Project Big Red

laserjock

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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.

Next time... I'm not sure if I have a next time in me. :rolleyes:
In hind site, I should have just had those guys shoot the epoxy on it for me. Not sure what I was thinking on that. The pics are not correct either. I'll have to go back and fix that. The middle pic in the last post is wrong.

It's not horrible. I may cut the center section out of it and weld in a new solid center section. I have to keep reminding myself this is not a $500k Italian sports car that I'm working on. If it weren't the cab mount, I'd be less concerned with it being "correct".
 

junk

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That line between being sanitary and being crazy is a tough one. You can't put crusty nuts/bolts/brackets on something that's all painted up nice. I've probably got $40 in hose clamps on my truck currently and $100 bucks in nuts and bolts to put the front end back together. The stuff adds up. I'm ok with how its going, but every time I turn around I'm buying more parts. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't a big $$$ rig and I have to stop somewhere and just get it done.
 

laserjock

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I am totally with you. Drawing that line is tough sometimes. A wise man once said finished is better than perfect. With infinite time and infinite resources you can get close to perfect but at the end of the day, it's still just an old truck to be driven and enjoyed not a show piece.
 

vanet

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no offence but you guys are crazy! I own 3 of these trucks right now. None of them have any of the issues you guys are so expertly fixing. No bends, no rust no broken supports. Whats my secret? I live in Arizona. And mine arnt special, they are a dime a dozen. If I were you I would have sold this truck for scrape metal, watch craiglist for awhile, bought a $300 plane ticket and went and got my truck. Dont get me wrong, I think what you guys are doing is amazeing, but I dont understand why you would put the time and money into resurecting a truck that should have been left for dead. Espesially when you can buy it already ready to upgrade for 2 grand and a plane ticket. looks like it is going to be an amazing truck when you are finished. Good Luck
 

junk

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Different strokes for different folks is all I can say. I would add, even if I went and got a rust free Arizona truck my overall build wouldn't be too much different. A 25 year old truck is a 25 year old truck.
 

laserjock

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First off, yes you are probably right. I am a little crazy for taking this on. I seriously considered doing just that after being here and seeing the clean southwest trucks. When I bought this truck exactly a year ago, I went over it, checked the standardard bad spots and it was about average so I thought (maybe it is I don't know, didn't look at a lot of trucks). It's always worse than you think. My problem is an ifrastructure problem. I had no way to go out west and get one. Shipping a vehicle across country is not super cheap and I'm sorry, but I'm not adventurous enough to fly across country and hop in a 20 plus year old vehicle that I just bought and then drive it home. Not to mention the block of time it would have taken. Anyway, long story short, this truck for me is an experiment really. I want to know if I still have the patients to do this type of work and the capability now that I am by myself. It also builds up my infrastructure. When I'm done with it, I'll have a vehicle capable of driving to the west coast and picking up a clean rig which I very well may do if turns out I really enjoy this truck. I'll be luck if I get 10 years out of this resto and I'd really like to have a CC anyway. The family is not getting any smaller. If it turns out that I am happy with it after a year or so, I'll start shopping for a clean truck to put my running gear under because really that's where I'm focusing most of my attention. The body work I think will be pretty straight forward and It's not going to be a show queen.

And Junk makes a good point. I'd probably go through the hole thing anyway. Any truck that old is going to have it's own set of problems depending on where it's from. Having bought an Oklahoma/TX parts truck, I can tell you its a lot easier wrenching on it than the rusty one. It was a single cab with a cracked frame but the parts I need seem to be good. It will have more than paid for itself by the time I'm done just in fasteners and brackets and stuff besides the D60 and 3.55 rear.
 

