Disclaimer: Not sure how LEGAL this is but I'm not sure I CARE. This is just diary on my chassis swap.
Ok so I WAS going to wait till I had the chassis swap done but I cant hold back the excitment. =)
Background:
1987 toyota pickup 22R ... Previous owner was hit, bent chassis. Didnt know this when i bought the truck 2 1/2yrs ago. Truck was hit front passanger side by large SUV... Frame was twisted in and munched, truck sits lower front pass side and barely drives straight and impossible to align since the IFS brackets are bent (and cracked). That side torsion bar rubbed on the body before i did 2" body lift. Ok, spare me advice of fixing THIS frame. I'm already replacing it with a straight restored frame, the parts and labor are lined up.
Can't wait to have a new truck! =)
Here she is:
If only you could see her darker side. hehe
What all is happening this August to the truck:
-Disc Brake swap, new master cylinder - DONE
http://www.dojodesign.com/toyota/rea...brakelines.jpg
*ignore arrows
Writeup:
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/rear-di.../#post50586263
-NEW passanger side CV axle (broke it a few months ago)
-Reverting back to stock torsion bars (has rancho 26mm now)
-5" shackles to replace current 6.5" shackles
-New front Procomp ES9000 shocks
-NEW CHASSIS
Heres a shot showing how bad the frame is tweaked:
Lower green bar is level with lower IFS crossmember, Dark green bar (center) is level with frame crossmember.. and upper green bar is for reference visual. Line A is exagerated distance between ifs crossmember and frame crossmember and same with line B ... to show the distances are DIFFERENT... In short its like paul bunion pinched my pass side front, LOL
*Note, picture is LEVEL and so is driveway* It's no illusion.
Heres the donor chassis:
1987 toyota single cab short bed 4x4 22r... EXACT frame match.
I started in on restoring the frame on July 23rd:
Jumping ahead to today [August 11th]. In the time between the above and the below picture I dismantled the front IFS completely. Took off the rear leaf springs.
*note rear leaf hanger pins are a PAIN IN THE ARSE to get off. The metal bushing that rides in the rubber bushing was rusted to the hanger pin or maybe the bolt is pressed into it, regardless i had to cut the hanger pins and hammer the crap out of the springs to get them out. I expect to have the same FRUSTRATION when I tackle them on my truck sooooo I bought NEW 18mm bolts with long shoulders and nylock nuts to REPLACE the metal sleeves and wimpy hanger bolts completely. Essentially the metal sleeve IS the hangar bolt and slides and slips on the rubber bushing so theres no ill-effect of just using a fatter bolt in the STOCK eye bushing. FYI. You will have to drill out the hangars to fit the bigger bolt tho. $20 for new bolts.
Theres the today updated pic..
backing up here.. I pressured washed the frame (3000psi) which cleaned out the internals of teh frame (Full of mud and debri) and removed 99% of the moss and mud that was on the frame. The rust I tackled with a Home Depot $14 sandblaster with some silica sand. I only have a 4gallon 125psi pancake compressor so this was a bit of a PITA to say the least. Im still pulling sand out of my hair. Anyways, it worked. I hit the surface rust and tried to retain as much FACTORY paint as possible. *gets sand out of ear as I type*...
I also used whire wheels as well. So I hit the frame with the pressure washer again to clean it of sand residue and any other debri.. then rinsed it with the hose.. then hit it with the air hose and let 'er dry completely.
NOW I decided to use Rustoleum over the POR-15 or the other options for undercoatings because the frame is really 95% rust free and has most of the factory paint still in great condition not to mention the EASE of touchup jobs with rustoleum and overall its simple to apply.
The picture above shows the primer coat. We didnt cover the frame 100% we only used 2 cans and hit the important spots such as the exposed metal and areas of surface rust. (haha, no the whole frame wasnt exposed metal.. we just used what was left in the cans to cover as much of the frame as we could after hitting the critical spots)
Not pictured, we then put a coat of Profressional grade rustoleum enamel flat black on. Which took 2 of those cans (they're bigger cans than average).
We'll be hitting hte frame with a few more coats of that then a coat or two of clear to seal it all up.
The SWAP begins Sunday the 12th. I'll have another update then or soon after.