Tomorrow I get my 4 week needle in the eye so got to rest for the day but going to try and hit the garage on Saturday to clean up the NP435.
I also need to get some measurements from the NP435, the spare SROD and if I can the T18 in the truck for a FTE member.
I also want to get measurements on the front bearing retainers on the ones I can get to to see if the over drive unit I would like to get will work with all of them if need be.
I also want to see if the drive shaft yokes will inter change between them so I know how I need to go with my transmission swap.
Dave ----

 

Hey Dave that paint is "DupliColor Perfect Match", it's Ford 3P code. They didn't have 7H code that I wanted. Yes you are right this was definitely patched before, and yeah maybe it was panel glue, I just thought it was bondo that they had not mixed enough hardener in!

I need some kind of caulk to put around the seams, inside. I was curious if you had a suggestion for that. Also I was figuring to leave the hole open, to let water out. I think holding water in is probably what kills these cab corners.

Also, saw this on facebook in one of the Bullnose groups. Guy wraps his dashpad in vinyl, and I have to say it looked fantastic. Now he only had "after" pictures, so I can't judge how good his dash was to start with. But it definitely sounded like a better way to go, compared to the guy who's repair you followed (the one that did fabric glued to pad, with fiberglass over that). I was excited enough at the prospect that I ordered some vinyl wrap samples off ebay. Oh he did the door pads, too. I can see that my XLT pads would be easier because the inner panel is seperate from the main part of the door panel, but those aren't a good fit for my truck since it doesn't have power windows. Previous owner just widened the square hole and stuffed the window crank in.

Started removing the seat belts today, been spraying them with WD40 every couple of days for the past 2 weeks. Passenger side, I got it out on my second attempt (heat with propane torch for a while, douse with WD40, then try to turn). I got lucky there I guess. Driver side, no bueno. Looks like very rounded off inside from previous owner when he put them in. I'm halfway leaning towards pounding in an 8mm allen and welding it to the bolt, and then seeing if I can ease it with a socket. There's just not enough left for the T-50 to grip. But before I get the welder I thought I'd see if you had a suggestion.

 

nothing on the bike... but did an oil change on the truck... pulled out 3-3/4 gal of oil then refilled it with 4 gal + 1 qt to make it full... then greased all the zerk fittings... which i had to drop he driveshaft so i could replace one on rear shaft that wouldnt let the grease flow through it... and then inspected the heater core as the other day i was smelling coolant when i turned on the heat... but think someone i was following was burning it... and just happened to be a coincidence...

 

Those cab corners have sprayed in foam in them for sound deadening. Usually the cab leaks,soaks the foam, and it rots. I pulled the foam from mine, thoroughly coated it with fluid film and put a rubber plug in the bottom.

Found a nice headlight sealant to try on some headlights, sanded them with 800, 3k and some rubbing compound on a foam pad. Much better than before.
Replaced a shot CV axle in the sport Trac last weekend, it had a blown boot for the last 10k, haha.
Finally got the opportunity to shoot some clay pigeons at Drake's landing on Saturday, definitely will be going back.

 

John, On the seat belt bolt I think that is the only thing you can do, weld a nut on top and see if it will come out.
The heat cant hurt from the welding as that can loosen it up also.

On the seam sealer I may have some left over from when I did mine and will look when I get out to the garage either later or tomorrow, recovering from the needle.
When I did mine I first used SEM seam sealer in a tube & caulk gun. This forced the sealer into the seams. I let this set up then used EverCoat brushable seam sealer over the first sealer, did 2 coats with the brushable type.

I don't remember any foam in the corners on either of my 2 trucks? The corner is part of the back wall and were the corner & rocker are over lapped and spot welded dirt can sit down in there. It then gets wet and the damage starts, I used weld thru primer at all the over lap weld seams to help fight rust. I forced seam sealer into the joints of the corners and rockers both top & bottom so it is sealed. The seam sealer I got thru the local body supply store. The tube had white sealer and the brushable was gray.
Both you could paint over but I used roll on bed liner top & bottom of the cab..
Dave ----

 

Well spent some time working on the new four wheeler today, had to slightly modify the Throttle position sensor on it to get it adjusted in spec. After that it seemed to run pretty good for what little bit I rode it around.






