What did u do to your raptor today?

[Big Blue]

looks like they did a great job, so ready to sell ?

Sell!? Hell, I just bought another scab to keep it company.

 

[wjoutlaw]

What cooler are you using for PS? I think it's a good. On my Tundra I used Howe cool tubes, might see if I can find a similar solution for this truck.

It's just a generic cooler that looks like a small radiator and mounts to the front of the stock radiator. All I have to do is route the tubing, mount it, and fill it up.

 

[dj30417]

As some of you may know I’m a beach bum at heart and have had Miss Big Booty on the beach several times during my ownership. Since she was a DOI truck in Texas before I bought and because I didn’t look underneath, I can’t say if I did the damage or it was already done. No matter, because I did look one day and found that the rocker panels were rusting.
I started gathering the materials to make the repair, thinking my cousin and I could take care of it. But quickly discovered it would be way too extensive for us.
I then started inquiring with body shops and was getting prices in the $3000-3500 range. I’ll be the first to admit, those are crazy prices and out of my budget.
At the same time I started hearing a loud ticking sound coming from the upper right side of the engine. Was it a lifter or maybe the intake manifold? I didn’t know but didn’t like the sound.
Off to the local mechanic to find out I went. As we were talking about the sound, I told him about the rocker panels. He jumped at the opportunity to do some body work, as he had just done the same repair on his father’s 1951 Ford. He took a quick look and offered to do the repair for $700 labor as I had already gathered the necessary materials.
Have you ever heard the saying “Quick, cheap, or good, pick two”? I didn’t know it at the time, but I chose cheap and good.
There were bumps along the way: first he broke the wand on his welder and had to wait two weeks for the new one to get delivered; second he got a piece of metal in his eye and had to have surgery; third he received a serious medical scare and had to take time to get rid of it. All the while, my truck is sitting inside his shop with what looked like everything under the hood unplugged, turned out to be all the electrical stuff so there weren’t any issues with using the welder. He wasn’t taking any chances of his work causing problems.
I kept a check on the progress a couple of times a week and the body work finally started to become a reality. I stopped by one day and noticed the mechanic has a burn on the back of his upper arm. I’m nosey, so I asked about it. He had plugged everything back in so he could turn the truck around and decided to look for the source of the engine tick. He found it with the back of his arm because he dropped a tool and reached for it. A spark plug wire had an internal fray and had come through the covering. It fried him on the back of the arm and apparently hurt like hell.
A phone call to Magnecor and an email with a picture of the wire next to a measuring tape was all it took to fix the engine tick.
After turning the truck around he got to work on the passenger side rocker panel.
During that time, I added an oil change, a tailgate shock and fuse 27 to the list of items I wanted completed.
On day 110, I was the happiest customer he’s probably ever had because I got Miss Big Booty back and everything is working and looking great.
Here are a few pictures. I have lots more photos but can only attach five here.

 

[Whoops]

Wow, that's a lot of down time but at least the story has a happy ending.

 

[BenBB]

More pics! What's the plan going forward, WoolWax or something to protect it from the salty waters?

 

[dj30417]

Here’s a few of the finished rocker panels.

 

[dj30417]

More pics! What's the plan going forward, WoolWax or something to protect it from the salty waters?

I have been considering Amsoil. But I’m not in an area at the moment that I have to be concerned about salt.

 

[dj30417]

I really should have cropped those pictures or cleaned out my back seat area before taking them.

 

[CleverGirl_]

Got some new wheels. @jdm_sixtwo

 

[jdm_sixtwo]

Got some new wheels. @jdm_sixtwo
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You wouldnt happen to have gotten those from a fella named KJ in Summerville lol