"The Bucket" project diary

[fun in dirt]

I've had this Blazer for going on 4 years now. Bought it with the promise to my husband we would not do any major work to it until finished his '69 Chevelle, which was finished in October.

Currently it is just worn out. Cosmetically in descent shape, but drivetrain & all is tired & weak. So here are the plans (for now):
- D60 front & 14 bolt w/ 4.56 gears (D44 & 12bolt currently)
- 6" lift (no lift currently)
- 37" TSLs on old school slots (dry rotted 33s currently)
- T400 w/205 (SM465 w/205 currently)
- 383 crate motor (350 currently)

This will be a slooooooow build but gotta start somewhere!

Here's how it sits now:

[fun in dirt]

11-27-10
Cut axles out from under the M1008 donor truck we bought at auction 2 years ago. Thinking may also get the 56" springs too & take a few leaves out to use with some conversion shackles for the rear lift. This old military truck is pretty much stripped of all the good now!
Loaded axles up on trailer & went to clean the grime off at local car wash.
When returned, decided to start with the 14 bolt rear. Took cover off to inspect gears, which look excellent. Then got rid of the drums to get ready for the disc brake conversion.

[swyfor5]

Wow, following this one!

[Littletony]

Looks like a good one to start with.

[vtblazer]

I can remember when you got this one...subscribed for the build progress.

[fun in dirt]

11/29 thru 12/4/10:
Between work, getting dark earlier with the time change, birthday parties, & Christmas just around the corner, it's hard to get much of anything accomplished. But then again every little bit counts...

*Got the rear 56" springs out from under the parts donor truck just before the junkyard man hauled it off.
* A friend had a mid 70's 2wd 3/4 ton sitting in his yard, that he said we could have anything off it we wanted before it went to scrap. So got its steering box (for crossover setup) and a like new CB antenna...all for free!
Then spent an hour & a whole can of oven cleaner to get all the years of crud cleaned off it. Over the years & other projects, there's an old cooler in the corner of the shop that has gathered spare rod ends & such, so hopefully enough in the stash to cover all we'll need.
* Traded a board member some softtop hardware for this Cobra CB & have 2 monster PA speakers off the donor truck. This will be a fun setup to harass people with!
* The B&M pistol grip shifter was taken apart & anodized purple by a friend. It'll add a little bling to the interior. I plan on fabbing up a console that will let the shifter sit down in it with just the handle sticking out & also getting a matching handle the same style for the transfer shifter.

[fun in dirt]

Saturday we got the rearend sandblasted & epoxy primed. If you've ever sandblasted anything you know why I wore a welding hood with a clear shield in it. It one of those jobs where you just have to "get nasty with it." Bought all new seals to replace...having a hard time finding the crush sleeve.Parts stores around here only have them listed for a 8.5" ring-gear. So need to order that I guess. Saving up my $ now for the rotors & calipers.
Plan on painting both the front & rearend housings with Rustoleum black hammered paint. That's what we used on the roll cage of my husbands Chevelle & it looks good against black for a little something different. Really turns outkind-of a dark gray color. Just roll it on to get a good consistent pattern, which means it is also a good bit tougher than just spraying something on...figure it will hold up again the mud & gravel that will be pounding on them.

[swamp rat]

Subscribed! Doing a great job!

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by fun in dirt

Plan on painting both the front & rearend housings with Rustoleum black hammered paint. it looks good against black for a little something different. Really turns outkind-of a dark gray color.

The contrast looks good, read somewhere that the texture helps the paint stay on better too.
Doesn't tend to flake off as bad IIRC.

So that's what you look like... J/K
Perfect attire for blasting, it's never ever a fun job.

[mcmlxix]

Nice start... I plan on doing the same thing with the console &. shifter... I have an older hurst for now but would like the Art Carr/Winters shifter...

[fun in dirt]

Over Christmas & New Years holidays I get off work for 2 weeks, which is great, but didn't get a whole lot done on the Bucket. We were busy trying to clean up a little KTM to put under the tree. Then it actually turned cold here, our shop doesn't have heat & it was just too cozy staying in the house.
That's all excuses though

We did get a "stump jumper" built to protect the rearend cover...I can't believe people actually pay $100+ for these things. But I'm very blessed to have a husband that is a genius with metal without him this whole project would not be possible.

My birthday is Dec 24th & I got rotors & calipers for a present...that's so cool!
The caliper brackets have been laying on a shelf in the shop for several years just waiting to be put on a project . Got all that fit up.

[fun in dirt]

After painting all the brake parts, got it all mounted up. These 36" tires look huge with it all on the stand. Still got to find some correct lug nuts for these old school slots.
With 16.5" rims, the inside is close to the calipers...glad we didn't go with 16".

Must admit that I'm a Craiglist addict. However occasionally it pays off.
Found these Skyjacker lift springs for $200 just a hour from the house. Dude said they were 4", but a little investigation after I got them home, revealed the fronts are 2.5" & rears 2". But that's okay too, we're gonna make new hangers & all anyway. Anything is better that the worn out O.E. ones I have now. Still may use the rear 56" springs from the parts truck just haven't really decided yet.
Also bought another '72 grill surround from the same guy for $10 that's in perfect shape just needs a little cleaning! Doesn't hurt to have a spare
He also has basically all the body pieces & frame of a 72 4x4 truck project that he has given up on for cheap. We've long run out of spare room in our shop for more parts so I didn't get any of them at the time , but I can't help but keep thinking about 'em. Not often you find good parts around here for these trucks.

