71K5 - BP71K5's Just for fun build

[bp71k5]

If it helps any, here's a couple pics of the exact same repiar I did last year with the same part your using.
I welded the nuts inside of the torsion boxes and used the factory bolts in an effort to keep things looking stock.

That's great to see. And somewhat weird in that your sectioning of the a-pillar support looks almost identical to mine. The rust ended right between the upper and lower bolt holes.

I've seen that extra layer of material in 3 different trucks now so I'm going to go for that and call it good.

I guess in the old days, people loved driving with the steering wheel against their chest.

Yea, I'd like more adjustability as well. I think the extra large steering wheel combined with manual steering may have just been easier to steer. I was thinking it might be fun to try and cover a Corbeau baja seat and tracks with the first gen covers and foam to update things a bit. That'll have to wait a while though.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: A-Pillar support is complete

After treating the surface rust in the rocker box, I was finally able to cut the rest of the a-pillar support off and get the new one sectioned in.


I did have to remove the door hinge nuts from the inside and recreate the lower hole because of that area had just seen too much drama with welding the cracks and the rust. I ended up just cutting the whole thing off below the upper holes and blending it in.


It's kinda fun seeing it go back together finally.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Might as well install a Dana 60

I did find a decent deal on a dana 60 a month or two ago. The problem is that the parts really add up for these things and it gets expensive fast. I also opted to include an Eaton electric ELocker since I was changing gear ratio's anyway. Might as well right?

Luckily I'm done spending and 4x4High helped me a out a bunch with dissassembly and cleaning the parts (including beadblasting a bunch of stuff ). I painted them with a black engine enamel to keep rust at bay.



I also "found" some non-neckdown 35 spine inner and outer axles. Evidentally Yukon is backordered on this stuff so I chose stock spicer axles. I suspect they'll be fine for a while.



Here's a shot of the ruff stuff diff cover after the sharp edges and weld slag has been polished off. This looks to be a nice durable 3/8" thick plate steel cover.



Next is the assembled gears\locker with the diff cover on to show the wiring pigtail and vent port.



For those interested in a couple quick and grainy videos of me testing out the electronics, try these:
[youtube]RGacog60-tQ[/youtube]

 

[Greg72]

Brian,

Looks like you need some friends (same as me) to help with filming...

Poor guy can't even afford shoes now that he's spending all his money on cool parts!


Great updates!

 

[bp71k5]

Yea, it's impossible to show what's going on all in one shot. I think once there's tires on it, I could spin one wheel and watch the other follow.

The shoe thing definately needs to change, but it's difficult to get away from that -back to nature- feeling of walking on cold concrete.

 

[BGKYK5]

I did find a decent deal on a dana 60 a month or two ago. The problem is that the parts really add up for these things and it gets expensive fast.

You're telling me. Buying the axle actually turned out to be the cheap part.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Clamps, clamps, and more clamps.

This is always where it starts to get fun for me. I was able to bolt the a-pillar support in along with fitting the inner rocker on to ready it for welding in.

As Norm always says, "You can never have enough clamps".




I also got a little tired of all the weld slag using the flux-core wire and decide to try going full MIG to save myself some work. Holy-cow what a difference! Almost no weld slag, burn through, and way better penetration and control. I should have done this a long time ago.

Some first pass stich welding on the panels


Some plug welds on the support.


I've got some sound deadener to spray in there before I weld the final panel in place. I'll be glad when this is done even though it's fun.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Front Axle assembly

The rust repair requires a lot of grinding and hammering so I've been having trouble finding time where the rest of the family could take the noise. So I've been trying to assemble the rest of the axle.

Copying an idea from Pbb, I made some thick 3/8" washers to protext the lower kingpin grease fittings.



The old fittings were broken off flush with the surface so they needed to be drilled out and new fitting installed. The top of the fitting is just below the top of the washer. Not a great example of my welding skill, but they are pretty strong.


Here's the current state of the truck with the axle temporarily underneath and checking spring fitment before welding on a new spring perch.


Unfortunately, you can see the mess of wires that was hiding underneath the fender I removed for access. So... I might as well clean that mess up.


