oliver foster

I got the cowl crack panels and such all welded up and done today. I also reworked the drivers replacement floorboard panel with a few strengthening ribs.
After this the RC was rolled outside and hit with a few coats of primer and paint on the cowl areas.
I have the floorboards soaked down in rust remover [I am using Evaporust - SP?] right now so I can check for any pin holes before painting up the floorboards as well.

oliver foster

I took Walter and both our daughters out to check out the Street Rod Natls. show yesterday in Essex VT in the white crew cab. We all spent a few hours checking out the sea of chrome, metal flake and flame paint jobs on all sorts of cool street rods. It was great weather and even though we showed up on Sunday, there where still lots of rigs to check out. After the show Walter and I where motivated to tinker on the RC for a couple of hours, so I picked up a rack of our favorite IPA and some "Vintage Copper Metallic" spray paint. The same paint also happens to be a close match for his '85 RC project out of Idaho.

After washing off the Evaporust, welding up a few pins holes that showed up after cleaning up the floor boards with a brass wire wheel, we taped the little bit of the dash that can be saved, the kick panels, pedals and rear seat off.
Three coats of primer and one coat of the rattle can copper and it is looking great!

I am very happy with the body work we got done, as neither of us have lots of practice at body work. The tub and floorboards are very solid now. We got it finished by putting in 2 or 3 hours before dinner, most nights last week.

NJTman

Is the welding learning curve coming around?

What's next for the RC?

Goat chops finish the day off?

oliver foster

I am dialing in a new trick on the MIG that a local body shop guy showed me when he stopped by. It is to use way more electric than suggested for that thickness of metal, but just tack it for a split second with plenty of wire speed. On my 120V Lincoln welder it have the volts and the wire speed dial turned up within one or two setting of highest setting. This gets great metal penetration, but if you leave the trigger held down just a split second too long you will burn a hole in the metal. It was great to really stitch up the cowl cracks and attach my added patch panels.

Walter has been using the new torch I picked up in Carlisle mostly on the floorboards and he is really liking it. He wants to get one next year at the show.

Since he is helping me afterwork with my project, I will let him use the new cool welder he is enjoying learning on... While I cut out, grind and shape floor and cowl patch panels. Nobody really wants to spend too much time time "polishing" up their grinding wheel skills.


Next up is to pull the tub off, again, to paint the under side of the new floorboard patch panels while it is up in the air on the lift. Then the frame with go outside and get pressure washed off, cleaned up a bit and hit with some black rattle cans.

Also on the pre winter punch list is... Grab the 2nd gen Dana 70 3.54 geared rear axle I need to install.
I also have to extract the old '76 RC from its spot it has rested in for about 8 years. I want to be able to drag it into the shop this winter and right now it will be hard enough to yank out and get rolling again. My daughter remembers getting driven to day care about 12 years ago in the old orange "Rattle Charger". Which is what we called it as the '76 was getting rusty and had a ton of rattles at that point.

It will donate ALL of its wiring, dash, glovebox, gauges, steering column, tons of misc. nuts, bolts, switches and I will also pull the RR steering box to have as a spare set up.

oliver foster

After lots of measuring I have decided the narrower 1st Gen Dana 70 will serve me better on this build. I do not want issues with tire sticking outside of the wheel wells on a low 2wd rig with wide back tires.

I have also decided to swap in the later '80-'93 style hanging throttle pedal rather than re-use the '78 one that attaches to the floorboard.

oliver foster

The tub was pulled off the frame last night using the shop lift.
The bottom of the welds where cleaned up and the new metal of the floorboards where then primed and painted. The frame is getting rolled out the shop in a few minutes to pressure wash off some dirt and grime. I am off to drop the fuel tank now...

oliver foster

Charlotte helped me scrub the frame with a plastic brush and some soap while I pressure washed the frame. Afterwards we took turns running a wire brush on a cordless drill over the super light surface rust spots on the frame. After that we used some compressed air to clean of debris and let it dry off in the sun. Then I hit it with some primer and then three cans of of black spray paint.
For about 3 HRs work and about $15 in spray paint it looks great.
All the factory tooling marks can be seen in the frame where it was bent up in '78.
In about an hour, we will drag it back into the shop using a come-along so it can cure in the warm shop tonight and escape the evening dew.

oliver foster

After dinner on Sat. night I cleaned up around the powertrain that is in the corner of the shop so I could get back at working on it.
I started to swap out the motor mounts for 1st gen ones and modifying the bracket on the heat exchanger to work with the different mounting style on the motor mounts.

