Been on a marathon of building and fixing this past couple weeks, with this weekend the mother of all burnout sessions I've pretty much spent every night after work coaching/showing my bother how/what he needs to do in order to get my '87 back on the road (sometimes it harder to teach than to just do, lol) and I have been working full steam on my front end and related components.

Just a heads up, I wanted to share that the '87 finnally started today for the first time since the middle of december, and my brother was even able to take it for a trip around the block my '78 finnally has the front axle back under the truck!! She be rollin' on all fours again! These next couple weeks are going to be cleaning the garage and organizing it to start the motor/tranny/tcase rebuild The rolling chassis is going to be finalized and have a final coat of glossy black paint put on it. . .if and when I can find my once again waining motivation

Dana44:
-yukon 4.56 gears
-new bearings and seals end to end
-new rotors
-soon to be new calipers
-Warn hubs
-WFO crossover steering arm
-rebuilt L/S
-All new ball joints
-New Spicer passenger axle shaft and stub shaft
-$$$$$$$

Pics to come, I'm to beat to go out and snap a few. . .

 

<a href="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZNfox000" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_3.gif" alt="Phew" border="0"></a>

 

Cool deal Steve,

Where da pictures ?????

 

There coming, there coming!!! I had time today but started to tear down my NP205 My camera is full and I really need to organize my pics. Short work day tommorrow, so hopefully I can get some up this weekend

 

Its ok to be jealous Still more work to come than I want to think about, but its worth it! And the NP205 Tcase came apart trouble free and looks like an easy rebuild. . .which I think I deserve at this point

 

After all that hard work, sweat, and anything else it took from you, you deserve a break. Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

BTW, Ya wanna help with mine?

 

Looking good!

 

Looks sweet. Can't wait to see it done.

 

You and me both! I have seals coming in tomorrow for the NP205 Tcase, and that should be done by this weekend Very suprised at the condition of the bearings. Everything looked so good I just cleaned it up and put it back together


Vanwho, what kind of work are we talking about

 

Steve!!!! Just teasing about the work. I know it's enough of a burden just finding the time and energy to work on your own stuff!!!! I look at mine and wonder where to start first. I guess I'll just jump on somethin' and get going with it. I still have enough parts sittin' in the dinning room to classify it as a parts warehouse. Maybe I should open up for buisness. Hey!!! That's an idea. Maybe I should name it Henry's Auto Parts, or Van's Parts Emporium, or just plain Henry's Junk Store!!!!!!!! Ya wanna buy sumptin'?............................

 

Well now, whatcha got fer sale? Better hit me up now becuase the motor and hopefully 5 speed swap is the next big thing on the list. If everything goes smoothly the frame will get a scrub down this weekend and I can start on the second coat of paint. Then the motor and 4 speed tranny go in so I can try and get it running again and do some compression testing and oil pressure checks. . .And the Tcase is done, even got the rail modified for twin-stick operation

I dunno, I'm finding it quite pleasurable to be out there working on the truck. I quess since its starting to look like one again, its not too much of a burden. . .I think this what they mean by high on life, or is it all the brake parts cleaner I used on the tcase


Van, give me a list of what you have, and i will tell you where to start

 

A) Radiator support

B) Steering parts ie:
Drag link
Inner tie rod
Front axel pivot bushings
Center link
Adjusting sleeve
Radius arm bushings
King pins set w/ metal bushings

C) New glove box

D) OK Where would you start first?

E) Lastest wish list: 1) New rear axel bearings and seals: I still feel a rumble after installing new u-joints, center driveshaft bearing, motor mounts, tranny mount, and a new harmonic balancer. I must chase down this vibration. I like things runnung the way they are supposed to. Latest joke on me at work: " Gee! The amount of money you've spent, you could've bought a new One!" That's ok. I like what I have now, thank you very much. Old Fords don't die. They just slowly rust away. Then you fix them up and make 'em better than they were!

F) I forgot some!
1) Wiper delay ( el cheapo from J C W cat)
2) A new ( to me) drivers side vent window ***. from the
bone yard. $17.00 not a bad price, I think.?!!
3) Went to local landfill for Chesterfield Co. and ditched the
truck cap. Looks like a truck now with the Delta toolbox
I had on the other truck. Will upload the pix to my gallery.

G) Xtra room as the list grows....................( it always does, don't it?)

 

-Glove box
-Drag link, Inner tie rod, Center link
-Front axel pivot bushings, Radius arm bushings
-king pins
-New rear axel bearings and seals
-Wiper delay
-drivers side vent window ***. (not a bad price )
-Radiator support

Tried to break it down into stuff that should be able to be done in a short weekend. Also starts with stuff that should give the best visual and psycological sense of satisfaction to keep you going through the end of the list

What kind of rumbling are we talking about here? Growlin?

 

Steve, it's more like a vibration that you feel through the whole truck. In the seat, steering wheel, windows, and mirror. Starts around 35 mph and essentially disappears around 65 mph. It's strongest at 45 to 50 mph. I've been chasing this vibration since I first posted, in fact, it was the subject of my very first post over on the 68-72 board. By process of elimination, ie, throwing new parts in it, the only things left I can do I think are, 1) replace rear axel bearings and seals, or, 2) replacement of the rear gear. I've notice while rotating the two piece shaft around to make sure that the u-joints were in "phase" that there seemed to be quite a bit of "slop" in the rear end, like the shaft could be turned too much between teeth on the pinion and ring gear. I hope that you can get what I'm trying to say as I not good at explaining things on paper. I'm a hands on, show me what your talking about kind of guy so I can understand what your saying. The dollar signs are adding up on what I've replaced so far. Still no luck. There's only so much overtime that I can get, if you know what I mean.

 

Everytime I see this truck, I want to go buy and old one and rebuild it from the ground up. Steve is going to force me to do this and my girlfriend is going to end up killing me for having a truck in a million pieces in the garage.

- Chris