Project "Sparkle Wrench"....1972 TLC 40 and all his rusty friends!!!

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The motor is out:beer:!! Actually, it only took me about an hour to get it removed. When the tranny and tcase are already out it makes it a breeze. Did the F engine have two lift hooks on them? I'm assuming they did, but mine only had one in the front thus the vertical position of the motor on the cherry picker:eek:.

I also got the harness and pedals removed along with the rest of the lines/linkages on the firewall. Only parts left are (I think??) the heater linkages and body mounts. I'm going to get the rear 1/4 buttoned up as long as the sill before I remove the body and put it on the rotisserie.

My question to the experts is how do you get the heater linkages out? I'm guessing I have to go from the top vent. I am going to have a fun time getting that out. Anyone have a good suggestion on how to get that removed? Those screws are dug in like a tick.
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Started to perform some needed surgery today. I had to push the truck into the bay myself today which was a chore since it was not line up with the bay door. Got the floor jack out to straighten the rear end (and front end) and sterted turning the wheels. After about a half an hour it was nestled in its warm bay.

I have opted not to purchase a rear floor from any of the vendors. also not going to make a press to put the pleats in the metal. As much as I would like to, I just do not have the time nor the $$$ to do it. Maybe the next one. Anyway, I strated cutting the rear floor out and it looks like the side sections of the wheel wells can be saved. I think I'll have to replace the pass. side since it's pretty banged up. So the pass. side will need that section as well as a 1/4 panel assembly. Not too bad. I may tackle the 1/4 myself. We'll see how the OT at work is.
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I did manage to get about five hours on "sparkle wrench" today, BUT at least two hours were spent trying to figure out what's wrong with my Marco sandblaster. My wife got it for me as a wedding gift, and it worked flawlessly until today. It keeps allowing the media to pour out of the nozzle as if it's set to purge. I have tried the linkage in all possible positions, but it still does the same thing. It will blast, but it uses about 30+ lbs. of media in about 1 minute. Not very cost effective. I forsee me taking this thing apart to see what th problem is.

I had last Tues. off for elaection day, and decided to head to my favorite steel yard and get the pieces in the pic below bent up. They charged me $85 for both pieces. I also got two heavy duty casters for the rotisserie. I'm changing the design a bit by having a third caster on the front section of the rotisserie. I'll just have to cut the piece of 3" tube (which was originaly the main support beam) on either end making a sort of tripod setup. I'll then have to purchase a piece of 2.5" tube to fit inside the 3" which will make it expandable to fit the size of the cruiser's tub. It's easier to move around this way.

Anyway, the work I got done on the cruiser was minimal, but got the rear floor pretty much all cut out with the exception of the section which is spot welded to the main beam. I'm going to leave that alone until I get the back all buttoned up, and proceed forward. I'm not sure if I'm going to put it on the rotisserie after I get the rear floor/sill and rear 1/4's welded in place. It will be easier to work on when on the spit, but that main beam is a pretty important part of the tubs structure. Don't want to throw it out of whack.

Here's a slew of pics from the carnage tonight. More to come.
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Here's a few more. I'll need to have the metal place I go to bend up the mid support channel on the rear bed. It looked ok from underneath, but once I started drilling out the spot welds the truth(rot) came out. It shouldn't be too much $$$.
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Here's the final two for tonight. The patch went in ok, but my dumb a@s forgot that the channel isn't bent at a 90 due to the frame. I was going back and forth with it until it hit me:doh:. I guess today wan't my day.
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If your blaster is purging the media with no air velocity then the mixing valve at the bottom (if it's a pressure-pot type) is either plugged or broken . I had mine do the same thing, the valve had a hunk of junk blocking the incoming air from flowing and mixing with the pressurized media side from the tank .
Sarge
 
Weber Sarge said:
If your blaster is purging the media with no air velocity then the mixing valve at the bottom (if it's a pressure-pot type) is either plugged or broken . I had mine do the same thing, the valve had a hunk of junk blocking the incoming air from flowing and mixing with the pressurized media side from the tank .
Sarge
Click to expand...

Thanks Sarge. I'll give that a look. Here's the model I have in the pic below. I paid over $700 for it, and it is a beast when working properly. I'll break it down next week and see if there is something blocking it.
marco.webp
 
More rust chomping. The main beam was totally gone. It also had three large mouse nests residing in it as well. I will definitely be fabbing one of them up. I couldn't live with myself spending $350 the vendors charge on a $20 piece of metal.

One good thing was the driver's side 1/4 was in pretty good shape. Only had some bondo on the bottom where it meets the rocker. I think I'll get away with patching up this side. I think I'm screwed on the pass. side. It's either fab it or buck up fpr a repop. I'm on the fence with that since I could get it together a little quicker by getting an aftermarket one.

Here's a few pics of the floor (or lack of floor). Just got to finish cutting out the driver's side extension panel, and what's left of the main beam.
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The tool box was a PITA since I couldn't see the spot welds for sh@t. I used my air hammer from the inside of the box to help ID the location of the spot welds. Still missed the mark in a couple of spots, but nobody's perfect. I do however have my work cut out in terms of getting the box whipped back into shape.
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.......and the final few show the quick job I did getting the driver's side 1/4 down to bare metal. It's actually in better shape than I expected. Only had a filler in the bottom where it meets the rocker.
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I removed the drivers side inner wheel well and though it is in pretty rough shape I decided to fix it. Took a few hours to get it all buttoned up, but it saves me some coin in buying an overpriced replacement panel.

The rust was pretty bad along the bottom lip where it's spot welded to the rear floor. I thought I was going to have to replace the entire lower section, but I got lucky and found some good sheet meat.:D
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