Builds Bemerritt Builds a 1970 (1 Viewer)

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Just had to take a brief pause and put together a little bit of the front end to see how she's going to look. Reeeeeeallllly like it. Moments like these keep the excitement high. 6 Months in and if anything have increased the amount of work on it, so that is good.

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The above image is when it finally clicked that there is no way i can paint the exterior. But it does make me question the best way of trimming the rear wheel well. I want it to look as factory as possible, so I was going to cut out the curved profile and weld that back in to retain the lip. But this will obviously be hard to hide with the old paint. Cleanest might be to get over the desire of retaining the lip and just cutting it. Any thoughts?

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Sketching out where I plan to trim the front bumper.

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Was treated to a good view while putting it together.

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Finally got the wiring harness out. Mainly intact, so will at the very least use it as a guide. I lot of the connections are corroded and need replacing. There might be just enough wrong with it that I just start fresh, doesn't seem all too complicated and I have a fair amount of electronics background. Also need to up my Alternator/Ameter gauge for the bigger internally regulated fj60 unit.

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Installed Mark's brake booster adapter to clear the firewall. Did not know these really existed until he informed me. Glad to retain the vertical rib.

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Checked and it looks like some of the parts are there waiting for the rear parking brake install. Just need a new cable, hand brake, axlemounts and ????

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How on earth do you remove the vacuum 4x4 shift?!?! looks like there are some kind of non metal retainment washers. Going to do a search for this but would love some direction. I have no plans of using it, so could cut it, but would love to have a full 3 speed transfer case setup that someone will hopefully pay me to take off my hands.

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Just had to take a brief pause and put together a little bit of the front end to see how she's going to look. Reeeeeeallllly like it. Moments like these keep the excitement high. 6 Months in and if anything have increased the amount of work on it, so that is good.

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The above image is when it finally clicked that there is no way i can paint the exterior. But it does make me question the best way of trimming the rear wheel well. I want it to look as factory as possible, so I was going to cut out the curved profile and weld that back in to retain the lip. But this will obviously be hard to hide with the old paint. Cleanest might be to get over the desire of retaining the lip and just cutting it. Any thoughts?

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Sketching out where I plan to trim the front bumper.

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Was treated to a good view while putting it together.

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Any chance you would trade that bumper for a couple that are tweaked on the ends but don't have the same patina? I've got 2 or 3 bumpers I would trade for that before you cut it up! Shame for that beauty to get cut up, but I do think it will look great on your truck.
 
Lastly, was supposed to be a happy day as more parts arrived. Unfortunately, the cam shaft bearings weren't present as they should be. Even worse, this is how the header looked. No way that it should not come ground flat with the mating surface.....right?!?! Wont name names, but very unhappy. Will give them a chance to make it right.

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Finally got the wiring harness out. Mainly intact, so will at the very least use it as a guide. I lot of the connections are corroded and need replacing. There might be just enough wrong with it that I just start fresh, doesn't seem all too complicated and I have a fair amount of electronics background. Also need to up my Alternator/Ameter gauge for the bigger internally regulated fj60 unit.

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Installed Mark's brake booster adapter to clear the firewall. Did not know these really existed until he informed me. Glad to retain the vertical rib.

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Checked and it looks like some of the parts are there waiting for the rear parking brake install. Just need a new cable, hand brake, axlemounts and ????

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How on earth do you remove the vacuum 4x4 shift?!?! looks like there are some kind of non metal retainment washers. Going to do a search for this but would love some direction. I have no plans of using it, so could cut it, but would love to have a full 3 speed transfer case setup that someone will hopefully pay me to take off my hands.

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That friction/star washer will come right off with some careful prying. It will want to shoot off into never land so keep a rag over the end.
 
Any chance you would trade that bumper for a couple that are tweaked on the ends but don't have the same patina? I've got 2 or 3 bumpers I would trade for that before you cut it up! Shame for that beauty to get cut up, but I do think it will look great on your truck.
I'll let you know, still deciding if i do even cut it and it definitely looks good and ties the rig together.
 
The above image is when it finally clicked that there is no way i can paint the exterior. But it does make me question the best way of trimming the rear wheel well. I want it to look as factory as possible, so I was going to cut out the curved profile and weld that back in to retain the lip. But this will obviously be hard to hide with the old paint. Cleanest might be to get over the desire of retaining the lip and just cutting it. Any thoughts?

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Sketching out where I plan to trim the front bumper.

