Crashtd420 Posted March 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: It might be best to have the diff at least bolted in, but the shafts should come out for welding, so you can inspect the seals after and make sure they didn't get overheated. Just do it yourself. A nice hot bead, weld top down (not bottom up as some folks recommend), make some nice swirls and fill in the gaps. I do a large swoop to make the circle, then move back into the gap to fill the hole. Make sense? I could shove the old axles in there.. no seals or bearings installed right now, all are getting replaced..... I get the swirling and gap comment but not the top down vs bottom up part of the comment.... Are you talking about the direction of the weld? I believe I think of it more like pushing the weld, which I think would be bottom up, vs pulling the weld, top down.... yes/no... 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 Correct, the direction. Some welders say you should push the weld, but that's more for structural welding like inside of pipelines. Top down, the weld flows better and looks nicer. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Got the brake line bracket made... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 New home on the crossmember 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 Started going over everything making sure it's all going to work.... Drilled and tapped a couple holes in the crossmember to mount a circuit breaker for the battery, and made sure the cables were all long enough.... Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a few more holes done for the brake and fuel line which will run along the front of the crossmember.... Happy with where everything needs to live I realized I had no room for an organized disassembly.... So the bed got stood up on end..... 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 15 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said: Started going over everything making sure it's all going to work.... Drilled and tapped a couple holes in the crossmember to mount a circuit breaker for the battery, and made sure the cables were all long enough.... Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a few more holes done for the brake and fuel line which will run along the front of the crossmember.... Happy with where everything needs to live I realized I had no room for an organized disassembly.... So the bed got stood up on end..... Will you be able to reach that breaker? Would hate for it to pop somewhere and then you need to break out a jack to get in there and reset it.... It shouldn’t pop without some real issue, but you never know... also a convenient way to disconnect the battery when you know you won’t be driving it for a while. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 3 hours ago, demo243 said: Will you be able to reach that breaker? Would hate for it to pop somewhere and then you need to break out a jack to get in there and reset it.... It shouldn’t pop without some real issue, but you never know... also a convenient way to disconnect the battery when you know you won’t be driving it for a while. I would still have to crawl under to get it but It will be reachable without a jack.. Maybe a trap door in the bed like the gas tank has might be worth doing.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 4, 2021 Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 I love those circuit breakers. Every vehicle that I own, with the exception of my daily drivers, has one. Battery disconnect switches come in many varieties and amp ratings though. The ones you typically find at your local auto parts store are only 20amp, which is more than your starter will draw. They make them all the way up to 300amp, which is enough to handle heavy winching, but for most vehicles, I find that the 80 amp variety is enough. I try to mount them inside the cab, under a seat or on the firewall, or even in the engine bay, but under the car is not a bad idea either. BTW- nice work on those brake line brackets. Simple and elegant. I would not have thought to do it that way. I have a whole box of cutoff tabs from the various vehicles that I have torn apart over the years. I bet I find myself picking though that box at least once a month. 3 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2021 Since the circuit breaker will live under the bed I did go with a water proof marine type .... Thanks for the comment on the bracket, while they maybe simple I'm not sure I would call them elegant.... Things may not be the prettiest with my all my brackets but I go for functional and strength first... I'll be going a bunch of grinding and rounding edges best I can while I finish weld everything, so hopefully it looks good in the end, since it's going to all be visible for a few months.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 The desire to drive my truck is killing me! Thankfully nicer weather is coming, but unfortunately the cold is not good for painting things.... I should be able to get the garage hot enough before I start I'll just have to paint quick .... it's an open flame heater so I won't run it while painting just incase.... I plan to coat everything in por 15 and as I mentioned I have a gas tank sealer for the exposed metal on the inside, both want warmer temperatures to work .... I got to work disassembling everything ..... And started cleaning up and welding up the frame .... I'm hoping to have everything cleaned up and welded up by the time the por15 arrives..... One lingering problem is the amount of argon I have left, I always seem to run out of either argon or welding wire.. . I already picked up an extra spool of wire just wondering how far I'll get with the argon..... 2 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Is your garage heated? Too cold for me to do anything down here. 