Its been a busy week! Got the frame Z'd and all that garbage cut off the rear of the frame& axle
The welding work from the previous owner is one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen. He welded some bag brackets on the axle, the welds were massive and I expected some difficulty getting them off but that wasnt the case. I hit the first one
once with a sledge and the entire thing popped off in one piece. Upon inspection only about one half inch of his weld had actually penetrated the axle and it was barley on there. The second one took two hits
Please people, if you cannot weld dont weld.
Its really scary how this truck was thrown together, here is a tally of how many bolts were left out/loose and what was broken.
Cab bolts/ nuts---\
zero
Engine mounts---two of three & both were finger tight on both sides
Bell housing---six,all of which were loose, the tranny was a half inch away from the block and not even on the guide pins
Flywheel---three of however many and its cracked almost all the way around
Torque converter---
one
Transmission crossmember mount---one and extremely loose
transmission crossmember---two and again very loose
front spindles---both upper and lower crown nuts were finger tight on both sides and had no cotter-pins.
Upper a-arm mounts--- two for two on both sides all were finger tight
Its scary that not only was someone willing to sell a vehicle this way(I planned on a frame off from the start) but before the decision came to sell the truck the previous owner was going to drive it this way. People never cease to amaze me. There is a massive gap from what this fella did and the
right way to have it done.
There is a killer deal on a complete front suspension and crossmember thats fully assembled and never used on craigslist, if the man calls me back I will be out to buy it tomorrow morning!