Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[Alan's Classic]

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
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[CRGRS 66]

[Jeff La]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

The more you pay the better the lesson learned, I think that's how it works

[piratexpress1369a]

hard lesson from the school of hard knocks

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Outatanding!!!
Now I feel that we are on the same level!!!
I had an episode just like this one during the weekend, when after 9 hours of total time block-sanding on a box-side (it was ready for paint), I noticed that one spot-weld where the upper outer meets the lower outer wasn't good. So I drilled the ledge thru the first thickness on the inside of the box & plug welded it. Simple fix right?
You can just imagine my response when I walked around to see that the primer was bubbled on the outside of the box!
I was so F-ing PO'd that I cussed out loud for about a half-hour(probably longer)
I feel your pain!

Modges, I am just glad it was not a person that was the object of my outburst. No doubt many police and at least one hospital would have been involved had that been the case. LOL . Sometimes it amazes me the level of language I can sink to due to my Soldiering experiences.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

Someday I will be a graduate from this University of Life, and that might be a bad day indeed... I could not imagine you losing your cool like that on your build. I read every page and your build had some set backs, but seemed like it went very smoothly. Perhaps I did not read between the lines very well....

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Yes CRGRS, yes.

Originally Posted by Jeff La

The more you pay the better the lesson learned, I think that's how it works

You may be right Jeff, the higher the dollar amount the deeper the lesson learned...

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

hard lesson from the school of hard knocks

Yeesh, they suck sometimes dont they?

Ok boys and girls, todays lesson is to ALWAYS remember what the original vehicle was for the parts you are working on! This is what happens when you are working with 1981 suspension, but tell the kids at the parts store you want ball joints for a 1966:

This is as far as I can get those castle nuts on with the incorrect ball joints. This is finger tight, but trust me, they dont go much farther...


I am sometimes reminded that as a grown man, armed with power tools, it is possible to be mightier than things like nuts and bolts!! As soon as I took the socket off the castle nut and saw the hair-thin strands of metal I just knew what had happened....


No, boys and girls, these are NOT supposed to bulge on the end like that, eveyone that noticed right off gets a gold star for today!!


So now resupplied with another $130 worth of ball joints, I am ready to try this again. Oh, and I have the right spring compressor now too.... just sayin

[CRGRS 66]

Did you ever find your 8lb sledge?

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Did you ever find your 8lb sledge?

Yeah.... I can fling it like a manly man having a temper tantrum like a 3 year old child, but I am still not Superman. It did not go far after bouncing off the deflection plate on the bottom of the crossmember.

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.

Thanks for asking though, taking care of one's tools is important

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Yeah.... I can fling it like a manly man having a temper tantrum like a 3 year old child, but I am still not Superman. It did not go far after bouncing off the deflection plate on the bottom of the crossmember.

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.

Thanks for asking though, taking care of one's tools is important

We all have our moments, hope you are back on track my good man!

[clemdaddy]

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.
[/QUOTE]

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.

[shok]

I have cats so kicking one seems idiotic to me at best.
I did have to throw a kleenex box at mine today tho, didn't exactly intimidate the little bastard.

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.

Missed this the first time through, and it is a perfect example of one of the many reasons why I don't have cats anymore. I grew up with them and have always had them until a couple years ago...just got sick of it all I guess. I love my little Boxer pup!

Originally Posted by McMurphy

I have not revisited that issue yet, no.
Right now my front end has consumed me, and now I am on a short time table, wife and I are going home on leave next week so I am really trying to get the front end done and back on the truck before we bug out of here.

After the front end it should be engine and tranny install ..... then ???

Well, when you start getting close to the time to get back on it shoot me a PM. I've got a real easy way to get it all set in there right, and I'll bet it fires on the first try (again if everything else is working right). I'd be happy to help you out bud.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

Missed this the first time through, and it is a perfect example of one of the many reasons why I don't have cats anymore. I grew up with them and have always had them until a couple years ago...just got sick of it all I guess. I love my little Boxer pup!



Well, when you start getting close to the time to get back on it shoot me a PM. I've got a real easy way to get it all set in there right, and I'll bet it fires on the first try (again if everything else is working right). I'd be happy to help you out bud.

Thanks Fryer, I am going on vacation later this week, so it will certainly be September before I am ready to do this.
First though is getting my transmission completed so I can slide it in along with the motor in one stroke.

[McMurphy]

Sooooo I got some stuff done!!

Once I got the proper ball joints installing them was a piece of cake. The cool thing about learning things the hard way, is when you learn how to do them right.... well suddenly what you thought was going to be a cruddy task turns out to be not so bad at all.

After that it was a simple matter of putting everything back on it and completing the suspension. Bolting that sucker back onto the frame was quite a satisfying moment for me. Keep in mind I have never done anything so aggressive as this build before, so my small victories are pretty awesome still for me !!!

I knew before hand that the engine frame mounts were going to take some attention. This is how I attended to it:

The top of the frame mount where it bolts to the frame rail needed some holes drilled, and it had a 1/8" gap I was not happy with. I made these shim plates to fill at least half that gap space.



I also sunk a hole for the bottom of the frame mount so I would have 4 bolt points.


