- Thread starter
- #41
My "Rattle-can Resto," or How I Spent My Summer (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter cruiser enthuiser
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
i a have a compressor sprayer and some auto paint let me know when you want to paint your rig i would have no problem helping you out ..... here is a couple of pics of my rigs i have painted
- Thread starter
- #43
Update Time
Hey guys, been a while since I've updated. Been out of town a little, running around a lot and there's never enough time for the cruiser (at least according to me, not my
). I've been chipping away tho and thought I should share some pics. It's getting damn close now and I'm hoping to have it back on the road after this weekend.
Sorry for the photo quality of some of the pics...my camera has been dying slowly over the last several weeks and is now all but useless. I broke out the back-up camera today - hopefully the images come out
.
Following is a couple of that roll cage from earlier. It turns out the roll bar was a pretty decent aftermarket bar, I think made by Smittybilt? After cutting of the PO's lousy addition it looked pretty good so I cleaned it up and am keeping it until such time as I spring for a better one.
Hey guys, been a while since I've updated. Been out of town a little, running around a lot and there's never enough time for the cruiser (at least according to me, not my
). I've been chipping away tho and thought I should share some pics. It's getting damn close now and I'm hoping to have it back on the road after this weekend.Sorry for the photo quality of some of the pics...my camera has been dying slowly over the last several weeks and is now all but useless. I broke out the back-up camera today - hopefully the images come out
.Following is a couple of that roll cage from earlier. It turns out the roll bar was a pretty decent aftermarket bar, I think made by Smittybilt? After cutting of the PO's lousy addition it looked pretty good so I cleaned it up and am keeping it until such time as I spring for a better one.
- Thread starter
- #44
I've collected a few parts from some great guys here on Mud. It's amazing how much stuff has gone missing off this rig over the years. Here's a couple pics of a new (to me) stock spare tire carrier and running boards. A little work with the wire wheel, a bit of sand-blasting on the small parts and they'll be like new.
- Thread starter
- #45
Couple more of spare tire carrier and running boards - sorry about the blur.
- Thread starter
- #46
Also pulled some of the dash pieces, glove box door, ash tray, etc. Sand blasted them (not pictured) and awaiting paint. Thinking I might buy this paint from JTO to do them and a few other bits. And if you were wondering, I did paint the interior. Here's a blurry shot of the dash in primer.
- Thread starter
- #47
I've encountered a couple of problems along the way. When trying to pull the side louvre for paint I broke the heads of two of the screws. Unfortunately, I did exactly the thing you're not supposed to: I tried to get 'em with an "easy out." It broke off on the first screw. As if that wasn't bad enough I tried the same thing on the second screw and guess what? It broke too! 
I've been working around it for now.
Also, my windshield hinge pin gave up the ghost when I folded it down. It was just too rusted in there to move. Searching for a solution - maybe just a new set of used hinges? New ones are ridiculously expensive.
I've been working around it for now.Also, my windshield hinge pin gave up the ghost when I folded it down. It was just too rusted in there to move. Searching for a solution - maybe just a new set of used hinges? New ones are ridiculously expensive.
- Thread starter
- #48
I was very happy the day my new (to me) bezel arrived in the mail, purchased from a fellow mudder. It had some rust pitting but otherwise a very solid unit. Wire wheeled, sand blasted, lightly skimmed with Bondo.
To get it on I had to remove the Warn winch. That was fun. The PO had a welder and he wasn't afraid to use it. The Warn works great but I'm going to leave it off for now. It will get a little refreshing in the next few months. Also, a new bumper will be coming soon but this one doesn't look too bad now that I've cleaned it up.
Anyway, check out the new bezel. I can tell you I was one proud cruiser owner the day I bolted that bad boy on.
To get it on I had to remove the Warn winch. That was fun. The PO had a welder and he wasn't afraid to use it. The Warn works great but I'm going to leave it off for now. It will get a little refreshing in the next few months. Also, a new bumper will be coming soon but this one doesn't look too bad now that I've cleaned it up.
Anyway, check out the new bezel. I can tell you I was one proud cruiser owner the day I bolted that bad boy on.
- Thread starter
- #49
Here's the last pics for tonight. I've been enjoying putting it back together now that the paint is basically done. Replaced nearly all the body bolts on the front end with new. It just didn't look right having one shiny new bolt next to a crusty old one.
Of course there's still a lot to do and a lot of misc parts I'd like to pick up like hood bumpers and hooks, hood ornament, reverse light, license plate holders, etc, etc, etc. However, it's looking damn good now and I wear a big smile every day when I walk past it on my way to and from work. I put the fuel tank back in tonight and hope to be driving in a day or two. Hope you enjoyed the pics and commentary - Ed.
Of course there's still a lot to do and a lot of misc parts I'd like to pick up like hood bumpers and hooks, hood ornament, reverse light, license plate holders, etc, etc, etc. However, it's looking damn good now and I wear a big smile every day when I walk past it on my way to and from work. I put the fuel tank back in tonight and hope to be driving in a day or two. Hope you enjoyed the pics and commentary - Ed.
Gus
SILVER Star
Nice work, it's amazing what some paint and some manual labor can do to a rig.
1973Guppie
Supporting Vendor
looks great Ed, wind hinges are not too expensive, check CCOT (cool cruisers of texas), they have a few options for windshield hinges that are aftermarket as well as SOR has a few options I think.
Noah
Noah
Nice build!
I've used the rattle can method for all my trail rigs. Easy to touch up scratches, but the downside is the sun takes a toll on the finish. Especially if you live in a hot climate.
