Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread

[swamp rat]

Yikes! definitely glad you caught it in time!

As a general rule if not using my float charger, i will never set my regular charger to more than 2 amps for an over night charge.

[Bomp]

Glad you caught it in time. Whew....

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

Close call, coulda burnt the house down with everybody in it. Try not to use it (your luck) all up, OK, we kinda like you around here!

My garage is not attached to the house, which has some advantages with fumes, fires, etc. I kinda like me around here also.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Yikes! definitely glad you caught it in time!

As a general rule if not using my float charger, i will never set my regular charger to more than 2 amps for an over night charge.

This is one of those smart chargers that is supposed to detect these kinds of problems. Good tip though. It has a battery recondition setting that I should have used.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Glad you caught it in time. Whew....

Me too. Don't want to think of the what ifs...

Gonna do some wet sanding today. And drill the holes for the single wall top. Maybe more. It's full out garage day today.

[Bomp]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Gonna do some wet sanding today. And drill the holes for the single wall top. Maybe more. It's full out garage day today.

Considering breaking the other foot to get back out to the shop.
Been slammin' it full out at work to catch back up for the four month foot ordeal. The other two welders I work with are Newbies (they are good welders but being new they are slow).

"Full out garage day" Rock it Bigtime
Have Fun

[hgs_notes]

I did get a bunch of wet sanding done and drilled the holes for the single wall top. So now the bed rails are lighter and will improve my HP:weight ratio. I'm considering spraying more primer though. I got a couple spots that are full of porosity and will definitely need more primer. And other little problem areas. Gonna clean it up, start taping and see what ends up falling out of my brain as I think on it.

I should really pull the cowl, get the wiper parts painted and then put it back on before painting. And I can't forget to drill the holes in the fender for the grill mounting. I should go do that now actually. Always more little details coming up.

I took the half top off and cleaned the old dried moss off it with the pressure washer. But had a delay in that because the carb on the pressure washer needed to be cleaned out. Gotta shorten the top some more, fix some damage, spray it black eventually.

I went to where I bought the battery and I should have a 2 yr replacement warranty on it so I just need to bring it in for a new one. New parts for the tranny leak fixes were shipped today.

And managed to piss the wife off again (trust me, doesn't take much). Another one of those days where the future wasn't looking so bright.

The mantra... I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.

My new favorite mantra though is this one...

Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, and Joshua Homme -...

[hgs_notes]

Pics, bed rail with lots of lightening holes...


wet sanded tailgate...


Passenger fender was a GMC 1 with holes for grill eyebrows in place...


Driver side was a 68 chevy fender, no holes...


Cept for now it does...

[Low Elco]

Good workin'! One foot in front of the other... As for the rest, tomorrow's another day.

Look up Probot-Shake Your Blood. It'll do ya good.
Posted via Mobile Device

[VA72C10]

Glad to see the progress and thankful the battery issue didn't turn out bad...

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Look up Probot-Shake Your Blood. It'll do ya good.
Posted via Mobile Device

That was good. Me likey. Try this one...

Texas Hippie Coalition: "Turn It Up"...

I'm gonna try and see Everclear this friday in Mankato. They are playing the ribfest party there. Pretty sure I can find some beer to go with the ribs and banging metal.

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Glad to see the progress and thankful the battery issue didn't turn out bad...

Glad to see you checking in. Sounds like you have very limited time lately.

[Bomp]

Turned it up and broke the knob off.

Genie gave me 3 wishes.
1. life time supply of beer
2. dump truck load of money
3. Wish I was a pole.


Sweet Vid

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Turned it up and broke the knob off.

Genie gave me 3 wishes.
1. life time supply of beer
2. dump truck load of money
3. Wish I was a pole.


Sweet Vid

I laughed out loud at #3. Good thing I wasn't drinking something I would've shorted out my laptop.

[Low Elco]

Heh, heh. Love me some THC. Kinda need it today, thanks!

[Low Elco]

PS- don't forget the drag boat, Bomp. Gotta have a drag boat.

