Project Furwagon - bout to cross the finish line

[Nightstick]

Thanks for the quick reply! I have the lightning rail but I'll switch to the explorer to put the TB on the passenger side. I'm getting the deluxe fuel line kit which Uses hard fuel lines and I would assume comes with all the fittings, etc. Explorer upper will be used... Thanks for the heads up on the accumulator!

What are master install kits for the diffs? Same as rebuild kits?

I'll be doing a hydroboost/front disc system before it's road-worthy but I don't have all the funds to get it done now (thanks to my wife).

 

[Nightstick]

Body is ready for removal... I got the main tank, top (PITA), and all the other misc items off today. I still won't have time to get the body off until next weekend because I still have to fab up the body braces.

Most of that red stuff is mud not rust. Good thing is there's a layer of road grime between the body and mud so there's no rust on the underside.

 

[NGABronco]

Hey nightstick, I'm being anal, but at some point ya' got to deal with e-brakes... I got to do that this weekend, only reason I mentioned!!;D;D;D

 

[Nightstick]

Hey nightstick, I'm being anal, but at some point ya' got to deal with e-brakes... I got to do that this weekend, only reason I mentioned!!;D;D;D

Oh I did! I just disconnected them at the part where it splits off from the body to the drums. I didn't see another part that joins it from body to frame so I left it at that... I'm only doing the bare minimum to get the body off with most everything still intact, like the dash. I'll have to rip out some stuff after the chassis work is done because I'm replacing all the fuel/brake lines. I still need to pressure wash the underside and patch some rusty spots but all that will be done when the body is back on as I don't have a rotissere.

 

[Nightstick]

Good idea or no?

I'd like to get the body off in the next week or so. I have time to do it tomorrow night, but it depends on whether this theory will work.

My goal has been to do the least amount of disassembly possible to get the body off. In keeping with that would it be okay to just leave the doors and tailgate on and closed and pull the body that way, or is it necessary to brace everything with angle-iron or whatever? What I'm going to attempt to do is simply jack up the back with a floor jack, lift the front with my cherry picker, and slide the chassis out. Opinions?

 

[johnnybgood74]

I left the doors on when I pulled mine off using the cherry picker. I also had the cage in to, to use as a pull point. It was a piece of cake. Did it by myself

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

I use what my mechanics mentor in Tijuana used to pull engines a "BURRO" yes, it is a wooden contraption made from 3 8" 4x4's, and one 8' 4x6. I used one on my Ramcharger rebuild and I figure if it lifts teh whole front end of the Ram, then it can pick up the whole bronco ;D.

I was considering a Harbor Freight cherry picker, but the BURRO allows me to lift things higher, it straddles the vehicle and you can pull around the work area.

what I did was use 1/2" rope around the back and front of the body, crossed the rope and with the engine chain hoist lifter the whole body on to the frame.

I would agree that the cherry picker on the front and the floor jack on the rear will work, but 2 burros would be nice ;D maybe I can make a herd of burrow and ride them to you, we will get there in a few years.... I just could not control myself ;D

 

[Nightstick]

Inner fender replacement/modification

So I finally got the front fenders and grille off yesterday. Here's my plan of sorts, give me your opinions...

As is common with these rigs the back piece of the fender is rusted on the engine side in the area where the two panels overlap. Front portion is good, rear is not. I'm thinking I can just replace the entire inner fender(s) with one single piece of 14 gauge sheet metal instead of using the two piece. This will allow me to vent the vertical portion and maintain structural integrity of the fender as opposed to using 16 gauge. I'll also probably weld in some support straps on either side of the vented area. Is 14 gauge overkill, and am I wasting my money since I'll have left over material that can't really be used for any other body work? Is 14 gauge suitable for skid plates?

Any comments?

EDIT: okay wait... after looking at it again it seems the vented portion would be on the wheel well not the inner fender, is that right?

 

[Nightstick]

Bump.... I'm sure someone has done this

 

[Justafordguy]

I would think you would want to vent the fender well. The heat from the exhaust would benefit the most from the lower vents.

