VTcruiser60's Spring Build--Much to do...

[rabid]

you need reinforcements? Call me at work, missed your message.

I worked all day yesterday after being at wallys on saturday putting a new steering rack in the tundra. That was less than fun.

 

[vtcruiser60]

Orion 4:1....boom shock-a-lakka.....

 

[green40]

Looks good, mailed you a package this morning!

 

[vtcruiser60]

It seems that the smaller the project the more time it is taking me now.....lots of small parts....seem to be always hunting down a bolt, hitting the part with the wire wheel, locktite or paint....and on and on....

Orion fully installed (Thanks Lane for the spare bolts....saved my ass)
Clutch inspection cover reinstalled
Rear pinion seal replaced
Parking brake installed
PTO reinstalled
New gaskets and oil seals for the PTO installed (much easier to do while the PTO is on the truck)
Muffler bolted back on
Koni shocks installed on the rear (Thanks RABID!!!!)
Rear driveshaft installed.
Found a set of braided stainless steel brake lines on my shelf, forgot I had them, got one installed.

I had to replace the clutch slave cylinder somewhat unexpectedly. I think while I was washing the frame some time ago, water got into the cylinder and rusted out the cylinder. Anyway....had to buy a new one of those.

IPOR skid plate is painted and ready to be bolted in.....

I am pretty close to installing the tub now and really thinking about paint!

 

[rabid]

I know you were talking about rattle, but just an FIY, Home Depot has a 2 gun kit right now, one HVLP, one not, two regulators, seperate cups, etc, all for $89.


Looking good!

 

[vtcruiser60]

FUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! My new skidplate hits the PTO and won't fit. It is not even a close fit...about three inches too short on the drivers side. Sheeeeeeeet!!!!! I was so close to being done with mechanicals.....and onto painting the truck.

I sent a note to IPOR to ask about making this right. Will keep the thread posted.....

 

[nat88toy]

bummer dude i know how that feels you spend a bunch of time painting a part that should fit and it fails miserably happens all to mutch to me that or a electrical component just plain doesn't work out of the box

 

[vtcruiser60]

Well...been real busy with work for a few weeks now...but found time today to dig back into the project.

I spoke with Lance at IPOR and he was more than accomodating to make the skid-plate work. More on that later.

I was able to prep the under side of the body last night as well as prime the dashboard for paint. I am using rattle cans, a product from the Spanish Montana paint company. By using rattle cans I'll be able to do touch ups, as well as work on the final painting one section at a time. I no longer have chunks of time to devote to the truck...so this will have to work.

I was a bit worried about the aluminum tub acting as an even greater heat sink and investigated a lot of applications for thermal barriers. The cheapest solution came from a company in Florida that manufactures ceramic beads (very fine) as a paint additive. This is the same additive (probably) used in products liked Lizard Skin. Enough for a 1 gallon treatment of ACE brand rust stop paint cost me about $20 shipped. I am painted the underside of the tub white to reflect light a bit better and make working under the truck that much easier. The inner wheel wells will be black and the outside a rattle can pale green.

Pics of the progress below....

 

[vtcruiser60]

Got the underside of the dash and cowl area painted up. I am using a SEM rust shield for the two areas above the foot rests. The middle section, the area behind the heater, is the pale green.

I was also able to cart the tub outside and get it all scrubbed down with a car wash/soap. Hopefully I can get a friend to kill off his lunch break on Tuesday and help me get the tub onto the frame. From there I'll sand a few areas, use a prep-all to remove remaining grease/wax, then start priming the outer tub. The inner tub, mainly in the feet area and in the rear tub, I am going to roll on a duplicolor bedliner....I used the spray on version for the inner fenderwalls and like the product.

 

[vtcruiser60]

A friend stopped by tonight an said he liked the new color. He added that I will either own the toughest gay truck or the most gay tough truck he has ever seen. My wife digs it and calls it her mint julep.

I laugh at the irony of it all....swampers and pale green.

Making progress....panel by panel....

 

[82cruiser]

Lookin' great and nice work. Dig the color.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That aluminum tub is going to be pretty slick. Sick color!

 

[vtcruiser60]

Thanks for the compliments....

Got the tub on....needs to be aligned and bolted down. The color is really light in the sun....perfect. Though my niece walked up and asked why I went with the fruity color. I asked her what she meant by fruity. She was stumped. Eye of the beholder indeed.

Might have an interference issue with the swing out tire carrier. Its close but won't know until the tub is bolted down.

