74 Pig Build

DesertLake · 06-07-09, 07:16 PM

This weekend I used my wife's wood lathe to customize the SOR poly bushing set.

I haven't done anything about the two mounts up front yet, I won't be bolting up the front clip for quite a while.

For the rest of this post, I'll refer to the mounts by number, where 1 is the front mount just behind the bumper, 2 is at the driver's foot, three is under the back seat, 4 is behind the rear wheel, and 5 is at the back corner.

Other than bolt length, 2 and 5 are identical, and 3 and 4 are identical.

Here is mount #2:

Note how the roughly cone shaped metal insert protrudes through the bottom of the mount. The original mounts had a hat shaped washer that covers this up, and I re-use it here. For these mounts, the new top bushing fits perfectly. I used the lathe to carve out space for the hat shaped washer to fit snugly in the lower bushing, as seen here:

Here is mount #4:

For this mount, I found I needed an extra washer between the bushings to match the length of the sleeve. I use the original 2.87" washers on top of the frame mount. I trimmed off the lip on the upper mount so it would fit flush against the washer, and narrowed the lip on the lower mount so it would fit in the hole in the frame, as seen here:

Unfortunately I bought the wrong length bolts, so I haven't snugged them down yet. I assume that the the bolt should be tightened until the large washers supplied with the SOR kit contact the sleeve. Anybody know what the torque should be?

1973Guppie · 06-07-09, 09:31 PM

nice writeup and clean work! I just hit mine with my bench grinder, sloppy but they all ended up bolting in just fine.

For me, I just bolted these down by hand as tight as I could get them. That center sleeve is there so you don't overtighten things, and it is evident by the feel of the ratchet when you get them tight. I figured no torque to be necessary as I didn't want to put too much stress on those center sleeves, the lock washers should keep them tight.

Noah

DesertLake · 06-09-09, 10:24 PM

Not quite right yet...#3 and #4 need more space between the bushings, and #3 needs a spacer above the bushing. Try again tomorrow...

k9crazy · 06-10-09, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertLake

This weekend I used my wife's wood lathe to customize the SOR poly bushing set.

Your wife has a lathe? Awesome, I'm jealous! I need a wife...uh, oh, wait....

Your work is really well done, very clean, very nice. The little details are so important in the long run. Very cool!

DesertLake · 06-10-09, 07:57 AM

Thanks!

She makes pens, and maybe pepper grinders soon. The part I want to call the spindle is a perfect fit in the bushing. Instead of using her good chisel set, I ground a couple from the $10 harbor freight set into the shape I wanted. It's a fun tool, I see why she enjoys it. Plus when you turn rubber you get rubber bands!

Clutchee · 07-02-09, 08:04 PM

Great pictures of the body mount install...... helps a ton.

I sent you a PM about specifics.

DesertLake · 07-03-09, 04:05 PM

I think I've got the mount spacing figured out, but it will be a while before I can take it apart again and install the correct length bolts and get pictures.

In the mean time, I've started chopping the rear quarter, partially inspired by Chicago's 60: http://forum.ih8mud.com/nv-battle-bo...-1-4-chop.html

I didn't get pictures of my initial cut to the outer fender, basically I cut right at the bottom near the apex of the curve, and two vertical cuts up to where I want the chop to end.

I want the chop parallel to the frame, and fortunately the frame is sitting level right now. This means I can use a laser level on a tripod to line up my cut. You can't really see it, but the laser line is along the top of the tape.

Hopefully I can fold the outer panel under, I'll have a lot of cleanup grinding to do before I can test that idea...

DesertLake · 07-05-09, 03:36 PM

Got my 62 axles unloaded today, thanks Georg and thanks Jeremiah!

My kids did the heavy lifting...

orangefj45 · 07-05-09, 03:48 PM

righton, keep up the good work and posting pics!!!!!

georg

DesertLake · 10-01-09, 09:37 PM

Back to the body mounts...

#3 and #4 needed spacers between the body and mount. Experimenting a bit, I found #3 needed 3 of the old body washers, roughly .4 inch. Mount 4 needed 1 washer, .13 inch.

Here's mounts 2 and 3:

And here's mounts 4 and 5:

Now I have to see if I have enough of the old washers left for the other side. Also, I'm not entirely happy with the bolt lengths yet, this can be fine tuned later. In any case, I may wind up needing a body lift, at least now all the spacers will be the same height.

DesertLake · 10-06-09, 09:20 PM

I took a wire wheel to the rusted out areas at the driver's feet. It looks like most of the rust was from the top, due to the heel holes worn through the floor mat and insulation collecting water. From underneath, the metal looks pretty good...except for in the body mount area. I'm thinking I might cut the spot welds, remove the box from the floor pan, and decide what metal to replace from there. Any advice?

Pics:
Driver's side floor, from the top. Note the rust-through on one of the bead rolls, and also next to the body mount bolt.

From the bottom - not much rust!

View through the rust-out next to the body mount bolt. I have to get rid of that rust somehow, maybe remove the section and rebuild depending on how much metal is left?

locrwln1 · 10-31-09, 06:40 AM

Sorry, I don't have anything to with regards to the rust. but awesome work so far.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Jack

DesertLake · 11-03-09, 09:51 PM

Box removed, the rust was about as bad as I figured. I accidentally popped a screwdriver through the floor a few times trying to pry the box down to find spot welds I missed. The vertical piece that turns into the kick panel is in worse shape than I expected.

I'll definitely want to redesign the box to be a lot more open and allow mud to fall out.

The Harbor Freight spot weld cutter is decent, I bought 3. It does not fit a typical 1/4" hex drive, it is 7mm. One of them I ground down to fit a 1/4" extension, but it wound up a bit wobbly. Better to use one of the 7mm nut driver bits.

Also ignore the instruction that says center punch the welds, the tip on the cutter isn't hardened and once it dulls it just pops out of the punch mark. Pre-drill with a 1/8" bit instead.

1973Guppie · 11-03-09, 10:14 PM

that one is not bad, mine was worse, you can see how I used it in my build thread, I just basially rebuilt it by cutting out the metal and overlapping the old good metal in places. I am happy with the result, not that pretty but strong. Hope that help some.....

DesertLake · 11-03-09, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1973Guppie

that one is not bad, mine was worse, you can see how I used it in my build thread, I just basially rebuilt it by cutting out the metal and overlapping the old good metal in places. I am happy with the result, not that pretty but strong. Hope that help some.....

http://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pi...ml#post3935480
That is effing beautiful! I bought a welder to learn on, but at this point I pretty much destroy sheet metal. I have welded up a few quick tools, but with the hours I can put in on the project - 6/week maybe - I figure I'll have a body shop friend take care of the stuff that needs to be pretty or watertight. The box doesn't need to be pretty though...I'm thinking heavier gauge metal and without most of the bottom of the box, hopefully to let the crud fall out.

1973Guppie · 11-04-09, 11:28 AM

thanks, appreciate that, but "beautiful" is not the word that comes to my mind, more like "adequate"