Johns 66

[Johns 66]

I then decided to tackle the cross member...The bottom ones I used a grinder and ground the heads down then used an air hammer and popped the rivets out....Then it was time for the top side....and to be really honest it wasn't that bad......I used a 14 tooth metal cutting sawz all blade and it made pretty quick work of the ...although I used a new blade on each rivet.....so the original cross member is intact and can be reinstalled using some bolts and nuts, if someone decided to make the truck original again...BTW I am keeping all the original hardware for the future....made that mistake once and wont do it again.

So while I waited for the paint to dry, I sprayed rubberized undercoating underneath the cab, one of the front fenders....ran out and will have to order some more but it really did look pretty good.

So then my brother in law, Randy...which will now be referred to only as Randy...lol and I went to one of his friend house and got his blasting cabinet ( Thanks Danny) He has graciously allowed me to use it for as long as I need...

We got it back to Randy's shop and plugged it up...Of course I was like a kid with a new toy...I tested it on a couple of pieces to see how it would do...Exhaust Manifolds, battery box etc....and although I didn't complete any piece accept one...I was able to see what it would and would not take off...This is WAY better than sanding it, using a wire wheel on a drill or paying someone to do it.....I did get the upper radiator support completely blasted and primed..I must say that this will surely make it look a lot better.

Lastly I took the heater box apart to see what I was going to need...I checked the motor and it ran just fine...quietly.....So I will need a new gasket set once I get done cleaning and painting it.......but all in all today was a real good day.


OOOOOH I almost forgot to mention what all the machine shop said......It looks like the motor had been partially built...looks like from the bottom end with new rings...The ironic thing about it and I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me was that 3 off the pistons had been installed upside down...instead of the eye brows facing the top of the motor...yep you guessed it...they were facing the bottom.....I am SOOOO Glad that I decided on a complete rebuild....I think I would have blown a gasket after getting it painted and reinstalled and then grenade the motor because someone tried to take a short cut...I feel very blessed and the Good Lord is definitely taking care of me....He always does.


So for the next foreseeable future I will be blasting away at parts...its time consuming but I got plenty of time...Ill post things as I get them gone.

Machine shop said it would be about 2 weeks before they would be done...so I have some time to play with the ole blaster.