Project "Greenhorn" (1 Viewer)

[Wrighter]

Hey All...

Well got a little excited with the wrench's a couple Saturday's ago.....
So.... guess I am really doin' it! Hahaha Always wanted to do a frame off!


I guess I should give ya a little back ground on this green machine!
Bought her back when I was 18 so lets just say she has been in the family for over 15 years. Love her cause she was born the same year as me. (1978)


rebuilt the tub fire wall back about 8-9 years ago and did a HFS 4" lift kit about 2 years ago, otherwise the original motor has never let me down.

Guess I should probably post some pics of it before I got wrench happy.

Also took my bib off so no one could give it to me about hav'n my bezel upside down!

 

[JohnnyC]

off to a good start...look foward to seeing more

your DD? mine has been for 18+ years

 

[Wrighter]

Well... found a sick deal on another cruiser with all the bottom end stuff I was looking to do already done. Same year, same color pretty awesome. The PO gave me a good deal, I just had to promise him that I would keep him up to date on my progress.
So this one has saginaw power steering, SOR, Detroit in the rear, Lockrite in the front, AA for a GM 350, winch, yada yada... cool stuff for the price.

Body and tub, um lets just say it was like a crumbling piece of drywall.

So now I got 2 cruiser torn down to the tub... we'll see how long the wife lets me get away with making our garage and front yard look like a junkyard. The neighbor that cuts her grass every 2nd day hasn't thrown me any dirty looks... Yet!

So here's to the start of my frame off ... I hear this is the best place for cruiser rebuild tips, man I think I might be spending more time researching stuff than actually doing the work, there is a wealth of info on here, awesome.

 

[Wrighter]

Got some more done in the last couple weeks...

Took the Tub off, used the engine crane method, with some ratchet straps, worked awesome.

slowly and methodically heated and removed rusted bolts wow painful... or maybe peaceful!

Pulled transmission, removed shocks, rear diff and springs. Only have a couple stubborn rear shackles to remove.

Almost down to the frame just the steering and front dif, springs left to go.

Found some Rust Bullet... tough stuff to find up here in Canada there is only one dealer in all of Alberta!
That Rust Bullet sounds awesome after talking to the dealer. I wanna dip the whole cruiser in it!

Planning to blast the frame and other pieces at a DIY sandblasting place.

 

[Wrighter]

Well here are some pics of the progress...

Got the body off.

frame in great shape, I wouldn't say the same about the body but I have a buddy that is going to try to breathe some life back into it.
I am going to use my other body that i had rebuilt years back.

 

[ktmusa8]

I am super jealous now. Congrats on the 2 cruisers man. I would love to get a donor body for mine but they are hard to come by down here. Looking good and keep up the good work. I can sympathise with you and the neighbor thing. I know mine hate me.

 

[Wrighter]

Well it's been a while since I posted up on this build. Cold Canada winters makes going to the 'unheated' garage not high on the to do list. Also all my extra time seems to be trying to catch up on some zzzz's after this little guy showed up!

 

[Wrighter]

Honestly... I have been doing some work, I am just bad at posting up.
Well I have caught up on some zzz's now so I will try to keep updated.

Wow, just found out I am bad at taking pics too...

-Got everthing off down to the frame, dragged it to a DIY sandblasting place here in town and cleaned it all up.
- Next I sprayed on some rust bullet (was going to roll it on by with all the nooks and crannys on the frame, spraying was the way to go). Oh ya Rust bullet FYI not easy to find here in Canada there is like 1 store in all of Western Canada that stocks it.
- Sprayed on a flat black to cover it up, and it looks like new. I am very excited with the finish.

 

[misterpepper]

Be careful not to scratch that pretty wood floor.

 

[Wrighter]

Next was to rip into the rear diff and see what that looked like.
My plan was to go from drums to disc on the rear. So put in a call to Poser for his Rear disc brake kit, so sweet thanks Poser!

Also wanted to see what shape the lunchbox locker was in. oh, oh wait a minute? no lunchbox locker? PO gave me a little song and dance it looks like. So guess I'm ordering one from Aussie Locker!

New Locker installed

 

[cruiserjunkie]

Nice work glad you braved the cold all worth it when they are done

 

[Wrighter]

Next was to tackle the front end.
I was a little nervous about undertaking this... but this project was all about learning how every piece of my Toy works. Did a lot of reading on this subject here on mud and when you actually are doing it, its not that bad at all, and I learned a lot.

The porridge, soup, gumbo that came out of this axle made me real nervous that it had been neglected. Other then needing new seals everywhere all the parts were in good shape. Called up Cruiser Outfitters for a front end rebuild kit!

Oh ya and to my surprise... could it be, yes , yes a lunchbox locker. I guess I owe the PO a half apology. Lesson here, I almost bought a locker of kijiji but waited until I opened up the diff sure glad I did!

 

[Wrighter]

Be careful not to scratch that pretty wood floor.

Ya I new I was gonna get beaked about that floor! hahaha! PO idea, not sure why you would need that in a garage, but hey its Alberta where there is so much oil money, people are laying hardwood to park their cars on!

 

[Wrighter]

Tried my hand at welding, a couple practice beads on some old parts, I think I might be ready for the real thing. Gotta weld up a shock mount on the axle that the PO broke off. I'm sure the critics will come out when I post up some pics of the welds! but hey so far I have done every single thing to my rig, and learning some great skills a long the way.

 

[zags]

Tried my hand at welding, a couple practice beads on some old parts, I think I might be ready for the real thing. Gotta weld up a shock mount on the axle that the PO broke off. I'm sure the critics will come out when I post up some pics of the welds! but hey so far I have done every single thing to my rig, and learning some great skills a long the way.

The best way to see if your welding is up to snuff is to weld two pieces of scrap together then put it in a vice and try to break it apart. If the weld fails, keep practicing, If the steel fails before the weld does, you are good to go. Most beginning welders do not weld nearly hot enough to get good penetration.