Builds Putting the rust demon at bay (1 Viewer)

[archie73]

Since you have the cowl off it may be worth beefing up or replacing the a pillars with thicker gauge steel to help strength of the aqualu mating.

This sounds like a good idea, I’ll look into the idea. Possibly some square stock to replace the rusted portion and take it up the pillar some.

I think removing the dash and making it bolt on requires a bit more work. The dash is a structural part of the cowl and only using bolts would not regain that stiffness. I like the idea though.

This makes it sound like it’s above my pay grade, I really don’t need to make this more complicated than I’m already doing.

The interesting part would be to incorporate the roll cage in the A pillar. You just need to reinforce the area of the door catcher a little bit more.

I don’t plan on this for two reasons- the cage is powder coated (don’t want to mess it up) and it doesn’t really bother me in it’s current configuration. This would have been a great idea before I had set up the cage AND I was doing rust remediation at the same time. Keep the ideas coming- I’m always learning from you guys.

 

[waiting for time]

Be carefull with the bottom of the A pillar, much of the structural parts rust pretty bad but with the Aqualu connected to it this needs to be strong. Try to copy the original design as much as possible, it is made like that for a reason.

 

[archie73]

Be carefull with the bottom of the A pillar, much of the structural parts rust pretty bad but with the Aqualu connected to it this needs to be strong. Try to copy the original design as much as possible, it is made like that for a reason.

Once I get all the bits and pieces stripped off, I’ll start making a better game plan. It’s definitely going to need a chunk of the A pillar removed on the driver’s side. The passenger side is better, but since I’m in there anyway I’ll beef that up as well.

 

[archie73]

So started on the bits and pieces on the dash. First up was the gauge cluster. Over the summer, the amp meter face fell into the gauge body.

On the last day, before I started tearing it down, it made contact with the contacts and threw some sparks. So once got the cluster pulled, I started straight into the amp meter situation. The screws had come loose that hood the face in place. I found one but the other one slipped out into the ether.
When it sparked it seems to have melted the needle as well, luckily this didn’t cause a fire.

So now I’m on the look out for a replacement. I thought I had read about a 50 amp gauge that would be a small upgrade. The new engine will be on a separate circuit, so this would be more of separate gauge.

 

[archie73]

Back to rust remediation!!! This time I’m looking for ideas on this seam. It’s directly above the kick vent and I’d rather not get mired to deeply into the minutiae, but I don’t want to do this twice. Thoughts on how to stop this in its tracks?

 

[White Stripe]

I don't think your going to able to fix that rust without separating the panels. Which may sound like a pain but probably isn't too hard with a spot weld drill bit. The other option would be to buy a clean cowl from somewhere and just sell that one for parts.

 

[waiting for time]

Its not that hard to take that panel out. Like White Stripe mentioned just drill out the spot welds. Makes fixing the A pillar a lot easier too.

 

[archie73]

So started on the bits and pieces on the dash. First up was the gauge cluster. Over the summer, the amp meter face fell into the gauge body. View attachment 2504010On the last day, before I started tearing it down, it made contact with the contacts and threw some sparks. So once got the cluster pulled, I started straight into the amp meter situation. The screws had come loose that hood the face in place. I found one but the other one slipped out into the ether.
When it sparked it seems to have melted the needle as well, luckily this didn’t cause a fire.View attachment 2504011So now I’m on the look out for a replacement. I thought I had read about a 50 amp gauge that would be a small upgrade. The new engine will be on a separate circuit, so this would be more of separate gauge.

I found the thread on using the 50/50 amp meter.

Clusters, Gauges, Speedo & Odo meters

Rudi/Tom - its now many pages back, but I have remembered our ammeter playtime over these year... since I now have a battery that dies mysteriously, I was finally galvanized (ha, electrical pun!) to action. I thought of all kinds of fancy methods for making shunts and eventually ignored them...

forum.ih8mud.com

I’ll do some more research on this matter.

 

[archie73]

I don't think your going to able to fix that rust without separating the panels. Which may sound like a pain but probably isn't too hard with a spot weld drill bit. The other option would be to buy a clean cowl from somewhere and just sell that one for parts.

For record, that was not the answer I was hoping for. Nor was the other option.

Its not that hard to take that panel out. Like White Stripe mentioned just drill out the spot welds. Makes fixing the A pillar a lot easier too.

Your faith in me is inspiring. I’ll take another look.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[waiting for time]

For record, that was not the answer I was hoping for. Nor was the other option.

Your faith in me is inspiring. I’ll take another look.

Thanks for the replies guys.

If I can dot, you can too. The thought is scarier then the work.

 

[archie73]

Couple “what is this” questions from dismantling the cowl. What are the circled items in the pics:

 

[archie73]

I’ve been looking over the wiring diagram fir the two mystery items above. I believe the black box on the inside is the spark control computer or the the speed marker. And the second one is the original voltage regulator. Any thoughts?

 

[White Stripe]

Im not sure but I think the first one is a emission computer and the second is a voltage regulator. I

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

I believe that first pic with the plastic box is a piece of emissions control stuff.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Yes, the second pic appears to be the voltage regulator.

 

[archie73]

Yep, did a little research this morning and you both correct. I guess I can delete those items. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

 

[archie73]

@secretsquirrel was kind enough to hook me up with some pieces he had left over for patching his transmission hump. Just came in today and they look sweet.

these will make patching the cancer much cleaner. And as a bonus I’ll kick the Aqualu hump to the curb.

All my other steel has gone to the media blaster yesterday. They are going to have to wait until the weather comes up a bit and then I’ll get them in primer before starting patching the rust.

 

[archie73]

It was a work weekend in the shop!!! Had a list of things I wanted done and did alright, I think:
Three years after I installed the fj80 power steering box, I finally removed the the oem steering mount:

The top rivets pounded out with just cutting the head off, but the side ones wanted to be drilled out as well. While I was in there, I brought the welder over to beef up some of my old welds. When I was ~25, my welds looked like bird droppings. Now they look thicker and almost consistent. One day I’ll figure it out....
The xcase mount is cockeyed because of my plate adapter. I shaved a little more off to help clear the tub.

My xcase linkage has been sloppy for a while. With the body off it seemed like a easy time to access it. A couple washers here and there helped tremendously. I also notched the shift plate to allow 2low. ( I thought I had done this before, but this time I got more aggressive with the sawzall).

Engine is back in to test the figment with exhaust. Good news is the headers look good. Bad news is I have to pull the engine back out for the clutch. But it’s in for now.

I was worried about the power steering lines, but they are just going to fit with a little tweaking.

 

[archie73]

I have question for the people. But first my setup- 5.3-sm465. I’m trying to use my old clutch( being cheap and it’s not that old) and I haven’t done a clutch in a while. Did I get the wrong flywheel(GM 12561681), the pressure plate seems like it needs to be deeper. With the friction plate sandwiched in there, I have a 1/4” gap on the mating surface. I admit I haven’t done a clutch in a long time, but do I need to pull it in with the mounting bolts? Or is this set up not going work( ls flywheel to old school clutch)?
Second issue is the starter-

I need one with a longer snout- anyone have any part numbers? I’m guessing this one is made for an flex plate not a flywheel.

 

[archie73]

Before blaster

After blaster

Dropped at the paint shop for primer before I start patching.