Putting it all back together again..... build thread

[DURRTY]

Its been awhile since Ive made any notable progress. Its coming though I have finally been able to grab restored and new parts to wrench on.

I have prepped the frame and POR-15 it, then scuffed that up a little and put rubber undercoating over that. I took off all the cross members that were not riveted on and everything else that came off the frame and media blasted them.

Every nut and bolt is being replaced as I go. I have a stainless set for the body mounts and all the body bolts. The rest are standard Grade 5 and 8.

Got a new plastic fuel tank and all new brake/fuel lines.

Plans include an 8inch skyjacker lift (all spring) and maybe a custom shackle flip to fit 40 inch TSL-SX tires. D60 front and GM14 bolt rear will come but not till after i break the half tons under it now(and I don't have that in the budget right now). Crossover steering, 10 point cage, personally made winch bumper(s), new racing seats in the front and I am undecided what to use for a back seat. Right now I don't know much about the engine other than its a 350 and the PO said it had been recently rebuilt and "runs great" LOL It did run fine but I only put a few miles on it before I took it down to the frame. I have nothing planned yet for it till i drive it and see what its really got.

I am not a painter and don't know a thang about it, I am looking for someone i can trust and someone who wont rip me off to paint it.

Comments and insults are apreciated!!!!!

[DURRTY]

The before and after of that shock mount is badassIMO.

[DURRTY]

a couple more..........This project has given my son and I alot of good time to spend together also....................

[Thealien]

Very nice, keep the pics coming!!

[raggedjim]

Great work Durty, you know he's just helping because he thinks it will be his someday, right?

I was in the amphib Navy so we hauled around a lot of Marines... I remember a huge fight we got into in Athen's Greece (Bobby's Bar). I was glad we had some jarheads with us at the time! glory days...

Rg

[1971K54X4]

That looks great. Keep up the good work.

[Yukon Jack]

Looks like a first rate job there - very nice!

[LUV2XCLR8]

Nice work

[Angelse68cal]

Nice Keep up the good work. It Also gives a kid a sense on what is a wrench and a socket and so forth. keep the pics coming.

[Long Roof]

Lookin good.

Aaron

[wardblazer68]

SEMPER FI! Fellow Jarhead! Great pics, way to break it down, clean, and rebuild!

Can't wait to see more!

[DURRTY]

He knows he will learn to drive in it. As far as it becoming his?? hmmmm... Don't know yet. his to drive to high school hell yes!! his to take his girlfriend out cuz she digs the blazer too. hell yes!! going out with the boys on a friday HELL NO!! he can get a ride HHAHAHAA :P LOL we will have to get another one for him to own and beat. Hes 10 so i have 5 or 6 years to figure that out.


Semper FI Ward

Ya know RaggedJim you can trust a Marine with your life... Just not your money or your wife

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by DURRTY

Ya know RaggedJim you can trust a Marine with your life... Just not your money or your wife

Yeap, the busiest nights at the base club was when the ships pulled out...

Rg

[DURRTY]

I got a couple new parts and some progress.....

Put the old axels and springs under so I can do the body work

I have brand new 8" skyjacker springs but if i put those on I wont be able to get it out of the shop or even get the body on!!? I dont want to "build a ship in the basement" so on with the old.

In my sig are links to the body work needed.

[Jtrux]

Looks awesome!

[Thealien]

My top was a PIA and 95% of my floor is good. I can see why you would have trouble. Someone posted a picture of the measurements of the door openings at the bottom, middle and top. There was also a measurement from the top of the door to the windshield frame. Maybe someone will post it up for you.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by Thealien

My top was a PIA and 95% of my floor is good. I can see why you would have trouble. Someone posted a picture of the measurements of the door openings at the bottom, middle and top. There was also a measurement from the top of the door to the windshield frame. Maybe someone will post it up for you.

I had those and double checked them and found they are not right. Your best bet is to find a PU and get door opening #'s from that. Also I recomend that you get the entire front end on the truck and lined up before welding it all solid. Measure ten times weld only once!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[DURRTY]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I had those and double checked them and found they are not right. Your best bet is to find a PU and get door opening #'s from that. Also I recomend that you get the entire front end on the truck and lined up before welding it all solid. Measure ten times weld only once!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Nothing is perfectly straight on it. Just getting the body lined up so I could get the mounting bolts through the holes was tough. That probally means the frame is not all square and or the body is not square and straight.
So all that measuring is correct, most likely it wont be good to go with those measurements.
BUT putting the front end on is one I didn't think I really needed to do I am going to put it on before I consider gaps and lines.

first the sheet metal is going to get screwed into place, in jaros44sr post PO has me PO'd he used allot of screws and thats what i am going for, getting all it tight first. Put the body mounts under the cab Then start checking gaps and body lines. My semi calibrated eyeballs will have to do the work.

plus If you have to force it and it breaks...... It needed to be fixed anyway......

[jaros44sr]

Looking good so far, my kick panel was a PITA, didn't want to line up. Had to do some creative cutting, this pc also determines height of windshield, so you may want to go back and check the height at top of windshield and make sure they are both the same[ rt. and lt. side]. I for got to do this and my pass. side is 3/4" off, so now I have to pull it down

Good tip on putting the front end on, didn't think of that!!

If your using your eyes as a gauge, I hope you have an expert medal from the rifle range lol

[DURRTY]

FINALLY got it Using an idea from Rokcrln's Trazer post I built a pair of supports to go in between the doors. They can push or pull the gap. I used these and some creative use of a couple jacks and a port-a-power to get it straight and shimmed up. I havent had to use more than a 1/4" of shimms exept under the front floor mount. I could not get the windshield frame to line up with out it but still I used about 1/2 to maybe 5/8 of a shim. The doors shut with ease and they are straight enough to me.

I don't know what y'all are measuring, I have the body mounts all bolted up and have had the front fenders, top, rad support, all on and off and on again. It lines up to my eyes the body mounts bolts are all almost at the center of the holes also and that was not happening until today. I'm going to start putting the floor and rocker jungle in tonight with screws and check it all again.

its not final yet the fenders are not lined up in the pics but they do move into place I was about to toss them out into the street if i had to mess around with em again.

[toomanytoyz]

Like the Approach you are Taking with your Build, Also Think that it's Great that your Son is involved with you on this, You will make some Memories that will last you a Lifetime..........

Congrats on a Great Job, Rick

[DURRTY]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

None of this would happen without his help. Rarely I do get a hand from a friend but this has been %90 me and the boy.
At first I was unsure if he would even care what I was going to get into but its really cool to have him interested and more than willing to get in there and get it done with me.

[jaros44sr]

Nice idea guys, looks like I have to build a set of them as my door is off just alittle bit. The areas that might be my problem are, a sprung door hinge, repro door, or the rocker is to narrow. Building those jacking bars will really help to move things around to the rite orientation...

Thanks for the help and the idea. J.

BTW, nice work and good progress!!!

[DURRTY]

those bars put out allot of force too. I had my top secured with only a couple of vise grips and the bars would move the top when used!! I though I was (i probably WAS) bending the windshield frame. So i unbolted the top got it as close to square as I could, then put the top back on.

[DURRTY]

started to put the floor and rocker area back in.

Ive had to do allot of trimming on the sheet metal but Its better to have the piece a little big than too small. A friend let me use his plasma cutter its called a Miller spectrum extreme. its really small like a lunch box, but works perfect.

way better than a cutting disk

I am making slip on floor supports into regular replacement supports I just started at it last night.

That rocker box needs to come off and the floor needs to move forward a little bit.