49 3600, s10 swap, project boogie

[lower50's]

Nice score on the diff.

[joedoh]

weld weld weld all day long. weld weld weld while I sing this song. (if you get this reference you are a sad pathetic human. or a janitor)





someone wanted pictures of the motor mounts




I had to raise one of the rear mounts 3/8". this causes me a little consternation because the mounts were actually within 1/16" of each other when measured off the frame but the cab was definitely low on one side. had to be a variance on the floor, I thought about using a spacer but I just broke the tacks and raised it.

[99 to Life]

looks good

[lower50's]

I like when you get in a good welding grove.

[joedoh]

yeah you feel unstoppable, cutting and grinding and welding rinse and repeat. welding is so therapeutic.

beeps sleeps, so I did some quick work on a thursday. painted the bare steel


capped the back of the drivers side mounts, passengers sides and gussets for the core support mount are cut but ran out of time




need to scrub the inside of the frame and the back half for paint next. got a huge bottle of simple green and some CLR. if it rains tonight I will push it outside and save water!

[Advanced Design]

Making really good progress. Welding is therapeutic when dialed in. It seems like a 10 or 20 to one prep vs weld time on a project.

[Sim6]

Looks great! Nice score on the rear end.

[rusty76]

I hope the rain washes off my truck. Lol

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Making really good progress. Welding is therapeutic when dialed in. It seems like a 10 or 20 to one prep vs weld time on a project.

true! getting all the grit and dirt out of the way first. my welder has been around for 17 years though, so setup is really one of two settings, sheetmetal (2/3 power, 1/2 wire) and frame (full power, 9/10 wire).

I coudnt wait all weekend so I popped back out after dinner to finish the passenger side


zapped on the gussets to the core mounts too. yes I ground off the thin layer of primer, it was just on there so if it got wet the frame wouldnt rust. going with a semi gloss final finish.

[joedoh]

I saved water and let it rain on the frame, then scrubbed it down


painted her up



intervention time. we have a honda push mower we bought when we lived on a city lot, but when we moved to the big lot I got a hustler zero turn and we only used it occasionally to mow a steep hill right off the road. it had a bad case of RLS last season so I vowed to have it serviced. they wanted THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS PLUS PARTS to replace the carb and tune it up. I did a little looking online and the predator motors from cardboard freight were a dead ringer for the honda motors, so I picked one up. all but one mount lines right up, the drive pulley/blade mount bolted to the shaft, the ignition kill handle popped right in, and a quick mod to the throttle mated it. the mounts need a nut and bolt though, I will pick up some longer bolts tomorrow and see if I need the 4th mount or not. If I do, I will make an adapter plate for strength. amazing, even the honda gas tank and pull starter fit.




if it works out good, I will pick up a horizontal shaft motor next and fix the gokart in the shed!

[rusty76]

I've got one of those predator engines on the go kart I built several years ago. They're pretty darn tuff and soup up parts abound. Keep the oil changed and it'll last a long time. Darn thing will run on moose piss too. Forgot old gas was still in the tank went to crank it and it ran like a champ. I like them.

[lower50's]

Nice to know there are still motors around that are cheap and run on crap gas like the old B&S did.

[joedoh]

buoyed by my success with the lawnmower, I decided to throw together a motorcycle. I had this bike complete and it didnt run very well, and I wasnt getting any good offers, so when I got the chance to sell the motor and gas tank and fairings for what my bottom number was on the whole bike, I took it. I listed more parts from it for sale but no offers came my way. I had this forlorn little donor bike that gave some of its parts to my forever project ysr that I rode around town when I was 18. the donor was an 87 and it was wrecked in 87 with only 1600 miles. it sat in a leaky shed till 2004 when I bought it for parts. would the motor still work? I used the predator mower gas tank and banged out the dents in the ysr tank and cut out the rusty bottom so the mower tank would fit underneath. perfect! installed the engine and chain and cleaned the carb for the first time in 30 years and... VROOM! I have been terrorizing the neighbors with this, my forever bike has a 60cc kit and a DG pipe and I think this one is faster!


after goofing off with that for a couple hours (literally! HOURS!), I started on cab rust. I wasnt going to replace the drivers floor, but it was kind of spongy. I started to replace just a small section and, well.

spotwelds and tacks done. this floorpan didnt line up for ****, but its not a concours restoration either. The original floor was a nightmare for welding, spluttery and spitting. grind and grind and its still brown, and then you have ground so much it blows through.

need to do the kicks and small holes in the toe board tomorrow, and finish tacking both sides. switched up to the windshield. cut back to shiny metal, only going to need a small repair here, I was thinking this was a bigger deal.

[joedoh]

put it in big, tack it up


grind it back


tack it again


grind it again


backside



more tacks and grinding!


total time, about two hours, I am so glad it was an easy fix.

