Project Little Green Turd

[wizkid00104]

Yea , 1Bad's rig is sick , it's been a while since i have been down to his place , it is always a great time going to see him.

as for me , recently i have been working on rebuilding my 97 Supercab that I had when i brought you those parts , it's undergoing quiet the extensive rebuild , cant wait to have it back on the road though. plus I got myself a 98 Explorer for a DD now

Very nice. I got that F250 for a DD at the moment. Fortunately, I work 12 minutes from where I live, so I can go a while on 29 gallons of gas. The F250 is next to go under the knife. I believe the pilot bearing is going as well as the power steering pump. I also need to clean up the fender well rust before it gets uncontrollable. I'm probably going to put spray-on bed liner around the fender wells and body line (doors are rusting at the bottom too) and do some undercoating as well. Its a great truck, but the laundry list of things to change is getting longer. I just wish I could leave well enough alone...

But I can't, so

 

[wizkid00104]

A big old box of bolts came for me today. I think it was 280 pcs. Hopefully I won't need anymore. Going to look into making greasable bolts for my leaf springs this weekend.

 

[wizkid00104]

Greasable Bolts

Well I got a ton done this weekend and took several pictures, so I am going to start with the bolts I modified.

BOM:
(6) 9/16-4" UNC Grade 8 Bolts (I need (2) 5" and (4) 4")
Grade 8 flat washers, lock washers, and nuts
(6) 1/4-28 UNF Grease Fittings w/ 7/32" thread length

Tools:
3/32" Drill Bit (I used TiN coated bits, Cobalt would be better)
7/64" Drill Bit for when the 3/32 snapped
7/32" Drill Bit (#3 is the correct size for the tap, but 7/32 will suffice.)
1/4-28 UNF Taper or Plug Tap
1/4-28 UNF Bottoming Tap (I didn't have one of these, it will be beneficial though).
Tap Handle
Center Punch
Hammer
Drill Press
Drill Oil
Drill Vise
WD-40 or pressurized lube.
Grease Gun

Directions:
In a perfect world, you should be able to chuck the bolt and clamp the 3/32 in the drill vise and spin the bolt for get a center hole. I did not have this luxury, so I got it as close as I could with the center punch.

1. Center punch the bolt head in the vise or using the spinning technique above.
2. Clamp bolt in drill vise and slowly drill 3/32" hole 1.5" through the head using adequate drilling oil. I used a slow drill speed and frequently had to back the bit out to clear the debris from the bit and hole.
3. Put the bolt in the vise and center punch the shaft at just above 1.5" so you pass through the center hole drilled.
4. Lay the bolt in the drill vice and gently start a pilot hole through the shaft. You'll notice that once the bit makes contact with the shaft, it will try to slip off the rounded surface. Be very careful, or the bit will break here. Once the hole is started rotate the bolt so the hole is completely vertical, and drill through the bolt completely. Use drilling oil.
5. Place bolt upright in the vise again to drill the head with 7/32 or #3 bit. If you have a bottoming tap, set your drill depth on the press to 1/4", making sure that the zero on the scale has the bit touching the head. If you do not have a bottoming tap, set the drill depth to 3/8" because you will need the extra space to fully engage the threads on the tap. Drill the hole and use oil.
6. Place the drilled bolt in the vise and use the handle with taper or plug tap to start the threads. Once the tap bottoms out, if available, use the bottoming tap to complete the threads. Once again, use oil.
7. That's it, use WD-40 or some pressurized oil to remove the chips from the holes and then thread the grease fitting in and pump the bolt full of grease a few times to remove the chips.

Installed:

The shackle to spring eye bolt in my case needs to be longer.

More to follow

 

[wizkid00104]

I got the passengers side leaf spring and hangars reassembled this weekend.

Here is the comparison of the stock shackle to the Teraflex Shackles. I remember now I got them off of UrbanRedneckKid.

I got the leaf springs cleaned up and reassembled with the Duff Add-a-Leaf. It definitely improved the arch.

Here is the shackle install process.

Shackle Extended:

Shackle Collapsed:

This what was left of the stock transmission crossmember.

With the help of my buddy's dad, we got the gas tank out too. This brought some rust issues to my attention.

The first thing I noticed when I removed the tank is that there is many brake lines. I found the factory line... its replacement... and the replacement's replacement, which also needs replaced. Its like brake line inception...

Bed cross member:

This is the cross member between the cab and bed that I need to find a replacement for. If you have a good frame with one, PM me!

Here is the factory clutch w/ 198000 miles and finally started to slip when my quad was in the bed.

And for fun, this is James Duff's rod end next to a good old American Budweiser

Hopefully I'll get home next weekend to get the driver's side rear leaf on. Once the rear end is back together, I'll tear into the front for the real fun (ie nothing gets reused, so I don't care if its rotted or broken)!

At the moment I am looking for the crossmember that is rotted, I am going to redo the rear brake line, replace the fuel filter, replace tank straps (I have those), clean up the tank heat shield and skid plate, order more bolts, make 2 more 5" greasable bolts for the rear shackle spring eye connection, make greasable axle pivot bolts, make greasable bolts for the Duff radius arm heim joints, and my buddy's dad is bringing home his air needle scaler to help with the abundance of rust.

As always,

 

[xBLAKEx]

Looks real good, I think those greasable bolts are bad ass!

