Builds COS80's 1997 LX 450 Build Thread (2 Viewers)

[COS80]

Since I bought it, the gas tank has built up pressure as the tank empties and/or the temperature rises. Today I replaced the canister, which is original but was relocated under the floor by the PO, with an ACDelco 17113148. I like that the hoses are all up top. All I needed was a hose clamp for the larger "air" port and a couple longer screws (it's bigger in diameter). Very easy job. I hope it makes a difference.

 

[COS80]

Productive day! I drove up to the moguls on Mt. Herman and took pictures of the tires stuffed into the fenderwells, then came home and trimmed the plastic. I was amazed that almost all of the interference in the front was actually just the bolts. The fronts never made a sound, but I have observed that the trim pieces at the rear of the flare were getting clipped when backing out of the driveway. I expect there will be contact with the revealed metal, so I'm considering this Phase 1.

On the downside, my fuel economy, with the new tires, is down to 9.3mpg.

 

[COS80]

I am very happy with the new ACDelco canister. There is no hiss whatsoever when I open the gas tank. The surprise bonus fix is that my exhaust no longer reeks - it smells normal now. Maybe it was never the exhaust at all, and the stink came from the canister. On the downside, the pressure relieved from the tank made no improvement on the noisy fuel pump, so that'll be my next project.

With the new canister, less stink, bigger tires, and freshly-trimmed fenderwells, the trail ride today was super-satisfying! Here's a nice glamor shot some took of me.

 

[COS80]

I forgot about these after the upload issues last weekend. I wanted to share just how little needed to be trimmed to eliminate 99% of the interference to run 315s with a 2 inch lift. If I didn't say it before in this thread, my wheels are -25 offset.

Rear/rear of flare

Rear/front of flare

In the front, it's just the bolts and this trim piece at the very bottom of the flare. I'm not sure if this is a factory piece.

That's it! No big deal at all. It took me far longer to get the wheels stuffed to see where to cut than it did to cut. The trimming took no more than a half hour with an oscillating saw.

That's the whole trim pile.

 

[COS80]

I like my new negative battery terminal so much, I made a positive to match. It looks great, but now I'm just a dropped wrench away from an "event", so I'll need to devise some sort of cover(s). I thought about melting some thin thermoplastic sheet over each side with a heat gun... other ideas?

I made up some caps (finally). I was going to try to make a flat plate, like someone suggested, but that would have been much harder. The material was supposed to be clear, so you could see the purty copper, but it's not. I tried two clear materials: PET, which only curls up under the heat gun, and polycarbonate, which barely warped, so I stuck with this white stuff, which molds beautifully.

You can see I did a lousy job of trimming these, so I remade them and then I decided to paint them. This is the finished product.

 

[COS80]

Because I scored a free pair of sway bar mounts, and the extended ones that came on the truck are shot, I made a pair of 2" sway drops from 1/4" 2X2 structural tube for about $17. Captive bolts on the bar side, because now I have a welder. Two inches might be excessive, as the bar hangs below the radius arms now. If I started bashing the bar on rocks, I'll make shorter ones or buy real ones.

 

[COS80]

Last weekend, I replaced my noisy Walbro fuel pump with the actual, original pump the PO pulled out for the Walbro. That really quieted the interior down, and removes the worry about having a pump failure in the middle of nowhere.

This weekend, I replaced both u-joints on the front driveshaft, which solved a clunk in the front end, but not that godforsaken squeak!

The faulty u-joint fought me, but I won.

 

[COS80]

This weekend I replaced/upgraded my rear sway bar links with Landtank HDs, because whatever was in there was hammered. The bushings were so smashed, there was 1/4" vertical play on the DS, and the PS was cracked with a bent base . The new ones weight twice that of the old ones. I'm glad I got to them before they broke on me.

EDIT: Wow, what a difference! I wish I'd realized all the clinking and clanking in my suspension could be silenced for $100 a lot sooner. Between this and solving the rattle in the hatch, this thing is now riding like a Cadillac on the streets.

 

[COS80]

Welp... back to the drawing board....

Anyone have a recommendation for a material (clear, preferably)?

 

[COS80]

Those were a real pain to remove. They completely liquefied.

 

[COS80]

My truck arrived with a pretty hammered roof. The factory rack was removed for the Prinsu, and three of the four oval contact areas had both failing paint and bondo, with some light rust. As the original intent for the truck was a full Raptor job (which I aborted when I saw how nice it actually was), I kept the plan to Raptor the roof. Splitting the job seemed like a good way to perfect the method where it's not so noticeable, should I c*ck it up.

A couple months ago, while waxing the paint, I discovered four little rust bubbles forming at the top edge of the windshield gasket. When I peeled that back, it looked bad, so windshield rust repair and roof paint became one project, and next on the docket. This is, by leaps and bounds, the biggest bodywork project I've ever undertaken, so if anybody sees mistakes, please feel free to offer your suggestions for improvement.

I began by having the windshield removed at a local shop. They had it done in eight minutes and stored the windshield for me. This is what I found - thankfully, not terrible. There's not a lick of sealant on the pinch weld (thanks, major windshield company with the big ad budget).

I then drove it - sans windshield - 40 minutes to my friend's shop (he has 12' doors; mine are just 8'). It was unpleasant. I had another friend follow me in my pickup with basically all of my tools.

WEEKEND ONE

I started with the roof, removing the Stupid Factory Roof Rack Rails (SFR^3), and immediately found my first unexpected challenge, with about half of the nutserts spinning on rusted screws. I drilled the heads off, but the plastic ends still wouldn't come out, and I hadn't brought adequate cutting tools, so I was only able to remove three of the four SFR^3 on Day 1.

I removed the Wonder Tape under the SFR^3s in many stages of scraping and soaking with 3M adhesive remover, finishing up with a 3M adhesive eraser wheel. At some point, I realized the headliner needed to be dropped, so that got added to the docket, and it was at that point that I discovered that the PO had added insulation to the entire underside of the roof. I also found more rust under the mounts for the rear wing-thing, so I removed all the nutserts and will replace them to remount the wing-thing.

I was concerned that the holes from the factory roof rack were just Bondoed shut, so I was relieved to find that they were indeed welded. These still need some more sanding, and then I'll finish with a glaze before priming.

I hauled another load of tools out on Day 2. I hacksawed off the plastic ends on the fourth SFR^3 to free it, and then moved on to the nutserts. All but two ended up trapped in the body, either in a support rail or the insulation.

With those gone, it was time to weld the holes shut. I'm grateful that my new welder has a 120V adapter. It took me a bit to get my settings and technique right, but they're shut. I'll finish these with a glaze before priming.

Next weekend, I'll finish all the roof prep, tape off and address the rust around the windshield, and with any luck, have both areas ready for prime and paint.

 

[COS80]

I just got this from @TK470

 

[COS80]

Son of a monkey! Rust hole!

It looks like it has been there a long time, cleaned up previously and covered up with some kind of silicone or something. As of now, I intend to weld it shut, unless somebody has a better idea. Thankfully, it's not actually in the windshield frame - it's under the cowl.