Project Big Red

[laserjock]

She's getting naked. The bed bolts were a pain. Rounded the bed metal out on the front 2 and had to tack weld the heads. The others I put the map torch to the head until it was almost red hot and then the impact took them off pretty easy.

Used this to move the bed around. It's a 4 wheel drop side wagon from tractor supply. I borrowed it for a while.

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A few 2x4s and 3" drywall screws and I have a lifting jig. I would recommend something a little heavier. The center brace had a pretty good bow in it but got the job done. Same with the drywall screws. Lag screws or bolts would be recommended.

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And there it is. Easy to move around on the wagon and it steers.

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More later.





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[laserjock]

Well small update.

I welded up some plates to put lifting points in the cab. It's a 1/2" eye bolt with nut welded to 3/16" plate that is 3"x4". Hole in the plate so there is full thread engagement but no hole in the floor.

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I put them between where the the two front seat mounting points are thinking if it worked well, I'd burn them in thoroughly and leave them there. Well, more on that later.

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They are covered in weld through primer after a trip through the bead blaster. That stuff is cool.

Anyway. Laced the chain through them. Hooked the back to the holes where the rear seat brackets were accessed.

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And then lift off. Only real hitch was that I forgot the speedo cable. It was a little unruly for me by myself but I managed to get it off the truck without dropping it.

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Then I got it up onto the stands I made for the bed.

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In the interest of full disclosure, that was not the original plan. I had intended to set it on a pair of furniture Dollies on the floor but ran into a little problem. About half way down the boom hit the top of the door opening. Damn. Plan be was the set of stands for the bed I made a while back. They fit perfectly but to be honest, I'm not sure if they are sturdy enough hence I left the hoist holding part of the weight. Any thoughts on what the scab weighs compared to an 8 foot bed? The other item is the mount points. They were plenty strong. Just not in the right place. The balance point was a lot farther forward than I expected. Really it's like at the steering wheel. The front lift points were basically right on it so it was tipsy. If I had another guy it wouldn't have been bad but I couldn't run the hoist and balance the cab myself. Anyway, no blood no foul and she's naked. Now to pull motor and trans and start stripping the frame.

More later.





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[laserjock]

Small update. Engine cradle done. Ill share pics and dimensions if it works. If it doesn't it'll go quietly away. Driveline out. Trans/tcase unbolted. Hopefully engine tranny tanks all out this weekend and she'll be fully exposed.

Pics when its over.


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[laserjock]

Okay pics as promised. Transmission and tcase came out. Had one bolt on the dust cover that was deformed so bad nothing for it right so I beat a six point socket onto it and removed it.

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Took a big pry bar to separate it. Found something interesting when I got into the clutch. It's clearly been changed and it would appear the wrong something was used. Maybe it was a self clearancing model. You can see how the rivets are chewed up. The flywheel bolts seem to have done the work. Anybody have any ideas how that happened??

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The good news is that I tried to check the flywheel which is dual mass and it seems to have no discern able movement and for that matter still looks to have the random surface pattern on it. I think it has been recently replaced. That means a replacement clutch and pressure plate and I think we are good.

Got the engine out and on the cradle. It's a cut up 1000lb HF stand that has been modified extensively but simply. If anyone wants dimensions ill get them. For now I stuck that 4x6 under the pan for the front support. I plan on a pair of uprights under the motor mounts but this might be good enough. It rolls easy pretty easy and is pretty stable. I put extra spacers in so I could leave the flywheel on so I could turn it over with the starter once in a while if I need/want to.

Here is my helper tightening it up.

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Engine on it.

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Spacers and clearance.

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And here is what's left.

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Fuel tanks and rear bumper to go then the cleaning and painting starts.

More later.




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[icanfixall]

Nice mess... Actually I like the shop look. As for the hf stand modifications. Well thats a good thing to have done but why didn't you grease the spindle neck so it will be easier to rotate the engine on that stand. Or is that stand just to move it around the shop. Can't say why the bolts got worn like that but bares looking into. You would not want to run it like that. Must have made a horrible noise when it ran. Whats the other engine on the other stand back by the tail of the frame.. I don't miss much in pictures.

 

[racer30]

Nice work. I can tell you that its a lot more fun to put it back together....

 

[riotwarrior]

Looking fantastic...great seeing helpers involved they always seem to really help a guy move the project along I know mine did!

Love that stand idea to the point I may just do something similar with a stand and cradle I have! That is if you don't mind a little imitation

As for the clutch, that's looking a lot like the disk in the wrong way. I'd say try and see if it is doing same thing flipped over.

