Ground up 86 4x4

[big bear]

nice!!

[thirsty]

The other day I decided to take my cab off with my engine crane. Probably won't do that again by myself!
It's off though so now I can get the bottom sealed up and painted.

[SGarage]

Can't believe you did that by yourself without any collateral damage. Can't wait to hear the details.

[VileZambonie]

HAHA! I love it!

[thirsty]

For starters I didn't use chains. I wanted to try something soft so that if it worked well I might be able to put it back on that way. I tried ratchet straps... They stretch. As soon as I moved the crane the weight shifted. Then I was at the point of no turning back now. Went up some more it got worse. I got the front corner to rest on the transmission so I felt comfortable about it hanging for the moment. Got some more ratchet straps, gave it a lift/shove to get it closer to the right weight distribution, strapped it to the crane.
Then the neighbor drives into his driveway...so I grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge for bait and lured him over. I felt better about having an extra set of hands on it to steady it. It stayed straight coming the rest of the way. I rolled the chassis out and got it down on jack stands without wasting any time.
When it goes back on I will use the old four man lift.

[thirsty]

A few things have gotten done. I doesn't look that much different but some small necessary tasks were worked on.

I cleaned the firewall up. I'm glad that is done, it took a long time doing it a little here and there.
This pic is from when I was close to being done.


Had to make two small patches. One where the e-brake bolts thru and the other by the blower motor.




Got the cab flipped over and did a lot of cleaning. The wax type undercoating that was on it came off easier than the black stuff on the firewall but there was a lot more of it to do. I wish now that I would have pressure washed the whole cab to get the bulk of everything off before I started any body work.

I saved a small rocker panel patch to do while I had it flipped on it's back. The bottom lip of the new rocker was a different height so I straightened it and made a new bend after I got it welded in. You can see that in this pic.


Then I had to fix this.


I cut the rot out and used leftover scraps from the rocker panel. It would have come out better if I didn't just hack pieces of the rocker with a cutoff wheel when I was fitting it. Glad I saved the scraps in a box in case I needed a small piece. Even though I had to stitch them back together it was easier than making something from scratch. I'll like it better once I smooth the welds up. I hope 

[bake74]

     You know, the good thing about metal is, as long as you don't apply too much heat, you can cover a whole lot of mistakes, and done right nobody will know the difference (unless they cut it apart). 
     The truck is looking great, I bet you will enjoy it more when you are done for the amount of work and pride of work you have put into it.

[Engineer]

I love threads like this one.

Watching what everybody is doing is so cool.

[firefighter]

Great job thirsty !!
I keep pieces of scrap left over panels too. I've used them for many repair jobs.
I like the way you stitched things together. By the time you grind and paint, it'll look just great.
Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.

[Bitzer!]

Little and often is the key 

Good work dude, I agree more hands make light work but too many cooks spoil the broth.

I've managed 99% of the work on my own, only used additional help for lifting, holding etc.

I've lo got the satisfaction that "I've done that!"

The build is coming on lovely, can't wait to see more!

[thirsty]

Finally got the bottom of the cab fully cleaned and the prep work done on it. I put seam sealer on the repairs that I made and also on any other seams. Hand painted the seam sealer and the parts that I sandblasted to make sure the SEM Rust-Shield paint I used was thick enough then sprayed the rest.







I was happy with the way the Rust-Shield sprayed. Now I hope that it holds up good.

[SGarage]

I stopped by the garage yesterday and found Thirsty hard at work on the cab.




Oscar was supervising.




Later in the evening the cab turned into a pretty good handle.

[thirsty]

It's getting dangerously close to primer time! Just got to do some small stuff to it first and make sure I didn't forget anything. It should have some primer on it by next weekend.

[bake74]

     Man thirsty, you are doing a great job.  It should be sweet when you are done.  I just wish I had the time to work on mine.  I actually have to take a day off lately just to be able to.  ( guess I shouldn't complain that I am busy when some don't have a job )

[rustymitchell]

Great job thirsty!  Your thread makes me want to go out and get some work done on mine!