Then I focused on the ranger dance it seemed the Catalytic converter had came apart and plugged the exhaust up. Used the bore scope and found that it had worked it's way all the way to the muffler.

 

Hi Dave, I pulled the seat out of the blue truck today. Will be cleaning up a little and removing the carpet. Are you interested in the carpet at all? I know it will have to be cleaned and re-dyed but it's already red so thats a start and it doesn't look too terrible as far as tears or rips or holes. I did find a bunch of pecans under the seat along with a wadded up ball of padding. At first I thought a mouse nest, but didn't smell any mouse-**** smell, and when I saw the pecans I knew "aha, not a mouse, but a squirrel was living in here!" hahaha

 

I will take the carpet as it is better than what I have now ...... nothing!
Should not be too hard to wash it and hang it out to dry. I don't know how well it will fit my truck as they make different ones for auto & stick trucks, higher trans hump on sticks.

Squirrel? How the heck do they get in cars & trucks id beyond me. I had this and her babies in my Javelin after the mice & rats were kicked out.

With the seat out and more room did you have time to see about the belt bolt?
No work today so I am around if you need a hand just text me.
Dave ----

 

The drivers side window, if you roll it down, it won't go up all the way again, because the rubber seal flops over and catches the glass. Unless you are smart enough to realize WHY it won't go up all the way and pull the rubber back when you roll up! Not saying I'm a genius, but I did figure it out on the second attempt. The previous owner maybe hadn't put that much thought into it, it was left open about 3 inches at the top. Perfect for squirrel squeezings!

No I did not tackle the seat belt bolt at all, had a houseful with my kids and their cousins, and I had the smoker going. I just grabbed my son-in-law to help move the seat out of the truck and then went back to my smoker. I may text you in a bit to lend a hand tinkering on it.

 

I poured a can of 550 bbs inside the tank and shook it all about to knock the flaked up surface rust off. Then after using a magnet to pull them all out i poured in the metal rescue rust bath stuff. Was clear when it went in. But atm its kinda brown colored. Its 2 hrs in and looked like its partially cleaned out the lower part of the tank. But left it turned sitting right side up atm to let it soak for another 2 to see if it clears more of the rust off.

Thought the tank was in the light rust category. Which is supposed to take 2 hrs. But must be in the moderate category. For that it says 8 hrs. I was hoping for 4. but not the case. at 4 hrs it was cleaner on one side but like an inch below the top of the fluid line its looking like it didnt do anything to it yet... but down the rest of the side it looked good... however when i turned the tank around to look at the other side didnt look like it had done a thing there yet.. so guess its going to get the whole 8 hrs and see what it looks like then before trying to flip it over to let it work on the top half of the tank... might have to get more of the stuff too...




these 2 pics are after i had filled it with BB's and flung them around inside to knock all the loose stuff off...



if youve never used Metal Rescue thats how clear it is when you first open the bottle..




what it looks like inside atm... cant get a good shot in there too well..

 

Hey Shawn, getting there slowly but surely. Did you check to see how much it cost to have it "boiled" out by a radiator repair shop? I have a tank I am planning to bring to Raleigh to see about having that done.

 

no.. didnt really want to do anything to caustic... not sure if boiling the tank would have harmed the paint as its still in excellent shape...

 

Shawn I think you are right, once they boil it out it comes back as bare metal.

I tried to take this big ridiculous bumper off my 83 yesterday, had to fight all 4 rusty bolts, and.... nothing. Won't budge! Smacked it with my breaker bar, didn't do anything. I got to looking a little closer, dang if a previous owner didn't WELD the bumper brackets to the frame! Just along the bottom edge, from what I can see, so tomorrow I'll get the cutoff wheel out and see if I can get it to release. I'm sure I'll end up with 140 pounds of steel falling on my face while I'm underneath..

 

We sure don't want that hunk of iron falling on you. Try some bungee cords or jack stands, Be careful that it doesn't tip on you.

 

You know them Home Depot orange straps I said I used to move the nose & old cab using the engine hoist if you have some use them on the bumper to keep it from falling on you.
Or put the bolts back thru till the welds are cut.
Dave ----