The wire problem is caused by extra relays for headlights and cooling fan. With yet another relay to add for the locker, I decided to build a custom relay box with integrated fuses and power feed to get rid of the rats nest and make upgrading easier in the future. Parts are on order so no picture of that yet.

 

[BGKYK5]

Your washer looks way beefier than how I did it. When mine get trashed, I'll grind them off and copy you.

 

[bp71k5]

In all reality, even if the thinner wall tube bends a bit that's still much better protection from rocks or road debris than nothing at all.

One other option would be to counterbore the plate so the fitting is below the surface. You'd have to make it large enough for the grease gun hose to latch onto the fitting so there might be some strength issues if it's too deep.

 

[BGKYK5]

Somebody made new lower kingpins with the zerk already counterbored. I never found out who made them, but IIRC Chiefheaply had some.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Outer rocker panel.

Update: Outer rocker panel installed

I've been real slow the past couple weeks since we added a new member to our family. Say hello to Sean. He's got wacky hair like his dad. Also looks like he has a good milk buzz going on.



I did manage to weld in the outer rocker panel using the factory specs on location and spacing of the welds.


I was a little confused on the upper row of welds since the manual says 16 welds spaced 1.5" apart, but since it also gives dimensions for where the first and last weld should be, it's not possible with only 16 welds. I ended up using 19.




This a GM panel (not a repro) and it seems to fit great with just a little tweaking near the rear of the door needed.

 

[bp71k5]

I also thought a warning couldn't hurt as well. I have a welding blanket I was using to protect myself from welding slag while I was under the rocker box welding the lower section and evidentally some red hot metal slag bounced down off the blanket (like it should) onto the new piece of floor mat insulation I had been using and it caught fire for a few minutes before I noticed it.

Luckily I noticed it before it got out of hand and was able to put it out. Unfortunately, my grinder and set of allen wrenches that were sitting on the nice dry cotton fabric did not fair so well.

So the warning is to protect anything you don't want burned up when you are generating sparks!

 

[onetonbb74]

congrats on the new member Sean.

Good warning, and I have a couple of burn scars from those dingleberrys falling into my shoe and burning thru my sock right next to the ankle. Anything can happen.

 

[bp71k5]

burn scars from those dingleberrys

Yea, those things can hurt! The welder is making it's way to the top of my "tools that need the most respect" list. After a bad encounter with my finger, the table saw is still #1 on that list, but the welder is easily #2.

 

[Greg72]

I am reluctant to admit how many times I've set myself on fire with my welder....

That "only natural fibers" rule for clothing seems to not match the stuff I choose to weld in.... most of my sweatshirts are a cotton/poly mix, so I always seem to end up with a gooey, fireball stuck to my arm or chest.

 

[BGKYK5]

I have holes burned in the crotch of my favorite jeans from the last time I welded. Luckily nothing important got singed.

 

[NorCalKid]

Congratulations! And good warning, I have caught my trash can on fire a few times. It s scary when you are done laying the bead and you look up to flames, wondering how long they have been there.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Wiring cleanup

Nothing too fancy to show, but the mess of wires on the radiator support is much easier to cleanup now with the fender and wheels off.

I've now got 4 extra relays to control different stuff:
1. Highbeams
2. Lowbeams
3. Electric fans
4. E-locker

I found you can buy multiple relay centers from different places, but they are several hundred bucks! They include fancy lights and a bunch of stuff I don't need so a budget version is what I went for.

The only stuff I could find (at first) was painless relay bases and relays, but soon found ebay has tons of bosch stuff that would be even less expensive than the painless stuff.

On to the pictures:
The case is an aluminum "hobby box" that I bought from a local electronics store for a few bucks.



The relay bases snap together and I used some small screws to keep them in place and cut an opening in the top of the aluminum box for the relays. I also used an 8 position ATO style fuse block to protect the individual power leads to each item. I'm only using 4 fuses at the moment.



And here's the approximate location when installed. I still need to attach connector plugs to each of the leads.


The main power feed is 8g and that feeds all four relays. A single ground lead ties all the relay coils together as well. In addition to that, there's four 16g signal wires going in and four 12-14g power leads from the relays coming out. This should really clean up the number of stray wires in this area once it's installed.

 

[AJs72K5]

Dang that's nice. You should make me one.