1982 Frame Off Restoration

[SupercoolBill]

Dispite my post, yesterday we did manage to work on the car some. During the work day i was near Lowes so I bought two new 4x4X10' timbers. I spent a lot of time and energy sorting through what they had there, trying to findd two that didn't have several big knots all in the same spot. I discovered that this is actually nearly impossible. When I got back to the shop it was almost the end of the work day so I jumped right into swapping out the timbers.

I use a different technique then most people to jack up the body. I use floor jacks, one on each side of the car with a timber to spread the weight on the rockers. I go up on one side, put blocks in, set that side down, switch over to the other side, and so on. But first I lifted the back of the car, swapped out the timber, then lifted the front of the car and swapped out the timber up there.
I realized that I had my blocks set really wide...like 10' apart for some reason. I realized this wasn't really necessary and was putting more stress on the timbers so I moved the blocks in to like 6-7' apart.




Next I went back to my side to side technique to raise the car higher. I did this to make it easier to work under the car and also because we had to remove the wheels from the frame to get it to come out from under the car. We want to roll it in there this time.


I put pipe stands under the timbers for added insurance.



Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

Tam was out for a run (as usual) while I was working on the blocking under the car. She showed up after I was finished, which was probably for the best.
We switched to working on the frame and just puttered on that for a few hours trying to figure out hoses and stuff are supposed to be run.





The bolt hole in the plate that holds the refrigerant lines to the compressor was too small for an M10 bolt so I had to drill it out. It pained me to hog out my nice plated part but it had to be done.




Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

I agree with what others have said. It may be time to take some intentional time away to try and "miss" the project. I started a project with mine last summer that started as a simple removal and restoration of the rear interior panel that covers the rear speakers. But it morphed into a huge "while I'm in there" project that resulted in me taking out most of the interior, restoring the electrical/fuse box area, wiring cleanup from the previous owner, removal of headliner, including bolting down the roof box, door seal replacement including the top seal secured by rivets, replacement of the broken radio deck, ripping out of the heater and AC unit, replacement of the A/C lines, new radiator, condenser, new radiator fans, and the 100 other odd and end items along the way, including hours of sandblasting, painting, and of course, parts shopping.

In summary, I get the feeling of burnout. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and one immediately back, making you feel like you're not progressing.

I'm amazed at the level of detail you and your wife have given this project. You're inspiring others and have, on multiple occasions, motivated me to get out to my own garage to work on my car.

It does suck to not have the car be in driving and running condition. It has been too many months since I sat in my car and took it for a spin. You can always skip some things and address them later, if ever, for sake of speeding up the process. But if you want everything to be perfect and not have to revisit much later, try to strike a better balance between life and the car. The car will always be there tomorrow if you don't work on it today. We're rooting for you, but there's no rush.

Geesh yeah that little job blew up into quite a project!

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

Yes!

You don?t have to finish by any deadline. I think maybe you are thinking about the destination when you should be enjoying the journey. It took me 10 years to build this.

Attachment 70506

I never had a deadline. Although I?m having a lot of fun driving it now, I miss the project.

Wow that is awesome! Ironically I have been looking at old military vehicles in my "spare time" I have wanted a unimog, pinzgusser, or something for years. PM me.the info on that rig if you don't mind.

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

In the same good book, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it."

Don't be discouraged. Balance work, fun, life. Baby steps. Persevere.

I know that one well also,...since we both run races.

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

Today I did a video of the frame. Anyone see anything that I need to change before the body goes on?
https://youtu.be/mj-jpHXHhZs?si=wlHKSdf9wHhrzZTS

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[Helirich]

I can?t help you much because I?ve never done it, but looking, I?ll mention a couple things that may or may not be applicable.

Those stainless lines with couplers. I had those kind of lines on my project truck. I found that I had to have them really, really tight to stop them from leaking. Tighter than I felt comfortable with. If those fittings will be hard to get at, I would really make sure they are tight. I flared my own lines and maybe (probably) I was at fault. But worth mentioning.

I see a couple hose clamps. Make sure that they are pointed in a way that you can get at them with a screwdriver after the body is on.

That?s about all I can come up with. Hopefully, Andy can comment. When this is done, you are going to be the man everybody goes to.


Edit, something else I will mention that probubly you are not interested in. I understand that most people that pull the engine, make the rear cross frame bolt on. It makes sense to me and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if I was that far into it. It would be easy to do now for you. If for some reason in the future, you had to pull that engine, you would be thanking yourself now.

