Thanks Jeff! And now.....a complete cab! Nice to see this thing whole again!! Should have the doors in primer on Sunday.

 

It's been really nice, having the weather stay warm this late into October. Had a perfect day for shooting primer, so, got the doors and the touch ups on the cab done. Cab is now ready for filler work. Might get some of that started if the warm weather holds.

 

It's been a while since I've been able to do anything, but, with the weather so nice on Saturday, actually got some work done! With the 94 mirrors, they would be at the wrong angle, using just the supplied gasket. So, I found a guy that can do 3d printing. I used modeling clay, to make a template of the gaskets I'll need, to put the mirrors level. Took a while to get it right, but, this should do the trick. I'm having them make them just a tad thicker, so I have a little bit of extra material, that I can just sand off, to get them just right.

 

Figured it was time to dig the frame out of storage. Needs a good pressure washing, then I'll get the 79 front axle put in, and the fuel tank. Need to get the motor and trans home, to get those mocked up, and then get the cab stuck on it. Oh, and probably get the brake lines run also.

 

Since I couldn't mow this weekend, used it for the truck. Decided to try the electrolysis method of rust removal. Set up a 5 gallon bucket, with some rebar. Soaked it for about 7 hours, and then cleaned it up in the sandblaster for a minute. Came out really nice! I'll be doing the other piece this week.

 

Finished up coating and painting the rest of the parts for the front axle. Coated them with POR-15, then shot them with Chassis Black from Eastwood when they got tacky. Should be able to start assembling the axle later this week, after I get the one hub replaced.....

 

Speaking of that hub.....I ordered these wheel hub/rotors off of Amazon. Damn things came with NO packing material. It's obvious this one was dropped. So, off it goes back to Amazon today. I'm just going to suck it up, and spend an extra 30 bucks getting another one locally. Dammit.

 

Here is a better before and after pic of the electrolysis. This is after 5 hours, and then a light brushing and rinsing.

 

Installed new u-joints in the front axles, and pressed in new ball joints.

 

Pulled the old Dana 30 axle out, it's off to scrap. Installed the Dana 44 housing. Unfortunately, some bonehead ordered the wrong axle seals (for a 77 housing, instead of a 79), so I have to get the new seals, before I can assemble the axle. Wrestling these around alone was not fun!

 

One of the guys from the Pennsylvania chapter hooked me up with the right axle seals, and the hub slingers (thanks Cody!), so, time to get this axle put back together. Borrowed a bearing race driver from O'Reilly's, nice that they do that for free, and installed the new races. I removed the ones that came with the hubs, I'd rather use the ones that came with the bearings. I'll save the ones from the hubs.

 

Thanks! I just wish I was farther ahead than I am!

Everything went together pretty well, except for one of the Warn hubs. I had to do some filing on the ribs of it, with a jewelers file, to get it to go into the hub, the casting on it was kind of rough. The other one went in both sides fine, so, I know it was that hub. But, it all came together, and she's a roller again!

 

Got hooked up with brand new parking brake cables this weekend (Thanks George!), so I can get that all together when I assemble the back brakes.

 

On a bad note, the 351 I got out of that 89 is a door stop. Full of water. So, I'll use this for mockup, and plan on getting a crate engine. I didn't buy that truck for the engine, just the transmission. So, this would have been an added bonus. No biggee.

 

So, on to the transmission. It's pretty grungy, but in good shape, had it checked out after I pulled it out. Before I power wash it, decided to scrap off most of the crap, so I don't cover the driveway in that greasy garbage.