Official Valdez Build Thread (High School)

[elks]

So things are going really well... Almost too well, knocking on wood...

So we went and toured the local (if you call 45 miles local) Powder Coating Shop and the students were amazed at the process and the effects that powder coating can have. We got to experience the process from start to finish. We watched as they sand blasted, then a student was able to put the gear on and see what using a big sand blaster was like. We got the chance to experiment with using the gun and watched as they backed parts etc. The students asked a ton of questions and took up the better part of 2 hours. As a teacher I was surprised how cool it all was. Needless to say the company PROPOWDER Coatings in Grand Junction is owned by a great guy and has been very generous to our program so far, I would strongly recommend them for any sand blasting/coating needs in Western, CO. He and his wife were great host.

In addition to the Propowder Coating Help, we also received our twin stick set up which was generously donated by Jon at JBfabrications. He was excellent to work with and we will be installing the twin stick set up next week. Pics to come...

The next big achievement was getting the frame coating we will be using. My students and I contacted Rust Bullet about our Build... They generously sent us enough materials to coat our frame and accessories. It was the 6 quart variety pack. So once the frame work is done we will be shooting it. Thanks RustBullet.

In addition to all that we now have a dana 60 front sitting in the shop(that hurt the budget a bit, but was needed).

We also have contacts from ARB that will allow us to buy springs at the whole sale price....

As you can tell my students and I have spent some time on the planning side lately getting things figured out.

Next week the frame will be done and we will be finishing up the motor, Tranny and transfer case. things are starting to move fast, now just need that money the government owes...

Thanks again to our supporters and everyone here, we have had some great success...

 

[smier]

Ummmm, did we mention we love pictures? Just busting on you. This is really cool, and I think it's an awesome project, but it would be even cooler with more pictures!!! Keep up the good work!

 

[Metrodps]

If you all were closer to Montrose I would pay your students to do some work on my Blazer. I love seeing young people getting interested in this type of things. It teaches them to think and solve through problems.

You are doing them a great service by giving them a goal and the ability to see it finished.

 

[elks]

If you all were closer to Montrose I would pay your students to do some work on my Blazer. I love seeing young people getting interested in this type of things. It teaches them to think and solve through problems.

You are doing them a great service by giving them a goal and the ability to see it finished.

I am slowly getting a few side projects here and there from our work already. The last teacher managed to mess things up pretty bad and loose all community support. A few people have seen our work and are giving us small side jobs. Really we went from a shop with one incomplete set of Harbor Freight tools to a shop with 2 set of hand tools all craftsman(Less cost than snap on and they gave me a hell of a deal (over 30% marked prices on $2000+ worth of tools). We also got a parts washer, impact gun a couple dewalt drills etc... To bad we have such a small shop. When we win KOH in 8 years we wll get our 6 bay shop with paint room... LOL!!! My students all think we should build a KOH buggy... I told em when finished I will let the Senoirs drive the buggy with thier parents for a day on the local trail...

 

[63chevyll]

Good progress. I bet they are having a blast.

 

[elks]

So things are picking up a little. 3 hours a week is not enough, lol. Things have went well. We have started taking down the dana 60. So far both hubs pulled off. Bearings races look good and well maintained, but the rotors and calipers were shot, part from weather, but also one rotor was dished in about 1/4 inch from wear. We will be getting new calipers and rotors each side.

Incase anyone is wondering or ever needs it, dana 60 calipers are not held in by 2 bolts from the back. Instead it is a single allen head bolt and a wedge. You remove the bolt then tap the plate in to the middle. It will all come out then come off like other calipers.

We also finished up all work on the 300 and the tranny. We opened up each enough to look for any major issues. There were none. We also got them back together, and the students were given the twin stick set up to install. the set up came from JB fab and is very nice, complete and easy to install. A student will be doing a full write up on the installation. Thanks again JB fab

We also continued to work on the motor block. We have oil pan, valve covers and pulleys at the powdercoaters. In once the block is all cleaned next class we will paint it gloss black. The parts getting powder coated are going to be plum crazy purple. We also have a brand new edlebrock intake, and a new gasket set, we recieved a new cross member from Genright. I am ordering parts from MORE today as well. Here are few more pics...

Cleaning the motor...

The 14 bolt we took out of a van last Friday.

And our rear cross member:

Hopefully I can figure out how to make things go faster... We have already done a bunch of cleaning and organizing. It has helped a ton just getting things set up.

 

[Metrodps]

Nice you can see in some of the faces pride in what they are doing. Some still need a little positive reinforcement. But great progress keep it going.

 

[smier]

Glad to see your students wearing safety glasses, a friend of mine has spent the past year struggling to keep vision in his left eye after getting debris in it causing an infection. 4 eye surgeries and a cornea transplant, that his body keeps trying to reject, and he's still not out of the woods. After seeing him suffer I religiously wear safety glasses now, it's a great habit to get into that I used to not do, and have taken for granted many times...
I don't think anyone asked yet, but what's your timeline for completion? I wish we could have done a project like this back when I was in school.

 

[Metrodps]

Just looked at the pictures again. Poor kid in the yellow is getting a bald spot that is how mine started. But smier makes a good point on the eye protection I know I am guilty of that too but try to always wear them a good point to stress to them.

 

[elks]

I actually chewed thier butts today after looking at pics. I found a couple where they weren't wearing em. I get on them all the time. They are actually really good about it, I usually only catch one to two kids a day. After I say something they get them back on.

As far as a timeline? My goal this spring is to have the motor, tranny, trannsfercase, suspension axles, etc. all set up. Then next year we will do bumpers, body, roll cage, etc.

I already have kids asking about working during spring breaks, and 2 begging for a summer program.

I really want it ready for next years Jeep Safari. So we can go show it off....

 

[big dan]

I used to never wear safety glasse till I got a chunk of metal stuck in my eye that the doctor had to remove. I had to put this jelly stuff in it for a week to keep it from getting infected and it made my vision blurry. Ive got really good eyesight and figured I better take care of that.

I remember in my shop class it was required to wear glasses in the shop. Get caught without them and it was automatic back to the classroom to do book work.

Are you going to let all of your "builders" have a turn at driving?

 

[elks]

I used to never wear safety glasse till I got a chunk of metal stuck in my eye that the doctor had to remove. I had to put this jelly stuff in it for a week to keep it from getting infected and it made my vision blurry. Ive got really good eyesight and figured I better take care of that.

I remember in my shop class it was required to wear glasses in the shop. Get caught without them and it was automatic back to the classroom to do book work.

Are you going to let all of your "builders" have a turn at driving?

Letting em drive? Scary thought, but I might see what I can swing. Just out of town here we have a very well known Colorado trail. was thinking about letting the Seniors who will have spent the last 2 years working on the jeep each have a go at the first named obstical. Of course I would want the parents there and would think a big BBQ would be nice as well...

Time will tell, just not sure I am going to be willing to hand over the keys to teenager...

 

[Metrodps]

Letting em drive? Scary thought, not sure I am going to be willing to hand over the keys to teenager...

Now that sounds like a father! Love reading your reports keep it up.

 

[elks]

So it was recommended that I post up a parts needed thread to see what support we might get for this build... So here is a link to the classifieds section.... there is list some of our needs. If you can help out that is great...

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3066076#post3066076

 

[elks]

So today was a pretty good day for progress. We managed to get the dana 60 completely taken down. King Pins look good, sleves look wore so I will need a king ping over hauls. Lower bearing looked really good. We pulled the carrier, ring, pinon, inner axle seals, etc... The housing will be sent to sand blaster along with the the other rusted parts. We also pounded out the wheel studs the good old fashion way, lol... The rotors need replaced and the calipers also. So far all bearings look really good so just seals. Need to order the gears and instal kit.

In addition to the dana 60 taken down, we also finally got the motor cleaned all the way down with wire wheels, and de-greaser... A couple layers of paint and it looks good. Just need parts back from the powder coater to finish it up.

We also got our intake in and cleaned the factory heat shield up and attached it...


So thing are moving along. I need more money, lol. But we will get there. We have state testing next 2 weeks and then Spring Break. I am also now coaching baseball which will take a couple days over the season. I am too busy, but thats is OK, I am still young (well sort of)...

So here are the picks...

So we had only 1 big pipe to get out the axle seals... It worked, but next time I will remember my set up from the garage...

Engine looking good and new:

Our King pin...

Removing the studs...

And finally the heat shield... read for install...

 

[elks]

This week has been spring break. good for me as I spent a couple days in Moab with my 5 yr old daughter wheeling, but bad for the build.

Actually the week was not a waste. I got engine parts back from the powder coater and also managed to get the frame and the axle housing full sand blasted. If anyone ever needs anything powder coated or sand blasted I can not say enough about the Pro Powder Coating in grand Junction. Dave has given us tours, let kids use the powder coating system for fun and has given us huge help money wise. Please consider him.

