Its been a while since I've gotten much done on the ol' K10. Been busy with the usual work, gf, house, dog, etc, etc. And I've been working on my other project a bit:
1981 Honda CB750F is getting retrofit with more modern CBR suspension, some frame mods, etc.
But I digress...
Back to the pickup. Now that I have most of the bits and pieces I need for this pickup I pulled it all apart again. Pulled the body off. The motor trans and transfer case all came out. The axles and suspension came off. Then I
really started stripping the frame.
I was cutting and chiseling rivets off all afternoon. I've gotten pretty good at it. First I take an angle grinder with a thin cutoff wheel and i make three slices vertically in the top of the rivet head. Then I take a 4lb sledge and a cold chisel and pop the four slivers right off. Most of the time the remaining rivet stub can be pushed out with a little persuasion from the sledge and a big punch.
I'll pull the remaining three crossmembers off of the frame rails. Then I'll be stripping everything down of all surface rust and grease and painting it with a black epoxy paint.
I'll tell you what, this frame is pretty heavy. It took me by surprise when I went to flip it over by myself and nearly dropped the thing. I'll have to recruit my dad to help me next time.
The frame is in good shape. but I'm glad I cut off the spring hangers and body mounts because I found that these unseen areas were getting rusty. Now I' can clean all that up, seal it up and put it all back together!