Biodiesel Piggie #2 Buildup (was Sad Sad day...)

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GLTHFJ60 said:
Aside from the fact that brewing biodiesel is cheaper, it's just too cool. It is it's own hobby and all hobbies cost money, so the fact that it actually pays for itself is a bonus. If one got into producing massive quantities of biodiesel, then one could sell it and turn a profit!

The only problem with running biodiesel is that it does not have the dye in it like regular diesel does. I've heard that this dye signifies the road tax that is charged on the fuel, and it differentiates between "construction diesel" and "road diesel." Has anyone ever heard of being caught for this, or of this even being a problem?
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actually regular diesel doesn ot have dye in it. I know cosmetically at least it doesn't.. It is the off road diesel that is dyed red, for use in farms and tractors and equipement and anything that is not on the highway.. They do this so if you are caught running any in your tank, even after a few tanks, they can still put in their little dye tester and see. The fine is huge, something like $10G. Off Road is really dyed a strong red, clearly visable. It's also something like $.50 cheaper a gallon. So no problem there really IMO..
 
Gotcha. Didnt't realize that I had it backwards. Either way, awesome setup.
 
Wow man. Just came across your thread .

Looks like it is all coming along nicely, going to have to keep watching this one, esp after i am done with mine. I will probably really never be done, but atleast have it on the road.

Keep it up.
 
Not really a whole lot to report unfortunately. I have had a few days here and there but mostly have been working on side projects so I haven't had a lot of time to get a lot of work done on the cruiser.. Started cutting off body mounts off the 80 frame.. Also started tearing into the 55 a little bit more...


One project I have been sidetracked with is a headgasket on this 80.. I got the FZJ80 in parcial trade for a headgasket job on the owner's 92 FJ80.. I never thought a pushrod / 2F style engine could take so long to do a headgasket job on but there is a lot of EFI and fuel injecting equipment on it. I think it took about 6 hours total to tear down.. The head was also badly damaged so I hope it yields more power for him, all new exhaust valves, exhuast valve seats etc... About nearly $400 in head work on it alone :eek: not to mention the new gaskets etc..
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My buddy Damon cutting off the body mounts on the 80 series frame... Again it is pretty clean but I think if I stick with a strong "build this absolutely right" thought then I will be miles ahead.. And even though the frame is pretty clean, both it and especially the rear axle have a lot of surface rust on them. So I think I am going to tear it down completely as well unfortunately and have the frame sand blasted as well. The idea is "I want this thing to last 20 years" so I guess might as well.. I have been reading Noah's excellent thread about sandblasting in the 40/55 section a lot which has influenced this decision considerably as well.. So I hope its not too much more to have the frame and rear axle blasted, probably will not be.. I think I am probably going to spray epoxy primer and paint myself with a cheapo home depot paint gun I have...
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drained the fuel out of the gas tank.. My plan is to use a custom gas tank designed for biofuels, one with a heater and one with out. This is not necessary but a nice addition if I want to run higher blends in some of the times we have been out in the spring. Even in Moab they get some snow there in the winter and I had some gelling issues even at 50-60% blends. So if I can preempively build a tank with heating to run high blends, much like a WVO system, then I think I will be a happy camper :)


Here you can see the color of the fuel. Bright redish/brown. Just like my last 55 that had been sitting since '84 or so. I think this pig has actually been sitting around a long time (no idea though). My guess is since the late 80's? The fuel is possibly one of the worst stenches ever, it literally brings out an almost immediate headache. We did some experiementing and it is still quite flammable as well :)
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Finally got quite a bit done on the 55 in terms of teardown. Only got a few photos before the battery ran out though. Hoping to do some more teardown (an hour or two) this afternoon as well, hopefully get the fenders and front clip and dash torn down shortly.. I came up with a neat little mechanism for getting though "been on for a long time) nuts and bolts. Again luckily there is almost no rust with exception of the dash from the lack of a windshield there.. So almost everything is coming off easily minus a few bolts here and there that shouldn't be too hard to get out..