Thanks for the update and keep it coming!!!

Al

 

[laserjock]

Well Garry, you are correct. The shop is a mess. My mode of operation tends to be one day working on the project, 2 days cleaning up. This particular piece was really only intended for storage. Rolling it over isn't really something I'm planning for. The second engine is another 7.3 out of my parts truck which is also a running engine. I will be shortly soliciting engine opinions (again) I think. Hopefully ill have more information about conditions of things for the survey.
Al, imitation is the highest form of flattery so by all means. If you need dimensions or more pics let me know. It's nothing special. I couldn't buy the steel for the cost of the 1000lb stand. Granted I'd never hang 1000 lbs off that stand as it came from HF but it was a reasonable source of raw material.

Ill look at the disk and see if it might have been in backwards. It actually didn't make any real noise the little bit I drove the truck. Probably already clearanced itself by then. It really didn't hurt the flywheel bolts much at all you can still read the stampings in the heads where it rubbed. Probably change them anyway.

I sure hope its more fun going back together. I'm getting tired of taking rusty stuff apart. I've got a lot of sandblasting, cleaning and painting to do over the winter to be ready for paint by spring I hope. The donor truck needs to loose its axles for the D60 and gear swap (4:10 to 3:55). Hopefully just some fresh lube and seals and they will be ready to go.

You guys help keep me going so I appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks!


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[laserjock]

Al, you win the cupie doll. Looked at the clutch disk and in fact it was in backwards. I'm not even sure how it worked. Shame it's boogered. It looks like it was an almost new disk. I need to do a search for how to check my flywheel. I couldn't get any play out of it with my hand. It still has the non-directional surface on it looks like so I'm guessing somebody spent a lot of money on a new DMF fairly recently. That would be awesome. Might also explain my oil leak. If the genius wasn't bright enough to read which side of the clutch disk went against the flywheel, they probably didn't put any sealant on the flywheel bolts. This also probably explains why it felt like the clutch had oil on it and shuddered a little if you tried to slip it. It's a wondered it worked at all. Sheesh.


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[laserjock]

Small update. Pulled out the fuel tanks and all the fuel lines. Pulled the FSV. Found an ugly surprise.

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That puppy is toast. Trying to decide if I should pull the one off the parts truck or buy new. I know there are threads on this all over so ill search but I think I recall the new aftermarket valves use a different connector.

Pulled all the remaining wiring harness out. Man is it filthy nasty. I'm not really sure how to clean it up. Soap and water and dunk it in a bucket then hang it up to dry? Water host and detergent? Dunno.

Anyway, I think I'm ready to back it out and degrease and hose off the gratuitous nastiness before I tackle the spring shackle bolts. Just save me some dirt in the eyes and give me a chance to sweep out the garage. Almost ready to start cleaning and painting. Starting to get excited.

More later.


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[laserjock]

Update time.
Well it's been a miserable go of it lately but I have progress to report. I caught a couple nice days and got the frame out for a good pressure washing.

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Then I went to work pulling the rear diff out of the parts truck so I could get to the bits and pieces I wanted off the frame.

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Yes those are dually wheels but it is a srw axle with adapters on it.

After several hours of grinding and beating I have all of this.

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The overload brackets the e brake brackets and the shock mounts. I decided to use the front spring hangers on my truck because they aren't too bad and I'm going to buy replacements for the rear shackle and hanger.

This is what I used to pull my rear spring hanger bolts and bushings after I cut them off with a cut-off wheel on the grinder. Need to get the bolt hot enough you can rip it from the bushing to rotate it because my 4.5" grinder wouldn't quite reach through it. I ground as far as I could then rotated the bolt and cut if off inside the hanger.

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Put a little heat on the center section with the torch and the puller shoves the center sleeve and/or bolt out.

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Then a 1/2" bolt with a couple washers and a dimple drilled in the bolt head for the puller to set in pushed the bushing out.

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Out came the rear diff and springs and I knocked off the rusty hangers.

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Next was the front end. Much the same. Ended up grinding most of the bolts off the spring hangers. I did figure out how to hold the thing together to be able to move it around in one piece. Once I got the front shackle bolts out, I picked the front of the frame up with the hoist and pulled one front wheel. That let me slip a 2x3 through under the crossmember and have the ends rest on the bump stop/shock mount plates. Ratchet strap wrapped a couple times around it and tightened up let me knock the bolts off the crossmember and keep it together.

