Avoid the Concrete

[70LonghornCST]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but it looks like you are heading in the right direction. Great work!

[Low68]

Finally have another update after being out of town and then feeling under the weather for a couple weeks. I have been going back and forth on the best step to take next. I decided to get the rear axle put on and temporarily put the engine and trans back in to see where the drive shaft will be. Then I can start on the cross-members for the frame. So this weekend I cut all the old brackets off the frame and started to clean up the axle housing getting it ready to weld in. When I cut the axle saddles off, I found quite a bit of rust under them. After cutting down to bare metal, I measured the depth of the rust and it was over an eighth of an inch of the tube. I don't feel comfortable with that and need to decide what to do about it. I am going to call a differential shop tomorrow and see what my options are for repairing this housing. I am also thinking that I may buy a Moser housing and swap my gears and posi over.



Here a very bad angle on part of the rusted out area. This is not the worst area, but I didn't want to flip the axle over at the time.



I also started to put the rear suspension on. I got the brackets on and the four bars put on.






I also want to be able to get a jack under the front of this and it was difficult to get a jack under it before. Once I am done, it will be lower than before so I decided to put a beefier cross member closer to the front so that I don't have to try to get the entire jack under the front bumper. Here it is tacked in place.

[dbash]

You must have tagged that the end of that K-Rail pretty hard. Glad you were unhurt. Made me sick to see the wrecked truck but you obviously do not have any grass growing under your feet. This build is already sick.

Is that Tube Steel really just for a floor jack? Because the K-Rail is going to think twice about jumping out in front of you again with that welded in there

Look forward to seeing this develop.

[chuckmc8]

Its always unfortunate when a vehicle is damaged, but I like that you were using your truck to have fun and are repairing it better than before and getting back out there.

[Low68]

I set the motor and transmission in this week. I will likely be moving it back and possibly down a little bit so I will be making my own motor mounts, but I figure the mounts that I have will let me start mocking everything up for now.



I decided to call a local differential shop to see what could be done with my rear end due to the severe rust under the brackets that I cut off. I took it into AZ differential and for a decent price they replaced the housing with a decent used housing, replace all the seals and bearings, and swapped over all the parts. I got it back this week and got the rear suspension tack welded in place. I am leaving them tacked for now and will do the final welding later. I would like to get it on the ground with the body on it to figure out ride height before doing the final welding on all the brackets.

[BossHogg69]

Sorry to hear about your truck getting wrecked, but man this is such a cool build. Some really nice parts goint into that chassis! It will be neat to see how your times with the previous setup compare to the new stuff you're throwing on now. I'm definitely subscribing to this one

[Low68]

Now that I have the rear axle in, I know where the drive shaft will be and started building the main cross member. I moved it back just slightly from where it was originally as it it quite a bit taller than the original cross member and I didn't want to have clearance issues with the cab. I will still have to check drive shaft clearance at the back of the cab when I get the cab on.

Once I got the main tubes of the cross member tacked in place, I put some cross bracing towards the rear. I was then able to cut off all the temporary bracing that was getting in the way of putting the drive shaft in. I put the drive shaft in to see if I had made my measurements correctly and it looks like I should be good. With the coilovers in the lowest hole on the bottom mount(lowest ride height), the axle will come up and touch the frame with around 3/4 - 1" left of coilover travel. This is without a bump stop. At this point, the drive shaft barely rubs on the cross member directly in front of the axle. I will address this later.

For now I am going to bolt the cab mounts back on the frame so I can start putting the body on the truck. I need to figure out where I want the motor to be so I can get that put in place. Once that's done, I can make motor mount or modify the ones that I have to get it where I want it.

[Low68]

I got the cab mounts bolted on and put the cab back on to see where the motor sits. I decided I wanted to move it back around 4 inches. Since I already plan to redo the firewall, it wont' matter that the stock firewall would not clear. Once I knew where I wanted the motor, I pulled the cab back off.












Today I started on the motor mounts. I decided that it would be easier to start over and make my own. The sides are not the same due to having to have clearance for the steering. I have the mounts tacked in place. This weekend, I will pull the motor out and finish welding the mounts. Once welded, I will try to make some more progress on the center bracing for the frame.

Passenger side:







Driver side:

[TexasLS1]

Like the guys have said, sorry about your wreck, but this build is too cool! Nice work and clearly a good choice in parts. Subscribing so I can follow along...

[Number98]

You been busy!

[butternut1972]

Nice Work. I'm in.

[Low68]

I finished welding up the motor mounts this weekend. Here is a shot of the mounts from the front.



I also was able to start on the forward bracing. I still have some of the smaller bracing to do and I need to make a trans mount. Here are those photots.

[oldskoolrules]

Looking great!

[Low68]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I did a little bit more on the bracing today. I made a center brace for the upper bars and got it tack welded in place. I am hoping to get the transmission mount built tomorrow and finish up the rest of the bracing.

[Low68]

I finished the majority of fabrication on my trans mount. I just need to mark for holes to mount it, and then weld some nuts on the inside of the mount. I made it serve dual function as a trans mount as well as a cross brace between the two sides of the frame bracing. I couldn't get a decent picture of it put in, so when I pull the motor out to do the welding on everything, I will get a better picture.

[oldskoolrules]

Man I need to practice my welding skills, excellent work!

[Low68]

Originally Posted by oldskoolrules

Man I need to practice my welding skills, excellent work!

Are you Scott? The Scott that bought my old gas tank?

[Low68]

Today I got the holes drilled and some nuts tack weleded on the trans mount. So my trans mount is all done now except for a couple more welds. I also made another brace for underneath the drive shaft. Wanted to get a little bit more bracing done, but had to call it a night. Here are the latest pics.

[oldskoolrules]

Originally Posted by Low68

Are you Scott? The Scott that bought my old gas tank?

No, I'm Preston. But ya Scott was with me when we came down to get all those parts from you.

[Low68]

Ok, sorry about the mix up Preston. You get a chance to put those parts on yet? How are they working out for you?

[oldskoolrules]

Not a problem. Nope not yet, I have been buying more parts and getting everything ready. Also trying to finish up building my sons baja. I'm sure they will be great though, again thanks for the awesome deal!

[BossHogg69]

What kind of equipment are you using to cut your steel plate & tubing? Everything looks very nicely finished on the edges. Nice looking welds too.

[Low68]

I mostly use cut off wheels to cut the flat stock. I find that i get the straightest cuts with that method. We have a plasma but i don't use it all that much. For the tubing, we have a tubing notcher from speedway. It uses a hole saw and has a rotatable pipe clamp. It is a pretty simple design and one of the cheaper ones, but get the job done well enough. To clean up the edges, i will usually use a flap disc on a grinder or a 3" right-angle air tool with a sanding disc or a scotchbrite pad.

[mcbassin]

Killer project! love all the plans. Too bad those barriers aren't very forgiving. I'm going to follow along.

[Low68]

I am just about done with all the bracing that I am going to be doing up front. I pulled the motor and trans out and started welding up all the braces. I have decided I hate welding round tube. Definitely need more practice at that. I am hoping to have it all welded tomorrow. Then I will put on the old wheels and set it down on the suspension for the first time. One of the next steps is to put the body on it and verify the rear axle placement is correct.

On to the important part: