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Project: Dirty South (K5)

Blood, sweat and beers

I had a few days off this week, so we got a few things done -

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The front 60 is hung, finally - currently not finish welded but mocked up. It has fought me every step of the way. Before hanging, I finished the cleanup, replaced a lost steering stop on the passenger side, die-cut the threads on a mangled stud on the driver side that had been missing a nut for some time and drilled out and replaced a trashed grease zerk on the lower passenger king-pin. I made the mistake of trying to remove the lower kingpin cap to do this (silly me, right?) and snapped the head off one of the 4 cap mount bolts. Still to be done - finish weld, replace all-thread studs with 4140, trim the u-bolts.

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Here you see the 4" u-bolt and Dodge-specific u-bolt plate required for proper mounting of the pumpkin. You can get them from Dan at Ruff Stuff for about $40 (for both).

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Here on the driver's side, you see the typical "spring swap kit" spring perch from Ruff Stuff. Dan does not make a Dodge specific perch, so this one is too short to match the deck height of the cast perch. Welded flat stock solves that issue.

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At 3 o'clock in this picture, you can see one of the pins we custom-machined for the ram. These only require one snap ring to stay in. Very convenient and reliable.

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Full-size link: http://www.texas4x4.org/gallery/1983-K5/DSC01247?full=1

Here, you can see the Lincoln locker. If you look at the full size view, one of 4 cracks in the spider welds will be visible. We will burn another rod or two in here.

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Orbital mount. We were able to modify a stock Chevy steering shaft to work. Basically, we cleaned it up (they are collapsible from the factory for crash worthiness), drove out the pin so the shaft would slide freely to accommodate any body to frame flex and welded the end to the adapter I bought ages ago - Performance Off-Road's Straight Spline Adapter: ¾” Female Tube to ¾” 36-spline female. It turned out very slick. The bracket is custom, of course, mounted to the frame with 4 grade 8 bolts.
 
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Blood, sweat and beers, cont.

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The front cowl has been de-rustified and the transmission cooler has now been mounted properly on rubber isolators scavenged from some old shocks.

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Speaking of rust, this pic is a little reminder of some of the spots in the cab.

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Here, you see the results after a flap wheel and application of Rust Bullet.

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That stuff is phenomenal. It goes on with a brush like glue and dried to a very hard surface. Our surface prep was wire sheel and flap disc on a grinder and a simple wipe-down. The worst holes will be patched and filled but I wanted to go ahead and get all the rot killed. We removed the windshield and discovered the source of most of the interior rust - leaks under the seal that had eaten away at the windshield mounting surface and allowed water into the interior of the firewall and floor pans.

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Dash sanded and ready for some OD green. Not visible is a lot of detail work on the firewall cleaning up the cancer from the leaky windshield. Fortunately, all surface rust.

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Moving to the engine bay, the tarting up continues. In addition to the "chrome don't get me home" valve covers (on sale at NAPA), I got the plugs changed out and most of the engine harness repaired at frayed points and re-loomed with split loom. I removed the starter for replacement and had the privilege of changing out the oil pan (about $60 at O'Reilly) due to a close encounter with a fork lift.

I also discovered my fancy-pants Taylor spark plug wire protectors would fit best with straight plug connectors (instead of 90-degree). However, I have a line on some lightly-used "LiveWires" -

http://www.performancedistributors.com/livewire.htm
 
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Blood, sweat and beers, the trilogy

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And, the obligatory poser shots so we could "take measurements". You can see in the second from the top some of the body cutting we've been doing, too. For scale, the tires are 42". We did not see, happily, any contact with tie rod or other horrible interference issues.

We will need to take several measurements for the shocks and rear driveshaft. I have about settled on the Tom Woods SYE kit for the 208 along with a clocking ring from DIY4X.

I will report back after I accumulate some more time and money.
 
For the 208 sye, have you looked into the dodge 208 hybrid?
I'm aware of it as an option, but the Dodge 208's don't seem to be readily available around these parts. I can't even remember the last time I saw one here on the classifieds. As I recall, you also have to do some custom work on the case to make it work, too.
 
Youre right, but there are a few ways to do it. The best way to do it(in my opinion) is like 58apache?? on here. Weld 4 aluminum bungs clocked a little for the dodge rear output. The next best but most labor intensive would be like Blue85 did. This requiresseveral wlding operations on the rear dodge half to mate with chevy front. Third, and what I had to do, is simply plug the oil galley that will not line up without aformentioned custom work. Not ideal in my mind but my FIL didnt want to do it the first way and my go to machinist was sick. I have monitored to see if heat will kill the rear bearing, but it doesnt seem any hotter than the rest of the xfer case.

Not trying to steer you away from the Tom Woods deal. Not to bad for a turnkey rear driveshaft solution Good luck with the build and looking real good!
 
Game of inches

Inching forward a bit on minor, but needed, items. None of them are glamorous, I'm afraid.

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Old fuel pump replaced with a factory-style pump that includes a return line. NAPA p/n M60039 ($19.82). Also plumbed in are a Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator and fuel filters. The filter before the pump is a clear plastic in-line filter, NAPA p/n 3003 ($3.33) and after the pump but before the carb is a chrome/glass job.

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New starter in, NAPA p/n 46-5024, which is a Raybestos re-manufactured unit with a lifetime warranty ($71.49).

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New master cylinder in. I have discussed this in detail in an earlier post but it is NAPA p/n 390278 ($149.48) and the adapters are Weatherhead #7912 and #7913 ($3.60 each). This should handle 4-wheel discs just fine. Included with it will be instructions on how to bench bleed it - be sure to do that before you install it. Installation is straight bolt-on.

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Full-size link:
http://www.texas4x4.org/gallery/1983-K5/DSC01265?full=1

Rear differential. This is the problem with looking - you always find something. Thanks to a blown seal on the driver side, the differential fluid was the color and consistency of mud, thanks to long-ago water intrusion. You can see the (harmless) surface rust on the ring gear. A peek at the full size shot will show you the welds on the Lincoln locker are broken, so we will need to fix that along with the seal replacement. I had originally thought to re-weld it, but I got my hands on a full spool, so the carrier will come out.

I've heard of a "rag method" online referenced in pulling out a carrier - (See post below for the technique). The bearings look good, but I expect I will have to go the "master install kit" route and replace them since I am putting in a spool. I also am replacing the chewed 1350 yoke with a 1410 spicer. So, between inner seals, pinion seals, and carrier bearings - master install kit it is. I'm leaning toward Randy's Ring & Pinion for this.

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Just another view of the body trimming already done.

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Dash in OD green.

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New motor mounts, rubber. NAPA p/n 602-1179 ($19.38). I wanted rubber mounts, both here and at the transmission instead of poly to allow for flex. I'd rather replace a busted mount than a cracked housing.


Not pictured - I pulled the NP208 and have it on the bench for SYE.
 
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Which NP208 fixed yoke are you going with?
Likely Tom Woods'.

http://www.4xshaft.com/SYE/208TransferCaseGMDesign-32Spline.html

Little more expensive, but includes a CV rear shaft in the price and I'll be needing one.

Since I'll have the thing apart, I suppose it only makes sense to put a rebuild kit and NP241 chain in it, too. NAPA carries these items, but I will likely go with National Drivetrain -

http://www.nationaldrivetrain.com/

I'll also replace the speedo gear to something more correct for my gears/tires - http://www.transmissioncenter.net/speedometer_calibration_______va.htm
 
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Looking good so far. Thanks for the good info on your build it will help me on mine.
 

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