Re: Project "Leon "
 

Great work--had to get sub'd! I'm in the Central Expwy at Walnut Hill area-if you are anywhere close to me I'd be glad to come "lift" when you get ready to mount the cab, bed, etc.; or other non-skilled tasks.

Also will pass on a tip I saw in a thread here. It was mentioned that the band clamps tended to leak after a while. A member suggested wrapping the pipe with aluminum foil before clamping it--said it solved his leak. I can't say whether it works or not, but you can file that away.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I'm actually in Royse City. Not too far away. Do you have a link to that? Sounds interesting. I hear it's the best type of clamp there is.

Glad you like the truck.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

should be a fun ride

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Don't have a link on it, but it was mentioned in post 698 of "The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build." I think this is the extent of the conversation, from GCncsuHD:
Quote:
Not that it matters now that you have it welded up nice, but for future use, when using those band clamps, first take a bit of aluminum foil, double it over then wrap the joint before putting the band clamp on. The foil will act as packing, and will completely seal the joint. The first time I used those band clamps it leaked, I pulled them both and did that, have never had a leak since.
__________________

Re: Project "Leon "
 

great project you have there. and that wood work you do is stellar!!!! migh have to get something from you in the future made up. Can you do a canuck flag one? hehe

Re: Project "Leon "
 

When installing a band clamp if you will tap it w/ a rubber mallet as you tighten it , it will usually seal.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Mine came with a small sealant patch that goes across the tube parting line where the clamp flanges meet. As you draw them together the sealant extrudes into the gaps where the greatest chance of a leak would be. That won't do anything for the rest of the circumference, however, so the foil trick may be a better approach.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Thanks, man. I have read through the Swiss Cheese build. That's is some awesome work. I love it!!! I wish you were in Texas to show me the ways of body work.

Excuse my hockey ignorance, are you talking about the flag with the shark looking thing? If that's the case. I sure can!!!



Thank you for all the tips. I still haven't ordered the silly things yet. Calvin hooked me up today. I'll get to that in a couple of days.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Well, 2 weeks later and not a whole lot has been done... I have been laying floor as a side job, that's always a fun gig. But, spent some time last night working on getting the radiator all buttoned up. Thank you to user calvin78612 for the upper brackets. They were perfect. He even delivered them to work for me. Can't ask for better than that. :metal:

Attachment 1365276

Used 4 3/8 x 18 Stainless socket cap head bolts and they are in.


I pulled the rad back out to put the fans on it. I ordered these from amazon for $18.00 each. the shipping was a bit high, but it's still a better deal than if i had ordered another model.
Amazon.com: PROCOMP 14" INCH ELECTRIC...
If you order the fans, they come with mounting hardware. I didn't know that so I ordered the mounting kit too. I'm glad I did, I ended up needing them, because I broke one of the disks.
Amazon.com: Derale 13001 Plastic Rod Mounting...
I had to trim just a bit off the side of one fan where the shrouds interfered. Just ground them down about 3/4 of an inch and they fit "like a glove" in a staggered pattern. Really happy with the way they fit in the truck too.

Attachment 1365273
Attachment 1365274
Attachment 1365275

I left the hoses hanging because I ordered some sleeving for them that should be in in the next couple of days. It feels nice to see all of this coming together. I just hope i did it all correctly.

NOW on to the Drive Shaft... This thing has been a pain in my @## If you have read though my build, you know I can be very "frugal" Sometimes it works, Sometimes it bites me in the tush. This time wasn't so great. So... I started off by thinking, "Hey, I have a 2 piece shaft that I can reuse. I have the parts and just need the work done." So I bought $100 worth of U-joints and a Carrier Bearing. The shortening and total balance will cost me $80. That leaves me at $120 cheaper than a new single piece shaft. If I ever decide to go lower, I already have the shaft taken care of too!
Cool, Great, Awesome. Here is where it gets fun. I picked up the shaft from the shop and it looked great, I was very happy. Get it home... and its the wrong length. I Gave the shop the right length, but I got mixed up on the reference points. The front shaft ended up being 7" to long!!! :dum:

So I took it back and they took the 7 inches out and re balanced it. This time they had to replace the weld in peace "connects u-joint to actual shaft" so this time it was $100. Now I'm up to $280 and I still have the original shaft.... Oh well, you live and learn.

Attachment 1365277

Here is the back shaft painted. Hanging on my high tech, high dollar, spray rack. :) I'll finish the painting and hopefully get it installed tonight. We shall see. Yes, I test fitted it this time to make sure it fit before I painted it.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

For not having a lot of time to spend on the project, it's coming along nicely. Keep up the good work!

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I usually work on it every night and most weekends, So it seems slow to me, But thank you Vic! Glad to see the Ford is coming along!


Attachment 1365647
Attachment 1365646


Got the Drive shaft in. THank the lord. Hopefully everything works correctly.
Don't mind the dust on the frame. It been raining and I can't push it out in the rain after all of this work I have done. Once I get all the lines and such plugged for good, I'll wash her down real good like!

