Project Irene

[sgtdcoulter]

Looks like a great start! Keep the pics coming.

 

[sellitall]

I went up to the shop today and got some work done on my welding cart and such, but I uploaded a vid on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNl6N46etzg[youtube]mNl6N46etzg[/youtube] on the bronco and rotisserie I built. I have off next Friday for the holiday so I'm planning on getting another full day at the shop. I promise I will definitely start working on the EB.

Here's a few pics of the cart I "modified" to work with my lincoln. Check out the vid .

 

[71massbronco]

You're like me. I think I have spent more getting things ready and prepped for the build then the actual build itself. I don't have any more money to spend on the build because I spent it on tools!

 

[sellitall]

You're like me. I think I have spent more getting things ready and prepped for the build then the actual build itself. I don't have any more money to spend on the build because I spent it on tools!

It's amazing isn't it. Sometimes I think I'm gonna live to be 150 years old.;D

 

[66ALRIDE]

Time to start getting busy now, looking good.

 

[sellitall]

Time to start getting busy now, looking good.

I wish 66alride. With a 7 month old boy and a fulltime working mom at home, mentioning an hour ride to my pops shop raises a brow on the little lady these days.

 

[66ALRIDE]

I wish 66alride. With a 7 month old boy and a fulltime working mom at home, mentioning an hour ride to my pops shop raises a brow on the little lady these days.

Been there done that. It'll get better though. Project is looking good though.

 

[sellitall]

I got a few hours to work on Irene today. I think I have most of the trim and badges I'm not planning on using sold. Had a hell of a time getting the front clip removed. Rust can be a true B#%CH at times. I'm going to have a hell of a time removing the bolts which hold the grille to the fenders. The clips broke so it just spins with a ratchet. I can get a pair of vice grips on the two upper bolts to hold the broken clip in place, but the other three on each side have me scratching my head. I MIGHT be a ble to get my small angle grinder in there to grind down the head. Don't want to fire up the sparkle wrench because I'll run the risk of blowing through the sheetmetal.

The door post on PS is toast as you can tell in the pics. The DS is good, but it looks like it was replaced at one time going by the beautiful welds in the pics. I wonder if it was hit at one time and an OEM door post was used. You can see the remnants of an old sticker, but can't make it out at all.

On a side note, I'm using the molasses bath method to remove heavy rust for some small parts. Gonna get a bigger container in the near future to do the bigger suspension parts. I think it's better than media blasting because it's much cheaper. I paid $8.00 for a gallon of molasses at Tractor Supply, and only used a 1/4 of it. The mix should be between 7-10 parts water to 1 part molasses. It's supposed to last around six months. It WILL bring fruit flies so store in a place that is secluded and you don't mind tons of fruit flies hanging around. Those tiny black spots around the rim are the bucket are dead fruit flies. It's getting colder in PA so they will be going by-by for a few moths. It's also easier to do. Nothing like leaving in a vat to go about your other Bronco priorities and come back a couple of weeks later with the rust gone. I've done it on a few parts so far and would recommend it to anyone. I'll get you the after pics in a couple of weeks. One negative is that it does not remove paint from parts.

 

[sellitall]

Here's a few more.

 

[sellitall]

....and finally the molasses baby bathtub.

 

[sellitall]

Here's a vid on the rust areas and some molasses talk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs1T0Bep3PQ
[youtube]bs1T0Bep3PQ[/youtube]

 

[ilovemaui]

I'd like to see the part after the molasses soaking.

 

[sellitall]

I'd like to see the part after the molasses soaking.

I will defintely do an update. It will probably take a couple of weeks til I take it out. You'll be amazed at the difference.

 

[sellitall]

Headed up to my dad's shop this morning in an attempt to accelerate the already slow progress of Irene's tear down. I had a hell of a time getting the grille seperated from the fenders. My cousin and I spent almost an hour and a half grinding/sawzalling etc. the inner bolts off. The clips (or what was left of the clips) were rotted away and broke apart leaving the bolt spinning in the seperated clip. FINALLY got it apart to scope the rot damage. I would say that the fenders are toast. Probably gonna look for a set of rust free ones. I'd even take a set of cut fenders and use mine as patch panels. I hate rust!!!

I did get to peer in on the hood latch and posted another vid http://www.youtube.com/user/toomanytoyzz?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/k6gIkAUP8Gk

It turned as good as I thought it would. I suggest doing this if you're looking for an alternative to media blasting.
[youtube]k6gIkAUP8Gk[/youtube]

 

[mattyq17]

Keep at it sounds like you are making progress

 

[sellitall]

I took the few parts out of the molasses and here's the before and after pics. The light rust color wipes off with lacquer thinner. I didn't thoroughly dry them and it's just flash rust. The molasses is great at removing rust, but not paint. To me that's its biggest downfall. Still, I bought a gallon of it from tractor supply co. for $8. I've only used a 1/4 of it and it's apparently good for 6 months. If I used coal slag in my blaster I'd be half way through the bag which is about $9.50 at TSC, and you can't recycle coal slag. I am looking for a bigger type container to do the suspension and steering parts. These are a PITA to blast. Maybe some extremely large diameter threaded PVC pipe. What's the largest diameter you can purchase at Lowe's or HD?

I'm heading up to work on the bronco this weekend. Hoping to take the front core support/inner fenders off and some of the interior apart. It's going to be a slow build. My seven month old son sort of takes a precedent now. I look at him as a future worker I'm prepping.;D

 

[sellitall]

I had a semi-productive day tearing apart the bronco apart. The front core and wheel wells are toast. Definitely in the market for a front end if anyone can help a bronco brother out. I would even take a clean core support since it would obviously be easier to ship. Gonna come into some Santa Clause dinero next week.

The driver's front seat turned out to be a real PITA. I tried to sneak my 1/4 drive socket in to get the bolt out but broke the gear on the ratchet and couldn't for the life of me get the socket (or ratchet for that matter) out from the bracket. I had to cut the seat apart to expose the bracket. About an hour later and a dissected seat later I had ONLY two of the bolts out. 45 minutes was spent on getting my ratchet out.

Here's a couple of vids I downloaded and some pics. My plan was to get the tub on the rotisserie this month, but looks like that's not gonna happen. Got the holidays coming up. Hoping to get a few nights up at the shop between now and New Year's. We'll see?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rult54n288&context=C388e947ADOEgsToPDskK9ubDADrqR3ZxsdtlVvZae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6v5TOpYJlU&context=C32318d8ADOEgsToPDskJl22yyBAF6l2cJ3jr1w1jX
[youtube]-Rult54n288[/youtube]
[youtube]U6v5TOpYJlU[/youtube]

 

[sellitall]

Here's a few more. Is this an OEM part? It was mounted underneath the DS inner fender just above the jack assembly. I don't remeber this on my last build.

 

[sellitall]

The mat has been removed, and I finally got a good glimpse of the work ahead of me. It revealed some ups and downs, but all in all not too bad.

The mat was removed and will definitely be thoroughly cleaned, prepped and dyed. I'm a big fan of the bare bones look. I'd trade in the leather interior and stain resistant carpet for a steel dash and vinyl mat any day ;D!!

 

[sellitall]

Here's a pose from the build's mascot Dolce. My cousin Mike brought her down to keep us on track (aka:she just lurked around looking for food).;D