[hgs_notes]

First things first, ribfest was excellent. I took my oldest girl since she came home for that and maybe work next week. We had ribs (and other stuff) from Texas Thunder and Big Boned BBQ. Had the Texas Thunder first and thought it was outstanding. Then had Big Boned BBQ later and it was even better. Everclear was actually disappointing, but the opener before them was a band called LeoGun from out of London and we both really liked them. Kinda sound like the Black Keys if your familiar with them. And there was Alaskan Amber on tap.

But to get my thoughts off my personal problems I went to the garage today. It was slow getting going, finding motivation, but as the morning wore on I found some enthusiasm and progress started building.

First I drained the tranny and got the pan off. Not sure it was leaking, but whatever, it had to come off to get the other things fixed. First I installed the new kickdown cable. No real issues with that. Then the shifter seal. That was a bit of a pain. Getting the shaft out just requires removing the shifter linkage and removing 1 nut inside to remove the internal linkage. The hard part was getting that stupid tiny seal out of the hole. Its the size of a nickel and the lip of the seal would just bend and tear. I ended up using a scribe and tapping into the side and forcing the seal inward. Which resulted in a gouge in the hole where the seal rests.

I sanded it and cleaned it up with some brake cleaner, put a dad of silicone in the damaged spot and drove in the new seal. I think the seal is in deeper than the gouge and I'm really not too concerned with that part leaking. The shaft itself was a bit rough where the seal rests though and that was a concern. So I fit it into my 1/2" drill press to spin it while I used some 400 grit, then 1000 grit paper to clean it up.

Before...


Yeah the threads were a bit messed up too. I used a die to clean them up also.

After...


That went together alright but I gotta tell you, working under there with the tranny dripping almost the whole time kinda sucked. And theres a shaft that slides back and forth inside there which is tied to the shifter linkage. A little too far either way and fluid pours out of the valve body. Nasty mess. I didn't eat any, but had a few drips near my eyes and in my hair.

The last area of concern was the dipstick tube. Again, don't know if it was a leak source or not, but I was gonna pull it, clean it, check the o-ring and put a dab of silicone on anyway. That was the plan. Didn't work out though. I could NOT get the bolt out that holds the dipstick. Its one of the tranny to motor bolts and I must've been eating spinach and wheaties the day I put that together. I let it stay as is. Main reason is that the pan doesn't have to come back off to fix it. If I can get the stupid tight bolt out I can fix it later, if it leaks. It didn't.

I cleaned up the tranny gasket surface and then used some 400 grit paper to make sure it was smooth. I put a small bead of silicone on that area. Put a dot of silicone on the corners of the pan gasket seating area to hold the gasket in place and got the pan back on. Nice piece from Rausch Racing on their ebay store $42 shipped I think.


I was about to put the fluid back in and remembered the tranny cooler wasn't connected yet, so I took the time to get that done, which was as simple as connecting some rubber hose to the proper lines and tightening the clamps. Now the tranny fluid could go back in.

Fired it up and let it run a bit, added more fluid and then went for a short but very sweet cruise. Down the alley, up the street to the body shop to show off my progress (weekends they work on personal projects, like repairables, etc.) My boy saw me pull out of the garage and begged for the chance to drive it. When I got done with show and tell and got it back to the driveway he came running out. I said take it down the alley and back (no insurance). He gets back and coolant is dumping out of it like crazy.



Cripes that boy looks big in those pics. He's about an inch or more taller than me now and thick as a tree. Anywho, He kills it and I get it back in the driveway, pop the hood and see the upper radiator hose is hanging loose. Just didn't have the clamp tight enough. Not enough wheaties and spinach that day. Fixed that, refilled the radiator. Everythings good to go. I didn't do much more than clean most of the crap out of it and blew dust out with a leaf blower.

But I had been noticing that my old burnout marks in the driveway were getting too faded for my liking so I did a little touch up...


Running pretty strong. No problem turning over the 32" tire. It is just 1 at a time so not super impressive, but I do love me some smokey burnouts.

And so far so good on tranny leaks.

