I've managed to squeeze in some time on the truck over the holidays. First, I met up with jonzcustomshop in Missoula and pulled a few new parts from his collection. I picked up a nice factory gauge cluster and oil pressure hard line, a bed mount perch, and a new plastic piece for the bottom of the steering wheel. My dad is an amateur knife maker, so he offered to polish the gauge bezel for me. I'll post pics when he finishes it. It's nice to have someone to help me out as I go along, too bad he lives 350 miles away.
Yesterday, I pulled the axles out of my 12 bolt so I could pull the old brake backing plates off. I was a little worried about pulling the axles, but it turned out to be an easy project. I reinstalled the axles for now so I won't risk the spider gears falling out. I also went to the local junkyard and picked up a set of 67-72 motor mount perches. I'm going to experiment with the forward holes for the engine to allow for more clearance for the 700r4 and HEI distributor.
Today I spent a bunch of time degreasing the 12 bolt and sandblasting various other metal parts (sway bar, front suspension brackets, rear spring cups, steering linkage, motor perches) in preparation for POR-15. I ordered some of their solvent this time around and I'm going to try spraying it with a Preval aerosol spray setup.
