84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

Used a couple different size flapper discs on the die grinder to slowly open up the hole.



And then a little rat file work on the wiring bulkhead area to get it into shape. All done and ready for paint.



And all painted up...





Just a rattle can paint job...but much happier now that the firewall is repaired, and painted.
 
Truck is looking awesome Cow! BUT, I'm still gonna bust your chops when I see ya next, about your rear axle! :D


[smilie=f:([SIZE=1]don't hit me[/SIZE])
 
Fishy said:
Truck is looking awesome Cow! BUT, I'm still gonna bust your chops when I see ya next, about your rear axle! :D


[smilie=f:([SIZE=1]don't hit me[/SIZE])
Click to expand...

Thanks Fishy Man...but I am drawing a blank about the rear axle?
 
What else have I done in the last few weeks....well I converted my auto steering column to a manual one.

Here's what it took. I pulled apart the steering column. Here you can see the column shift mechanism I need to remove.



Once I tore the column down to the bare minimum I started cutting. First was the bracket on the end of the column that the rod to the tranny hooks to.



Then rounded out the metal so it looks like it belongs.



Then snip off the indicator tab.



Then it was time to start the big cuts. I first removed the shifter...just use a punch to drive out the pin. Then start cutting....

 
When I bought my crewcab 4 years ago it came with a few extra parts. Some of the parts were steering column covers. I never really looked at them until I was going to do the 4wd conversion and use the 93 wiring and interior. Turned out I had a set of manual shift steering column covers!!

Here's the two pieces...



And a trial fit...close, but clears! It actually had a bit more room once screwed in place.



And the column all back together....

 
Those plastic covers sure make it a lot easier to hide a previous column shifter. :2thumbs:
 
68R/T said:
Those plastic covers sure make it a lot easier to hide a previous column shifter. :2thumbs:
Click to expand...

Yup sure does....I was so happy when I dug out those plastic covers and discovered that they were for a manual shift truck. Those manual shift steering columns...let alone just the plastic...are tough to come by.
 
OK I'm going to spend an hour or so and update a bit....

So I had to repair the drivers door. The typical cracked lower hinge area. Well it was previously repaired...poorly I might add.:(



And wire wheeled clean....



I was first going to just open the cracks and weld everything up. But after a bit of grinding I realized this was in WAY worse shape then I thought. So I decided it would be easier to just cut out the offending area and start over. Plus I needed to weld up the reinforcing area behind the outer sheet metal.

Kind of looks smug don't it....



Rear area welded up...

 
Rear area cleaned up and weld through primered....



Then I had to make a new patch. The original sheet metal is THIN...like .04"!! And the scrap metal I used was .048". Anyway I had to mark out the holes...then drill and rat file them into shape.



And pretty much all welded up...



And all finished up and painted....



Much better!!
 
Then it was on to making a big reinforcing plate for inside the door. Little trick to get in there and make a template...but eventually I got that template made. Then I transferred it to some 1/4" plate and started cutting. Wish I had a plasma cutter....that would have made it SOOO much easier!!

Anyway here is the finished piece. I had to do a lot of drilling, and rat file work to get all those holes in the right spot.



And a slight bend in the lower area....



And installed in the door.....



Hopefully this helps the lower hinge area to stay crack free for a few years. Regardless I have a nice clean...uncracked...spare drivers door if I need it.
 
I also installed new hinge pins and bushings. Had to toss the original white lower hinge...it was twisted and bent from all that abuse. So I grab a spare one I had and re/re'd it.



And just in case people don't know...the only difference between the LH (driver) and RH (passenger) side lower hinge is the direction the pin is installed.





The hinge is just flipped over to use on the other side of the truck.
 
The lower rivet to hold the lower window stop bracket was loose. So i decided to drill out all 3 rivets and remove the bracket.



I then installed some nuts and bolts. Then welded the nuts to the bracket.





Now if I need to remove the bracket for any reason, it will come out very easy. ;)
 
The old donor 93 had been broken into at some point as well. The drivers door lock was punched and bent up...but it still kind of worked. I decided to tackle swapping out the main key tumbler with anouth spare lock I had.

Old lock...



This is not a serviceable part BTW. I had to carefully pry off the stainless front to get at the tumbler.





Then do this all over again with my spare lock. Once apart I discovered that the tumbler was damaged as well. So i had to pull all the pins and swap them around.





Once that was accomplished the fun part was getting the front stainless cover back on and that lip polled back over. I have a small aluminum hammer...I decided this would probably do the trick.



After a lot of fine tapping I go tit all secured again. Here is the "new" lock...works like a charm!!

 
I installed the cab roof lights. I used the diagram, and measurements, that was posted up by Jim Lane....but did not like the location of the outside lights.





So I moved the outer lights in a few more inches....Looks much better IMO.





Then it was the nerve wracking job to mark and drill the roof.



And lights all installed.

 
Now onto the interior roof panels. Here's what they looked like before.





I wanted removable panels like CE TEX has done in his truck. So out came the cutting wheels.





Then it was sand and pain the inner roof. I also masked and painted all the roof and pillar areas white too.



 
Then it was time to drag out the spare crewcab roof I pillaged from the wreckers a few years ago.





Then cut out the panels from this roof. As you can see in 3rd pic where the one I removed from the crewcab is smaller then the one I removed from the wrecker roof. This is so that the two over lapping lips will be used as the fastening area.







Then I cleaned and sanded and painted the removable panels.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

SiteLock

SiteLock
Back
Top