The Super Duper Haggis Hauler

[MacQuigley]

You mean the magic chain! That was all that was holding the engine in place!

Thin I joined the $?!* have I gone to far club the day I brought her home!

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Looks like you have joined the oh $??? have I gone too far club .

Very funny but soooo true

Great progress Bill it was clearly a good weekend for pulling things apart (although I didn't go quite as far as you)

[CRGRS 66]

I have to believe that the chain was total overkill... duct tape or bungie cords would be been more than adequate...

[MacQuigley]

Just looking at the picture of my chassis I noticed that this is the only one that I can think of seeing that has that "X frame" in the center.

Anyone know the reason why this frame should have that?

[Ta2Don]

I may be wrong, bit I believe 60-62 had this style frame...

[ibrown50]

Don is right, the frames changed in 63 to a much simpler ( and apparently cheaper) design which removed the lovely X brace, they also lost the torsion bars and went to coils all round

[MacQuigley]

It is a 62 frame and I wondered if it was something to do with the torsion bar set up. Im fairly sure most of the other frames Ive seen are from later vehicles.

Anyway it can only add strength to the rails. The torsion bar suspension is getting changed for later coils from a 78 C10 (when the clip finally arrives from its long sea voyage!).

[MacQuigley]

Dropped in to check on my old man on my way back from site this morning only to be handed a load of Big Block parts



There are a coupl eof manifolds, a couple of cam's, 2 water pumps (one electric), a set of rocket covers and a couple of fans plus some pullies. There is still more to come!

[MacQuigley]

Been clearing the garage up over the last few nights but tonight I managed to get the cab up on some stands (would have got more done but my other hobby got in the way and I spent most of the night reloading for a shoot on Saturday). Look through the cab - still some clearing up to do!



Anyway now its up on the stands (temproary only as I need something more stable)



I can see what sort of condition the underside is in.

Frankly its not bad save the passenger side front mounting point, which is in need or repair or replacement.



Both rockers will be getting replaced





And some of the floor, maybe. I do have patch panels for the floor but it may be easier to keep them for a future rebuild and just make some patches where needed.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be out with the plasma cutter, angle grinder and MIG very soon and I can finally get this show on the road.

[MacQuigley]

Seeing as the weather was reasonably good yesterday I decided to get out the garage and make a start on stripping the chassis down.

4 or 5 hours later I was left with a pile of parts on the drive.



But for everything I accomplish I find something that sets me back. This time I found a crack in the frame.



Fortunately its not on the main frame rails. Its on the X member just where it joins the main rail on the passenger side and its limited to the top. So I will weld it up and then I think I’ll add in a strengthening plate on top and I’ll probably do the same on the bottom and on the other side.

[Ta2Don]

Solid plan for dealing with the crack!

[MacQuigley]

Had a quick look tonight and the bottom of the frame where I found the crack already has what looks like a factory strengthening piece welded in on the inside of the frame. Think I'll still opt for strengthening pieces top and bottom both sides.

[MacQuigley]

As someone said in Ian's thread, its definitely bodywork season here in the UK.

Set about the cab with a small hammer tonight and as I expected I found yet more rot













Fortunately for both sides I already have these nice new panels to start welding in.



Still not sure what all the holes in the back of the cab were for/caused by (not so sure now the biggest is a bullet hole. Its not quite the correct shame in my opinion now I can get close to it)

Its the size of a 45acp, but not very round!

[MacQuigley]

When I bought the truck I knew there would be rot to find and cut out but Im beginning to wonder if I will ever stop finding it.

This is the latest bit of steel that the old tin worm has been chomping on



Already have a replacement panel for the dash



But by the looks of the badly applied bondo the previous owner has been at it



And what is this bolt in there for



Ive now got the windsheild out and Im contemplating completely removing the dash. I cant find it now but Im sure someone posted some details on how they removed their dash. I think its a case of drilling out all the spotwelds



(Anyone remember posting about this? I think it will be easier to repair on the bench plus it lets be get under the dash to clean and paint it.)

Still cant get over the seat "mounts"





And why do this



Or this



Yet leave the other side?



Oh well, this may take longer than I thought (there a surprise!). May be a while before I see the inside of a pup again. Who am I kidding I dont remember the last time I was in a pub. Id rather be in the garage! For a start the wife doesn't come out there!!!!

[Grizz1963]

Speechless.

That super duper spacer is something to behold.


I can only pray for you to find more hours in your day.

[MacQuigley]

It really is something to behold! Oh and after all that effort, he never bolted the center seat to them anyway!

More hours in the day, more days in the week and more weeks in the year Oh and less time at work.

Actually the way I look at it its WAY less work that the Morris was and Ive got much better tools now that I had when I started it. And so far everything is repairable so its only cutting and welding at the end of the day.

[65sub]

Hi Bill. That is quite a bit of rust repair in your future. But as you said it's all repairable. Just cut weld grind repeat. I'll be removing my dash sometime but you may get to it first. It's just a lot of spot welds at the bottom of the windshield and a couple of bolts at either end and the steering column brace.

[MacQuigley]

There are certainly a LOT of spotwelds Dale and then the 2 bolts. I'll be looking at the steering column tomorrow as Im planning to strip everything out the dash. I'll try and take photos as I go and post them here. May help you a bit.

[ibrown50]

Wow Bill your cab makes mine look (almost) mint condition

You've got to keep your sense of humour when doing stuff like this, finding super duper spacers or things like my check link certainly help

[MacQuigley]

Not sure whether to smile or cry at that Ian! I'll smile - keep up the positive waves man!

Well I did want a project. I guess thats what I got.

Between the spacer and the chain, not to mention the tank support with 3" nails welded to it and the way the brake pipes were fitted Im not sure what the last owner had in mind!

[ibrown50]

3" nails! A quality job that, well at least your PO used metal, mine is built from bondo and fibreglass, he has spent so much time making it look like the genuine panel, I can't help thinking it would have been quicker to do it properly

[MacQuigley]

Yip, 3" nails!







No idea what they are doing there. I can only assume they were welded on the box section before and he just didn't bother to cut them off but 3 of them look as if they have been used a filler material.

Yes, why do people spend more time bodging a job than doing it right in the first time and saving time (and probably money as filler/bondo isn't that cheap).

[Chevy Apache]

Hi there I know the feeling when we got our truck had to fix so many half hearted repairs but didn't get any of those super doper spacers

[MacQuigley]

Seeing as we had a rare break in the weather at the weekend, I decided to bin the removal of the dash and set about the chassis as its currently sitting outside.

First and most importantly time to sort out the crack. First things first time to deploy the sand blaster and get this cleaned up.



Wish Id had one of these years ago. Although I still have to scrape of the real heavy crud it made short work of the rest.

I decided to touch up some of the original seams while I was at it as the welding was not great.



That done time to make a template, cut out a replacement and weld in place.







Plasma cutter, my new best friend. Another tool I wish Id had years ago.

While at it I ran some weld along the original lower "gusset".



I also filled in some of the crappy holes someone has pit in the frame at some point.





After that it was a case of repeat 3 more times





Also took the opportunity to fix the damage to the rear cross-member and fill some more previous owner generated holes









So now the frame is pretty much sorted. I just need my replacement front clip and once its fitted (and removed) I'll get into the frame with the sand blaster then get it painted up.

[mjh1965]

Very nice work , I like the way you also put a gusset panel as well