My '84

[Carnuck]

Won't the foam release formaldehyde gas in the hot sun? That's why it was stopped for houses.

[SJTD]

Hope not. This stuff is supposed to be used in house walls.

[Carnuck]

Is it UFFI or Icynene Spray Foam Insulation? There is a huge difference in the outgassing. UFFI is only allowed in some places for crack sealing.

[SJTD]

• Versi-Foam® does not contain any urea formaldehyde, VOC's, CFC's or Penta-BDE's. The use of proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required during application. Please see the MSDS and Operating Instructions for PPE guidelines.

Being urethane it does use isocyanate hardener.

[SJTD]

Made some progress on the headliner. Was going to use Coroplast which comes in a fabric coated version. Figured it might be usable as is. Local distributor didn’t have that but had the Stinger version which has a honeycomb core rather than corrugations so there are no grooves on the surface. About $30 a sheet.

Layed it out adding about 1/8” on each side in hopes of forcing some arch into it so it won’t sag. The stuff is not very stiff over a large span. The ends of the sheet were off square by about 1/4". Used a drywall square to draw a center line and worked off that.

Tried bending a small piece and the outer layer broke. No way you could fold it without making a crease first. Put a thick washer in the lathe and rounded the edge to make a tool for making the creases.

It’s still hard to fold and makes it a little difficult to install but that springyness seems to help keep it from sagging.Rear half test fit. Needs to move back a bit.

It’s 5mm thick or about .2” so quite a bit thicker than the original. I crushed the edges some but will probably have to do it more before putting on the fabric to get it to fit in the grooves on the sides. It’s pretty tight now.

Front piece is more complicated.

Installed.



With the rear.

Didn’t take a picher but when I put the aft section in it turned out the fwd section was crooked. Looked really bad and had me worried. The creases didn’t line up and the angles of the sides were off. A little work with hammer and block to to move one side back it out got most of the misalignment out. It didn't want to move. There’s still a little issue on the right side.

Once I get the edges a little looser in the channels and the divider in hopefully that will resolve.

Now it all has to come out for the fabric installation and painting the edge and end trim pieces.

And in the tradition started by ProTouring442 here’s a few critter pics. The first is from a few months ago. The two she’s sitting on are long gone.

This one’s from Saturday. I think these guys will be gone by the weekend when I get home.

[Achilles]

Wow, head liner board looks good. I wonder how it will hold up to the heat of the summer?

[Strode]

Looks really tight and nice....good job.

[SJTD]

Dunno about the heat. Got noticeably more flexy in the sun. It's easy to bow it down in the center now but it pops back. Maybe the weight of the fabric will pull it down. Maybe the end trim pieces, center divider and lights will be enough to hold it up.

If necessary I figure I'll install pieces of 1" aluminum angle between the braces and run a strip of velcro down the middle. It can be had with 200 degree adhesive.

[SJTD]

One of my obstacles to finishing this project is: I want to do this but can?t until I do that but I can?t do that until I find one of those . . .

Too much thinking and planning and not enough doing.

So, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

One bite was the headliner board. The next is the tailgate. When it?s painted I?ll cut and buff it and the body and install it and the quarter windows. That shouldn?t hinder work on the interior too much.

Then the rear doors. When they?re done I should be ready to work on the AC and dash before the front doors.

So with that decided I made some progress.


So it looks like I started this in ?93 but there was no work between ?00 and ?12 when we were working on the current house and using the Dodge for camping. If anyone wants the bleached out trim or the aluminum next to the license for cost of shipping let me know.




If I?m going to pull a hinge off I drill a small hole. Gets it back in the ballpark on reassembly. Aluminum hinges but they are still tight.




Need to raise the window to get to the regulator.




Hook up a battery to the tan and brown wires and trigger the safety switch to move it. Plus to tan for up, brown for down. Be sure to support the glass as it comes out! And don?t forget to disconnect the defroster wires.




Need to position the holes in the gears over two of the regulator screws. Pop the clips off the regulator lift pins and pull the pins out of the slots in the lift bar and the glass comes out.




The standoffs are captive to make reassembly easier.




Couldn?t figure out how I bent the lift bar but turns out the glass has the same curve.




Any ideas on replacement sleeve? Needs to be flexible and take UV.




Then there?s this. The area is double walled and both are cracked though not in the same place. Going to install a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/8 angle in there to reinforce it.

[Achilles]

We are tackling the same project. My tailgate is cracked in the same spot. I cant wait to see the fix. I am curious, how many stand off were attached to your regulator and where were they placed. I was almost done and found a problem with the regulator motor. Once I sort this all I will have left is to install the inner and outer swipes. You are making good progress.

[Strode]

Any ideas on replacement sleeve? Needs to be flexible and take UV.

On mine, I found some thin wide plastic material, kinda like vinyl baseboard material, but very thin. I made a flat sandwhich with the wires in the middle and wrapped it in vinyl tape. It needs to be thin enough to slide back and forth in the opening as the tailgate opens and closes. Mine seems to work well.

Thanks for posting pictures and updating your thread

[SJTD]

Had a standoff on all six screws. Easy enough to make from some aluminum bar or even tubing.

Strode, so you didn't use tubing? I've got some heavy vinyl shower pan material. Wonder if it'll take the sun. Might open the hole up a bit for more wiggle room.

[SJTD]

The fix. Drill a buncha holes for plug welds to hold the 3/4" x 1/8” thick angle.



How to deburr the back side of the holes. Tried a small stone but it only lasted for three holes. Found a piloted c’sink in my box-o-bits and mounted it on the pin the stone broke off of.



Poke it through the hole, chuck it up and pull. Run the drill CCW for this.





Ready to install. The tailgate is galvanized. Sanded the outer surface but couldn’t do anything about the inner layers. The vertical leg of the angle is toward the front of the tailgate so it won’t interfere with the clips on the wipe.



Clamped and ready to weld. Couldn’t pull it up tight. TIG, MIG or gas?



I used TIG. Have to concentrate heat on the thick metal at the bottom to melt it without melting the other two layers too much. Gap between layers don’t help. MIG prolly would work but I’m not too good with it.



Not too happy with the results. The problem is the top of the tailgate is curved so I had to pull the angle up against the inner surface.

In doing this the vertical leg of the angle, being stiffer than the horizontal leg, bent less than the horizontal leg. This caused it to bow toward the front. At least I think this is what happened here. I thought it might happen but it looked ok before I welded it.




It’s plenty stiff now but I think I can straighten it. If not the center of the wipe might not touch but it's the inside. I can’t remember if it has a squeegee or just the felt. Still need to weld the crack itself. Only going to do the skin. No access for the inner layer.

If I were to do it again with angle I would bend it to shape first, making sure not to bow it. The elegant way is to heat small spots on the vertical leg. This causes localized shrinking that will pull it into an arc.
Or just do it by hand in the vise.

My first thought was 3/4" square tubing but I would have had to cut clearance holes for the wipe strip clips.

In hindsight, I should have used a piece of 3/4" x 1/8” bar I think it would have been plenty. Didn’t need to be 4’ long either.


Came across this guy when I was cleaning up. Pretty good size. The jack stand next to his head is about 1-3/4" wide.

[DieselSJ]

Came across this guy when I was cleaning up. Pretty good size. The jack stand next to his head is about 1-3/4" wide.

King snake. That is a keeper. They keep the rattlers away.

[SJTD]

That's what I told my wife.

She wasn't happy when she found a 12" rattler in the planter and I took it down to the wash and let it go.