[82DMC12]

Nice video!

First of all, regarding the one piece clutch line, the one I got had 90 degree ends on both sides. This was OK however there was very little clearance for it when routing it around the brake booster bracket up front. I see the hose you got has a straight end on one side and 90 on the other. There are no clearance issues with a 90 at the slave so I wonder if the straight end is intended to go on the master?

No problem routing the hose along the driver side just like you have it.

You might have to cut the zip ties for the AC hoses off when you put the body back down if the hoses are getting jammed lowering the body. With the new style thinner diameter hoses you will probably be fine though. Originally when I dropped my body back down I had barrier hoses and they were getting wedged and pinched.

Are you going to put your intake manifold and fuel injection onto the engine before putting the body back down? One thing I did was I hooked up the fuel lines to the fuel distributor and then hooked up 12 volts to the fuel pump so I could circulate fuel for about half an hour and be 100% sure none of those metal lines between the body and frame are leaking fuel. You will definitely not want to find a fuel leak there after the body is set down.

Looking great though! That's really the only stuff I have to add.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

I can?t help you much because I?ve never done it, but looking, I?ll mention a couple things that may or may not be applicable.

Those stainless lines with couplers. I had those kind of lines on my project truck. I found that I had to have them really, really tight to stop them from leaking. Tighter than I felt comfortable with. If those fittings will be hard to get at, I would really make sure they are tight. I flared my own lines and maybe (probably) I was at fault. But worth mentioning.

I see a couple hose clamps. Make sure that they are pointed in a way that you can get at them with a screwdriver after the body is on.

That?s about all I can come up with. Hopefully, Andy can comment. When this is done, you are going to be the man everybody goes to.


Edit, something else I will mention that probubly you are not interested in. I understand that most people that pull the engine, make the rear cross frame bolt on. It makes sense to me and I wouldn?t hesitate to do it if I was that far into it. It would be easy to do now for you. If for some reason in the future, you had to pull that engine, you would be thanking yourself now.

Thanks for the advice.
I did make sure I tightened those down quite a bit. I do worry about being able to get to those if they leak and I really wish they were one continuous line without the couplers.
Some of the hose clamps are hard to know which way they should be pointed. I'm going to try to remember to check them as I am lowering the body onto the frame.

I have considered cutting the rear frame cross member probably 30 times. I know a lot of people cut it and make it removable but I feel like it is the most popular for people that are doing engine swaps not people running the stock engine but I could be wrong. I think that the engine or engine and transaxle can be removed and installed without having a removable cross member. I'm sure it is more difficult but doable. So do I cut my almost perfect frame to make it easier to remove the engine or remove the timing chain cover? I don't know.....
The other thing is I have never found really good close up pics on how to make the rear part of the frame removable.

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

Nice video!

First of all, regarding the one piece clutch line, the one I got had 90 degree ends on both sides. This was OK however there was very little clearance for it when routing it around the brake booster bracket up front. I see the hose you got has a straight end on one side and 90 on the other. There are no clearance issues with a 90 at the slave so I wonder if the straight end is intended to go on the master?

No problem routing the hose along the driver side just like you have it.

You might have to cut the zip ties for the AC hoses off when you put the body back down if the hoses are getting jammed lowering the body. With the new style thinner diameter hoses you will probably be fine though. Originally when I dropped my body back down I had barrier hoses and they were getting wedged and pinched.

Are you going to put your intake manifold and fuel injection onto the engine before putting the body back down? One thing I did was I hooked up the fuel lines to the fuel distributor and then hooked up 12 volts to the fuel pump so I could circulate fuel for about half an hour and be 100% sure none of those metal lines between the body and frame are leaking fuel. You will definitely not want to find a fuel leak there after the body is set down.

Looking great though! That's really the only stuff I have to add.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I think it would be better if mine had 90s on both ends. Not sure why Josh changed the design. Maybe so it could be fished through with the body on the car?
So are you saying that I should have the 90 on the transmission end then?
I don't want to try to fish this back through later.

I am wondering if I should wrap my suction line with foam insulation tape. What do you think? Every little bit helps but not sure if it would make any significant difference in performance or efficiency of the AC and also it would make the line thicker.

I would love to install the intake, fuel distributor, etc and test the fuel system now rather than later but Josh is telling me to wait until I have the new harness ran and not to run the harness until the body is back on the frame.

Sent from my SM-F946U1 using Tapatalk