Well we have been really busy lately and have finally gotten some time in for Trip the truck. Sunday October 19th, 2014 my husband went over to Shawns and moved the truck into the garage. Tim started to remove the rear suspension and axle while I prepped the axle from the old silver sixty to go back under the truck. Over the following week I scraped decreased and painted the rear axle. I used 2 light coats of Chassis Saver gloss black and then top coated with rust-oleum black gloss protective enamel so it will not react with the UV rays. I also started work on the front axle. We shall see how the paint holds up over the years.
On Novenmber 1st, 2014 we went over and removed the rear axle on Trip and then installed the rear axle from the silver truck that we had painted above along with the u-bolt flip kit and rest of the rear suspension. We also drained the gear fluid and changed the drain and fill plugs on the axle to upgraded versions. Making some nice progress on the suspension of the truck. Still need to fill the axle with gear fluid and install some new shocks. We haven’t decided on shocks yet.
Over the weekend of November 22, 2014 I went over to work with Shawn (Tim was sick) to remove the rest of the front suspension/axle which we started last time we were over. When we were removing the springs i noticed gear fluid on the floor … it was leaking out of the axle. We looked closer and discovered while torching the u bolts off Shawn cut into the axle. Whoops. We also removed the bumper as we need to add the new front spring hangers. The next day Sunday I went over to try and prep the front axle for paint. I planned on painting on Monday because the temp would be warm enough to paint. I opened the garage door Monday morning so I could tape off the last few things and get to work painting. The axle got all condensation and needless to say I was unable to paint. However, Tim and Scott come over in the big red truck to move a trailer full of spare parts from the silver sixty. On Friday November 28th we were able to unloaded the trailer which had the 2f engine from the 1987, rear axle and transmission/ transfercase.
Well I was finally able to paint the front axle on Monday Dec 1st 2014 … It was a warm day of around 60 and this time I didn’t open the garage door. I stoked up the fire and finished taping off areas and the last of the prep while the garage heated. I put one coat of paint , ran to do some errands then came back to do a second coat. I hung out there until it was ready for to apply the two light top coats. It looks good but time will tell how well it holds up.
Sunday December 7th we went over and Shawn torched off the front spring hanger that will be replaced with the new ones that go with the lift. He also torched off the 8 rivets that hold on the brackets for the front bumper. Lastly he cut off the engine mounts as we will need to make new custom engine mounts to accommodate the new diesel engine. I will be going over with a grinder to clean up the areas where he removed brackets. While we were there we also removed the break unit as it will be replaced with a hydraboost unit. We also removed several heat shields to get ready to make room for the new engine mounts. During a prior visit I removed the lines that go to the read heater core as we will be replacing them with new hoses. We still do not have the NV4500 /adapter/rebuilt transfercase. Its been over 3 months now and when we dropped off the items he said approximately 3 weeks. I am getting a little worried. We have been calling to check on the work and were in no hurry as we did not need the parts at the time …we were told this Saturday it may be done. I hope we get it back soon and its in good working order.
On Thursday December 18th 2014 I prepped and painted the new front spring hangers and the front shackles. Shawn worked on cleaning up where he cut off the engine mounts and the front spring hangers.
I went back the next day, Friday, to starting to prep the front half of the frame for paint. It took me a lot longer to grind down where the engine mounts and spring hangers were removed than I thought it would. After that I removed exhaust hangers, heat shields, fuel/ break lines and other misc parts in preparation for painting. There is a lot of old undercoating to scrap off. I’m glad it is old and is not too bad to remove.
I went Saturday to scrap, wire wheel, sand, degrease ect the frame to get it ready for paint. It was a lot of work and my arms and hands were tired and cramped. I am actually getting tired of working on the truck but really want to get the front half of the frame painted before we install the front springs axle ect. I got it all prepped for paint before I left that night. Tomorrow is finally paint day.
When I got there Sunday morning it was very cold in the garage and had actually snowed out over night. It took a while to get the garage warm enough so that I could begin painting. Once I was able to begin it actually took a long time to get the first coat brushed on. I used a bigger paint brush, smaller 1 in brush, foam brush, a small paint brush, that I took from the kids, and some pipe cleaners to get into tight spots. I then had to wait several hours before I could do a second coat. So it was lunch time finally and break time for a bit. Then I painted on a second coat which went much quicker than the first coat. Then I had to wait several more hours before I could spray on the top coat to protect the underlying coats from UV rays. I was tied when I finally left but it looked great and I was very happy to have gotten it done. I hope it hold up well … time will tell.
On December 24th 2014 Tim went over to get the front suspension back on the truck. He was able to get the axle, springs, u-bolt flip kit and front spring hangers all on. It all fit well. Tim didn’t grind the paint off the spring hangers and front frame rails so Shawn could weld them so Tim will need to go back another day to do that.
Friday December 26th Tim went over and grind the front spring hangers and frame rails. Shawn welded the spring hangers to the truck. I then went over and met up with Tim to help rehang the front springs. I then paint the freshly welded area. The truck is finally back down on all 4 wheels and looks great!
Saturday December 27th we went over to move the truck and parts out of his garage. Tim hooked up the emergency brake and steering. I got to “drive” Trip out of the garage while Fawn and Tim pushed. The emergency brake worked well and it moved without any issues. Its exciting to see it on all 4 wheels and rolling. On a side not we still haven’t gotten our transmission and transfer case back from the transmission guy.
