kcisland
SILVER Star
Skreddy,
Looking good and nice to see another Washingtonian on here! I work in Arlington and live in Lake Stevens.
Where did you get the cage nuts? I will be starting my bodywork here shortly...
Skreddy’s 71 Resto
- Thread starter Skreddy
- Start date
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Skreddy,
Looking good and nice to see another Washingtonian on here! I work in Arlington and live in Lake Stevens.
Where did you get the cage nuts? I will be starting my bodywork here shortly...
Looking beautiful so far. Keep up the amazing work.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #50
Color on some more parts today. The last few days I’ve refurbed the wiper assembly, cleaned some of the rubber seals and weatherstripping I’ll reuse, tested the rear heater, found a leak in the rear heater so soldered it up and pressure tested, laid out and cleaned the whole wire harness, cleaned all my knobs and switches and started separating parts for different paint or coating colors. And ordered a bunch from overland metric and CityRacer. Planning to get the body back on the frame in the next couple weeks then finish all my painting and start reassembly.
Hey looking good! I've also got a 71. It's the best year, so yeah.
Looking at the hard top, I would suggest taking it apart. I did the same thing when I first got mine (because it looked like it was just in the corners), but the trouble is that the original body sealer gets dried out and water will seep into the gutter from the corners and pool up inside the roof. Eventually, it will rust out and you'll never even see it happen because that's the part you can't see on the inside.
You remove the rivets that hold the gutter to the fiberglass and then you can patch it and paint it properly before putting new rivets on and running a thick bead of self-leveling body sealer on the seam from the top.
Looking at the hard top, I would suggest taking it apart. I did the same thing when I first got mine (because it looked like it was just in the corners), but the trouble is that the original body sealer gets dried out and water will seep into the gutter from the corners and pool up inside the roof. Eventually, it will rust out and you'll never even see it happen because that's the part you can't see on the inside.
You remove the rivets that hold the gutter to the fiberglass and then you can patch it and paint it properly before putting new rivets on and running a thick bead of self-leveling body sealer on the seam from the top.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #52
Yep, hardtop is on the list. I’ll need to weld some patches in the gutter and figure it needs to come off the fiberglass to do that. There’s a couple misc holes in the fiberglass too that need filled. My PO’s loved their drills! But I think the top is a couple months out.
@Skreddy .
Nice work!
Some suggestions on the front door rebuild:
Make certain you use SHORT screws on the window frame rails along the door latch sides. The screws go straight into the window channel, and a number of 'Mudders have shattered glass by threading long screws into the edge of the glass in the channel.
If the bottom "bumper" is removed, the glass can be slid down below the top weather strip wipers, making it much easier to snap them in place.
Overland Metric has the s.s. screws that work well for the front doors and the rear swing out doors.
Nice work!
Some suggestions on the front door rebuild:
Make certain you use SHORT screws on the window frame rails along the door latch sides. The screws go straight into the window channel, and a number of 'Mudders have shattered glass by threading long screws into the edge of the glass in the channel.
If the bottom "bumper" is removed, the glass can be slid down below the top weather strip wipers, making it much easier to snap them in place.
Overland Metric has the s.s. screws that work well for the front doors and the rear swing out doors.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #55
In the last couple of days, I started in refurbing my seatbelts, more misc parts cleaning and organizing.
But today... I pushed the tub into the house garage and the frame into the shop. The PO had already gone through the chassis so frame, axles, etc are all painted. Also had the trans and t-case redone by a Toyota dealer and new clutch installed. He guaranteed the motor ran, but I haven’t heard it so I primed the oil to the rockers, sprayed some starting fluid and gave it a crank. Only ran it a few seconds to make sure there’s no noises, smoke, etc. but it fired right up and seemed to run great. Now I’ll pull the motor/trans/t-case and clean the 30 years of dust off the frame and reseal/paint the motor, stick it back in and then the body can go on.
But today... I pushed the tub into the house garage and the frame into the shop. The PO had already gone through the chassis so frame, axles, etc are all painted. Also had the trans and t-case redone by a Toyota dealer and new clutch installed. He guaranteed the motor ran, but I haven’t heard it so I primed the oil to the rockers, sprayed some starting fluid and gave it a crank. Only ran it a few seconds to make sure there’s no noises, smoke, etc. but it fired right up and seemed to run great. Now I’ll pull the motor/trans/t-case and clean the 30 years of dust off the frame and reseal/paint the motor, stick it back in and then the body can go on.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #56
Well a little setback on the engine. Even though it fired up great the other day, I figured I’d check compression. Cylinder 1 had almost none and I could hear air rushing out the intake on compression stroke. Pulled the head and found a burnt exhaust valve.
So while I wait for that, on to other projects. Disassembled and blasted my heater box yesterday and got it painted and reassembled today. Should flow air a little better after cleaning out that heater core...
So while I wait for that, on to other projects. Disassembled and blasted my heater box yesterday and got it painted and reassembled today. Should flow air a little better after cleaning out that heater core...
I never really got my F engine to run right until I had the head machined and hardened valve seats put it. If that hasn't happened yet, I found it was the only way to run unleaded gas for me.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #59
I guess I haven’t updated here in awhile. I’ve been getting a ton done but it all seemed small and inconsequential, but I guess I’m keeping this updated for my own future reference as much as just a spot to show what I’ve done since most of my friends don’t care...
I am pretty much done painting; just the hinges, some misc parts and aprons left. The burnt exhaust valve is fixed and the engine is reassembled, painted and back in the frame. I still need to paint the valve cover. Replaced rear main, inspected lower end and replaced oil pan gasket, timing cover gasket and side cover gasket. I have gotten most of the dash switches and pads reassembled. Plan is to get the tub back on the frame Tuesday. Before that, I figured it’d be easier to get the rear brake lines installed so I made new ones and they are ready to go on. Today, I’ve been installing some of the new weatherstrip: rear swing out doors, trans hump and rear hatch. I also got the rear hatch all reassembled and the glass in. 71 rear glass rubber is NLA so I ordered some bulk length with near identical specs online. I used 3M Black Weatherstrip adhesive and joined the ends after cutting to length and let it set overnight. Got it in this morning and I’m very pleased with the result.
I am pretty much done painting; just the hinges, some misc parts and aprons left. The burnt exhaust valve is fixed and the engine is reassembled, painted and back in the frame. I still need to paint the valve cover. Replaced rear main, inspected lower end and replaced oil pan gasket, timing cover gasket and side cover gasket. I have gotten most of the dash switches and pads reassembled. Plan is to get the tub back on the frame Tuesday. Before that, I figured it’d be easier to get the rear brake lines installed so I made new ones and they are ready to go on. Today, I’ve been installing some of the new weatherstrip: rear swing out doors, trans hump and rear hatch. I also got the rear hatch all reassembled and the glass in. 71 rear glass rubber is NLA so I ordered some bulk length with near identical specs online. I used 3M Black Weatherstrip adhesive and joined the ends after cutting to length and let it set overnight. Got it in this morning and I’m very pleased with the result.
I love seeing the progression of this build coming back together.
