6 Feb 09
So this has been what I've accomplished so far... don't you just love the wintertime in Victoria BC ?
It's tough building a truck in an igloo, ever tried?
Seriously tho...
Here's the frame, needlegunned, wire wheeled, painted and reassembled! The entire IFS on the front end was stripped down and repainted with Zerorust, and new Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings installed. New balljoint boots, new armored brakelines, new performance cross drilled rotors, pads and calipers installed. New pinion and axle seals in the rear end. New brake shoes, brake cylinders, springs and hardware also installed in the rear. To top it all of, brand new shocks for a smooth ride.
8 Mar 09
Well... a bit more time has passed and last week I decided that the compression in the cylinders was great (min 180, max 192 psi (10% deviation is deemed acceptable, so 5% was great) so it was definitely worthwhile to rebuild to replace the valve seals (which leaked) and a rebore and ring job wasn't necessary.
Well... I couldn't leave it in the mess of crap that it was.... now could I?
Hell no! So... after tearing it down, ultrasonic bathing the heads and intake, some sandblasting, laquer thinner bathing and much needed primer an paint... this is what I ended up with...
But... yet again... we can't leave it on the stand forever... So... I mounted the beam clamp overhead inside my garage, pulled out the 2 ton chain lift and remounted the engine (the board in the back of the block is to prevent the engine from rolling backwards until I get the transmission back in (that's next on the chopping block)).
So... next is the shift kit and trans rebuild...
18 Apr 09
Well, everything that can be done in preperation, has been done. After all the work of rewiring and reinstalling everything, here's where it sits....
Next, the trip to go pick up the body!
A couple of buddies and myself will be heading up on friday to start the swapping of parts and finally pulling the product about 600 miles to the coast for it's placement on the "new" frame.
**crosses fingers for great weather**
Cheers,
Ted.