Cutin' out Rust and Making Body Panels

Its been awhile since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hard at work on the Cruiser.  All the paint has been stripped, including all the little odds and ends.  I can say that all the little latches, hinges, brackets, etc were a pain in the rear.  The abundance of paint and clear coat meant I had to find a way to strip them.  My process ended up being:  paint stripper, wire wheel what I could, hand sand with sand paper and finally sand blast what I couldn't get with the other methods.  It took forever, much longer than I had originally anticipated.  But they are done!

In the past few weeks I've been busy ordering materials to remove the rust, weld in new panels and figuring out what products to use for the floor lining and undercoating.  As for the undercoating, I ordered more rust converter to neutralize the surface rust that exists, even after a good cleaning along with Eastwood Flexible Rubber Undercoat and Encapsulater.  It shouldn't chip, its flexible and will cut down on road noise.  As for the flooring, I decided on Durabak bed lining.  A lot of people seem to like the way it goes down and covers.  This should provide a great protection for the floor.  Also in the mix has been trying to figure out a paint shop to use.  I've been pretty disappointed in responses from different shops...all seem interested, but don't show up or call back.  The good news is that they are all about the same in price...a tad bit more than I was hoping for, but not by much.  I think I have finally decided on a shop though.

So lately I've been hard at work cutting out rust and ordering/making body panels.  The rust overall isn't too bad.  I've known all along I was going to have to replace the rockers, work on the rear corners and repair a few places on the floor.  The only things I've ordered pre-fabbed is a rear corner patch panel and the rear sill.  Everything else I'll make on my own.  Today I started the rocker panels.  Flat piece the three sides that have a 90 degree fold.  I spent some time trying to figure out how to do this, but in the end they turned out pretty good!  The hardest pieces yet are the patches on the quarter panels that butt up against the rockers.  It has a curved lip.  I didn't get it perfect, but overall I'm happy with the results.  I can always shape them into the correct form later.  Next up will be continuing to form floor panels and other small areas.  And finally welding...

  

The Topside is Void of Paint!

Lots of progress made over the past couple of weeks.  My main goal was to get the top side of the body stripped.  I mostly had it done, with areas I couldn't reach with the wire wheel left to do.  The easiest way to get those areas was by sand blasting.  I must say I'm not a huge fan of sand blasting...it makes such a huge mess...and no matter what you have covering your eyes...you always seem to get blasting media in there.  But the good news...I am done blasting for a bit...at least until I get the body flipped and need to do the bottom.  Actually, that is my next goal...get the thing flipped upside down so I can sand the bottom.  I think it will go quickly...not nearly as much surface area as the top, and definitely not as many tight areas to blast.  Hopefully I can get that done around by the second week of April.  Then its replacing a few panel, some body work and then hopefully to paint!

U Joints, Parking Brake and Paint Removal...

Well its been awhile since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy out on the Cruiser.  The last few weeks have been about putting things back together and lots...and I mean lots of paint removal.

U-joints...can I just say they suck all around?  Well they were a pain coming out, and just as much a pain going back in!  I basically destroyed them coming out.  I used a hammer, an old socket and myself to beat them out.  The front u-joints came out no problem...I think they have been replaced sometime in the no so distant past.  But the rear drive shaft...I think they were the original ones.  They took me some time to get out and I had needle bearings all over the place!  Once they were out though, I was able to paint up the drive shafts and flanges and have them looking new.  The new u-joints were a bit easier, but still not the easiest thing in the world.  Basically I used the same method for taking them out, but much more carefully and with a rubber mallet instead of a sledge hammer.  They eventually went back in and the drive shafts were complete.

The parking brake was a mess.  The rear output seal of the T-case had failed and transmission fluid had leaked inside and basically became a solid mass.  It took some work...lots of soaking in thinner, but everything eventually loosened and I was able to clean, paint and put the parking brake back together.

Next up was to install the parking brake on the T-case and the drive shafts.  The front drive shaft went in without any problem.  The parking brake installed with no problem.  The rear drive shaft...problem!  Apparently with all the modifications I made to the rear suspension, the distance from the parking brake to the rear third member flange has shrunk and the drive shaft is about 1/4" too long now.  I figured it would have been the opposite...shorter than the distance.  At least in that case I would have some slack with the slide yoke.  My guess...without the weight of the body and interior, the rear suspension is not at the proper location...basically it needs the weight to push the shackles out and increase the distance from the T-case to the rear axle.  I guess I'll test that theory in a few months.

Otherwise its been all about paint removal.  I'm very close to having it done!  The top side has a few areas that need to be completed, but for the most part its finished.  I am trying to figure out what to do about under the dash.  I figure I'll clean, sand and just leave the old paint on.  Nobody will see it and rust doesn't seem to be a huge issue under there.  So far the only metal I'll need to replace...the outer rocker panels on both sides, the rear sill, and patch panels on the lower rear quarter panels.  I'll also have to fill a couple of spots in the bed but that shouldn't be too bad.  I'll also have to work on the driver side flow pan...I can see the ground through a few holes.  My goal is to get the paint removal done in the next week or so, then flip the body and sand the under side.  I know its mostly surface rust under there, so that will clean up nicely.