By the way how did you end up resizing your pictures on photobucket? I've been trying to figure it out..

 

[wizkid00104]

Looks real good, I think those greasable bolts are bad ass!

By the way how did you end up resizing your pictures on photobucket? I've been trying to figure it out..

Thanks!

There are two ways to do it. On the website, Under "Albums," there is "Edit Photos." Click that and select a photo. In the express editor which you now see on the screen, click "Adjustment" and you will see "Resize" in there.

If you are using a Mac, photobucket makes an export tool for iPhoto '11. Now, I just group all of my photos in the an event and select the ones I want to upload. Highlight them and click 'File' and then 'Export'. It logs me into my photobucket from the exporter tool and all I have to do is select a size. I like 800x600.

Does that help?

 

[88_Eddie]

lookin good, i like the grease fitting on the bolt trick. i thought about doing that on the tire carrier pivot that i made

 

[wizkid00104]

lookin good, i like the grease fitting on the bolt trick. i thought about doing that on the tire carrier pivot that i made

Thanks. I think that is a great use for them. You wouldn't need grade 8 either, so the drilling process will probably be a bit faster

 

[88_Eddie]

how do you get a wrench on that nut? i made this for one of my spring hangers. it wont move once you start tightening up everything and you dont have to have a wrench on it. the factory nut on it broke when i was taking off the leaf springs so i had to get creative....used some 1/4" scrap i had laying around and welded a grade 8 nut on it.

 

[wizkid00104]

At the moment, I was just relying on removing the bracket to deal with the shackle.

That thought crossed my mind. I pictured exactly what you did, unfortunately I am not great at welding. My buddy's dad who garage I am working in is a certified welder, so I haven't had much practice because he can do it right the first time. I think that would be a good learning point though. I can add something like that no problem.

 

[xBLAKEx]

Thanks!

There are two ways to do it. On the website, Under "Albums," there is "Edit Photos." Click that and select a photo. In the express editor which you now see on the screen, click "Adjustment" and you will see "Resize" in there.

If you are using a Mac, photobucket makes an export tool for iPhoto '11. Now, I just group all of my photos in the an event and select the ones I want to upload. Highlight them and click 'File' and then 'Export'. It logs me into my photobucket from the exporter tool and all I have to do is select a size. I like 800x600.

Does that help?

Yeah that helped a lot, super bummed that i would have to edit each photo! haha.
That mac set up you have going seems pretty sweet!
I'll just change the size setting on the camera, i think that would be faster.

 

[wizkid00104]

Yeah that helped a lot, super bummed that i would have to edit each photo! haha.
That mac set up you have going seems pretty sweet!
I'll just change the size setting on the camera, i think that would be faster.

I assume you are using windows. You may want to look for a piece of software that can re-size the photos quickly in windows. The only reason I say that is I can't tell you how many times I have looked back in my photos for reference or a detail and kicked my self because the resolution was too low to make out something.

Just something to keep in mind.

And I personally didn't think the photos in your thread were too big any way

 

[wizkid00104]

Well after quite a while of busy weekends, I am finally back at the Ranger again. I did some thinking and have a plan of action in mind now.

I started by pulling the bed. I am glad I did. A few of the mounting bolts were in awful shape. They were less than half of the actual diameter thanks to rust. Consequently, the both snapped.

I got the spare tire carrier and old sway bar material cut off. My friend Alicia was down this weekend and she wanted to help, so she handled the sanding and wire wheeling so everything can be hit with fresh rustoleum. I got the the last spring hangar off and cleaned it up and painted it. I wanted to get the back end assembled so I can move on to other things. Here it is:

Here is the shot of the busted bed bolt remains still in the frame:

For the next trip, I have a bucket list of odds and ends.

1. Make 3 more greasable bolts (4 1/2" length) to replace the shackle bolts and and drivers side front spring hangar bolts that are too short.
2. Replace the fuel filter.
3. Replace the clutch.
4. Clean and paint the frame.
5. Remove two busted bed bolts and the busted bolt from the header.
6. Replace a bad axle seal on passengers side of rear axle and change gear lube.
7. I may have to replace the rear brakes and e-brake cables again... they are not looking too promising...

That should do it for now.

I will also begin the front tear down. I am going to try and get the radiator core support done before July, because my buddies dad is going to help me with it. Starting in July, his work has him working 12s everyday of the month and he will be in no shape or will to help. If I can get that done, I will do the front suspension.

1badexplorer had the crossmember I need and I may also get a set of newer knuckles off him with the 2 piston calipers to upgrade the brakes a bit.

I also snap a few picks of my buddy's Yota. He just finished his SAS and that thing got big.

 

[wizkid00104]

Got back to do more work last night. Front clip is off and fenders are almost off (ran out of time). Post picture later on when I get a chance. Last weekend I got the rest of my greasable bolts done too.

 

[wizkid00104]

Front Disassembly

Well I began tearing into the front clip last night. The radiator core support is getting replaced during this. But it will also help me get to the front suspension. Last night I got down to the core support from the outside.

And now the reason the core support is getting replaced:

I am going back Sunday to continue. The fenders still have a few bolts I haven't found yet. Please let me know if you can tell me all the locations!

Suspension parts here I come. Let me know if anyone needs any stock front suspension components. I am keeping the I-beams and steering. Radius arms, brackets, and so on are being replaced.