[lower50's]

HAHA love the little bike. I would do the same. Window edge is looking real good.

[joedoh]

been killing it on the little bike, I drug out the one I had when I was 19 and yep, the frankenbike is faster.

did the cab corner inner and outer



went ahead and cut twice .



I used the old one for a pattern and everything, turns out it was squished about an inch. :|

spot welds for the inner, nice and easy!



I have a few gaps to fill on the outside still. *SIGH*

almost finished the passenger floor and patched both kicks inside and out.



this hole in the drivers floor has a $3 plug, or some sheet for free ninety nine since there is nothing under it to check any more.




tomorrow is reassembly day! only two small patches left on the cab, then some bed floor welding, then its ready to go back together.

[99 to Life]

moving right along. nice to get all the sheet metal work done sometimes. But then wait, the rest of the build involves thinking and moving stuff around. I'm tired of all that. I kinda like just sitting there cutting old metal out, putting new in. Its a luv hate thing.

[joedoh]

I cant stand doing rust repair, I would choose a good body over running mechanical condition twice on sunday. however, I am loving the casters on this body cart, I can swivel it all around and its the perfect size for a cab.

[joedoh]

no work today. as I was going out to the garage the phone rang. a couple years ago we gave grandma a crv, we bought it deer hide modified and replaced about every wear item, axles, suspension, brakes, radiator, ignition, you name it. put a good used front clip and rear window in it and presented it to grandma. since then, it has needed warranty service about every month. I wasnt aware a 97 CRV still had a warranty but grandma assures me that even the smallest problem is in fact a reason for me to drop everything and go fix it. (I am kidding, I love suzys mom like family, and we always will drop anything to help)

last month it was the thermostat was sticky, so I showed her how to watch the temp gauge, taught her how to pull over let it cool and add water, filed a little on the radiator to let the cap come off easily, and replaced the wonky thermostat and replaced the rad hoses for good measure. She lives almost an hour away and so getting there is half the fun. Today it overheated again, I told her to pull over and let it cool and check for water in the rad. its full says she. ok, carefully drive and if it overheats again, pull over again and let it cool. she was 3 miles from home and I almost beat her there, he had to pull over about every 1/2 mile she says. I open the cap and



she was seeing the wet water diverter that keeps flow away from the overflow hole, the actual radiator was stone dry. I had prayed the whole way there for a simple fix because the symptoms sounded like a head gasket or even a plugged cat. turns out the small line to the throttle body had a big leak. 12 dollar hose, 12 dollar coolant.

no good deed goes unpunished though, I caught the train at the same spot I always catch the train when driving from grandmas.



she says she is moving to town next year, I am not holding my breath.

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the cab repairs. I agree, I don't like rust repair either. Yeah, that was a simple fix on Grandma's car ...always a good thing.

[Chaddude]

Finally had a chance to read your entire thread ,very nice work Russ.
I wondered what happened to that stereo unit from bowtie I almost bought it ..keep up the great work

[joedoh]

thanks man

funny story. I went there more than 10 times for almost 8 months and ogled it every time. the day I bought it there was a guy with plates from some faraway county pulling into the parking lot in front of me. He was there first so I fumbled with my keys to let him go in first because jeff is usually the only guy working the counter, but he said "no go ahead, I always wanted to check this place out". we checked out the showroom for a bit until jeff came around the corner.

so I walked up, ordered the parts I needed, offered on the radio display and paid. As I was loading it up the guy was giving me a cockeyed look, he said "I was going to buy that!"

[Chaddude]

Funny sucks to be him

[lower50's]

Wow so close.

[joedoh]

I milked around today getting things ready to assemble. dug out the harnesses and fuel tank and all the fuel lines. fixed some more cab rust first



cut out the old seat frame and tried out the seat because I want to weld in some supports for where it mounts. Now I see why everyone uses these. Need to decide on a color and get it to the shop to be recovered



Got the core support welded up too. there was a big crease on the passenger fender, I used the 5lb sledge on one side and the 10lb on the other like a dolly, got that nice DING every shot and made short work of it.



couple more tacks on the bed



when I pulled the motor I cut the exhaust because one bolt on each side wouldnt come loose and I figured I would be doing custom exhaust. but its low mile exhaust, and after some thought I decided to weld my mistake. I may still do custom, but this will get it running and I can use it later




tomorrow I will pick up my favorite seam sealer, F26 construction adhesive. I used it on a bed I raised the floor in years ago and it is still in perfect shape after years in the sun. Best of all it gives strength to stitch welded seams, and takes paint. I will be on the lookout for a suitable sheetmetal piece for the trans tunnel too, maybe a shovel or a wheelbarrow.