project LN65 refurbish

[denis]

I can't help but buying project to pile up. This one I am firmly decided to complete withing a couple months max. I know I still need to update the ln85 thread but this might come later.
So I brought this home. Beat up farm truck, engine sounds OK, bed is unsalvageable (me saying that means a lot), the whole frontend is beat and dented, the cab itself is OK with little rust, the frame need a bit (!) of work...


After a throughout pressure wash, drain, wash aging blah blah blah I realized the rear part of the frame needed more that just a little work. Oh well.

[denis]

The bullbar you saw in the first pics was hacked on, some places welded, the front support brackets were even drilled to put that POS on, but its not the worst part.

[denis]

the tow hitch abortion was poowelded to the spare tire crossmember and the frame sides. No pics since this was just gross.

[denis]

Ground, blasted and primed

[denis]

The front "bumper" was bolted right onto the front panel as well, needless to say it's not the smartest idea found on this truck.


Luckily I have a parts truck with an half-decent front panel, bottom is rusted out though.

[denis]

You can see where I'm going.
Right now the panels are ready for the final cut and butt-weld.

[denis]

getting closer on the frontend.



filling the spot weld holes

[denis]

due update for some old and new progress...

[denis]

put the cab on the rotisserie for some floor work

[denis]

then off for the blasting, primer and paint

[denis]

back on for more blasting and painting

[denis]

off and onto the frame

[denis]

door repairs were done by cutting and welding stainless patches. They then had a coat of etching primer and epoxy paint before sealing then paint again...

[denis]

now some boring stuff from the last couple of days.
the biggest challenge is to find all the parts buried in the storage area. Then comes cleaning, blasting, priming, painting, blah blah...

[NorCalToy]

looks like your really putting some time in to this project, looks like everything is coming out nicely and looking clean. what color are you gonna finalize eveything in?

[REG535]

this rig is going to look sick! i luv it so far!, good job man. keep up the good work. 
btw: how much does it cost to sandblast a truck like that? like the frame? or did you just buy
your own sandblaster? i want to sandblast my frame and stuff. sweet.

[denis]

thanks for the kind words !
the truck is going to be finished in white, which was its original color.

[denis]

btw: how much does it cost to sandblast a truck like that? like the frame? or did you just buy
your own sandblaster? i want to sandblast my frame and stuff. sweet.

I built an enclosed booth in a corner of the shop for sandblasting and maybe painting when I get some forced ventilation done. I built my own pressure pot sandblaster, but my 10hp compressor is quite underpowered for the big jobs.
In this picture you can see the pressure pot in the back corner, basically its just 3 old gas bottles cut and stacked ontop of each other with a couple brackets and fittings.

[KDXSR5]

This is awesome. I wanna watch this one! keep it up, I can't wait for the finished product.

[denis]

Well if I keep my current pace it should hopefully be done soon. All the little stuff takes an awful lot of time. I somehow hate bodywork but I'm getting more patient with it while I'm getting older.
So much for a "quick refurb" I guess... At least I'll have the satisfaction of doing things the right way, and this is a good training for the projects scheduled next...

[KDXSR5]

I am going to learn body work next semester, and I can't wait! I just bought a 1990 pickup that I am stripping down to rebuild, and it will make the perfect canidate for a body work class. I think I will enjoy body work a lot.

Doing it the right way is the only way to go.

[denis]

A bit of cab reassembly. So far it doesn't look like I lost too many parts

[denis]

I spent most of yesterday working on the hood. I started scrapping a bit of surface rust in the front area and got a bit carried away. So like usual I made an hybrid from a straight rusty and a bent rust-free.

[denis]

Here is my homemade spot weld drill bit. Sorry for the blurry pic, basically instead of sharpening at a 120° angle you just sharpen at something like -5° and keep a little pyramid in the middle. This is made possible with the use of a thin cutoff wheel which keeps a somewhat sharp edge. It takes about 1 minute to make once you are used to it

[KDXSR5]

I need a spot weld bit for my current project... Thanks for the tip!

[denis]

some new old pics.
I've been finishing the interior and wiring, now waiting for some engine parts to start the rebuild and put the engine back in.