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Then I added a custom tie rod so I could move it. Piece of conduit with the ends mashed and drilled for 1/2" bolts.

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I stuck some temp hardware in it so it could be mobile again and gee, I'm almost ready to sandblast. Need to pull the rear bumper and trailer hitch and bolt the rear hangers back on temp and then get the weather to cooperate. We actually saw a few snow flakes here this evening

Need to decide on order of operations again as it's going to be tough to get the garage warm enough to paint the frame when it's in the 30's.

More to come.


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[laserjock]

Update time.
Well it's been a miserable go of it lately but I have progress to report. I caught a couple nice days and got the frame out for a good pressure washing.

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Then I went to work pulling the rear diff out of the parts truck so I could get to the bits and pieces I wanted off the frame.

You must be registered for see images attach

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Yes those are dually wheels but it is a srw axle with adapters on it.

After several hours of grinding and beating I have all of this.

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The overload brackets the e brake brackets and the shock mounts. I decided to use the front spring hangers on my truck because they aren't too bad and I'm going to buy replacements for the rear shackle and hanger.



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[laserjock]

This is what I used to pull my rear spring hanger bolts and bushings after I cut them off with a cut-off wheel on the grinder. Need to get the bolt hot enough you can rip it from the bushing to rotate it because my 4.5" grinder wouldn't quite reach through it. I ground as far as I could then rotated the bolt and cut if off inside the hanger.

You must be registered for see images attach

Put a little heat on the center section with the torch and the puller shoves the center sleeve and/or bolt out.

You must be registered for see images attach

Then a 1/2" bolt with a couple washers and a dimple drilled in the bolt head for the puller to set in pushed the bushing out.

You must be registered for see images attach

Out came the rear diff and springs and I knocked off the rusty hangers.

You must be registered for see images attach

Next was the front end. Much the same. Ended up grinding most of the bolts off the spring hangers. I did figure out how to hold the thing together to be able to move it around in one piece. Once I got the front shackle bolts out, I picked the front of the frame up with the hoist and pulled one front wheel. That let me slip a 2x3 through under the crossmember and have the ends rest on the bump stop/shock mount plates. Ratchet strap wrapped a couple times around it and tightened up let me knock the bolts off the crossmember and keep it together.

You must be registered for see images attach

Then I added a custom tie rod so I could move it. Piece of conduit with the ends mashed and drilled for 1/2" bolts.

You must be registered for see images attach

I stuck some temp hardware in it so it could be mobile again and gee, I'm almost ready to sandblast. Need to pull the rear bumper and trailer hitch and bolt the rear hangers back on temp and then get the weather to cooperate. We actually saw a few snow flakes here this evening

Need to decide on order of operations again as it's going to be tough to get the garage warm enough to paint the frame when it's in the 30's.

More to come.


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[laserjock]

Time for an update. It's not a lot of stuff but it's significant progress.

So I decided to have the frame sandblasted. Just didn't make a lot of sense to try it myself with my equipment given the problems I've had with it.

Here it is being unloaded.

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Got it home and work and the holidays got in the way which was a bad thing. We got a little flash rust so I hit it with POR 15 metal ready which has phosphoric acid in it along with zinc phosphate which converts the rust, and in theory leaves a zinc phosphate surface like a cold anodization. Is it optimal? Probably not. Will it work? I don't know. This is what it looks like.

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For what it's worth it looks like anodized steel. Being a chemist, I know that looks can be deceiving. So I hosed it off and started priming.

I used the Majik brand truck tractor and implement gray rust inhibiting primer from TSC. What makes it rust inhibiting is any bodies guess as there is no MSDS for it on their site. Not sure how you can get away with that these days. Brushed it on working it into the surface thoroughly and now I have this.

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Next thing to deal with is this.

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I had a few pin holes in other places but nothing like this. I wouldn't mind replacing it if I could get one. I have one in my parts truck but the cab is sorta on it. I haven't found a repop yet so probably I'll be welding some metal in it.

Any suggestions?

Next step is paint and then get the axles and springs prepped to have a roller again.

I'm officially reconstructing now.




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[junk]

I'd probably just patch up that crossmember. Doesn't look that bad. Might be worse in person.

Your frames looking great. I had mine blasted and powdercoated. Not sure id do that again. Too many nooks and crannies to get the powder coat into. Next time I'm probably going to epoxy prime and paint mine.

Looks great! Keep it up. Thanks for the updates. By the way do you remember how the vacuum lines for your cruise hook up? I can't remember on mine.