I've used the rattle can method for all my trail rigs. Easy to touch up scratches, but the downside is the sun takes a toll on the finish. Especially if you live in a hot climate.
FWIW, that roll bar is a Smitty-bilt, I have an identical one (minus the add-on) on my cruiser. It seems smaller that the average roll-bar that I'm seeing on most cruisers on this forum and I think it affects the fit of the rear seats.
35inchoverdrive
Forge Specialties
I had the same ordeal with the broken hinges a few years ago. I spent an evening trying to heat them up and pound out the broken pin...
Don't let that route tempt you.
Don't let that route tempt you.
- Thread starter
- #55
Thanks guys!
So, 35inch, are you saying don't attempt to beat the pins out? I did see that replacement door pins are available on the CCOT site and I believe these are identical size to the windshield. I found a thread by Coolerman where he drilled the old pins out on a drill press here. It does look like a lot of work.
Noah, unless I missed it, SOR wants $98 per hinge!...check here. They sell others that are fixed, i.e. no pivot, but I think that's kinda lame. I want to be able to fold my windshield down. I didn't see any at CCOT or MAF.
Ed
1973Guppie
Supporting Vendor
my bad, couldn't find them, I swore that CCOT had something aftermarket.
buy some used, pm'd you
Noah
buy some used, pm'd you
Noah
I am scared to fold mine down also! Prob. do the same thing and snap the hinges/pins.Nice work on your truck! I just started a rattle can resto.thread also.
- Thread starter
- #58
It's Not Summer Anymore
I started this thread thinking I would document my relatively quick "rattle-can resto" to show how I got my rig cleaned up and ready for a summers worth of fun and wheeling. Here it is October, and I feel like it's finally, uh...., sort-of, uh, almost..., Well.....they're never really done are they? But it is back on the road and looking pretty good. I haven't done a very good job of photo documenting the process so the following few posts are a couple of high lights.
I am happy to say I fixed that window hinge. It was, however, a real pain in the a**. I burned thru half a dozen drill bits on my drill press and lots of cutting oil before trying a carbide cutter in my Dremel which finally did the trick. Once it got a hole all the way thru I was able to finish it off on the drill press. I found a replacement hinge pin and got it put back together. Sand blasted the lot of them and painted 'em up.
I started this thread thinking I would document my relatively quick "rattle-can resto" to show how I got my rig cleaned up and ready for a summers worth of fun and wheeling. Here it is October, and I feel like it's finally, uh...., sort-of, uh, almost..., Well.....they're never really done are they? But it is back on the road and looking pretty good. I haven't done a very good job of photo documenting the process so the following few posts are a couple of high lights.
I am happy to say I fixed that window hinge. It was, however, a real pain in the a**. I burned thru half a dozen drill bits on my drill press and lots of cutting oil before trying a carbide cutter in my Dremel which finally did the trick. Once it got a hole all the way thru I was able to finish it off on the drill press. I found a replacement hinge pin and got it put back together. Sand blasted the lot of them and painted 'em up.
- Thread starter
- #59
The PO installed a Saginaw power steering set up which actually works well. Unfortunately, he threw in a POS junkyard steering wheel with a crappy home-made steering shaft that he welded together with some junkyard u-joints. I wish I knew what happened to the original column and wheel. Anyway, it wasn't pretty and I felt uneasy about it from day one. I replaced it with an aftermarket set-up from Flaming River with a Grant steering wheel. I started a seperate thread on the subject here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/321677-aftermarket-steering-column-mounting-options.html. I ordered an EZ harness and will be rewiring the old girl very soon. In my mind one of the chief benefits of the FR column is the GM style plug in which should make wiring the turn signals a breeze.
Here a couple pics, first of the old column, then the new stuff. Please note the interior is all painted including the guage cluster, glove box, etc.
Here a couple pics, first of the old column, then the new stuff. Please note the interior is all painted including the guage cluster, glove box, etc.
- Thread starter
- #60
Back In Its Natural Habitat
I scored a set of lightly used 33 x 9.5 x 15 tires off of Craigs List. I painted my old white rims black and mounted them up. They look good. Also got my spare tire carrier mounted up. I had my eye out for some used OEM rims but those are kind of hard to find but the search continues. The canvas bikini I sourced from Jim - OCDBeetle. It's very nice and was very reasonable.
So here's some pics that I took of her today. I absolutely love driving it whether it's on or off-road. It certainly gets a lot of looks. There's a number of things that I've done that I've forgotten to document and there's many other things that have yet to happen. For example, if you're like me you're thinking it would look even better with a 2.5" OME lift on it, right? I also need to do some tuning on the TBI system. It runs great, but could run a lot better. I'll be picking up the hardware to burn my own chips soon. Oh, and I gotta get the hard top and doors on hopefully before it snows.
-Ed
I scored a set of lightly used 33 x 9.5 x 15 tires off of Craigs List. I painted my old white rims black and mounted them up. They look good. Also got my spare tire carrier mounted up. I had my eye out for some used OEM rims but those are kind of hard to find but the search continues. The canvas bikini I sourced from Jim - OCDBeetle. It's very nice and was very reasonable.
So here's some pics that I took of her today. I absolutely love driving it whether it's on or off-road. It certainly gets a lot of looks. There's a number of things that I've done that I've forgotten to document and there's many other things that have yet to happen. For example, if you're like me you're thinking it would look even better with a 2.5" OME lift on it, right? I also need to do some tuning on the TBI system. It runs great, but could run a lot better. I'll be picking up the hardware to burn my own chips soon. Oh, and I gotta get the hard top and doors on hopefully before it snows.
-Ed
Last edited:
