72 k20 project

[ryanroo]

Well, crafty i guess, but there is a lot of brains already used up on these. some things i geek out over making myself, others i'd rather pony up for someone else to do the hard stuff.

i was out of town for several days last weekend and the week before and have had a slow start getting back on this thing.

i have had a few minutes to fiddle.

i put a hood on the mock up front clip. first time ive tested the radiator set up with the actual hood and not just measurements. fits really awesome.



in the first pic you can see this. it is a desiccant air drier with a heater. same stuff they use on air brake/suspension systems in heavy trucks. now to figure on where to mount this.



i also was having trouble with the overly shiny raw aluminum tanks. i decided to try this black chrome aluminum wheel paint. who knows how it will hold up, but i like the effect.





this took up some of my weekend. i was tired of no room for tools. it isnt the manliest box ive ever seen by far, but it was pretty cheap. had to do some re arranging.

[jbclassix]

Spend spend on that dryer! And, hey, the toolbox doesn't make you any money, its the guy who knows how to use the tools in it. I have never been able to convince myself that I need a 10K box. I have the exact same Busy box and the double row. It gets the job done: sorts, stores, protects, and locks.

[swamp rat]

The last rollaway i got was a Craftsman freeby that came with the 98 CR250 i bought new, the new aluminum frames were still not that good so Honda was pushing buyer incentives. I actually needed the rollaway at the time so it was worth the risk.. Didn't take me long to fill it. The bike was gone within a year and a half.

I like the black too.

[Dieselwrencher]

Ryan, looks good and I like that black chrome paint on the tanks. The mock up front clip looks good too. Nice box too.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

Spend spend on that dryer! And, hey, the toolbox doesn't make you any money, its the guy who knows how to use the tools in it. I have never been able to convince myself that I need a 10K box. I have the exact same Busy box and the double row. It gets the job done: sorts, stores, protects, and locks.

This is true until you're rolling a cheap o tool box filled to the gills with tools across a shop floor and it pukes it's guts all over or dumps over. Let a lone try to open the drawers when they're filled in 2 years. I spent good money on a tool box and it should last me most of my life. Seeing how Ryan doesn't use his daily and it more than likely won't be moved much, that box will work great for him.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

Spend spend on that dryer! And, hey, the toolbox doesn't make you any money, its the guy who knows how to use the tools in it. I have never been able to convince myself that I need a 10K box. I have the exact same Busy box and the double row. It gets the job done: sorts, stores, protects, and locks.

More horse trading... but worth the effort on my end, and i certainly hope Ryan feels it is for him as well. it needs a dryer. how else do you make that classic sneeze noise?

the box nor the tools do nothing but steal my cash. i would love to have the spare monies for a man box so all my pro wrench turner friends can leave me alone... hahaha. but as you said, it does what i need

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Ryan, looks good and I like that black chrome paint on the tanks. The mock up front clip looks good too. Nice box too.

i had to do something, cant be having shiny stuff!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

This is true until you're rolling a cheap o tool box filled to the gills with tools across a shop floor and it pukes it's guts all over or dumps over. Let a lone try to open the drawers when they're filled in 2 years. I spent good money on a tool box and it should last me most of my life. Seeing how Ryan doesn't use his daily and it more than likely won't be moved much, that box will work great for him.

there are times i wish i had chased the snap on dream when i was in tech school, simply because by now i would have it paid for and still have the fancy guy stuff. since i am a shadetree tech and earn my keep as a fabricator, i prefer to buy fab tools. the truck budget eats most of the tool budget anyhow, so mostly i just keep at it with a hammer and chisel and the gracious attitude of my boss. i did pick out my new bad boy grinder the other day. i just have to pull the trigger.

[sboris]

Looking good as usual. Can't wait to see that cab on this thing..

[ryanroo]

i am looking forward to that as well. trying to keep going at the stuff i need to do before that can happen. in line with that...

[Dieselwrencher]

That cross member looks sweet!

[mx289]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That cross member looks sweet!

Very nice work.

And your fuel line setup is,

You almost ready to sent the rest of the body to paint ?

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That cross member looks sweet!

Thanks! i am looking forward to seeing how stiff it makes things when the Cummins goes back in. that is a big hunk of metal to push stuff around, but im thinking it not going to be an issue. and the steering box is rock solid.

Originally Posted by mx289

Very nice work.

And your fuel line setup is,

You almost ready to sent the rest of the body to paint ?

