Big Blue's Transformation

[grumpin]

You’d think those speakers would hold the front down!

[Gary Lewis]

Dane - I'll remember not to take those speakers out until I get the front suspension under it.  Good thinking!  

Shaun - The things that have been done to this truck aren't for the faint of heart.  I'm slowly correcting them as I go.

Jim - Weight in the footwells might help, but weight further forward would help a lot more.  I have weights from my ZTR so maybe chain them as far forward as I can to the frame.  I could even dangle them from the front of the frame by chain.

Steve/Jim - As I think about it I'll need to position the truck as far forward as I can, meaning put both the front and rear arms as far to the rear of the truck as possible.  That supports the rear so it can't tilt backward and it puts as much of the weight of the front as possible forward of the front arms.  But, if I then strap the frame to the front arms it can't go up.

Ok guys, if I get the tranny out in the morning and then the engine out in the afternoon it'll be a good day.  But after I power wash the oil off it I can roll it into the shop and try these ideas.  Thanks!

[Gary Lewis]

As I'm thinking about it this morning, and somewhat dreading getting the greasy clothes back on to go pull the tranny and engine (what's the use wearing clean when they'll be greasy immediately?), I'm thinking about grilles and headlight doors and door sills.

As said, the grille was hacked up to clear the monstrous engine oil cooler.  Vernon sent a NOS one with it, but I won't put it on now given how I'll use the truck.  And the headlight doors are badly faded.  So I'm wondering about painting them black when the time comes to install them.

And ditto the door sills.  But, I'd powder coat rather than paint them.

Thoughts?

[Steve83]

Gary Lewis wrote

...greasy clothes...

This & other brands like it work:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DWNBDEI
Also on stove hoods, fresh oil-based paint in your hair, and more.

Gary Lewis wrote

...the door sills.  But, I'd powder coat rather than paint them.

I just use the (later?) black plastic thresholds - the black never wears off them.

[Gary Lewis]

Steve - Thanks, but our clothes washer has a "sanitize" setting that if used with Dawn does a good job of getting grease out w/o hand cleaner in them.  But you have to use that setting the first time the greasy clothes go in or it seems to set the grease.  (Janey hasn't understood/accepted that, so I tend to wash my own shop clothes.)

As for the thresholds, that's a good idea.  And I think some of the base Bullnose trucks had the plastic ones.  I'll have to look for some.  Thanks!

[Steve83]

Gary Lewis wrote

...it seems to set the grease.

Try the hand cleaner on some set stains.  I try to work it in from the inside (clean side) of the clothes so it tends to push some of the grime out.  Once the fabric is moist with the cleaner, I pull the stain area tight & twist/stretch it so the fibers rub each other.  Let it sit in the laundry for a day or 3 before throwing it in the machine on a regular cycle.

But it does work MUCH better on fresh grease.

[salans7]

Is the transmission out yet?

[Gary Lewis]

Steve - Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Shaun: Just taking a break for lunch after having this "fall out".  Pretty easy to get out - there were only 5 bolts holding it in.  

[salans7]

I'm curious what the transmission crossmember looks like in your truck given the style of trans mount you have on that tail housing adapter.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

As for the thresholds, that's a good idea.  And I think some of the base Bullnose trucks had the plastic ones.  I'll have to look for some.  Thanks!

Yup - my '80 Custom has them:

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

As for the thresholds, that's a good idea.  And I think some of the base Bullnose trucks had the plastic ones.  I'll have to look for some.  Thanks!

The base black thresholds only work on trucks without rear moldings. If you have the rear moldings on your truck (you do), then you need to use the moldings listed for 87-96.

Reason being, the base thresholds are much longer than those on the higher trim models and they will interfere with your rear moldings. You may be able to cut them down to fit, and I intend to try it with mine.

[Gary Lewis]

Shaun - That's good info on the black thresholds/scuff plates.  So I'm looking for two E9TZ 1513208-A's.  I don't need NOS as I'm sure boots will "scuff" them.  




As for the transmission crossmember, here 'tis.  I'd give you an ID # but it's buried under that grime.  

[85lebaront2]

Here are the thresholds that are in Darth, they were there when I bought him in 1994. They are aluminum extrusions. Truck original trim level was a XL.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, now for what I did this afternoon.  (Getting the tranny's crossmember and the tranny itself out was this morning's work/play.)

The first thing I did was to confirm that my T-19 has a 5.11 first gear.  

Then I pulled the engine:




Then I rolled the truck out of the shop so I have room to turn around.  Here's a side view of about what I hope the stance will be when this project is over.  As it sits here there's 39" from the top of the front wheelwell arch to the ground, and 40 1/4" in the rear.  Compare that to the original measurements of 35 3/4" and essentially 40", so the front has gone up 3 1/4" and the rear has gone up ~1/4".  So if this is about what it comes in at I'll be happy.  




Then I investigated the hacked crossmember.  Here's a better view of Edward Florida Man's work:




Last, it was time to get the engine on the stand.  I left that to last as it is a HASSLE!  My shop crane's legs are exactly where the engine stand's legs want to be.  So I got creative and raised the shop crane's front wheels by 2" with spacers under them.  That put the shop crane's legs high enough that the engine stand's legs went under them.  




And in closing, here's a shot from the rear, but the thing I want to point out is the pool of oil around the oil pressure sender and switch.  Yes, I know you can't really see it, but it is there and about 1/8" deep.  I'm sure this is one of the leaks that have been causing such a big mess.  What is it that causes people to do this?  That's exactly the same problem I found on Rusty.  

[Gary Lewis]

Bill - As Darth is an '86 it should have the same aluminum extrusions that Big Blue has.  Right?

I think I want to a bit more black on BB as he goes back together, and the sills are one place I'm thinking of doing that.

[salans7]

Thanks for the image Gary, and no worries on the part number, I have the MPC. ;)

 

[85lebaront2]

I see someone tried to duplicate the electric fuel pump switch with a MOPAR one. That sure looks like a 2.2L carbureted engine oil pressure idiot light and choke heater switch.

It also looks like they used ARP bolts on the intake. Factory usually had studs in the 4 corners so the intake would go down straight.

[Steve83]

Gary Lewis wrote

My shop crane's legs are exactly where the engine stand's legs want to be.

I'd be cutting & welding the stand to make it work with the hoist.

Have you tried turning the stand backward?

[Gary Lewis]

That stand is a commercially-built one that a friend of mine gave me.  It was his fathers and I don't want to cut on it.  But, I have another one that I designed and built, and I really ought to modify it to fit with the crane.

As for what I did today, I power-washed the engine compartment on Big Blue.  I first sprayed the thing down using about 3 quarts of Krud Kutter and the lowest pressure setting.  Then, as I was running low on Krud Kutter I added quite a bit of Dawn and some hot water.  It worked pretty well, but created a bit of suds:  




My power washer generates 3300 psi, and I wound up using all of it.  Yep, it stripped some paint, but I was glad to see that go as it wasn't adhering very well.  Here's the result, MUCH cleaner than before I started:




So, now I think I'm going to start removing the D44 as that will then allow much better access to the crossmember.  And, that means I'm thinking about how to address repairing the crossmember.  Here's a closeup of the hack:




And here are pictures of the hacked crossmember on the left and the donor crossmember on the right so you can see what is missing thanks to Edward Florida Man:

[ArdWrknTrk]

You should use TSP.

The lawn is going to die from the Dawn.
OTOH, TSP is such a great fertilizer it's banned in some states because of alage blooms.