[fun in dirt]

Hey Mods...move this thread to the new projects & builds section please!Maybe I'll make some more progress on this ole Bucket soon.
Sucks when the $ you have for a new transmission & converter has to go to a whole new heating unit for the house!

[fun in dirt]

Put the 14 bolt on the floor and got the D60 frontend in the stand now.
Tore it apart to check out condition on everything. All bearings are like new. The truck it came out of was definetly maintenanced well... I bet I cleaned out 5 lbs of grease in this thing. Oven cleaner & a toilet brush are the gig for cleaning housing inside & out.
Had planned on sandblasting it this weekend but rained the whole time, so cleaned up the 56" rear springs (decided to go with these out of the donor CUCV truck instead of the 2" lift ones purchased earlier). Took the spring pack apart & tossed 3 of them, so that'll be 6 leaves now. Got them all cleaned up with a flap wheel & coated with POR.
Waiting on new seals & kingpin bushings to arrive.

[fun in dirt]

Dana 60 frontend is almost complete now. It's got all new seals, axle ujoints & kingpin bushings. Thankfully all the bearings looked like new & were not needed. Rotors have been turned & calipers rebuilt. Rearend already came with a Detroit locker in it, so we decided to go ahead while it was apart & install a Lock Right for the frontend.
To avoid the wobble factor, eliminating the king pin spring & making plates for that & the crossover steering arm (more pics to come for that part).

[fun in dirt]

Since so close to having both axles finished, we decided to take advantage of the long Easter weekend to start disassembly. Our neighbor is very gracious & lets us use his tractor at will... this was extremely helpful in getting the Bucket set up on the "operation table".
The stock springs are shot so torching them was the quickest way to get it all out. The 12 bolt & D44 look so little (and are) after fooling with the 1 ton stuff the past few months.
After several hours of scrapping old mud & grease, 1gallon of industrial Greased Lighning, and 2 cans of oven cleaner, the underside was ready and got the pressure washer. Needless to say a long shower was priceless that night.

[fun in dirt]

The reward for all this was when I rolled the big tires out to get an idea of about what it will look like eventually. As it's left hovering in front of the sho, THERE'S NO TURNING BACK NOW!!!

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by fun in dirt

Dana 60 frontend is almost complete now. It's got all new seals, axle ujoints & kingpin bushings. Thankfully all the bearings looked like new & were not needed. Rotors have been turned & calipers rebuilt. Rearend already came with a Detroit locker in it, so we decided to go ahead while it was apart & install a Lock Right for the frontend.
To avoid the wobble factor, eliminating the king pin spring & making plates for that & the crossover steering arm (more pics to come for that part).

I would like to understand more about the spring removal mod ( i have the 44 myself so not applicable ) did you find this on the net somewhere?

Love the dirty face picture too thats a classic!

[99-LS1-SS]

I wish my wife was into my build like you are. I think that's cool that you are doing it as a family. My consolation is the fact that my daughter is helping.

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by fun in dirt

To avoid the wobble factor, eliminating the king pin spring

Best choice ever! Lol

Great progress for so early in the spring...we still have snow on the ground and temps are just now hitting the 60's.

[fun in dirt]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I would like to understand more about the spring removal mod ( i have the 44 myself so not applicable ) did you find this on the net somewhere?

We had a square body dually mud truck before that built and played with for awhile; my husband learned alot about all this with it. I'm still not sure I totally understand what he's tired to explain to me about it, but here goes how my simple mind sees it:
The whole king pin stuff is in place of what is usually a ball joint.
The spring puts pressure on the bushing which keeps everything tight. The spring moving - compressing then not - gives the bushing slack to move on the pin. Big, heavy tires jerking on the spindle multiplies this "wobble" therefore over time starts to wear the bushing against the pin & becomes even more prevalent over time or quicker with real big tires.
So now the spring will be gone and a fender washer added in its place over top of the bushing. The bolt going through the plate can be tightened down against this washer to put continous pressure against the bushing...therefore no wobble!

[swamp rat]

Thanks for the reply it makes sense to me!

[fun in dirt]

Got the steering arm made and finished up the top plates for the kin pin spring eliminator. Also decided to cut out some thick flat spacers instead of using the fender washers as they were pretty flemsy.
Last night decided to go ahead & tackle POR on the bottom side with a spray gun. Very nasty stuff but I suited up in PPE and it wasn't bad at all.

[fun in dirt]

Got the frontend finished, so this weekend it was time to roll the D60 & 14 bolt under the truck. Needed to do this before completely painting & prettying up all the axles.
Set the springs on blocks of wood for the time to get some measurements for front & back spring hangers and rearend shock mounts. So now it is sitting on its own weight! This way could also see if the lift amount was about right or needed to add more when making the hangers. It looks perfect like it is! The added height of the bigger axles with 2" lift springs in front & 56" springs in back worked out. I like it just high enough to clear the tires good, but then we're also not scared to do a little body trimming either. I'd rather do this than add more height. So little surgery will be done to the front of the front fender well, as well as, a little on the front of the rear fender well.
Also got the 2wd steering box mounted so could measure for the crossover steering arms.

[Yukon Jack]

Awesome project - you're doing a great job on it.