[Bomp]

Smokey burnout
Your a better man than me..,,, I can't stands the tranny drippin in me hairs while under a rig.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Smokey burnout
Your a better man than me..,,, I can't stands the tranny drippin in me hairs while under a rig.

I don't know about "better", but when my job requires crawling through boilers, getting dirty just doesn't bother me much. Except when stuff is falling in my face. That bugs the bejeebers out of me and you will hear lots of old sailor talk and see some awkward squirming around if you're around me when it happens. It never fails that when something falls around my eyes that my hands are nasty grimy and there isn't a clean rag within reach.

But its time to go scrub that stuff out of my hair.

[Low Elco]

I love when it drops perfectly in your open eye. Doink! Much sailor talk! Progress looks good!
Posted via Mobile Device

[hgs_notes]

2 words:

DIPSTICK

LEAK!

GAAAGGHHHH!!!!

[hgs_notes]

Not messing with the underneath red fluid drip at this time.

Instead I continued doing what needs to be done in order to spray color on this ***** soon. So that means more sanding, but wet sanding, which I don't hate as much as dry sanding, which I hate like rusty grit falling in my eyes. I had been spraying a few spots with more primer and scuffing through it repeatedly. Finally got enough on there to stay put. I pulled the Jimmy out to the driveway.

I guess I shouldn't say pulled, I actually drove it, but before parking in the driveway I was throwing gravel rooster tails down the alley.

I needed to sand the new primer spots and the driver side of the bed. Ended up wet sanding the entire truck again, which wasn't so bad, cause it had already been done. I just noticed some gritty feeling on already sanded areas, probably from overspray, maybe just dirty, but I just did it all again.

Then I washed it. Got it as clean as I could with a mild car wash soap. And that's how it sits right now. I think it's ready to tape off and spray. Well, other than wax/grease remover, paint prep stuff anyway. Don't want a bunch of fish eyes. So here she is in all her spotted glory and I hope these are the last pics I ever post of it like this.

[71swb4x4]

Looking good!!! When do you hope to spray?

[Bomp]

Start flingin' paint already!

Check list:
Paint gun................check
Loud rockin music.....check
Beer.......................check and double check
Faaalingin' paint........and check

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

Looking good!!! When do you hope to spray?

I could maybe do it next weekend, IF I can get time in the booth.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Start flingin' paint already!

Check list:
Paint gun................check
Loud rockin music.....check
Beer.......................check and double check
Faaalingin' paint........and check

Yeah, something like that, except you forgot the part about taping, and that my friend is a time consuming process. And I gotta find my wiper parts to spray also. And I hope I'm not forgetting something else. This is the point where I start second guessing myself.

Uhg, time for the mantra again...

Stuart Smalley's famous quote - YouTube

[Dale99]

I cant find my trans leak, so I feel you on the red drip. At least I found my t-case leak.

[Dale99]

back on post #936 you gave me some hitch info. I finally got that exact hitch. I was wondering if you could get me some pics of how its mounted to your frame, and maybe some hole dimensions referenced from some spot on the frame?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dale99

back on post #936 you gave me some hitch info. I finally got that exact hitch. I was wondering if you could get me some pics of how its mounted to your frame, and maybe some hole dimensions referenced from some spot on the frame?

Heres some pics of my hitch and how I installed it. First the side plates are reversed from side to side and 1/2" plates with holes drilled to match where the side plates bolt to the cross piece are used as spacers to get the side to side distance correct.


The hitch came with some 1/2" thick re-inforcement parts, but I used them as spacers between the hitch and frame, then had other re-inforcement plates to use on the other side of the frame for added strength. The side views of the hitch show it good. I can't remember what holes I had to drill, if any.




This is no way close to how the manufacturer recommends installing this hitch. I used what I had available and did the best I could to make it work. It's a class 3 hitch and I used this same set up (minus the spacers between the frame and hitch) on my C-10 for a few years to pull a 20" Four Winns open bow run about with inboard/outboard. The boat itself weighed over 3000# I think. Never had any issues and my frame rails on the C-10 looked just fine after I removed the hitch.

I have no intention of ever towing something that heavy with the Jimmy, but I wouldn't be scared to if I did. Hope this helps.