is $604.98, how would you like to pay?
Me: cash
Owner: uhhh i hope i have change
Me: *i hand over $650*
Owner: i think i might be able to come up with change (his back is turned in the register)
Me: so when do you think it will be done?
Owner: he (points to the mechanic in the room) is going to get your truck pulled in the bay now
Me: okay..... so what was wrong with the drive shaft? did the ear break off or bend or something
AT THE SAME TIME the owner and the mechanic speak
Owner: it was missing a cap and wallowed out one side
Mechanic: the ear broke on the press.

because the truck wasnt done i didnt want to press the issue...
Me: oh okay...
Owner: we'll lock up the truck with the key in it and make sure it is parked where you can get it (hands me change)

*** before i left for the shop i checked the rear shaft for play, there was none. all the u joint caps have BIG retainer clips and were all there before the trip to the shop... how did i lose the cap? i'm not a fucking idiot but i just want my damn truck back... but right now i wish they would burn in hell ***

[Jake]

AT THE SAME TIME the owner and the mechanic speak
Owner: it was missing a cap and wallowed out one side
Mechanic: the ear broke on the press.

Woooow.

Did they not realize that they had contradicted each other?

[Mike]

wait. you paid before sorting out the fact that they broke it?

[Kaan]

This was the last night to pick up the truck before we are all over the east coast for the weekend. I just wanted the truck back from the leeches and not rack up a $35/day storage bill. They didn't know that but it worked in their favor. When I'm posting on their Facebook and google reviews we will see how long it takes them to call me.

[Senor_Taylor]

You can't really argue with a shop when they've got your vehicle apart unless you want to get it towed out of there. I'm with him on not pressing the issue.

[Kaan]

AT THE SAME TIME the owner and the mechanic speak
Owner: it was missing a cap and wallowed out one side
Mechanic: the ear broke on the press.

Woooow.

Did they not realize that they had contradicted each other?

they did it twice... once on the phone and then simultaniously in person.

my bill was supposed to be $416 but the bill is now $600... but the bill spells out that it was $300 for the machine shop to fix the drive shaft. the numbers dont match, the story doesnt match... i'll abuse them on the internet when i'm a little more calm. i'm still fucking fired up today.

[davej]

i'm still fucking fired up today.

seriously though man, that's effed up. wonder if they'll followup and make it right or if they just dgaf

give that machine shop a buzz and see what the real story/cost was from his side.

[V1GiLaNtE]

give that machine shop a buzz and see what the real story/cost was from his side.

Excellent point

[davej]

I need closure on this story.