Thank you!

the body guy has the fenders, doors, and tailgate to work on. i should bring the dude a hood too, so it will fill up his booth. classic body shop story. always takes forever. i pay cash every time the bill is due, doesn't seem to motivate for progress though. it would be nice to see the progress but if it takes a few more weeks i will be ok. i'd rather not have really fresh parts to try and store right now.


i have been making some headway on this thing, but i have chosen not to bore you all with the intermediate boredom. I hope to have something to show tomorrow.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

I hope to have something to show tomorrow.

Without further ado...

i squirted some paint on this stuff.



and i sat down at the computer until i was numb from the neck down.



after a few test pieces from thinner material and the requisite modifications to the .dxf i blasted this unit out.



.375" 6061-T6 aluminium.



fits pretty darn good.



the hopeful plan is to o-ring it. i looked at some tooling to cut a dovetail groove for the o-ring so it snaps in and stays put. that is still in the works. hope to start laying out the pan this week so i can start putting that together.

[ryanroo]

Also, at some point i had re-drawn the battery box to a more suitable version. it is just a bit lower than the original and I also added a little more material to the bends for better support and ease with hold downs or a battery cover.



on the frame it goes.



the lay of the land, so to speak made a perfect place to mount the drier. it is within the recommended length of line away from the compressor to allow for the air to cool, but not so long that the moisture condenses out and starts collecting in the low spots.

the bracket. i was pretty stoked that webco included a technical spec drawing for the mounting pattern. i drew this up and due to a mild case of the OCD and since i had explicit instructions as to the dimensions, i tuned the plasma in for a perfect half inch hole and real clean cut. then, thanks to the subversion of the directions, i had to drill them out to .5625" to get it all to fit well. lesson learned, again. just measure the stupid thing. or quit being neurotic and oversize the holes like the instruction manual implores you do.



this area is pretty congested. air, electricity, and fuel all in the same zip code. then all the brackets that are glued in. link mounts on one side and battery box and drier on the other. i will have my work cut out for me with the plumbing and routing, and making it look decent.



the fit of the drier and whatnot.

[ryanroo]

i forgot i had these pics as well.

with the mock up of the front clip i had done, i had the opportunity to finally check the fitment of the radiator in relation to the hood. this was all built on measurements and up till recently i had never checked that i hadnt missed the mark.

totally sweet. it fits and has plenty of clearance.



i also got bored/distracted at some point and thought i would see if i could manage a full 5" exhaust. that of course means a 5" ell for the downpipe. unfortunately there isnt a lot of room in that area of the world, but since i moved the engine forward a smidge, i thought i better try.

this is the beginning of that. i wont know for sure if itll work until the engine and cab reconvene on the frame. by the look of it, it will work.

its also 12 ga. 304L SS. depending on the cost and difficulty, i may run the exhaust out of stainless. either way, stainless is better at handling heat so it makes a good material for this ell, as it will get a full face punch of heat from the turbo.



that is a 6" combo square sitting there for reference.

[swamp rat]

Nice work, wish my truck had a "Whatnot" too!

[mx289]

Looking good over there.

Its all adding up.

[C20scott]

This build is awesome. The quality of all your fab work looks great.

Keep it up!

[Dieselwrencher]

Great work! I love the battery tray! Nice work and that pan rail is awesome too!

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Nice work, wish my truck had a "Whatnot" too!

i think Whatnot is an old native american word for headache.... haha

Originally Posted by mx289

Looking good over there.

Its all adding up.

Thank you Sir!

Originally Posted by C20scott

This build is awesome. The quality of all your fab work looks great.

Keep it up!

I appreciate the good words, Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Great work! I love the battery tray! Nice work and that pan rail is awesome too!

thanks my friend!

here is todays little blurb. i have a few hours of layout and measuring in this thing so far, so many i would hate to add them up... no wonder i am so tired.



and with the bottom/front piece from the other side. more to go, but i had to test it out.

[DeadheadNM]

Is that a camp stove Ryan?

[ryanroo]

that is the start of my new oil pan.

[DeadheadNM]

[6lcummins]

is it thick enough?

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6lcummins

is it thick enough?

which it are you referring to? without knowing i can answer, Yes. the table top is .75" and plenty heavy for my needs. the pan flange is .375" 6061t6 AL and more than adequate. the pan is .090" 5052 AL. at nearly 3/32" it is thicker than it needs to be for a zero(or very low) pressure environment and less than 3 gallons of oil volume. it could have esily been .050" or even less, but it gets more tedious to weld once you get below .080 or so. if i had done my research i would have laid out the bend details for .100" or .080" since we had more smaller drops of those to choose from, but i got lucky and found the one piece of .090" we had in the drop rack and it was a perfect fit for these parts. otherwise i would have had to go out to the metal storage and pull a full sheet. that would have been lame.

[COS399]

As usual - awesome attention to detail and craftsmanship!

Keep it up.