Builds Moonshine - A Build Thread (2 Viewers)

[GLTHFJ60]

Based on everything I have read on your thread you have the know how to get it done. Once you jump off and tear down Moonshine, your committed. JUMP!

Thanks for the vote of confidence man. I hope so!

Ambitious project on that time frame!

Looks like a decent start.

You sure you don't want to buy a rust free California FJ60 and just swap in your good parts?

Just for instance, I am driving a 22 year old FJ62, that still has the factory black paint on all of the frame. And this truck lived outside since 1989.

For me it all comes down to two things; shipping from CA to the east coast and my personal attachment to this truck. I love Moonshine and I plan to build and modify her for quite some time. Besides, how else am I going to learn how to replace a frame if I keep buying new trucks!!

I am seriously looking forward to this project. My only concern involves securing a place to work should this take longer than expected. One of the disadvantages to not owning your own shop!


Thinking about the frame prep stage some more and I'm thinking that sandblasting may be the route to go just for the sake of time. In the process of obtaining quotes now.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

If still legal in your state, a "dip" followed by galvanizing might buy you some more time prior to rust out. I've seen blasting turn out well also, but then you still need to paint the frame

I know my brother lives in NC and they do salt the roads there too.

I understand what you mean about irrational attachment to trucks. Plus, an ugly rusty body can be wheeled with greater abandon.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

If still legal in your state, a "dip" followed by galvanizing might buy you some more time prior to rust out. I've seen blasting turn out well also, but then you still need to paint the frame

I know my brother lives in NC and they do salt the roads there too.

I understand what you mean about irrational attachment to trucks. Plus, an ugly rusty body can be wheeled with greater abandon.

I thought about dipping and galvanizing but I plan on more frame mods involving welding in the future. Welding on galvanized steel can be dangerous and besides, if you cut, weld or grind any bit of that coating off, you can't just spray bomb more on there.

They do put salt on the roads there? That's depressing. I can't imagine that it's the same amount as they do up here and besides, Fluid Film is cheap

I like being able to wheel without worrying about getting another dent. It'd be blasphemous to wheel and dent up a rust free rig, especially when I have a perfectly dented and rusty body to wheel.

 

[niceguysanti]

Johnny -

As you know I pressure blasted my frame when I built up my truck - I can tell you that it was a PITA to do. We purchased a Harbor Freight pressure blaster and hooked it up to our compressor. It took about 10 hours to do with our setup due to the frequent stops needed to build pressure. We ended up burning out the pressure regulator on the compressor as well. The Cleanup was also a PITA as sh*t went everywhere. When you figure all the time and materials involved it doesn't pay to do it on your own as a weekend warrior. If I had to do it all over again I would send it out to get blasted.
There is a guy in Rochelle Park NJ that does this, he charges anywhere from $450.00 - $650.00 to blast it, leaving it raw. He goes by Dr. Stripper 201-368-1700.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Johnny -

As you know I pressure blasted my frame when I built up my truck - I can tell you that it was a PITA to do. We purchased a Harbor Freight pressure blaster and hooked it up to our compressor. It took about 10 hours to do with our setup due to the frequent stops needed to build pressure. We ended up burning out the pressure regulator on the compressor as well. The Cleanup was also a PITA as sh*t went everywhere. When you figure all the time and materials involved it doesn't pay to do it on your own as a weekend warrior. If I had to do it all over again I would send it out to get blasted.
There is a guy in Rochelle Park NJ that does this, he charges anywhere from $450.00 - $650.00 to blast it, leaving it raw. He goes by Dr. Stripper 201-368-1700.

I just emailed one of the places up here in Rochester to get a quote. Told him that it was an automotive frame about 16 feet long and he quoted $275! Add priming for another $150 and I've got a rust free frame. That may be the way to go.

Thanks for the insight Santi! Definitely looking more and more like this is the route I'm going to go. Have the shop blast and prime then use Eastwood's chassis black for the inside and out.

 

[niceguysanti]

That is a great price for blasting, I would jump all over that. The priming was really easy you might want to save some $ there. The price for priming isn't that bad if you don't have a place to do it.

I used chassis black on the outside and their internal frame coating on the inside, check out the video on their internal frame coating page. 3 cans did the inside of the frame.

Internal Frame Coating w/Spray Nozzle

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That is a great price, I would jump all over that.

I used chassis black on the outside and their internal frame coating on the inside, check out the video on their internal frame coating page. 3 cans did the inside of the frame.

Internal Frame Coating w/Spray Nozzle

I watched that video a couple of nights ago and it looks like a great product. How many cans of the chassis black did it take to do the exterior of the frame?

 

[TLC Norway]

Wow, 325 for a rust free frame, sounds good!
And I do feel the attachment to rig-thing... Would not be the same with another cruiser!

Sent from my Samsung Tapatalk

 

[niceguysanti]

I bought a gallon of the chassis black and sprayed it with a gun, using two coats I went through about 1/2 gallon on the frame. I used the rest to paint the axles and some other parts that needed a top coat. I think that it would take about 5 cans for the first coat and about 4 for any subsequent coats

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Wow, 325 for a rust free frame, sounds good!
And I do feel the attachment to rig-thing... Would not be the same with another cruiser!

