rustED

iTrader: (2)

Well I found out the hard way that an 85' pickup gas tank won't fit in an 86' 4runner.....I guess I should have took the time to pull both tanks and compare the two before selling the 4runner one.... oh well, live and learn, lol.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

The tanks arent interchangeable. If you can come across a used tank, I have listed on my 88s build how to get them in great shape. Some thought I was nuts for keeping a gas tank, but I have learned my lesson as well. Your build is looking great.

RMP8080

That would be fun, my wife would not be happy....Thanks

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Terry. Hopefully I will be able to trade my 85' gas tank back to the kid that I sold the 86' 4Runner tank to. He was doing a EFI swap on a 83 pickup and wanted a tank with a electric fuel pump, and since I'm going with a carb on the 302 i just sold him the whole tank thinking I could use the one out of the 85' lol. Thats the kind of stuff that happens to me when I get lazy, it was a spur of the moment decision, I should of pulled both tanks and compared them. Anyway hopefully he will trade me, if not I'm already looking into possibly getting a bigger (maybe 20 gal tank) and relocating it where the spare tire used to be.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Ha, Ha,... I'd offer to bring them to you, but I'd be in the same boat!!! LOL!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

I got some little stuff done today. Since I can't afford a U-bolt flip kit at the moment, I started cleaning up the old U-bolts and factory plates. I know alot of people don't like to reuse the U-bolts because they get stretched, but It's a temporary solution until I get my flip kit. here is a before and after pic of the U-bolts.





I also finshed painting the other front spring pack.



Hopefully I got a guy coming over this weekend to cut the holes for my frame tubes. He called me about my 85' parts truck front fenders and came over to check them out. After talking to him for awhile I found out he does metal fab work for a living and has access to a plasma cutter. So I am trading him my two fenders (that I was selling for $40 apeice) for a new knuckle rebuild kit that he had, but never used, and I'm trading him my 85' doors for the labor to cut the holes for the frame tubes, and a few other odds and ends I need cut apart.
So if all goes acording to plan, I should be able to start getting this front suspension knocked out next week!

oneIwilly

Hell yea,got my new water pump and starter in today.Now nothing lines up.ha ha.Make sure you try out that plasma cutter.They are soo cool.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Hey Brian, yeah I plan to try out that plasma, I got a rear bumper I need to cut the receiver hitch off of ,LOL. That's cool that you got your water pump and starter put on, and sucks that things aren't lining up! I swear that sometimes with these builds its like 2 steps forward and one step back, LOL.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

You only have to do one step back?? just kidding, I know how that goes. Sounds like we all get in the same boat from time to time. Glad it isnt just me.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Hey Terry, ha, ha, I just caught that...I meant one step forward & two steps back, lol, but you know what I meant, yeah seems like we all do some back pedaling sometimes, LOL. I wish I could get half the stuff accomplished that you do, I'd be sitting pretty good right now! LOL....

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Well today went better than I expected. Nate (the guy I was going to trade the doors to for him to cut my holes out for the frame tubes) he came over about 8:30 this morning, and brought his plasma cutter and his Miller welder. I was just expecting him to cut the holes out. But he ended up welding in the frame tubes and burning in my front spring hanger, so I was pretty happy with that, since all I have is a 110v Lincoln wirefeed. It sure makes a big difference when you have the correct tools for the job! Here are some pics of what we got done today.











I'm thinking once I get the spring pack back together and have weight down on the front axel, my shackle angle should be pretty close to where it needs to be.

Tomorrow I need to drill out some of the center bolt hole on a few leaves in my RUF spring pack ( i think they are the chevy Luv leafs, they have a smaller diameter hole for the center pin than the other leaves) and buy some new center pin bolts. I also got my knuckle rebuild kit today, traded Nate for the front fenders. So next week I'll be working on getting the front axel put back together (I still need to get some Land cruiser brake rotors for my IFS hub swap) hopefully I'll have this thing setting back on all fours by the end of the week!

Chuckar

Ed that is some awesome work there….. that truck is going to be fun to drive with that 302 in it !!!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Chuckar. Yeah I drove the 85' around for awhile before parking it to part it out....lets just say I can see myself getting into some trouble with that 302, lol. It doesn't do to bad gas mileage wise either if I can keep my foot out of it!

oneIwilly

So did you get to play with the plasma cutter?So clean and easy.It looks great Ed,better than mine.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

I don't know about that,yours turned out sweet, but I'm pretty happy how it turned out. No I didn't get a chance to play with the plasma...Nate was at my house for over 5hrs helping me out, he went above and beyond our "trade" agreement.... I had some other stuff I would have liked to use he plasma on, but I couldn't bring myself to ask him, LOL.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

That was a nice surprise of him doing more then you expected. Looks like he did a great job on it.

The 302 is a good little motor and easy to work on. Mileage should be good also, but like was mentioned is IF you can keep your foot out of it.lol..

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Hi Terry, yeah keeping my foot out of it will be the hard part, lol, it's to tempting have that extra HP there, and the low rumble of the dual exhaust...I love the sound of it, lol.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Started cleaning up the knuckles today so I get on with the front axel rebuild, here is a pic of how bad they looked when I started.



Here is a comparison after cleaning one side, I wish I had a parts cleaning tank to clean these up with, pretty much just used a bench top grinder with a wire wheel after scraping the thick gunk off, got most of the rust of though.



tomorrow I'm going to finish cleaning up the other knuckle and then paint them. I think I'm going to use the Rustoleum Hammered silver paint on them, I was thinking of painting the whole axel housing that color, but might just stick with gloss black.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I would like a parts washer to someday. If you have an air tank, I use a 5 gallon bucket and hold the part in with the nozzle under water with Purple Power and it does a fair job of degreasing or if it leaks air around the hose and air nozzle, you have an instant bubbler cleaning machine. But I am with you, alot of bench grinder brush or a drill with a wire brush.

Part looks good. So much nicer working with clean parts.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Hey Terry, thanks for the tip, Ill have to try that. Where do you get the purple power at? I've tried Super Clean, it's a concrete cleaner, it works pretty good, but you don't want to get it on your skin, it burns pretty bad, also if you're using it on a painted surface, you want to rinse it after a couple minutes or it will start taking off the paint, lol.




Today I got the knuckles painted, I went ahead and tried out the Rustoleum "Hammered" silver paint on them, I think I'm going to like it, It will kind of set it off with the red steering arms and red brake calipers.



I also got one coat of paint on the axel housing (black) before it started raining.

Today I placed an order through Addicted Offroad for a IFS steering box mounting kit (for when I move the steering box forward) and a universal shock hoop kit. I also ordered a TG knuckle ball wiper seal kit to replace the factory looking rubber wiper and felts that came in my knuckle rebuild kit. It just looked like a better product. And I ordered some 18mm x 120mm bolts for my front spring hanger. I still need to order me some Landcruiser brake rotors, and am hoping to get this rig on all fours by the end of the week, if the weather will allow it!