SkinnyG's '61 Apache

[SkinnyG]

Hood primed:

[SkinnyG]

Made a wheeled dolly to move the cab around, as it's next to be blasted.

And then realized I need to add some more brackets to the frame, as it will be blasted after the cab.

I also machined the poly cab mounts. The 60-62 cab mounts are different than the 63-66 mounts, the early ones being square, and different thicknesses. My '61 had the 1" mounts on the rear, and 5/8" mounts on the front.

Energy Suspension's mounts are both 1" front and back, so I chucked the offending mounts in the lathe, and cut them down to 5/8" for the front.

Not sure I'm in love with poly mounts, but here we go. There isn't really other options that I've found, and rubber is a lot harder to cut down than poly.

Crap ton of smoke in the air as most of BC is currently on fire. Couldn't see the sun at all this evening, and it was a while 'till sunset.

[SkinnyG]

Don't want to put the cab back on the frame without having Raptor under it.

Can't put Raptor under it if I'm going to weld something on it later.

Gotta figure out seats, and gas pedal now.

Dang it.

[SkinnyG]

In preparing to remove and blast the cab, I need to locate mount the gas pedal. In order to determine the gas pedal location, I need to mount the seats.

I cut the mounts off the original (trashed) seat, and fabricated a method to attach some Honda Civic buckets. I will be modifying the Civic back seat to be a center-seat/console.

[Paul Y]

Those seats fit remarkably well.

P.

[SkinnyG]

I set them so that the rails are centered on the brackets I made. The seat can go far enough back to touch the back wall. The seat also moves forward enough that even my wife can probably drive it (if she had to).

I fab'd the brackets to place the seat at the same angle that it was in the Civic - one challenge of fitting seats is getting the seat bottom at the right angle to support your thighs correctly.

The purists would cringe that I'm not using a bench seat. I totally don't care. (big grin).

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

I set them so that the rails are centered on the brackets I made. The seat can go far enough back to touch the back wall. The seat also moves forward enough that even my wife can probably drive it (if she had to).

I fab'd the brackets to place the seat at the same angle that it was in the Civic - one challenge of fitting seats is getting the seat bottom at the right angle to support your thighs correctly.

The purists would cringe that I'm not using a bench seat. I totally don't care. (big grin).

You scoundrel.....

[The Rocknrod]

That's cool, at this level the purist head would explode anyway.

[SkinnyG]

Drive-by-wire gas pedal mount. This took an entire day. I think it's needlessly complex. Looks good, though....

[SkinnyG]

Seat belts, also from the Honda Civic. 3x3" 1/8" Shoulder mount washer, to be welded in from behind:



3x3" 1/8" Floor mount washer, to be welded in from behind:



1-1/2" x 1/4" "L" bracket:



Belts mounted (yes, I'll make a cover):



Also re-fabricated the turbo oil feed "T." The old one was too short (the turbo feed hindered the cam sensor connection), and did not have any way of removing it (no hex).

Old and busted (left), vs soon-to-be-new-hotness (right, unfinished):

[SkinnyG]

Glass removed, decent mounting surfaces:







A bit of rust I need to fix:



Cab removed and flipped back to scrape the rest of the undercoating off:

[SkinnyG]

Oil-pressure-sender-turbo-feed-"tee" finished and installed:



Welded some carriage bolts in a few un-needed holes to mount the gas pedal bracket, welded up the gas pedal linkage opening, and added nutserts for the fuel pressure regulator:



Patch. Will be welded once I've blasted and epoxy primered inside:





I "think" I'm ready to blast and prime the cab.

[Paul Y]

Skinny,

Seen a few people use the oil pressure sender as the take off for the Turboooooo now rather than the blanking plate above the oil filter.

Was there a specific reason for this or just easier packaging?

Still a while away from having to make this decision but like to understand why people take a certain route.

Good progress as always.

P.

[SkinnyG]

The blanking plate above the oil filter feeds the oil cooler, and is on totally opposite side of the motor. Not the easiest to get to, and snaking the feed line all the way over there seemed risky to me. I want the line to avoid any extra heat.

I don't believe it matters one bit. Pressurized oil is pressurized oil, and the sender is getting the same oil and pressure that is at the filter.

[SkinnyG]

We had some rain recently, and the ground was still too wet to start blasting the cab.

So, I did some blasting in my blast cabinet, after changing the gun:





This in addition to the altered siphon-feed on the bottom of the cabinet, and this cabinet is freaking awesome. I love it!!

I had not yet epoxied the hood supports, so after blasting a few more items in the cabinet, I sprayed them:



I am going to hide the air ride gauges behind the ashtray door.

I cut off the back of the ashtray, and experimented with card stock to find the shape and position I wanted using a CNC-Plasma-cut gauges plate I made at work:







Folded up and TIG'd together, the gauge plate screws on from behind:





Then I had to figure out how to make the ashtray open again:



Which I did by making my own hinge and door:





Which reveals like this (roughly driver's seat - cab is on its back right now):

[realvc]

Fantastic job. You should be so proud.

[cwcarpenter98]

I like where you put those gauges. That's rad

[SkinnyG]

Four hours today:

[Paul Y]

I have to do the same to mine Skinny in the not too distant future.

Not looking forward to it.

P.

[SkinnyG]

Six hours of "pressure pot sand blasting" done today. Should have stopped at five.





And made more changes to the "sand blast cabinet" gun (the clear braided hose that came with the cabinet is garbage):

[SkinnyG]

I think I blasted three hours. Might have been four.

Right side A-pillar and part of the cowl, and I was pleased to find zero issues with the top of windshield:

[SCOTI]

Looks pretty clean from here as well.

[SkinnyG]

Five hours to blast the roof:

[SkinnyG]

Another four hours got more done, including the underside of the roof. Zero rust issues at all.

[SkinnyG]

A little distraction on the weekend: some blasting; some primer.