My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack

[hotrod 80]

Killer work on both . The AMC wheel tubs are BA and those King shock ....well .....im jealous.

[RDrancher]

Nice build! I've been a fan of wagons since I was a kid in the early 60's. Of course in those days you could play in the back while cruising down the road. Wagons always bring back good memories.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by hotrod 80

Killer work on both . The AMC wheel tubs are BA and those King shock ....well .....im jealous.

Thanks, I've wanted coilovers on a vehicle for a long time...now is that time. Happy with the appearance of the Viking coilovers, it'll be a year before I can give ride and drive feedback.

Originally Posted by RDrancher

Nice build! I've been a fan of wagons since I was a kid in the early 60's. Of course in those days you could play in the back while cruising down the road. Wagons always bring back good memories.

My memories were playing in the back of a Suburban, but same thing. The kids and my friends are very excited to take trips in this one!

[BlueJeep]

2 weeks ago I bought a transmission, and it came with some extra parts! :-)

Of course I had to test it out to make sure it worked well!

If anyone can coach me on how to embed a YouTube video I'd be happy to learn..... I figured out the link to copy, just don't know how to put it in here.....so I'm giving the direct link instead.

https://youtu.be/cYJ1yuosgYo

.

[BlueJeep]

And since winter is FINALLY gone, I got the truck out. Tis the season to have fun!

[TR65]

Wow Chris,

You work at a very high level. Impressive and inspiring.

If you need some parts machined for that rear door lock let me know.

I really enjoyed our time on the Power Tour.

TR

[KShortell]

Wow! Impressive work!

[Ol Blue K20]

I just found this....subbed to watch....nice car with some beautiful work done to it!

[BlueJeep]

Even though I haven't been updating this thread, I have been making progress. I procured an engine, a 2014 6.0 with 79k miles. I also retrieved my transmission out of the van I bought for it.

[BlueJeep]

And since winter time is build time, I got the wagon out of storage towards the end of last year. I wanted to test fit a few things to verify clearance, etc. and then it was time to tear it down.

[BlueJeep]

I knew the floors of the wagon needed work. What I did't know yet was how much work. The only true way to see what kind of condition they're in is to blast them, so that was next. No parts were ordered until this was done. The pictures make them look better than they are in real life, they were swiss cheese.

[BlueJeep]

I needed a solid place to start. The inner rockers were not solid, so that seemed like a good place to start. The outer rockers seemed fine, so I went about removing the inners so that I could gain access to the inside cavity of the rocker, anticipating that I would sandblast inside of them and epoxy before putting it back together. I also decided that since I had the equipment, I'd make the new inner rockers Boy how metal seemingly disappears when you hit it with pressurized black beauty! I made a little "booth" to contain the mess in my garage, it did not contain the mess. It worked good for confining the media to one area, but the dust that was created went everywhere!

[BlueJeep]

On to making the new pieces.

[BlueJeep]

And then before I could weld in the new inner rocker, I needed to do some fixing in the door jambs. This was definitely an effort in making new puzzle pieces, and then fitting them in. They're fitting good!

[BlueJeep]

The inner cowls had lots of dirt packed in them, and then had been exposed to moisture so although the outsides looked pretty good, the inside was not. I separated more so that I could blast inside, do some fixing, and then coat everything in epoxy before putting it back together.

[BlueJeep]

And finally I had a solid enough foundation that I could work on the floors. The EMS front floor pans fit pretty good, and didn't require that much futzing with to get them to work. The rear pans were only generically a similar shape, and did not fit the seat risers, the door opening, or where it meets the rear floor. I anticipated some work to get them to fit, I did not anticipate as much as they actually took. All the braces were blasted and coated in epoxy before it went back together. When I'm done, the metal will be all sealed up and ready for another 60+ years.

[BlueJeep]

And somewhere in the mix, I did a little playing around to see what it would take to get the wheel tubs back in. It won't be too bad once I'm to that point. I'm now up to current, and repeating all these same steps on the driver's side of the car. Hopefully very soon I'll have a solid car, and be ready to work on some of the cosmetic patches around the wheel wells.

[mongocanfly]

Holy wow!!...somebody been busy this winter...

[72 tigger]

Really solid work, will be a great ride for years.

[oldman3]

Nice update and nice repairs, you are doing some nice work, which will pay off for years to come...Jim

[Scott2]

Looking good! Those rust repairs make my floor patches in my J10 look pretty simple!

What brake and shear tools do you use for the sheet metal?

[99 to Life]

nice stuff. I almost don't miss doing that! love the engine in the truck pic.

[nlped]

I Love a Wagon!!! This one is already cool & only going to get better!

[BlueJeep]

Thanks guys! I'm building it to drive, and to drive a LOT. I'm making build decisions that will hopefully allow for that, and I'd like future maintenance to be easy and quick. Even though my plan is to leave the exterior paint as-is, I still want the interior to be sealed up and nice. The guy I bought it from thought I should fix it up, and then try to wear it out again (so put a lot of miles on it) and I do plan to.

I have a 4' Tennsmith brake, though I haven't used it yet on this project. The inner rockers are 6' long, so I had to enlist in some help from a friend with a bigger brake for those. Many of the other bends have not been straight so I've been using the tipping wheel on the bead roller to start the bend, and then using hammer and dolly to get it where I want it. For shearing, I have a cheap one of those 3 finger shears that cuts 1/4" strip out for rough cutting. Then I have a Beverly shear that I absolutely love and cut everything I can on it. I also use hand snips, cutoff wheels, and an air saw as needed for the job.

[Advanced Design]

Chris, awesome work and great update! You have been busy this winter. Hope you can make Metalmeet in Oblong this October. Maybe drive the wagon?