Project Big Red

[laserjock]

Is that the Harbor freight gantry crane? How you like it? I've been eyeballing those.

Why yes it is. It's actually a pretty nice piece. I bought it and the 1300 lb electric hoist. Both seem to work pretty well. The trolly is a budgit (think that's right). Not a HF. It was a freebie. If I had it to do again, I would dedicate a trolly to the electric hoist instead of the hook arrangement I did. It works okay now that I've mostly got that extra arm sorted out, but it's okay. Cable winding is a little finicky if it's not perfectly level and sometimes it's still a pain. With the load on it though, it's usually only going to be a few rotations to lift something so it's not a huge deal. Handles the cab really easy.

If you do go for it search for a 25% off coupon. That's serious savings on that price.

 

[junk]

It's going to be a while before I pick one up, but that crane looks really handy.

 

[laserjock]

It is. The cherry picker might be more versatile but it just doesn't have the height. That's been a problem for me all around. Never would have dreamed a 12' ceiling would be too short. It's got me twice now. I've had to take the load leveler out of the stack. Just means you have to balance it by hand more.

 

[laserjock]

Well, not a lot of progress to report. Had my helper with me all day yesterday so we did a lot of yard work and errands. I did trade out my gas bottle for the welder so good to go there. Also found a leak in the regulator so that should improve gas consumption.

So I cut out around those plugs and welded pieces back in.

Pass side

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Drivers side.

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Outside.

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The drivers side is a little uglier because my body saw died and I cut it in with a cutoff wheel which of course made the gap too wise to weld up nice and easy.

There is one more spot that I'm worried about other than the back drivers corner. I was going to wait and patch it when I do the cab corner but I think I'll go ahead and do what I can to it now since I'm not really in a hurry anymore. Winter pretty well hit me in the but this week. I can keep the garage in the 60's pretty easy between the stove and the heater so it's not bad to work and I should be able to get the POR on it one way or another. Oh well. One piece at a time right?

 

[IDIoit]

Im about to scrap a 89 F350 CC LB.
need any odds and ends before i do?

 

[Greg5OH]

^do you have a red seatbelt for rear pass driver side by any change IDI? sorry for hijack

 

[IDIoit]

its blue.

 

[catbird7]

laserjock, have you ever determined if the later (92-97) single piece extended cab windows will fit into the brick cab?

 

[laserjock]

Well, the short answer is yes it will. After some more searching, there are a few documented (although not thoroughly) cases of the swap being done. I stuck the window in the hole shortly after getting them and from what I can tell, the mount points are a little different, but the window is the correct size and shape for the opening as best I can tell. It will probably require some extra tabs welded in around the window frame to make it work without just glueing it in. The other thing I'm not 100% sure on is the depth of the lip relative to the side of the cab. If you notice, the solid windows have a rubber ring on them that seals to the outside of the cab where as the older windows sealed to the inner lip and had the metal frame on the outside. Litterally, the glass is sandwiched between the outer frame and the inner lip with some weather sealant. I should be dealing with this in the relatively near future. I'll fit them up as I do the rear shoulder belt add. Do all the cutting/drilling/welding at once if I can.

 

[laserjock]

Im about to scrap a 89 F350 CC LB.
need any odds and ends before i do?

Well, now that I think about it. Do you have a set of these laying around in good shape?

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I need the metal bits of the front cab mounts. Keep meaning to put up a wtb and forget. I have the rear ones in good shape that came with my crossmember I bought. Super cab doesn't have any in the middle.

Could also use the ones for the core support. Mine are questionable. Let me know if you have any you'd be willing to part with.

 

[laserjock]

The day started off real promising. Got my body saw exchanged under warranty. Had lunch. Fixed issue with heat pump that houses PO had screwed up. All good there. Went to the garage, turned on heater, built fire. Picked up wire wheel on grinder and went to work on the last corner.

PSA time. When using wire wheel on angle grinder with the guards removed (they really get in the way) make sure to wear heavy leather gloves. They have a tendency to kick back and cause damage.

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So anyway, after taking a few minutes to bandage up (Just a little road rash) I went back and started cutting.

This is where I stopped cutting.

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So basically have to repair all three layers of the corner. Ton of overlapping sheet metal there. I'm replacing everything to the outer cab corner which will come once I set it up on something.

Cut out a piece from a scrap of new floor pan and put an angle on it. Fit really nice. Starting to get the hang of this. Still not very fast though.

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Little weld through primer at the joint of the rocker and I burned it in.

I'm filling most of the rest of that with one piece that I have cut out but I ran out of heat and called it a night.

I'm off next week and it's supposed to be in the 60's on Monday so goal is to be ready to paint the underside by then. I think I can make it if I keep all my fingers.

 

[laserjock]

Oozing along.

******* box template.

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Finally all patched in. It don't look like much but with all the layers and angles, there's like 6 pieces in that corner.

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Also got the other rear seat mount cut out and drilled. Needs welded in.

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So I'm a few welds, a lot of grinding and wire wheel work away from prepping the underside for paint. Calling for 68 Monday so here's hoping I'm ready by Monday afternoon.

 

[junk]

Looking great man. I hope the weather holds out for you.

 

[Dieselcrawler]

60 on Monday. 6-8 inches predicted for Wednesday. lol. atleast your inside. I am working outside on mine....

 

[laserjock]

Yeah. I'm thankful for that. I would never attempt something like this outside. It's hard enough inside. Guess I'm getting soft.