It's really hard to turn that down! I've got to verify that it is an accurate estimate first, then I'll likely drag the frame up to him.

I bought a gallon of the chassis black and sprayed it with a gun, using two coats I went through about 1/2 gallon on the frame. I used the rest to paint the axles and some other parts that needed a top coat. I think that it would take about 5 cans for the first coat and about 4 for any subsequent coats

Excellent. After blasting, did you prime or no? Eastwood lists their chassis black as applying fine over bare metal or a primer.

Looked through your build thread again and that finish is what I'm going for. Excellent work

 

[niceguysanti]

Thanks,
I went with two coats of self etching primer sprayed over bare metal, then I brushed on a phenolic resin rust encapsulating paint followed by two coats of chassis black.

one thing I forgot to mention-
I ran a water hose thru the inside of the frame to rinse out any dirt/mud/salt. I then blew air to dry it out. Once it was dry I hit it with the internal frame spray.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thanks,
I went with two coats of self etching primer sprayed over bare metal, then I brushed on a phenolic resin rust encapsulating paint followed by two coats of chassis black.

one thing I forgot to mention-
I ran a water hose thru the inside of the frame to rinse out any dirt/mud/salt. I then blew air to dry it out. Once it was dry I hit it with the internal frame spray.

Holy s*** that's a lot of paint! I'm not going to go that nuts but I will prime and then paint.

I am definitely going to clean out the inside before painting. Hopefully that's something that the sand blaster can get to a certain extent, but the rest will likely be your exact method.

 

[woytovich]

I am definitely going to clean out the inside before painting. Hopefully that's something that the sand blaster can get to a certain extent

Being that it will be a bare frame you can set it up at a 45 degree angle or so and flush out the frame rails. If you have a pressure washer, rig up a short "wand" at the end of the hose with holes all around (like a piece of pipe with holes drilled all around) then push that all the way through the frame, turn on the pressure and slowly pull it back through the frame. Use some Simple Green or other degreaser then rinse a few times... should clean off and flush out any crap back inside the frame rails. Tipping it up will let it drain and dry faster too. Gravity is your friend. (and be sure to wear a rain suit!)

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Being that it will be a bare frame you can set it up at a 45 degree angle or so and flush out the frame rails. If you have a pressure washer, rig up a short "wand" at the end of the hose with holes all around (like a piece of pipe with holes drilled all around) then push that all the way through the frame, turn on the pressure and slowly pull it back through the frame. Use some Simple Green or other degreaser then rinse a few times... should clean off and flush out any crap back inside the frame rails. Tipping it up will let it drain and dry faster too. Gravity is your friend. (and be sure to wear a rain suit!)

Good idea! I'll have to do that for sure.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I've been stressing over how I want to fabricate new set of mounts for the transmission cross member to the frame when I had a 'duh' moment. I'm going to cut them off of my 60 frame after I take it out similar to what Joe_E did in his frame off thread. That way I'll have the 60 cross member mounts as well as the 62 cross member mounts for when I go to build a better skidplate. Just have to make sure I have a welder on hand to burn them in when I do the swap.

Why didn't I think of that earlier?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I've been stressing over how I want to fabricate new set of mounts for the transmission cross member to the frame when I had a 'duh' moment. I'm going to cut them off of my 60 frame after I take it out similar to what Joe_E did in his frame off thread. That way I'll have the 60 cross member mounts as well as the 62 cross member mounts for when I go to build a better skidplate. Just have to make sure I have a welder on hand to burn them in when I do the swap.

Why didn't I think of that earlier?

Or.. do a custom mount/skid like Calicruiser documented here and Luke Porter did for me. It makes a far stronger mount and you can make it the way you want.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Or.. do a custom mount/skid like Calicruiser documented here and Luke Porter did for me. It makes a far stronger mount and you can make it the way you want.

That would be the best but I lack a critical piece of that puzzle, a tubing bender.

Some day down the road when I can afford a Toybox, the cross members will be redone again and hopefully by then, I will already own a tubing bender.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

On a completely unrelated note, finally got the right fittings for my PS line. Pressure side of the Toyota steering box is 16x1.5mm inverted flare, pressure fitting on my Saginaw is a 16x1.5mm o-ring fitting. Return side of the Toyota box is a 17x1.5mm inverted flare fitting.

I really like these AN-6 fittings.

 

[Ducks]

Wow! I just read your thread. Way to keep after it. Don't give up on getting a diesel swap in there. It can happen down the road. One of the next things I hope to do is convert to WVO probably using Plant Drive stuff. I might try to also make Rubithon in 2012. I need a toybox and I should probably be SOA, if I'm going to do it. We'll see. I've still got Alaska in my blood so that is where my money is going to right now. Good luck on everything.

Chad

 

[Joe_E]

I just emailed one of the places up here in Rochester to get a quote. Told him that it was an automotive frame about 16 feet long and he quoted $275! Add priming for another $150 and I've got a rust free frame. That may be the way to go.

Thanks for the insight Santi! Definitely looking more and more like this is the route I'm going to go. Have the shop blast and prime then use Eastwood's chassis black for the inside and out.

Check out the Extreme Chassis Black by Eastwood.
I have used at least 10 cans of the satin so far on miscellaneous parts. It is by far the nicest covering paint i have ever shot out of a rattle can.