 

[Nightstick]

I got most of the body cart together this evening, ran outta screws though. I'm gonna put some more bracing material in and throw the casters on tomorrow.

 

[Izzy]

If you need any help getting the body off or anything else, let me know. I'm free for most of the weekend.

 

[Baja71]

I just put mine on two saw horses. EZPZ. Couldn't roll it around, but didn't need to.

 

[Nightstick]

If you need any help getting the body off or anything else, let me know. I'm free for most of the weekend.

Thanks Izzy, but I have to work all weekend. I'm gonna pick of the angle iron to brace the body on Monday or Tuesday and hopefully I'll be ready to pull it next weekend.

I have to say one thing here that's negative about a vender. I don't want to start a new thread on this and get attacked for vender bashing, but as you read on you'll see my frustration... I emailed BCB on Aug 1st with a list of items I wanted and told them I would be at their doorstep Sept 16th to pick everything up (we're talking $3000+ worth of parts). Since then I have emailed Roxanne back and forth several times ironing out the list and each time I said I would be there on that day, and I was 100% positive I would be. Well today I get an email from Roxanne telling me that about half of the items aren't in stock and won't be ready for pickup. Obviously the intention of driving 6 hours one-way was to save the cost of shipping, and the bulkier items are the ones that are backordered. I have to say I'm a little disappointed with them at this point. Had they asked me to pay for everything ahead of time to ensure it would be there, I would have gladly done that. I have held off on buying other items for my rig, which has delayed progress, and if had known this would be the case I would have ordered the other stuff a month ago. %)

 

[Nightstick]

In preparation for doing the required body work I framed up a welding cart, and painted it Ford Blue since I had some leftover paint from the engine block. Problem is I forgot to frame under where the bottle goes so I'll have to repaint there. Should have the wheels and sheetmetal on tomorrow, and I think I can get the bronco body off this weekend. I've said that before though... one of these days I'll actually post some pics of work being done on the bronco.

Miller wants $160 for their cart, mine cost about $30... HA!

 

[Justafordguy]

That looks very solid. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Nightstick]

Since justafordguy was interested I'll show ya the almost finished product. I still need to put on the bottom piece of sheetmetal but I have to get my buddy's plasma cutter to cut the square out for the bottle support. I used 14 gauge sheetmetal for the shelves, which I still have to paint... One thing I don't like is the four casters. I had them already which is why I used them, but I'm going to put the standard straight axle large wheels on the back later. Total cost after the new wheels will probably be about $70. Now I just have to make an extension for the power supply, which I'm told ain't cheap.

There's a couple booger welds on it, but no big deal. My 90 degree welds are almost perfect, but the flat T welds where I'm welding an end of one piece onto another, only turn out well about 50-75% of the time... something to work on I suppose.

 

[Devin]

Since justafordguy was interested I'll show ya the almost finished product. I still need to put on the bottom piece of sheetmetal but I have to get my buddy's plasma cutter to cut the square out for the bottle support. I used 14 gauge sheetmetal for the shelves, which I still have to paint... One thing I don't like is the four casters. I had them already which is why I used them, but I'm going to put the standard straight axle large wheels on the back later. Total cost after the new wheels will probably be about $70. Now I just have to make an extension for the power supply, which I'm told ain't cheap.

There's a couple booger welds on it, but no big deal. My 90 degree welds are almost perfect, but the flat T welds where I'm welding an end of one piece onto another, only turn out well about 50-75% of the time... something to work on I suppose.

Dang, that is pretty sweet. Wish I would have done that. I always just drag my welder and bottle around to wherever I am working. %)

 

[Justafordguy]

That turned out nice. I want to built something like that to hold my mig and my plazma stacked on top of each other.

 

[Nightstick]

That turned out nice. I want to built something like that to hold my mig and my plazma stacked on top of each other.

I did a google search and found a cart another guy built that had a mig on top and plasma on bottom. Pretty cool... You could do pretty much whatever you want seeing as ow you're the one building it

Plasma cutters are pretty sweet, but I can't justify buying one. My buddy's will cut sheetmetal, and my neighbor has one that'll cut up to 1/4". Now a flowjet, that would be awesome!!!!