Agnem

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Rust free parts are great, but here in the Northeast we have to jump through hoops to get them. Yes, I could buy a new tailgate shell from Broncograveyard.com or the like, but by the time you pay shipping, you could go buy a whole Bronco. LOL Well, maybe not, but you get the idea. Welding wire is cheap and time is free if you don't mind spending it, and when its said and done you increased your skill set, and have something you can be proud of. I've fixed my share of cab mounts, and what I usually do is try to find a really big washer that I can then cut a bigger hole out of the crossmember and just weld it in. As long as the metal farther away from the rusty hole is still solid, you'd have no problems afterwards.
 

laserjock

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Mel, The more I dug into it, the more I figured out that the metal around it was really thin and I had holes in other places on that crossmember as well. I was getting ready to fab one and thought, WTH, so I put up a WTB in the Classifed section and I think I'll have a nice clean one on the way soon from Oregon. Funny thing is that all of them were pitted and a couple had a few pin holes but the cab mount was by far the worst. If things go well, I'll have a roller again here real soon then the body work can commence.
 

opusd2

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Although it may be a LOT of work, there's nothing more satisfying than knowing you have a one of a kind vehicle that you did yourself. Especially if there are sentimental reasons behind it. But that's just me. And I prefer a custom truck with a wrinkle or two than a cookie cutter that looks perfect
 

Zaggnutt

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Although it may be a LOT of work, there's nothing more satisfying than knowing you have a one of a kind vehicle that you did yourself. Especially if there are sentimental reasons behind it. But that's just me. And I prefer a custom truck with a wrinkle or two than a cookie cutter that looks perfect

What he said ^ Keep up the good work ;Sweet
 

laserjock

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Been a while since I posted an update. The last update ended with me trying to figure out what to do with my rusty cab mount crossmember. It really was Swiss cheese. I also had a couple other parts that were bad namely the core support brackets and one of the front spring hangers. Luckily, bookite03 stepped up and sent me some clean Oregon parts.

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I got the old crossmember out and got the new to me one fit in its
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It needs a little wire wheel and some paint and we are good to go there.

I started cleaning and prepping the other frame type parts for paint. Anything that will fit in a five gallon bucket is getting zinc electroplated.

Here are a few parts. The overload bracket in the first pic is in bare sandblasted steel and the others are plated.

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And a few more parts. Before:

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After:

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I'm working on a tech 101 for the plating process but essentially I'm galvanizing all these parts to fend off the rust monster as this truck is going to see salt unfortunately. Once plated, I'll shoot some Tractor Supply Majic implement primer and paint on the parts to finish them off.

I tore my leaf spring packs down. Used my ball joint press to push out the old bushings.

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This worked really well to remove the inner sleeve and rubber bushing with a little coaxing from the MAP torch.

I went at the springs with the wire wheel on the angle grinder. I did a pretty good job. Left side, untouched, right side wire wheeled.

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After a lot of wire wheel, I gave them a coat of primer. The rattle cans from TSC are expensive, but man it lays down nice.

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I also got replacement plastic pads from a spring shop on EBay. $1.49 each and $6.00 flat rate shipping.

Continued.






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laserjock

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I also pulled my new rear diff in the garage to start through it. Pulled the cover and found this.

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Yeah, not what I wanted to see. Definitely had taken on some water. It's been sitting a long time uncovered so probably took on water. The good news is its a 3.55 with track lok. The gears actually look really good with only a couple little spots if rust on the tips of a couple teeth.

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A little buff with some steel whool and I think it will be fine. Propped it up on either side for several days to drain the axle tubes to the center. Some diesel for solvent, and I'll clean it up good, seal it up, and prep it for paint.

Next things on my list are to remove the other front spring hanger, patch the other crossmembers (just some pinholes), and prep the frame for paint. Need to clean up the new crossmember and paint it. It's starting to go back together but oh so slow. Need to yank the D60 but it's snowing. :(




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junk

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Looking great there. Those mounts look nice! Had I to do it again I wish I would have pulled my rear spring and shock mounts off to prime/paint between them and the frame. I'm interested to see the galivinzing process you do.

My spring bushing removal normally includes the torch and lots of fire!!

Remember all progress is good. And it's impossible to make it perfect.
 

laserjock

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Yeah, it smelled like a tire fire in the garage for the one stubborn one. ;Sweet

If I can keep the momentum, I'm thinking body work in April and maybe paint in May. My goal is to drive it on my birthday in August but if it's done sooner, I won't be unhappy. ;Sweet


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bookite03

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Glad to see those brackets and crossmember put to good use. You're going to have a nice truck by the time you're done. All the time and work will be worth the payoff.
 
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