Builds 1978 Restoration (the best I can...)

[mikedickbek]

Thanks guys!

Here are the pics after the silver por. In the last one, you can see the toilet brush I used to get in the frame rails.

 

[mikedickbek]

Gloves Shmloves

 

[Aussie]

Just finished reading ALL the threads.
Great job, she's coming along fine. I may have missed it but what color are you going to paint her?;p

 

[apeterson]

give us a report when you finally get that off your hands... I am betting a week!!

 

[mikedickbek]

Hey Aussie, Thanks. I was planning on painting it the original olive brown, but due to money being a little tight, I'm going to rattle can some flat cammo green on.


Yeah, when I painted the front axle with this it took about that long. Oh well. It'll give me something to do at work (lots of picking).

 

[LakeNorman_FJ40]

Looks good. Keep up the good work.

Yep, that POR is one there for at least a week. Use some surgical gloves and then the real thick chemical resistant gloves on top of those to prevent the POR from getting on your hands. Unless you wear a plastic painter's suit, you'll get it on your arms, legs, face too. Don't ask how I know...

 

[mikedickbek]

Silver por's almost all off my hands, but today I put on the chassis Black! Looks awesome.

Don't worry, I used gloves this time...

 

[apeterson]

looks great!!

 

[mikedickbek]

With never having seen my spark plugs I just figured I'd need to replace them. Who knows when the po did it. I decided to leave in the old ones while I painted so I wouldn't have to mess with blocking off the holes in the block. I'm glad I took this route because this is what I found when I removed the spark plugs this morning (pic 1 and 2). I measured the gap and some weren't even .020. I bought some NGK's from Napa yesterday (pn: BPR5EY-11) and gapped them to .055 because of my H.E.I. (pic 3).
I'm assuming this is going to make a world of difference when I get her running again. Before it was very hesitant when speeding up.

 

[mikedickbek]

I also got a couple coats of paint on the headers. I used rust-oleum high heat that says it's good for wood stoves and up to 1200 degrees, but i'm not getting my hopes up. I'm sure it'll burn off quick when i'm back on the roads, but as long as it looks good now, that's all I care about

 

[mikedickbek]

Finally got more done... the front end.
Put the tires on today. yes, another dangerous balancing act putting them on by myself with a hi-lift jack. Oh well, I didn't drop the truck or kill myself.
I went to a local spring place for the u-bolts. They bent them while I waited and the price was reasonable. Thanks Hawaii Spring.
Re-building the knuckles was interesting. Took longer than I thought it would. Turned out good though. Wouldn't have been able to do it without searching through this site. Thanks guys.
First Pic: How I managed to put in the spring pin. I used a ratchet strap to lift the spring and axle and pushed and pulled till it was all lined up. Used Grade 8 bolts.
Second pic: Filling the knuckle with grease.
Third pic: I just love laying out new parts!

 

[mikedickbek]

Now here are a couple pics of the front end on wheels. Didn't buy new ones. I'll have to do a lot of saving up for that.
It feels like I got a lot done, even though it was just putting on the tires. It feels a lot closer to being done!
Now I just have to do the rear end!

 

[Moe R]

Looking Great!! One day at a time.

 

[atoyot]

I know vertually nothing about cars and trucks, so I think this is going to be a GREAT learning experience for me. So here goes nothing!

I think you need to give yourself a little more credit. You know more than the average joe! Awesome build thread. I'm surprised you didn't go SOA while you had it all apart. Congratulations on the baby boy and the awesome cruiser!

I missed it, what kind of springs are those?

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Great job man! It's getting there.

TK

 

[mikedickbek]

I think you need to give yourself a little more credit. You know more than the average joe! Awesome build thread. I'm surprised you didn't go SOA while you had it all apart. Congratulations on the baby boy and the awesome cruiser!

I missed it, what kind of springs are those?

Yeah, well when I started, I was really hurting. If it weren't for this forum, I wouldn't have thought about trying this.

As for the springs, they're rough country. I don't know what size though. They were on the truck when I bought it and the po didn't say anything about them. When I was taking it apart I saw the yellow paint saying 'rough country' on the top covered in dirt and grime. I emailed the company to see what size they were and the measurements he sent back didn't match what I have. If I had to guess, I'd guess they're 2.5" lift springs that have sagged a bit.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[TLCHopII]

Look'n real good Mike!
Wanna do my knuckles when your pau?
What's next? besides the rear axle (it should be perty staight forward unless your doing mods there?)?

 

[mikedickbek]

Hey Dave,
Rear Axle - clean, paint, put back together
Electrical - run rear lights and everything I can with body off
Body - Grind off those stupid body lift chuncks that the po put on, paint underneath and engine compt.
Body - install with new body mounts, do a little body filling (bondo), paint
Electrical - re-intall all electrical
Interior - put it all back in
Bumpers - put them back on. Planning on removing the big front bumper rails and just having the standard looking front end.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot, but that's the plan as of now.

I'd be happy to do your knuckles!! Now that I've got it down that is...

 

[JR FJ40]

For someone who thinks they know next to nothing your REALLY KICKIN ASS!!! I just joined here about a week ago and am having a blast reading all the threads. This is one of the best yet. I can't wait to see whats next. Congrats on having the Guts to make it happen.

 

[TLCHopII]

Hey Dave,
Rear Axle - clean, paint, put back together
Electrical - run rear lights and everything I can with body off
Body - Grind off those stupid body lift chuncks that the po put on, paint underneath and engine compt.
Body - install with new body mounts, do a little body filling (bondo), paint
Electrical - re-intall all electrical
Interior - put it all back in
Bumpers - put them back on. Planning on removing the big front bumper rails and just having the standard looking front end.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot, but that's the plan as of now.

I'd be happy to do your knuckles!! Now that I've got it down that is...

Shoots: I have a bit of 2"x6"x1/4" steel box tube...How bout trade: When we both have more time; one front, air resevoir bumper made to order for a knuckle job ( the TLC kind. LOL) I will of course supply the parts. LMK.

About to finish this project and will be rejoining the ranks of the "standard" work day. so after a bit of rest lmk if you need help.