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73 K20....crossmember time

Overview Gallery Discussion
Im still working on getting some up close hydro pics. Damn life and women get in the way.

In other news i got some cherry 56" leaf springs for $40 yesterday!

I also got 2 rear shocks for some inboarding action, a poly mount for the tranny and a carb rebuild kit.

Best of all i finally bought myself a damn welder! I got a hobart 210 mvp just like Skunked!

She'll do 3/8" with gas so im excited! I also got a cart with it and i just have to hunt down a bottle now. Not having a welder is a real PIA. Time to get to fabbing!
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Im still working on getting some up close hydro pics. Damn life and women get in the way.

In other news i got some cherry 56" leaf springs for $40 yesterday!

I also got 2 rear shocks for some inboarding action, a poly mount for the tranny and a carb rebuild kit.

Best of all i finally bought myself a damn welder! I got a hobart 210 mvp just like Skunked!

She'll do 3/8" with gas so im excited! I also got a cart with it and i just have to hunt down a bottle now. Not having a welder is a real PIA. Time to get to fabbing!
Click to expand...

the welder will come in handy :waytogo:
 
GWeakland620 said:
Pictures or it didn't happen.
:popcorn:
Click to expand...


Hahaha pics coming soon!

I got free shipping so of course theyre going to take their sweet time. They seem to think next monday but that seems like an awful long time. Either way i have some things i need to buy like a better welding hood, better gloves, C25 bottle and other consumables.


skunked said:
the welder will come in handy :waytogo:
Click to expand...

Hell yeah! This is a big step for me. I feel like i have everything but a welder. Although we all know one can never have every single tool, its a life long collection. The welder will allow me to finish the cage, start to build a rear bumper with whats left of my tow hitch, build a shock in board mount bar thingy, sliders and so on.

Im interested in getting rid of the front stock crossmember to build something better but thats down the road. I will likely ditch the ford shock towers since they are out of alignment but i like the idea of shock hoops like k85's.

I think the current plan is to finish these things and im ready to hit the trail again:

Carb rebuild
rear shock inboard
relocate battery
maybe rebuild np208
Swap rear leaf springs
mount my new coolant catch tank
1" body lift
install sliders


Its quite a bit of work but not unreasonable. I may go play around on the con late July for a family camping trip so it would be cool to get this all done before that.
 
Well as promised here some more shots of my hydro setup. The zip tie is no longer needed. I situated my clamp to aim up a bit to avoid rubbing the rams fittings.



Excuse my ****tacular arc welds....they worked...no more excuses with the new mig.







Make sure you shim between the tabs when you weld. I used some brass sheetmetalsheet metal strips.

Took the pan off and replaced the filter.



Lastly heres the 56s I got last weekend. 7 leafs...



Im thinking ill try to make it to the 4 wheel parts customer appreciation day at hollister hills on the 19th so im figuring out what needs to be done and what can wait. Should be fun watching people destroy their daily driver f150s in the mud pit lol.

More to come.
 
Well i got a poly mount for my transmission and it didnt fit. My truck is for sure and 85 but the crossmember is the older flatter one. Not sure wtf happened there but i ordered the right ones. I also got myself some tire deflators!
 
Well my welder came in!





Everything was stamped by miller lol





Its my first time mig welding. Its crazy how easy it is to do! Ill probably get a bottle and a cart for it soon. I played with it for about 10 minutes last night and damn does this thing run hot! On the settings it called out for it was penetrating way too much so i dialed everything back a bit and produced the middle weld. Im super happy with it and im sure it will be around for a long time.



I put a new filter and seal on the tranny. Everything looked brand new inside.



Left it out in the sun too long and it turned orange :D



Found a use for my old crappy ice chest...

 
Going from the 110v welder I had to this unit was a night and day difference.
 
skunked said:
Going from the 110v welder I had to this unit was a night and day difference.
Click to expand...


Yeah ive never had a 110 version but I hear its only good for exhaust and sheet metal.
Deuling said:
Hobart is made by miller.
Click to expand...


Yup. I did a bunch of research before I bought it but I was surprised to see the blatant stamping of miller on stuff. Pretty sweet if you ask me!
 
Stein said:
Yep, and if you got a flowmeter with it for the gas my company made many of the plastic parts on it!
Click to expand...


Thats awesome, I have it!





I made some measurements for some standoffs for my new coolant overflow tank. hopefully ill crank those out tomorrow.

Im also machining a battery hold down bar which ill use studs to keep the battery fastened to the truck. I'll likely make a tray at some point.

I started to pull carb parts out of the wash bin tonight and ill finish up tomorrow. I noticed the lean solenoid mixture screw was stripped. Dont know if ill be able to find one of those. I can make one if I get hard up for it.
 
Did you already flip the overloads on those leafs? Whichever one looks in better shape (strength wise) put it on the driver side. For whatever reason, that side always dips on my truck.
 
K85 Octane said:
Did you already flip the overloads on those leafs? Whichever one looks in better shape (strength wise) put it on the driver side. For whatever reason, that side always dips on my truck.
Click to expand...

Yeah they came that way. I tried to use all 7 leafs but it wont work due to the worn out lift springs in the front...so i have to do my bast to match so i went with 5 springs. The goal is to get some better springs up front and use all 7 leafs.
 
Got some parts in the mail...



Time to address these clapped out springs...



I tried to run the full 7 leafs + the overload + the ez inch but it wasn't going to happen. It would be better if i had 52" springs up front, which will happen at some point but for now i have to try my best to match the worn front lift springs...I ended up taking out 1 longer leaf and the slightly smaller one below figuring id keep more arch if i had the smaller, harder to bend ones in there. I know my rear bump stops aren't making contact so ill let the overload do that for me until i get shocks on and do some testing.



Changed these out for poly mounts...the old rubber mounts got elephantiasis from the atf lol...






My exhaust pipes burnt my nice new coated drop brake line in the back so i cut the pipes off....F you. Look at this crystal meth exhaust...





So my battery nearly got ripped out on the last wheeling adventure so its time to deal with that before im left stranded. I could have made a new mount in the engine bay but i didnt feel like it and i wanted the valuable space so ill be putting the battery behind the passenger seat. Ive already got a battery box, now i just need to find a way to mount it. Ill be using standoffs and a plate to strap the battery down with and ive started collecting parts/making stuff for that. Heres my battery strap im still working on. I should have it done mid week. Ill probably get it black anodized and put some speed holes in there too.




Its hard to see but my passenger collector pipe is pretty crushed...now that i have a mig ill probably make up my own exhaust. Ill probably go long tubes, a Y that crosses between bell housing and pan then a super 10 flowmaster or something small and short for a muffler.

 
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Still plugging along on the battery strap...



New leaf springs back in now. Looks way better now for the time being. Atleast the overload is in there.





When you cant get the damn leafs back on you must get to jerry riggin.:waytogo:




She should be ready to through on the trailer this Saturday and go wheel some trails at hollister for an event! :woot:
 
I know you guys are watching...


Lets talk about vins...

I understand theres a door sticker, the standard dash plate and a location on the driver side frame.

If one was to buy a in state (commiefornia) smog exempt title (diesel k5) and swap the dash plate out, deal with the frame, non op my current and register the smog except there would be no way to tell the difference right?

Theres no computer to get a vin from and motor vin doesnt matter...


hmmmm any thoughts?
 
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