‘82 GMC “Junkyard JIMMY” {Build bash Rebuild}

[pblaze725]

Truckhaven, CA

So where do you go during the summer then? Paint looks good out there btw.

In the summer i like to go to Big Bear. There is also the Coral Canyon OHV trails in the upper desert that don't get too hot and there is plenty of shade.

I checked my GoPro and found a little footage:



This area is called "The Notches" The object of the game is to cimb the walls and see how steep of a wall you can conquer.






When you get to the top it levels off. You can see other hills and areas to play around.
This isn't an area you would want to come hauling ass in the middle of the night. You might just drop into one of these washes.





Here's a video at my camp. I got about 30 sec before the camera died.

I like this camp because there is plenty of stuff to climb around on and if something breaks you never too far away.


[youtube]q7mw-YchRrA[/youtube]


Good times.

 

[pblaze725]

Truckhaven, CA

A few more pics.


We played in the notches for a while my wife took a few pics with her phone.





This is my favorite waypoint. The Arch.







My buddy Sierra has a Heep. It's very capable. He's a stand up guy and he knows the area well.



We headed back to camp to find my other buddy Art with the old CJ5 we've been working on...

 

[pblaze725]

Ledges

Here's the token Dat Ass shot at the Arch.





You might not be able to see the JIMMY in this pic.





This spot is called "The Ledges" I didn't make it up the ledge. The hole in the bottom is big enough to swallow a 38" tire. I couldn't get the rear over it.








I backed off the ledge and it the front bumper pretty hard. So hard it stalled the engine.

I waited a sec and it cranked right up so we stopped for lunch on the top.


After lunch we continued to explore a little more. I was just sitting the at idle and the engine stalled. A quick check indicated there was no fuel being pumped.
The fuel pump just up and quit on me at the farthest point we could be from camp.

So my buddy Sierra tow strapped me all the way back. I had to drop down hills and coast with no power steering or brakes.
How embarrassing .

We winched it up on the trailer and called it a day. Exhausted we packed up our stuff and drove home.

Today I picked up a fuel pump. I need to fix it so I can drive it off the trailer.

 

[andyblack]

Well I'm sorry it ended like that but at least you were smart enough to not be out there alone. Paint job looks killer man.

I may have asked you this before but are you running spacers on the rear wheels?

 

[pblaze725]

I got the new fuel pump replaced and I'm trail ready again.

No I'm not running spacers on the rear. It's a junkyard 14 bolt with drums and 15" steelies with a 4.25" backspace.

 

[andyblack]

I know you've told me that before. Your rear wheels just seem to stick out farther than normal. I wonder if you're 14 bolt is from a van or something. I like the look.

 

[pblaze725]

No sir, I pulled my 14BFF out from under a 80's Cal Trans service truck.

It was a K20 and it had a gov lock in it. I had to go back and get a new carrier to install my Detroit locker.
It still have drum brakes. When I took the drums off it was completely clean and the shoes were new. I think with the disk brake swap you may loose a little width. I don't know.


My tires are 13.5" wide.

With the 10 bolts I used to rub on the inner fenders at full stuff.
With the new setup it's not even close.

 

[andyblack]

I'm just thinking the rear track width is wider now compared to your old pics. I think it looks better wider. Probably does better on the trails too.

 

[pblaze725]

Thanks mang

It is wider and mucho better. It's nice to not worry about breaking a rear shaft.
I used to carry 2 spare shafts with the 10 bolt.

...and the inboarded shock set up is working out awesome too.

 

[andyblack]

So you're happy with the rear but not so much the front huh?

 

[82355]

Swapping to discs won't change the width. The brakes are inboard.

Martin

 

[pblaze725]

So you're happy with the rear but not so much the front huh?

I wouldn't say I'm not happy with it. There's a few things that need tweaked.
I don't trust the shafts for one thing. I have been taking it easy on climbs being careful not to put the front yokes in a bind.
I'm constantly listening for that pop sound when a U joint snaps or the ball joint I replaced popping out.

Then there's the high steer setup. Since I painted everything I can see where my pitman arm drag link (TRE) contacted my tie rod and rubbed some pant off.


I admit I really admire the patients of guys like Greg72 that can cycle the suspension over and over and make small custom adjustments to make everything work right. That steering setup blows my mind.

Then there's the hydro assist. I would rather have the ram behind the Tie rod but it didn't have enough clearance above. It works good, until you blow a fuel pump and have to get tow strapped back to camp.
When the pumps not running and you force the ram to close all the fluid purges out the overflow and makes a mess. .

The locker works great whenever I give it plenty of right pedal. However, if I want to slowly crawl up something the locker stays unlocked until I increase get the tire spinning fast.
I'm not changing anything. I put enough money in this one.

A Dana 60 will be in my future.

Swapping to discs won't change the width. The brakes are inboard.

Martin

Thanks Martin.

 

[andyblack]

Well it's the future. Where's the D60? Or have you quit wheeling now? Taking the summer off? What's up?

 

[pblaze725]

I'm heading to Big Bear next weekend for my buddy Art's Bachelor party.

We're going to hit a trail on Saturday.

I've been working on Arts Jeep getting it trail ready.


I'm moving to Dallas, TX. I've been tearing down shop, selling parts, and scrapping steel.

This may be my last run in California.

 

[supermotard750]

Last run for a while not forever!!!

 

[andyblack]

Wow, so big changes then huh? Hope you come through it all good. I was starting to think you had forgotten about us ol' boys on this forum. Good luck!

Will you be in another desert area in TX? At least then your paint job will still blend in.

 

[pblaze725]

I'm gonna keep the new camo. It's unique and I get a lot of compliments.
It might become a boar hunting rig.


I plan to paint the hard top and full doors to match and put them back on for the big move.

I haven't updated much;after following Greg72's build I feel like I haven't had anything worthy of posting.

I have been working on the Heep full time. It took over my entire garage.

 

[andyblack]

That's a cool pic.

I'm glad you're going to keep JIMMY. Be sure to post some pics of him in his new environment after you get settled in good in Texas. Yee Haw!

Sorry.

 

[Greg72]

I haven't updated much;after following Greg72's build I feel like I haven't had anything worthy of posting.

C'mon now.....that's a cop-out.

Don't blame me, let me motivate you!!!


When I see other people posting cool updates, it just gives me motivation to get outside to do something too. Not every update has to be a "hero day" event...... sometimes, just having the discipline of posting WHATEVER you did in your thread can help keep the momentum going until you hit some kind of big milestone that you ARE proud of.





-G

 

[pblaze725]

I'm totally motived by your build Greg.

I was thinking about you when I tried to get the Heep at full stuff. We tried to do it with ratchet straps but figured it would be more fun to climb the JIMMY tires.

I still owe you royalties for using the 'might as well' trademark term.