At any rate this week I hope to get the motor put together and then we are taking the high school field trip to MOOB...

Can you believe it going to MOAB for a field trip on the Friday of the jeep Safari? Lucky kids.

Ou trip will be great. get there at 10:00 am and spend 2 hours at the vendor display. Then go into town and visit the Mopar/Jeep display and walk to lunch.... Once we are done with lunch head out to Potato Salad hill for an hour of watching the guys crawl and play. Then head home.

I cant wait. We will definitely take pics soon.

Thanks for the support from everyone, kids are already asking about shop hours this summer to come in and work on it...

 

[ashman]

sounds like an awesome trip!! lots of pics plz!

 

[elks]

So here is our progress as of now... And what we have been up too...

First off I need to start with thanks you from our sponsors/donors. Every little bit counts and some guys are going way above and beyond. So our big thanks in order:

Ground Pounder Fabrication (found on jeepforums.com) He donated the material to make one of his rear bumpers. They are stout and awesome bumpers. It was huge and has settled our rear bumper needs in a major way. Eddie is a great guy. He included the the bumper, 2 d ring mounts, 3 mounting brackets, and a receiver hitch tube. Now we just need to weld it up.

Our next big thanks goes out to Ruff Stuff. They generously donated 2 heavy duty diff dovers (14 bolt and 60) as well as disc brake brackets for the 14 bolt. The stuff is amazingly heavy duty and of great quality.

We also need to thank ProPowder Coating in grand Junction, CO. They gave us significant discounts on sand blasting out axle housing and frame. they also gave us a great deal on powder coating parts for our engine. They did an excellent job and will be receiving more business as the build progresses.

M.O.R.E also helped us out with good discounts on thier products. They helped with shipping and have been extremely helpful on the phone and very patient with us. they have been a great company.

Also I had a great experience buying from the guys at alljeep.com they gave us good pricing on some 5.38 gears front and rear, master install kits and the big one: A yukon zip locker....

Also to refresh we also had a twin stick set up donated from JB Fabrication for our dana 300.

And Crab Tree Tool donated some heavy duty front and rear hangers and shackles.

Also rust bullet has been great and donated product to coat and cover our frame and axles. I will have it done before the school year ends (coating that is).


We have been blessed so far... With that all out of the way here is what we have been doing. This last month we had 2 week state testing (what a waste of time and money(ooops I mean it is great lol). We also missed a day for Project Based Learning Projects (luckily I took the kids fishing for our project and visited a state fish hatchery).

So lately things have been slow, but this month we have been getting a lot done including a field trip to Moab during EJS!!!!

So here are our projects. We have begun installing the final items on the 360. This month we finished the paint job on the block. Got our powder coated parts back from Propowder Coating. We clearanced and rebuilt the oil pump assembly and also clearance the water pump. We got the Oil pan installed, water pump/timming chain, and oil pump installed. We also installed the intake, valve covers and got a new HEI distributor. The finish is nice and glossy, we just had some greasy finger from installing cork gasket.

Here is our engine as of now. Gloss Black and Plum Crazy Purple... I like the look. We also have the pulleys in Plum Crazy and the motor mounts will be plum Crazy as well...

Here are the parts we have gotten lately... More parts to install than time:

From M.O.R.E: We have a set of Bomb Proof Motor Mount, A steering Box Brace, and the front end full width kit. It is a great kit and very heavy duty.

We also have the Ruff Stuff Diff Covers and 14 bolt disc brackets:

We have the gears/locker and install kit here:

And our sand blasted frame... needs some repairs then it will get painted with Rust Bullet...

In adition to the motor and all the take down of axles and sand blasting, breaks, testing etc. We also managed to: Change the oil on 3 vehicles, replace the output bearing on a 72 blazer np205. Replace a rear yoke on a gm 12 bolt, replace a wore out u joint, and do a mega spring cleaning...

Up next we are going to finish up getting the other engine items installed (power steering, alt, york compressor for on board air, etc.) We are also going to patch up frame and coat with rust bullet. We have to built the front and rear diffs and assemble king pins etc. We have like 5 weeks left ( I do not think we will be as far as I had hoped).

Luckily this summer I have students already wanting to come in and work on it. How ever I will be driving truck this summer to make some extra money.

Wish me luck and thanks for all the great support thus far. It is amazing where we had started and where we are heading...