And here it is all together....


And here is my front end as it looks now! I got the PS pump on, and I really have to echo the props to Captain Fab for his adapter plate and the fantastic template and instructions he provides!! He stuff bolted right up like it was supposed to be there !!! Also that collapsible steering column shaft works like a charm too, and bolted right up to the rag joint on the PS pump.


I was so pumped up with putting stuff back on the truck that it was hard to stop, but a growling stomach convinced me it was time to head up and get some dinner and call it a day.

[McMurphy]

This photo is for the sway bar, and my trailing arm. I had to drill the holes for that and want to be sure I got it right, if I got it backwards, well .... I will have to fix it I suppose.


And one last shot just because I am gushing with accomplishment at this point. Funny how motivating reassembly can be after so many months of tinkering, cleaning, cutting, welding, painting and sanding with no real discernable progress!


Now suddenly I am not happy with the top half of my steering column and am contemplating the shortening and reduction of the steering wheel radius that Astronaut did. Mostly because it is dirty, and if I take it off to clean it, well I might as well mess with it too !!!

By the way, to the naked eye all that red is not so glaringly bright Dorthy of Oz ruby slipper red.... and what looks like white is actually pewter grey on the steering shaft and the engine mounts.

[Alan's Classic]

Sweet progress, congrats!!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Sweet progress, congrats!!

Thanks Alan, you really slipped that one in on me as I was trying to post my second set of pics !!
Truely thank you for taking the time to look sir, and for all your advice!!!

[KroAutomotiveInc]

looking really nice man! gotta love when all your hard work finely turns into something.

[piratexpress1369a]

looks killer. McMurphy

[6T6]

That looks awesome!!.....congrats on making so much progress.
Really nice work.


TC

[Bomp]

Man you are making some REAL progress.

I also have never ventured this deep into a project,,,,,,,,,,,, I sometimes catch myself doing the happy dance (not to be confused with the pp dance) when things fall together and it looks like I really know what I'm doing.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by KroAutomotiveInc

looking really nice man! gotta love when all your hard work finely turns into something.

Thanks Kro! and I totally agree, hard work is fine, but satisfaction comes from seeing results from it that you can be proud of.

Originally Posted by coulter

o ya i know the feeling man !!!!! i dig all the red suspension goodies
lookin good man!!

Thanks Coulter! I dont think I could match your build, you are just crazy better at this than I am, but I think when you see the whole thing at the end, you will like it a lot more! You strike me as someone who appreciates balance of color and theme...and in that area I certainly have plans to deliver.

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Awesome progress McMurph!

Thank you CRGRS, always glad to see you chime in!

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

Looking good McMurphy!

I been looking at your 4x4 work with Kro, and it makes me itch to get on my 77 Cheyenne! It is a mountain truck we got so we could be sure to get in and out of our retirement spot. I should post some pics of it.... we call it The Beast.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

looks killer. McMurphy

Thanks for looking Pirate!!

Originally Posted by 6T6

That looks awesome!!.....congrats on making so much progress.
Really nice work.


TC

I think I am in love with this stage of the build already...assembly!!

Originally Posted by Bomp

Man you are making some REAL progress.

I also have never ventured this deep into a project,,,,,,,,,,,, I sometimes catch myself doing the happy dance (not to be confused with the pp dance) when things fall together and it looks like I really know what I'm doing.

Hahahah I am with you there, perhaps I should do some of that more often, to balance out that nasty temper tantrum I had last week !!

Well men, the Army gives us 30 days paid vacation a year, and my wife and I have a 14 acre slice of pure heaven on the edges of Mt Spokane State Park we are getting ready. My wife Trish only has 5 more years till she hits her 20 in the Army so we have a lot to do there, which is why we only take our leave once a year.
So.... we live in a camper with no internet and only limited cell phone signal.
Long story short, my build is on a 30 day hold at this time. Thursday I will be firing life back into The Beast, and unpacking the camper, Friday we are looking at 2 more classic rigs and hopefully meeting some board members for lunch or dinner or both!!
After that it is working on the land and getting my Tempest ready for the GoodGuys show!
I will pop in on the site tomorrow but after that it is uncertain when I will be online again... just too much to do, too many people to hang out with, and too much sun to soak up to be farting around on the computer...ummmm....like I am right now !!!!!

Thanks for taking a look guys, I really appreciate your time and attention.

[coulter]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Thanks Coulter! I dont think I could match your build, you are just crazy better at this than I am, but I think when you see the whole thing at the end, you will like it a lot more! You strike me as someone who appreciates balance of color and theme...and in that area I certainly have plans to deliver.

I wouldnt say that at all man.. you have done alot of really nice fab work and have some really cool ideas!!! cant wait to see how the rest turns out

[clemdaddy]

you have all the skills necessary and it shows in your work. plus a hugh amount of vision to make it unique.

be safe in your slice of heaven and hurry back to us...

and by the way, the wife is speaking to me again and the cat is fine.

[dbomb53]

Checklist for McMurphy when he's back: motor, wiring, YouTube Video!

[chad64chevy]

vacation sounds nice right about now, lol!! take lots of pics for us! have a great time and we'll see you when you get back!!