Wiring repairs

Trailer and camper wiring was spliced in to the rear subharness and stuffed up through the firewall grommet. The carpets and foam are in great shape, free of rot and mildew. And the body is free of corrosion.  

I had to tear all this crap out and repair the original wires

Junky splices were used

all the junk removed and wiring repaired. I broke the clip so I secured the harness with 3M trim tape so it won't rattle or move. I plugged the torn grommet with silicone.

I think this was a blinker solenoid for the accessory wiring.  It was screwed in to the body with imperial sheetmetal screws. I took it all out and filled the holes.

Progress

wire wheel on the spare tire brackets 

coated the brackets with this crap

replaced the gummy old lugnuts

new springs, bump stops, u bolts

new shocks

Still need to somehow strip and paint the axle without taking it off

Paint Progress

I left my hood, fenders, bed, tailgate, windshield cowl and fender flares with a local body shop to paint as they go as a side project while I prep the main body and clean up the chassis. They must be slow right now because they're already finished a lot of it!

I stopped by today to see the progress and I'm very pleased so far. The paint job will be better than new, as they are clearcoating over new Cardinal Red paint. (the original colour) These trucks came from the factory with a single stage paint.... no clear. So this will hold up much better to the environment and the sun.

The bed still needs some surfacing work and it will be painted soon also. The tailgate had a rusty scab at the bottom which they've ground out and filled.

The new paint looks deep and rich and has that "wet" look.

fender

hood

other fender, cowl and fender flares

current state of the bed

Tailgate

Rust never sleeps until you sandblast it

Though this truck is relatively free of rust issues there are some furry part that even the dry climate here didn't spare over 25 years.

Yesterday I took the drums, axle carriers, shackles and skidplates in to a DIY sandblasting shop to clean them up. It was fun watching the crud and rust flake away and I'm happy with the result. Pictures are reverse order. wtf

3 coats of high temp caliper paint for the drums. No clinical conditions needed here. This is industrial grade shit. LOL

Rust paint for the axle carriers

This stuff is super thin, almost more of a stain than a paint. So it gets deep in the pores of the metal. 

sandblasted skidplate

ready for paint

Massive compressors and sand hoppers. Businesses bring large scale blasting jobs here. A bit overkill for my handful of truck parts

Skid and axle carriers pre blast. Rusty and greasy

after

before

Springs and Bumper off

The family was out of town for the weekend visiting cousins so I spent most of Sunday in the garage and made some progress on the old 4x4.

The springs were stubborn but they eventually came free. The front pin bolt was basically fused to the rubber bushing so it took some persuasion. Now that they're out I'll send them to a spring shop to have new ones made.

The bumper was especially frustrating. A massive hitch had been welded to both the bumper brackets and the frame. I had to cut awkwardly through the welds and pry it off.

Rotten old springs. The one on the left has a broken leaf 

Axle supported on stands. I plan to take the drums in for sandblasting then I'll paint them

Bumper brackets welded on

I'll blast and paint the axle housing as well

Old gnarly u bolts and their expensive OEM replacements

With all the free space I decided to pop the fuel tank skidplate off. I'll be sandblasting and painting it as well. The tank itself is in great shape

Factory coating on the tank has held up well. Just needs to be cleaned. The pump and gauge pods are pretty furry but they'll be fine.

Now I can clean up the frame with a wire cup and flap wheel, then hit it with some rust paint.  Getting the bumper off left the end of the frame rails a bit mangled. Maybe I can weld in some gusseting. 

This will all look like new when I'm done with it. 

Next steps: paint and chassis

A local body shop has agreed to work on my truck as a side project and just like the Johnny Cash song we'll build it one piece at a time. 

They've so far removed the old rotten bedsides and welded (and sealed) on new ones. I sanded the hood and brought that to them with the new fenders and the windshield cowl. They'll be painted in the original Cardinal Red while I prep the body to be painted later. The original paint was a single stage application but this time it will be clearcoated for a longer lasting quality finish. 

In the mean time I'll be cleaning up and painting the frame and axle, and installing new leaf springs. 

Old bedsides removed. Everything solid underneath

new bedsides welded and sealed

Hood sanded down