Rear axle...complete!

I'm very nearly done with the chassis!  The past couple of weeks have been spent getting the rear axle finished.  This entailed installing the locker, brakes, painting all the hardware and near seals.  For the most part things were pretty straight forward.  It tore down much easier than I anticipated.  Cleaning parts however was not as much fun.  There was a lot of brake debris, dirt, grease, etc built up in the brake plates.  It took awhile to get it clean up, but after a couple of days they were ready for paint.  I continued with the same process I had used on the rest of the chassis...pre clean the parts, rust convertor, encapsulator and frame paint.  Everything looks brand new!  Next up came the locker.  I decided to go with a Lock Rite automatic locker.  Reviews were amazing and the install is very easy for it.  Overall it really was a piece of cake.  The install equated to removing the side and spider gears and replacing them with the locker couplers and drivers.  The hardest part in the whole process was putting in the short axle side C-clip just because the space to drop it into was very small.  I did manage to get it in with very little effort.  What actually turned out to the be the hardest part was sliding the shear pins over and installing the snap springs.  The first two went in no problem.  The third one...I didn't realize the shear pin wasn't pushed all the way over and when I tried to put the spring in, it flew away (I heard it hit the ceiling...but from there who knows!).  That meant I had to purchase another set of springs, but they were easy to find online.  Once I figured out that the pin wasn't in all the way, I used a punch and hammer and tapped it into place.  The replacement spring was in with no problem and the locker install was complete.  Next up I installed the new rear brakes.  I even managed to get most of the new brake lines in, but ran into a problem on the driver side rear double brake union.  The replacement I bought ended up not working...it has 10 mm holes while the brake lines have 9 mm flare nuts.  Apparently those unions are impossible to find!  So I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do...either find one some place or cut off the 9 mm flare nuts, replace them with 10 mm flare nuts and re-flare the ends.  Time will tell on that.  The good news though...I have a rolling chassis again!  Next up...drive shafts and parking brake!

Paint Removal...

Well...cooler weather means I've been out working on the Landcruiser.  I finally ordered what I needed for the rear axle...seals, locker, paint, etc.  I decided on the Powertrax Lockrite locker...easy to install and had great reviews.  Just waiting on it to arrive.  The rear axle shouldn't be too bad...basically paint and put back together and add the new brakes.  Besides painting which takes about 5 days...I think I should have it done in a couple days of work if not one.

Otherwise I've been doing lots of paint removal.  I've found a bit more rust damage than I was hoping but most of it is on level surface so I should be able to cut it out and weld patch panels in.  Basically I've decided on a process to remove paint...aircraft paint stripper...sander...wire wheel...fine grit hand sanding.  Its a long process but the results have been good.  The bare metal is in great shape except for a few areas.  The engine side of the firewall I was worried about.  I think somebody either ran brake fluid down from the master cylinders or the cylinders leaked...all down that side of the firewall was pretty heavily rusted.  After some work though...all of it is surface rust and shined up nicely.  I'm not quite done with it yet...but here are the results so far of the paint removal.

Steering Box In, Paint is Slowly Disappearing...

I know its been awhile, but summer heat has kept me out of the garage.  But over the past few days things have cooled down enough for me to get out there and start working again.  So my plans for this winter:  finish the chassis (rear axle and brakes, install brake lines, parking brake rebuild, install new U joints and install the drive shafts, radiator and hoses, and a couple of sensors (reverse switch, oil, temp) and make the sure the body is ready for paint by late March.  It sounds like a lot of work, but overall its not too bad.

I finally made it to the hardware store this week and bought the bolts I needed to install my newly rebuild steering box.  The guys at Classic Cruisers in Salida did a good job and apparently it was in REALLY bad shape, so I'm glad I had it done.  Its really an easy install...4 bolts to to mount it to the mounting bracket, turn the steering rod all the way to one side...make it...then turn it 2.5 times back the other way...that is center.  Install the drag link end and rod...bolt it all up.  Next...adjust the drag link rod by turning it to get the drag link vertical.  Tighten...and done.  I tested it out...and everything is turning nice and smooth...much better than before I tore everything apart. 

Also over the past few days I've been working on getting rid of paint so I can start the body work.  So far I've done most of the bed which has much less surface rust than I thought it would.  Even down by the rear seal its pretty solid with minor surface rust only.  I'll do my best to tap out the small dents in the bed, but I'm strongly leaning toward putting bedliner on the floor to help keep the moisture out and toughen the flooring up some.  Still a long ways to go until that point, but the wheels always have to be turning to figure out how to make it better than it could be.

Steering Rods are Back On

I finally ordered and received the tie rod ends, so I set to work re-installing the steering rods and stabilizer.  I figured it would be an easy process, and besides one cotter pin it was.  It took about an hour to get everything put back together.  I will still need to get an alignment done in the future, but for now it looks like things are running pretty straight.  The good news about it...the front tires won't flop around since they are now tied together with the tie rod!  Makes for moving the chassis much easier.  I will be taking my steering box down to Classic Cruisers in Salida in a few days for them to rebuild it.  Everything I read said to have somebody experienced do it, so I'll let them.  Besides the price they quoted me is very reasonable compared to other places.