Also I am pyched because the lock even came with the original OEM key.. Even though I can't get it to work in the doors yet but have only given it a halfass try so far.. I was thinking I would replace the door locks with something more modern but these actually seem to be working pretty well so far..
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Nice job brudda,
I have been side tracked on my build too, traking down problems on the other 80.

So have you figured out what you are going to coat your frame in? I have been using rust bullet but I think POR is a better product. On a side note, its much more fun tearing stuff apart. Its gonna be a long time putting it all back together, well at least on my end anyway..

Good luck brotha...
-Al
 
Andre

As i remember the PO before me had replaced all of the inner door mechanics with
new NOS parts. Thats why things are so tight were the doors are concerned. When
i got the truck i could not find any keys that went with the locks for the doors, but i
do know the ignition keys will not work on the doors. That gas that came out of the
tank i bet would suck the chrome off a 59 Cadillac. Just a little input for ya if you
were wondering....

-Jim
 
dieselcruiserhead said:
...Also I am pyched because the lock even came with the original OEM key.. Even though I can't get it to work in the doors yet but have only given it a halfass try so far.. I was thinking I would replace the door locks with something more modern but these actually seem to be working pretty well so far..
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If you can't get the key to work, bring over one of your lock cylinders, I can cut a key to match (bring the Dr. front cyldiner, it should have the code on it). I still have the OEM keys for my 72' :cool:
 
Too cool thanks Jim and Kurt.. Kurt will definetely take you up on that. On another good note the OEM keys work in the ignition regardless. I still need to pickup the funky roof cut-off 55 as well so that might have a decent lock setup too.. Jim very good to know about the lock setups and mechanisms. Makes sense they are all very tight. Also he removed the doors and put in new bolts on one side at least so that all makes sense. Neaato.. :)
 
Not much more to report, I did not get a chance to do any more work to it yesterday and I will be swamped for the next couple days getting that head back on that FJ80 before this weekend for our service project which the owner wants to take it on... But I did take the 80 to the wreckers yesterday. I loaded it up with every piece of scrap steel I have been saving over the last two years and ended up getting about $75 for it at $80 / a ton... So I guess I had about 2000 lbs there. I figure maybe 1000K lbs was the truck body.. Anyway, they had this funky crane deal that was HUGE. The photos do not do it justice, it had a reach of 80 feet easily? You can see by comparing the size of the cutup body to the crane... I thought it would be a PITA to get the body off the trailer but he literally reached down, scooped THROUGH the roof, and grabbed the whole body and everything in it (all sorts of junk) by the firewall. Then put it on the top of a pile of crap about 30 feet tall maybe. Anyway, pretty cool :) Also one less pile o' crap in the yard now which will definetely make my land lord happy :)
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Also I stopped by a sand blasters that I had called a month or two ago to pickup some sand for a little cheapie Harbor Freight hand held deal I picked up... I bought some sand at home depot but it will not move through this unit. It is for light touchup stuff mostly I figure.. They gave me a pile of the copper-type stuff they use for free, maybe about 30 or 40 lbs or so.. So I am pretty psyched about this. Also this sandblasting place was really really funky. They lived in a trailer maybe 20-30 feet from the sand blasting chips and it was a family operation and the guy's mom was frying up some really nasty looking fish in a pile of oil.. And it showed that this was the kind of food she regularly ate.. But I asked them if I could see a body they have done and it was a 40's-something Ford and it looked pretty good I thought.. I guess they have done a lot of bodies and the sand they use is pretty universal.. They also quoted me $300 for EVERYTHING which I though was pretty cool. The body, fenders, the frame, the rear axle etc.. So I think I am going to go this route... But again I might also go to a place with insurance and such where they have a guarantee against pitting and body warpage if possible...