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Well, I as in OKC Sunday through yesterday afternoon so I missed yet another couple of days of evening work. Started on the battery mounting tray, decided to mount it on the pass side under the bed. I'm thinking I am going to put a 200A inline fuse or circuit breaker on the positive side close to the battery. I saw a post on here of a guys truck that caught fire because of the relocated battery shorted or something.

I used 1/0 cable for the lead directly to the starter and all the ground leads. I still have a couple of grounds to build, but I went Ground to frame, Trans x member to tail stock, trans to DS head. I cleaned every connection and applied dielectric grease to keep the rust and corrosion at bay. All the connections are soldered, crimped, and heat shrinked. I really like wiring. I know, I'm a strange cat. I just love making the wires pretty!

I'm reusing the battery from the burb for multiple reasons,
1. I have it
2. It's in good shape.
3. I can go to any parts store and pick up a replacement.

The tray and strap came from summit. It was originally a weld on type, but once I got it I realized that I couldn't use the weld on style, I chopped it up and welded on tabs to make it bolt on. I shortened the strap by about 2" to make it more compact and re-drilled the holes. One side has a "kicked out" tab because the frame isn't a straight shot where it's mounted.

I cut the tab out of a piece of 1 1/4" angle I had laying around, and trimmed one side down a bit. You can't really see it in the last picture. I'll try to get s shot from top down.

Attachment 1369533

Attachment 1369525

Welded it up, drilled the holes, test fit, pulled, painted...etc. Paint dried and slapped that joker back on!

Attachment 1369526


After I finished that all up, I tied all the electrical together and ran a jumper wire from the battery to the starter, with a quick tap of the wire. SHE ROTATES!!!! Not a strange sound to be made. That makes me happy! :metal::metal::metal:

Started working on the air intake and then gave up for the evening. Maybe I can get it started soon.

Attachment 1369528

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Looks great, I like the battery tray. Congrats on it turning over, bet that is an awesome feeling.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Thank you! Pretty exciting. I would like to get it to start this weekend, but I have a lot of things to do before then. Don't think it's going to happen...



Got some more stuff done. Little stuff, but its progress.

Attachment 1371801

Attachment 1371800

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Looks real nice. I too like the wiring part. Just cranked my new engine over on the starter for the first time. Anxiety and fear followed by relief, beer and staring at it. Good times.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I was running out of hiding spots for all the relays.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

It's a great feeling! I was in the same boat you were in. Fear, then relief!




Sent my ECU off to Brendon at LT1swap.com to be reflashed last thursday evening. Got the shipping info this morning, it's on it way back home! Trying to get to a point I can start it this weekend. Nerve racking week I tell you. Hope I put it all back together correctly. We will know soon enough, I suppose!

Taking my Power steering line to a hose shop today to get the end made up so I can hopefully get that back together this evening.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Good lookin' work so far! In!

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Hey Mike I was going through your build from the beginning because I wanted to refresh my memory on your build and I noticed something I thought you might want brought to your attention.
As of post #50 your upper control arms are on backwards and need to be switched, a pain in the butt I know but it's better you know now before you are all done and the steering won't align.
If you have already noticed and switched them then great but if not then I'm glad I could help you out.
Sorry I didn't catch it earlier, I normally do but for some reason I missed it earlier.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I sure dad-gum did!

Man, Nice eye! Thank you for the heads up. I'm glad you caught that. I would have been pulling my (lack of) hair out come alignment time!

Re: Project "Leon "
 

LoL no problem, I'm just glad I could help.

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I'm subscribing to follow along... You have made alot of nice progress in such a short time. Keep up the good work:metal:

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Thank you, Sir Mark!

Re: Project "Leon "
 

Sometimes I spend 3 hours in the garage and really feel like I have accomplished something.... Sometimes I spend 3 hours in the garage and think to myself "That's all I got done?"... Last night was one of those nights, although I am really happy with the way it turned out. The :devil: is in the details, right?

Wrapped most of my hoses in flex braiding and used heat shrink for the ends. Cut the flex about 2 inches shorter than the hose and had about 2 inches of heat shrink on each end. The radiator hoses got a little bit longer heat shrink to make them look right. Make sure you put the flex on the hose to get your measurement. As the flex expands it gets shorter in length, so you may end up short.

Attachment 1373500

Attachment 1373497

Attachment 1373496

Had to get a PS hose made due to the lack of hoses options I had locally and a number of other issues, but I got it done. The return line will be remade and replaced because the bend is to high, I'm going to try the pack it with sand to bend it tighter.

Attachment 1373498

Also played around with my phone and my valve covers. Came up with this...

Attachment 1373501
:uhmk:

Re: Project "Leon "
 

I think I will immediately borrow your phone idea with my grill. That is amazing!