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Put all your paint supplies in your heated house a couple days before you want to use them. Keep them there as most paint products will freeze. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 9 hours ago, Charlie69 said: Put all your paint supplies in your heated house a couple days before you want to use them. Keep them there as most paint products will freeze. I do keep them in the house, well in the basement which stays warmer than the garage... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 11 hours ago, d.p said: Is your garage heated? Too cold for me to do anything down here. Yes I use an open flame propane heater, heats the garage up extremely quick..... has been working good for me.. It's not really ment to be inside but my garage is not completely sealed up and its seperate from the house... They make some radiant heat ones that would probably work for you... just depends on square feet and insulation..... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Well I was right wire just ran out... I'm about half way through welding up the frame, so I got the wire replaced and made some lunch.... The one good thing about welding all the small brackets, was when it came time to do some real welding I already had a bunch of practice .... Real happy with how my welds are looking..... 3 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Personally I would clean back a little more of the paint, and use some splatter spray. You should be able to get it wherever you buy wire or gas 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 (edited) 47 minutes ago, thisismatt said: Personally I would clean back a little more of the paint, and use some splatter spray. You should be able to get it wherever you buy wire or gas Too late now.... I probably should have, I see what your seeing in the picture, I did weld to clean metal, but the paint close by was bubbling, which is what your seeing.... the frame is a little lower where I welded.... Edited March 6, 2021 by Crashtd420 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 7, 2021 Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 I clean the metal around the welding area for other reasons - health. For years I had problems breathing at night, then I started cleaning the metal of paint, grease, e-coating, and also started blowing the fumes with my 36" shop fan. I don't have any breathing problems anymore. Splatter spray is just a mess. If you can get to the area with a wire wheel, no need for splatter spray. The bullet heaters are great for painting when it's cold. I preheat the frames with the heater and the paint is sure to dry. Paint - I don't believe in the POR15 hype. I just use a good SEM primer and Dupli-Color engine enamel. Dries fast and hard. 3 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: I clean the metal around the welding area for other reasons - health. For years I had problems breathing at night, then I started cleaning the metal of paint, grease, e-coating, and also started blowing the fumes with my 36" shop fan. I don't have any breathing problems anymore. Splatter spray is just a mess. If you can get to the area with a wire wheel, no need for splatter spray. The bullet heaters are great for painting when it's cold. I preheat the frames with the heater and the paint is sure to dry. Paint - I don't believe in the POR15 hype. I just use a good SEM primer and Dupli-Color engine enamel. Dries fast and hard. I usually have a fan going in the garage, circulates the heat and the fumes... As far as the por15, I kind of agree, but I started with it so I was continuing with it for consistancy.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2021 Started working on the axle, trying not to mess up..... I loaded my differential and the 2 old axles in an attempt to keep everything straight while I weld.... So far i only got the upper mount welded before I got called back inside by the family..... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 (edited) Well today sucked, I started to do some welding on the axle, i actually stuck an indicator under it and could actually see. 001-.002 of movement... the good thing was I followed stroffgrens suggestion on moving around and I could bring it back to zero..... so I'm trying to weld 1" at a time and move back and forth.... The real problem came from my welder, all of a sudden my welding wire was sparking without even pulling the trigger... oh and it would even spark when it was supposed to be off... when i unplugged it i heard a click.. turns out the relay on the circuit board died in the open position, I was able to verify this by removing the board and checking the output pins .... looks like I can replace just the circuit board for about $150 and not have to buy a new welder... This definitely throws a wrench in my time line.... I'll have to see what else I can do while i wait for the part.... Edited March 8, 2021 by Crashtd420 2 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 Relay contacts might have fused themselves together. If you're sure that's the problem, then cut open the relay housing and pop them apart and file the contacts 😄 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 2 hours ago, thisismatt said: Relay contacts might have fused themselves together. If you're sure that's the problem, then cut open the relay housing and pop them apart and file the contacts 😄 I'm sure it's the problem and what you say would probably work, I even found just the relay but I took the easy route and I have a complete circuit board on the way.... plug and play no soldering.... 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 Ok mrbigtankerjr 😅 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 9 hours ago, thisismatt said: Ok mrbigtankerjr 😅 Not quite..... I leave that title to DP... If my pockets were that deep I'd be getting a new welder not fixing a 14 year old one.... 1 Quote Link to comment
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