When I did my '73 years ago I just hand drew a line and cut it. Then used it as a template for the other side to make them match. DSC01966 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/media/dsc01966.21103/
 
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When we do rear 1/4’s like that we cut a 5.5x10” rectangle out from behind the wheelwell, and move 14” of the rear arch back, and use the bottom of the removed rectangular section to fill the missing lip in the middle. Just have paint mixed up and blend that area.

We also replaced most of this panel since it had a hackjob chop before it came in but try to ignore that.

And yes, those are the parking brake bell cranks that the cable attaches too.
There’s pics of how we mounted the floor handle on this 68 in my parking brake thread.

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When we do rear 1/4’s like that we cut a 5.5x10” rectangle out from behind the wheelwell, and move 14” of the rear arch back, and use the bottom of the removed rectangular section to fill the missing lip in the middle. Just have paint mixed up and blend that area.

We also replaced most of this panel since it had a hackjob chop before it came in but try to ignore that.

And yes, those are the parking brake bell cranks that the cable attaches too.
There’s pics of how we mounted the floor handle on this 68 in my parking brake thread.

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Thanks for the pic, thats exactly what i had in mind. Seems like the best way to do it. I'll have to deal with the paint matching but would rather do it right. Will most likely end up with a full re-paint at some point anyways.
 
Spent time (over)analyzing my gearing. Now that I am pretty committed to the 5 speed/split case, I was questioning the 5.29 gears on the bench. My window to return them closes in a week. After doing this I feel pretty good about them. Currently I have 4.10s in the axles. Could always go 4.88, but who know's if i feel over geared, 40's are on the menu. Would just need to stretch the body/frame and link the front and rear to lower the center of gravity.....which is admittedly kind of where I want to end up.

Anyways, please let me know if you see anything wrong with my numbers. I was mainly concerned with my crawl ratio and what i could cruise at at 3k rpms. I have no idea if that is even reasonable to ask of the ol 1F, but it seems where the 2F folks are ok with on the highway, some even say 3500.

I was slightly confused about what the 4:1 low gears do to 5th gear. I saw both a reduction of 10% and the .90 number referenced, so I think I got it right.

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High range is 1.1 with the 4:1 gears. So 5th becomes .94.

it will definitely be overgeared on the street with 5.29's. I would do 4.11/4.56/4.88 if you are thinking the 4:1 Tcase gears. Plan on cruising around 2400 rpm
 
High range is 1.1 with the 4:1 gears. So 5th becomes .94.

it will definitely be overgeared on the street with 5.29's. I would do 4.11/4.56/4.88 if you are thinking the 4:1 Tcase gears. Plan on cruising around 2400 rpm
Thanks for that quick response. I will run the numbers again with the .94 and see what combo lets me cruise at 70 at 2400. Definitely want to optimize trail performance, but do you think I can have my cake and eat it too with the 1F? Being able to drive 2 hours to trails really opens up the use a lot.
 
Well glad i went through that and posted here. And of course, very thankful for the feedback. Looks like the best bet is to plan on the 4:1 low gear set, drive it and then maybe jump up to 4.56/4.88.

But with a crawl of 80 and speed of 68 at 2400, that may just work out.

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edited to add, this is what i used for calculations that was helpful

 
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In a continued effort to clean up the garage and get the 40 looking good to show some friends, I put the doors and hood on. Doors are in pretty good condition for just sitting outside for 50 years. No rust in the usual spots. All the mechanicals work. Just 4 holes that I need to fill in that were used for mirrors. Will definitely want mirrors that I can use with the top off. Up next, lifting the top up enough to trim the pegs and then sit it back down and get it all aligned with the windshield.
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Well, the lathe I was hoping to use to drill and tap the steering rods was not able to handle the OD/Length, so had to put my wrists in harms way and do it in a vise. It worked, got one done, but man was i sweaty. Took a lot of work getting the 23mm threads tapped. 3 more to go tonight!

1.25" OD, .25" wall tubing. 23x1.5 threads. Heavy duty 80 series tie rods. Making my own ended up being far and away the cheapest solution.

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Engine back from the machine shop.

New camshaft bearings
cylinders honed
head and block decked
valve seats ground
valves ground

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And just like that its 95% ready to fire. Big shout out to @65swb45 for the double pulley and power steering mount. One more visit up to your shop and I should have all i need to get it started.

Big things left to do:
- Replace the broken alternator pulley
- Replace the non oem crank shaft nut with an oem one
- procure 4 speed bell housing
- New clutch parts
- Machine flywheel
- Figure out what i want to do about the distributor. Probably fire it up with the old one, but thinking DUI. Need to research more what would pair best with the sniper.

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