I want to check what sort of fuel plate is in the pump then decide what I need to do from there.

oliver foster

Walter helped me pull the old '76 Rattlecharger out of the parking spot it has been in since '07 today. The tires all took air and all the wheels rolled freely. We winched it out the first 80FT, then dragged it out the rest of the way with a truck.
I want to have it out and mobile for rolling into the shop this winter to pull all the wiring, dash and steering column, ETC out of for the project.
It is cool that the rig my daughter remembers being driven to day care in as a small child can donate lots of parts to our current project years later.

oliver foster

Spent a few hours digging the Dana 70 out of the same truck that donated the front half of its frame and front suspension for this project.
I was fun trying to prep and extract the rear axle out of a rig that is sitting there like a rickshaw.
It is the earlier style Dana 70 with the stud style axle shafts, so I would guess it has the 35 spline axles in it.

oliver foster

Well I learned something tonight.
I was sitting down taking a break from fixing up a '99 24V in the shop I hope to use as a winter beater and I was looking at a '93 12V motor I have pulled on the shop floor. I noticed a notch on the drivers side bracket / mount of the motor mount.
The bracket I had tried to install on the P-pumped 12V that was off a '90 motor did not have that notch and it interfered with the power steering hose on the motor. I was thinking I would need to change the vacuum /power steering pump for the earlier style, but the notched motor mount bracket will allow me to use the P-pumped Pwr. / vac unit.
It was a cool discovery for me.

oliver foster

Well after getting some work today cancelled at the last minute, I had a little bit of me time.
I spent some of it organizing things on the RC build.
I drilled out the locking fuel cap that was on the filler neck.
The key got lost in the shuffle since it was last on the road in TX back in '02

I now planning on using an old Banks twin ram intake horn I have sitting on the shelf on the project along with a 2nd gen intercooler.
This may make fitting the '78 style grille difficult, but I have a few ideas, ending with a fall back plan of using a '76 grille I have saved that is in pretty nice shape.
The turn signals on the '78 grille are in board of the headlights that the intercooler might interfere with them. The earlier grilles have the turn signals under the grille in the valence panel. I might have to dig up an earlier valance panel and rattle can paint it to match[ish], which would be pretty easy.
It was nice to at least tinker on the RC for a little while.

I also got a new 2nd gen style LP to replace the block off plate as the motor was running one of the un reliable electric Raptor pumps when I got it.

KRB

Amazing that the mind can store that little problem then recognize a solution when the eye sees it! Hope that mount does the trick.

I think '76 was the last year of that grille style. In '77 they went to the turn signal inboard the head light like you describe. Be interesting to learn if that makes the intercooler easier.

Like Tman said in another thread, those 72-76 grilles sure look good. I like my '77 better than my '92 square headlight but not as good as those 72-76.

NJTman

Hey Ollie.

Think LED circuit board turn signal. Ultra thin. Won't protrude inwards.


Now make them up in the laboratory, and you're all set.

oliver foster

That was my plan T-man... Trim or carve out the back of the turn signal and mount up an LED light. The '77-'78 grille recesses in where the turn signal goes that even that may not be enough.

If I remember right '72 and '73 grilles where different from each other.
The '74-'76 grilles where the same.
The '77 and '78 grilles where the same but the '77s had clear turn signal lenses with amber bulbs and the '78 had amber turn signal lenses with clear bulbs.
In '79 they offered the quad square headlight option, but I have seen other grille options in that year..
The '80 was different as well and had no extra head light buckets like the previous years, as the where built into the grille for the first time, other than the '79 quad head light option.