My 1983 SR5 Long Bed Build.

[dngspot]

I worked on the radiator and fan today. The fan took a little bit of cutting, again it is a 1995 Taurus 3.6L fan, and it is a bit thick. It was a junkyard find for $50.00. I ended up cutting about an inch away from the mounting surface. The thing is, the mounting surface is not even, one side is about 3/4 to an inch higher than the rest of the mounting surface. I needed an even surface so I used an adjustable square and traced around the mounting surface until I met at the high spots. Then I used a die grinder with a cut off wheel and slowly cut on the line. When I finished I had a smooth flat surface. What is left make brackets to fasten the fan to the radiator and apply weather stripping to the mounting surface.
I have given thought to the Haden 2 fan 2 speed controller but, let that go when I found the DCC unit. It makes better sense the way it ramps up the fan speed instead of a relay switching on and pulling a high amp draw from the system. I ordered the DCC unit today now I wait 10 business days before it arrives. This is okay I have other things to do before i really need it.

The stuff that I removed.

The fit on the radiator. The radiator is a standard unit that has been modified into a 4 core radiator. The out side measurements are the same as a stock radiator, it is just thicker.

 

[85+92]

looks awesome but I would definetly look into a cheap (or build) a oil catch can and run hoses to the 2 crank vent holes then run 1 hose to the intake

itll help keep the motor clean and help keep water out of the motor, and toyota 4cylinders always seem to run better when vented back into the intake

 

[dngspot]

I have a header evac kit I might install to take care of the crank case vent. I don't care for oil catch cans. I was going to take the front vent to another air filter I have, but plan on running it this way as I dial in the truck. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I made 4 brackets for the fan. Not a lot just bent 1 inch stock. The holes are drilled to 1/4.

I mounted the brackets then drilled the holes, using the brackets holes as guides. The bolts in the shroud are 1/4 x 1, the nuts are nylocks and 1/4 washers are used. I lifted the fan away from the radiator because my big old hands will not fit in the fan to hold a wrench on the nylocks. I tightened the nylocks just enough that the brackets would move but stay in place when removed. I placed the fan on the radiator and installed the mounting screws. If this was the final mount I would then remove the fan and tighten the nylocks, locking the brackets in place. Now if the fan had to be removed the bolts at the radiator are all the needs to be removed and the fan is out, to reinstall just put the bolts back in and no need to fiddle with the brackets. To bend the brackets I used a simple vise and a hammer.

After this pic the fan was removed then the brackets were removed from the fan. The brackets are hanging over the back porch drying after paint.

 

[85+92]

I have a header evac kit I might install to take care of the crank case vent.

haha racecar!!!

thatd work too, I just like to help with experience as I dont care how new a motor is on the inside those filters will still cause un-needed slime

 

[JLH911]

I have been one busy guy, but on both of our other vehicles. My wife has a PT Cruiser that we will be unloading next year. It has 33,000 miles on it and so far it has taken a cylinder head, power steering pump, intake manifold gaskets and lower a-arm bushings. Yesterday I spent time removing an air conditioner line that was leaking. I hate to think what that thing is going to be like when it sees 75,000 miles.

As for the Toyota, I had some time this morning to begun disassembly of the front axle. I managed removing the lockouts, hubs, birfields, and knuckles. I have not removed the third member and will do this after I get things cleaned up. I intend to remove unneeded brackets from the axle also. Earlier this week I took the IFS hubs to work, I striped and sandblasted them.
All of the above mentioned stuff is in the back of my truck. I will take it to work and use the wash cabinet to clean them.

The axle.

The parts.

I'm enjoying watching this build...

btw, the blue cloth like material you have your parts on..where do you find it? recently, I got a p/s pump for my d.d. that came wrapped in it and I thought it would be nice to have a roll of this around.

 

[dngspot]

The blue stuff came from work. It comes in blankets. I usually cut them in half and put them in my tool box, they are Cat's version of a fender cover. We use them to cover motors, final drives, transmissions and most any other thing that needs to be protected from contamination.

85+92
I do appreciate your input. Again the front vent will probably be incorporated into a snorkel/filter setup I am working on. The filters are for the most part temporary, until the truck is tuned. I have changed so much to the way it power band, cooling capacity, steering, ride and braking, that this truck will not be seeing anything wet soon after it is finished.

 

[dngspot]

I had intended to get more done this weekend but, my computer crashed and I had to tend to that.

What I did do, is built the replacement panel for the hole in my cab. It still needs to be formed to the floor but I will do this as I am tacking it in place. I bent the side to attach to the rocker panel and then bent it to roughly fit the underside of the cab. I cut the material so there is a 1/2 inch of material that is over lapping the opening. This should give a little more structure for the cab mount. The material is 18 gauge.

Top view.

Bottom.

I built one of the cab mounts and discovered why you measure first then build. I did copy the overall dimensions but, used 4 inch wide stock for the top and side. The problem is the frame mount that this thing sits on widens where it attaches to the frame. The gussets hits near the frame. I have plenty of material for this job, so this one will become a tire chuck and a new one will be built with shorter gussets. The gussets will be welded to the outside edges of the 4 inch stock, this should clear the frame mount. The 4 inch stock is 3/8 inch thick. The gussets are 1.5 X .25 stock. When the cab plate has been installed I will weld the cab mount to the cab all around the out side diameter so no water will get between the cab and the mount.

Here is the chuck, it should give and idea what I am talking about.

Top view.

Bottom.