 

[rabid]

that looks amazing. Nice job

 

[vtcruiser60]

Took the tub back off today with some lunch time assistance....gracias Dan.

I must say my least favorite aspect of my 40 series was the hot as hell floorboards. I have been musing for quite some time about how best to shield my feet, shins, and guests from some rather unreasonable exhaust/cat and drivetrain heat. Earlier I posted some efforts to use a ceramic paint additive...the jury is still out on that.

But over the weekend I went dumpster diving at a nearby muffler shop looking for solutions. I pulled out half a dozen heat shields and made a few work for my truck. The first covers 2/3rds of the exhaust pipe under the driver's side. There is a space between the pipe and the shield, and it is clamped in two places with stainless steel bands. The second heat shield mounted to muffler, again with two stainless steel bands and a mount to the muffler retainer.

Now these efforts might fail....but I thought it was a cheap fix that might just reflect half the annoying heat that irritates me so...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I just removed the carpet in my 60 and what surprised me the most is the amount of heat that comes off of the transmission / transfer case. Have you thought of using some asphalt adhesive insulation that's got reflective film on one side? Maybe stuck to the bottom of the tub ( reflective side down ) will reflect a lot of the drive train heat down away from the cab. A downside to that would be that water / mud / whatever could get caught in the stuff, but if you applied it with a heat gun, you could probably get it on there tight enough so it wasn't an issue, especially with an aluminum tub.

Just throwing some thoughts out there. In my truck, I thought it'd be good for warming the truck up faster, but I'm sure a 60 is significantly different than a 40 in this regard

 

[vtcruiser60]

Since I opted to use a late 70's nose cone for my Orion, I lost the ability to use my 1973 4spd shifter. Specifically I lost that pivot that mounts directly to the nose cone.

So I decided to build a pivot point off the frame. There is a stainless steel axle bolt that extends from the pivot point down through the original 90-degree-bend-thing. I added some bronze bearings as spacers but also to firm up the pivoting. Two bolts in the frame and she shifts fine. Well...the 4spd transfer case shifter has a fair amount of slop anyway, but the lever action works fine.

Why not twin-sticks you might ask.....well...aside from the $200 off the shelf options....I simply don't have time or interest.

 

[vtcruiser60]

I just removed the carpet in my 60 and what surprised me the most is the amount of heat that comes off of the transmission / transfer case. Have you thought of using some asphalt adhesive insulation that's got reflective film on one side? Maybe stuck to the bottom of the tub ( reflective side down ) will reflect a lot of the drive train heat down away from the cab. A downside to that would be that water / mud / whatever could get caught in the stuff, but if you applied it with a heat gun, you could probably get it on there tight enough so it wasn't an issue, especially with an aluminum tub.

Just throwing some thoughts out there. In my truck, I thought it'd be good for warming the truck up faster, but I'm sure a 60 is significantly different than a 40 in this regard

Good thoughts and I appreciate the input.

I think there are some rather nice products out there now.....like what you have described. Having shopped around a lot, the dynamat stuff is just way, way, way too expensive. There are foil faced products through Summit Racing that are more practical and also allow for placement on the firewall and on the engine bay side. Several seem applicable to the underside of the tranny tunnel as well.

Part of my concern was to keep the interior floors as clean as possible. I won't be using carpet. I plan on using a roll on bedliner and maybe some simple rubber all weather mats. But, as the tub gets dirty, I would like to be able to just hose it out. I suspect some of those butyl adhesive pads won't take kindly to water and such. I am really hoping that that ceramic insulating paint additive does the trick, and from the underside of the tub.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Well hopefully the ceramic does it. If not, then it sounds like some asphalt based, foil backed insulation is going to be your option. Even just on the bottom of the trans tunnel would help a ton, I'm sure.

Keep up the great work!

 

[rapovt]

Since I opted to use a late 70's nose cone for my Orion, I lost the ability to use my 1973 4spd shifter. Specifically I lost that pivot that mounts directly to the nose cone.

So I decided to build a pivot point off the frame. There is a stainless steel axle bolt that extends from the pivot point down through the original 90-degree-bend-thing. I added some bronze bearings as spacers but also to firm up the pivoting. Two bolts in the frame and she shifts fine. Well...the 4spd transfer case shifter has a fair amount of slop anyway, but the lever action works fine.

Why not twin-sticks you might ask.....well...aside from the $200 off the shelf options....I simply don't have time or interest.

Keirnan, The engine/tranny/transfer are mounted by rubber and may flex different than the frame and may cause the shifter to pop out. I built my own twin stick for about $30$