Also Lowride Al sorry I forgot your question.. Really good question on the frame. I am not too worried about rust but it appears the frame on the 80 was powder coated from the factory so again it looks great.. So I am thinking after all frame mods, perhaps powder coat it again. It really did such a good job of preservation, especially versus the rear axle that looks like crap, surface rust wise.. I have also heard of good results by doing an good epoxy-primer then a cool couple of coats on top of that of just a good industrial black. This is cool because I can do it myself. But I am thinking will have the interior of the truck powder coated so why not just do the frame as well... ? Of course I need to make all the frame mods first but that is what I was thinking :)

Anyway here are some photos of the sand. Guy in the tatoos was a really nice guy, ended up giving me the sand for free. Clearly he has enough though :)
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Hey I only got 30 bucks for my hacked up 80!

anywho, My frame is in great shape as well and I am not wild about welding new body mounts to the frame becuase I am almost positive it is going to melt the powder coat off the inside of the frame. I am like you and am building this thing to be rust free for a very long time. I am not sure what I am going to do about it yet....i think it is going to call for some more blue skying....
 
dieselcruiserhead said:
They also quoted me $300 for EVERYTHING which I though was pretty cool. The body, fenders, the frame, the rear axle etc.. So I think I am going to go this route...
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Wow! that is a great deal Andre! Damn, Cali is so freakin expensive! the guy I spoke with quoted me $900 to do just my frame sandblasted and the body blasted and primer epoxy coated. This only includes the bare body, no doors, etc and blasting the frame, no primer on the frame. Seems a little excessive to me? I am still on the fence what I am going to do with the sandblasting thing. I may just try to clean things up with a wire wheel here and there. the other place I called said they would do it but would not guarantee that they wouldn't blow through the metal or warp panels, great! :(

Anyhow, project looks great, I will post up a build thread here soon once I am not frustrated any longer. :)

Noah
 
lowtideride said:
Hey I only got 30 bucks for my hacked up 80!

anywho, My frame is in great shape as well and I am not wild about welding new body mounts to the frame becuase I am almost positive it is going to melt the powder coat off the inside of the frame. I am like you and am building this thing to be rust free for a very long time. I am not sure what I am going to do about it yet....i think it is going to call for some more blue skying....
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Yes I am in the same boat.. I started up a trhead in general 40/55 tech about good axle and (possibly) frame paint for it.. Got some pretty good responses..

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=101706

I think the plan for me is sandblast the frame and rear axle, then use marine clean and metal prep POR products. Then I think ZeroRust then possibly a Hammerite over that brushed on per Jason Mace's advice.. I posted up prices at least what they are here..

In Salt Lake City the best is AutoBody Supply that also carries POR-15 products. Here are cost breakdowns of different products...

Black Gallon ZeroRust $58.50 Gallon
Hammerite Black $58.50 Gallon
POR Metal Ready Quart $14.39
POR Marine Clean $11.11 Quart
POR-15 Black ~$120.00 Gallon
POR-15 Chassis Black (used over POR-15 for UV protection) $44.44 quart

So conclusion is POR-15 products are expensive! I don't mind shelling for prep materials but I think what I will do is sandblast, ZeroRust both a gallon probably brushed on and a couple spray cans for touch up, then a gallon of black Hammerite is what I am thinking, which is not affected by UV. Hammerite is like Mace says super heavy duty and super strong and I like the gallon price.. And that I can grind it down and touch up as needed... I think I might do this for both axles and frame??

Thoughts? Andre
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I am curious if anyone in this section has any advice about this too.. I am all ears of course :)
 
notagp_afj55 said:
Andre

How solid did you say the sheet metal was? I am curious to know if it is as good
as i thought it was, expecially in the rear corners. Just thought i find out

-Jim
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When I get closer belive me I will post pics.. Again the only real bad section on really the whole body is that back left corner.. Again I will be cutting most of that out so I think I should be OK.

Also on this late '69 model, there is a tray on the drivers inner wheel well for a battery that my '71 did not have.. So that second battery tray I bought will come in perfect for the dual batteries.. So pretty cool about that. I am really pysched again with the body.. The coloration got me a little down at first but again I am very happy Jim and again I appreciate it.. Andre
 
redcorn said:
How was the fish Andre?
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Took me a white to remember, you mean the seafood we were looking for in Portland? We went with Guyute and his wife Teresa to Vertiable Quandry, at their advice, which was just awesome (thanks again guys).. We have a lot of really nice restaurants here and are kind of spoiled with very good food on a regular basis (and of course we pay for it) but the VQ was literally one of the best restaurants I have been too.. Just awesome, and of course Carrie was very happy too... Is this what you were talking about? Andre
 
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