 

[dngspot]

Today I welded in the floor pan plate. It was not that hard, actually cleaning off the under coat was the most time consuming. I used scrap wood to push the plate into the uneven spaces, and then tacked the plate. I tacked the plate at 1/2 inch spacing. The plate was 18 gauge the floor is definitely thinner, possibly 20 gauge. I then used 3M Seam Sealer to close up any gaps. I put it on both in the cab and the under side. It looks sloppy but, I really do not care because I am going to put Duplicolor Bed Liner on the floor board and use it as an under coat.

Cab shot

Under side

I got new material for the cab mount. I did work on it also but, did not finish. My plasma cutter is down, man I forgot what a mess a torch makes. There is a long angle cut that is made on the gussets and I do not want to use a torch to do that cut. Yea, I am spoiled, those of you who have to cut and grind and grind and grind...

 

[4G63 POWER]

Awesome work! Subscribed!

 

[dngspot]

Thank you for the kind words.

While I wait for my plasma cutter to get done, I thought I would work on the brake lines. I did not get any pics of the lines on the truck, but believe me they looked like a bunch of wet noodles. Honestly they were bugging the crap out of me and they had to be replaced. I do have pics after I cut the tube nuts off of them.

Front

Rear

They were not bent during or after removal. This is a result of 28 years of service and a week attempt of fitting them to the new brakes.
The fix was about 7 feet of 3/16 brake tube, a tube bender and a double flaring kit. I got the 3/16 line because it was cheaper than the 4mm stuff and it is close enough so the stock metric nuts will fit.

Rear

Front. Sorry for the pic quality

I also did the 2 lbs residual valve. All I had before was a short piece of tubing with a 3/16 tube nut and a metric tube nut to the flexible line. I did not use the bracket because the flex line would not fit in the hole. I had to use a burr bit and remove material so the bracket would accept the flexible line. Then I made a longer tube and bent it to fit.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Hey DNGSpot,
I'm curious about the shifter setup you used for your rearmost T-case. I remember reading across a bit about it earlier, but for the life of me, I can't find it again. Or maybe my brain's just jumbling together two different memories of threads.

 

[dngspot]

Just TG's twin shifter

 

[dngspot]

I have put the build aside until I get heat in the shop. I bought a used 40000 BTU heater. This weekend I installed the gas lines hung the heater.

I got one of these this week though, now I can build my diffs at home.

If you have a press how could you live with out one of these? If you can't make it out it is a press brake.

It is made from scratch metal I had and the die is part of a cutting edge on a Cat 950G loader bucket. The die is one inch thick and from very hard tempered material. Under the 2 X .25 inch angle are two .75 inch round stock. Under the stock are two 1.5 X .25 angle that are welded together to form a channel. Then the base is 1/2 inch plate that I cut to 5 X 21 inches.
I think I could sharpen the die and get a little tighter radius. The material in front, is .25 X 1.5 stock. To get 90 degrees I took it down and stopped when the stock met the cradle, to get a bit more of a bend I took the press to 5 ton and that seem to be the tightest angle.
I intend to use this to form the front bumper and wench plate.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Excellent work on the press brake. I intend to buy a kit to make one for my 20t press.

 

[Richmondo]

Awesome work with the press brake and the truck. I saw that Monster press in the last OTC flyer one of our tool pimps dropped off. I definitely won't be buying one anytime soon seeing how I don't have my own shop let alone a garage but I'd like to hear what your impressions are of it down the road. Just out of curiosity.

 

[dngspot]

Thanks guys.



So far that press is working well. I like that it is bult like a press should be. It has a seperate pump from the ram, not a bottle jack. It also has a guage that reads tunage and the ram moves to the right and left. I bought the thing in a box. After putting it together it and filling the resivoir, it took forever to blead. It has worked great since.

 

[dngspot]

I spent most if the day yesterday with it in-laws, but managed to get some stuff done. Nothing related to the build but will help with it.

Have you ever used a piece of s*** that frustrated you to the point, you don't care how much a new tool is, you are going to get one that works? Enter the new vise.

The old vise was a gift from the father in law. He meant well, I guess. I will build a receiver mount for the back of the truck and use the old vise for that.

I also modified the press vise and installed a couple of springs. The die had to be removed to remove the piece that was bent, I had no way to hold it up when finished bending.

This morning I did work on the cab mount for the left side.
Here is the completed mount.

I lowered the cab and found the location of the mount, then tacked in place. I continued to make long tacks around the sides, and then covered all seams with seam sealer.

 

[TRoss]

Awesome build, been watchin' for a while now.
Might consider incorporating a short flex line from the rear calipers to the hard line.. mainly to make accessibility to the axles, rotors etc. a little easier.
You prolly won't like the two valve cover breather setup... been there done that... hose it to the intake or carb or both, it'll run better and won't be so smelly.

Totally diggin the press break! Jealous!!

Keep up the great work!!

 

[dngspot]

I have taken the brake lines apart after building them, they flex enough to get the calipers off. If only the idea was up front, I most likely would have done that.

The double breathers are temporary, I have a header evac kit, I am thinking of using.

Thanks for the complements.

Not much new just cleaned the driver side floor. That sound deadening sucks to say the least. Dry ice and a dead blow helped take it off in large pieces. After that was done I found the rust. Then cut around it and had a hole. This time the cab mount was not rusted as bad as the passenger side. I am going to make another cab mount for that side, anyhow. The rear corners will need some attention also.

What I started with.

What I ended with.

What I removed.


[

The rest of the rust that was not removed in the pics is surface rust. It will be treated with POR-15.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Looks like the floor in mine. Window was busted out and it sat outside for a while. I'm just going to cut out the whole floor pan in front of where the seat is mounted and make a new one. There's too much to cut out. Looking good tho.

Por15 is awesome. We just coated the rear part of my frame with the Por15 rust sealer. Works great.