Well you can roll the AC/DC music because "I'm Back..."

I hit the shop for the 1st time in a week and got my butt to work. I pulled the tranny out of the truck and also started modifying the top portion on the engine compartment cross member that I had to cut to clear the oil pan. I will be using it to "cap" the cross member to keep that "stock" look.

Nothing much to show - but I did take a few pics because people always seem to ask for pics...

Hopefully tonight I will get the motor pulled out and start fitment and welding of the crossmember cap. I just have to go back to the "pull the motor out - cut, put the motor in - measure. Pull the motor back out - test fit. Put the motor back in - test fit...." That takes time and is annoying but I want to make sure I have room for the A/C pump...

Ok enough talk - here's a couple pics.

remember this???



Well - here's cleaning up the top so I can make it go back on - just lower...

 

sounds like fun....oh wait never mind no it doesnt....but it does sound like it is worth it in the end.

 

Another decent night. Took a while to get started because I was moving junk around the yard again (got a guy coming to pick up parts this morning) and that took a while.

I did get the motor pulled and got the A/C pump on it. I finished welding the motor mounts and started messing with the cross member.

Here's a couple pics for the picture who**s

Haven't seen it like this for a while


Finished welding up the motor mounts

 

hows that rust patching coming along?

 

It's not.

I'm going to worry about that later. For now I painted it with "zero rust" which will stop the rust from spreading any more. Besides - it's only outside for a month or so more - max. Then it will be in the new shop.

After I get the motor in and settled I'll mess with patching that crap.

 

Not much new as of today. I prepped the motor mounts for paint (will powder coat them later) and continued messing with the crossmember and clearance for the A/C compressor.

The crossmember is fighting me when it comes to fitting, but a bit more time with a BFH (big freaking hammer) and I should teach it to obey.

Also - cutting the boxed portion of the frame to clear the A/C pump is tricky. It's hard getting anything in that area to cut what I want cut. I am going back and forth between a Port-a-band (coolest tool ever!) and a 4" grinder with a cut off wheel. I am trying to avoid dragging out the plasma cutter as it is messy and requires too much clean up on the metal after cutting.

Pics:
Cutting a little at a time = slow work



Here's the plan for the above area. The boxed section of the frame gets larger as it gets closer to the cross member. This won't clear the A/C pump so I'm going to take an angle grinder with a cut off wheel and slice where the red lines are. I will then bend the metal "in" towards the frame and re-weld and plate where necessary.


Hopefully I will get this figured out tonight and have pics tomorrow!

 

sounds/looks like a plan!

 

Slow night again last night as I went straight from work to a buddy's shop and ended up going over this whole thread with him. He is considering putting a cummins in his 73 suburban and I am telling him he should

So I got home kinda late after that, and that cuts my work time short due to how loud cutting this stuff is!

I went later than my usual 9 PM noise cut off time so I could at least say I did something last night.

Hopefully Monday will bring some actual progress...

more cutting


after cutting and beating on it with a hammer

 

Ok - time for the overdue update...

Didn't really get crap done this weekend. I was overly tired for some reason so I didn't get much shop time in.

All I got done was a little more massaging on the cross member to make it fit.


Last night I got back to work. I had the motor in and out of the truck 3 times while I was looking at fitment/clearance of the crossmember and A/C pump/compressor. I am happy to say it's pretty easy to get the motor in and situated with the mounts I made

If it doesn't rain tonight thru Thursday like the forecast says then I will get this thing welded up. If it does rain then I'm going to be moving shop stuff and working on the custom dash some more...




Making the A/C pump fit with the cross member:
Before


After (for now - more to come)



And last but not least - I cut out the piece of the dodge frame where the steering box went. Since I am using the saginaw box out of the dodge and the Ford frame is hacked where the box mounts - I will be making it "right" again using this...

 

Well - just as I thought the rain came. It screwed up working on the crew as it started raining right when I was beginning on the crew. So no "real" progress on the crew.

I did make some progress on another front though... the shop.

This is a good and bad thing. Good because all of my projects will be inside and in one place, bad because it takes away time from working on the crew. I still have to move everything, which seems like a normal experience. That is unless you know me and my shop and how much CRAP I own. Plus I have to wire the shop for 220 and make some "modifications" like what I did this past weekend (pics below)

new shop before:


during




hopefully the "after" pics will come tomorrow!

Oh - and here's the little I got done on the crew before the rain. Still need to do a bunch to finish this - but the focus for now is the shop...

 

think you might get a lift in there? what is the slab rated at? it is a nice dry and wind free place to work in....

 

I was considering a lift before, so I might. My buddy just snagged a 2 post off craigslist for $100!
I totally would have done it for that price.
I will keep my eyes open and if I come across one at a decent price I will most likely grab it, as it would most likely make my life easier...

And yes - this shop will be a nice change from working outside. Especially at this time of year when it gets dark so dang early. I can actually see what I am doing with the lights in the shop

 

Long time no update here - sorry. Nothing has changed though as this is a small, boring update for today. The business of the Holidays and moving has set in

I went to work on the truck this weekend and of course came down with the flu which turned out to be pretty bad. I can usually work while sick, but throwing up is a different deal:vomit007:

So I get over my sickness and planned on working on the truck last night a bit but guess what - more rain here. So I spent the night moving boxes around in the shop. Nothing major has been moved yet, but it is filling up quick...(pic below)

Today seems to have cleared up a bit so I might get some welding in on the truck before going to the shop again

 

looks like you need some shelves in there....and a nice 2 TON work bench, hehe

 

All the small racks (7 or 8) normal garage sized racks are above the offices which is hard to see in the pic. The BIG rack (costco/home detpot type) is just outside the view of the camera and have yet to be loaded as I need a friends forklift to do so.

All the big stuff will be making it's way over soon.

Here's a post I just did on another forum about that

"With the weather recently I have been needing the shop. The truck is OUTSIDE at home and outside is wet and nasty recently. That makes welding interesting to say the least
I'm going to get the cross member in the front welded up and the motor/tranny back in the truck (easier to move the truff while bolted in the truck) while I still have power at the house. I'm taking my 220 plugs and wiring out of the house and using them in the shop cuz I'm cheap
Once that's done I'll put the 220 in the shop and then I'll do the "big" move (all the cars/trucks, machinery, shipping container, etc.) and then I'll finish the crew over there.
Add all this nonsense to helping the g/f move, a family wedding on the 28th and then the normal Christmas shopping, etc. and it is hard to get anything done"