Newbie - 83 YOTA!

[yotaboy79]

theres the pic post a pic of the hole in the floor

[Brian83]

Ask and thou shalt recieve

[yotaboy79]

thats not that bad heres the passenger side of mine it ran from the back of the door all the way past the body mound  the body area was almost compleatly gone only thing holding it together is fiberglass

[yotaboy79]

oh and about an inch and a half wide untell the body mount than it got close to 3 in

[Brian83]

YOu can see that there is rust around the body mount but it's only on the surface, I pounded on it with a hammer to make sure it was still solid. oh, and there is a hole in the exact same spot the exact same size in the driver side. Not too bad, basically the only real rust on the truck except for a couple small ones on the bed, but those were small enough to be fixed with bondo.

[yotaboy79]

you could prolly fix that hole with bondo and news paper  i did that on the rocker panels of a blaser that my friend had cuz he was selling it and wanted it to look good

[Brian83]

nah, thats a little too butch for me, I have some scrap steel to use, my friend is lending me his torch and I can go pick up some brazing rod

[Brian83]

would dual 10 inch electric fans cool my truck ok?

[Skinny_Pedal]

i would sure think so!

[yotaboy79]

yeah just make shure that you put an over ride switch somewhere that you can reach it wile your driving so you can turn it off if you get into any deep water other wise the fans will splash water around and prolly get your destributor or other electrical  crap wet and you will be dead in the water the switch also acts as another thing to play with when you get bored in traffic

[84runner]

That is a good idea about the rubber seat mounts cause of the rockstomper motor mounts, but I get alot of raddles all over casue of mine, in the dash the rear view mirror and who know where it's coming from 

[Brian83]

ok, I'm getting a pair of 5 inch front lift springs from a freind for free, they are some old alcan springs but he said in good shape, only like 4 years old. I only want a couple inches out of them, maybe 2-3 inches cause I will only be running 32-33 inch tires. Can I just take a few leafs out until I get the ride height and flex I want? He is also gonna give me a 4 inch drop draglink but I figured with only 2-3 inches of lift I won't need it. I'll post pics soon, I plan on painting the truck this weekend and putting it all together next week. I still need to find a grill for my truck as I ran over mine a few days ago, and I also need a dash.

[Brian83]

oh, what year grills can I make fit on my 83, I've seen 79-83 yotas with later style grills. the ones like WT's 90 has.

[MagPede]

I'd also like to know what other year grilles will work on my 82. That one in the pic is pretty cool.

[Brian83]

Painting gonna start today. Sorry if this sounds stupid, should I clearcoat over the flat black?? or just leave it? I picked up a set of 32 inch bfg AT's yesterday. so I'll only be putting on about 1-2inches of lift, but I figure with broncos in the rear and the front 5 inch springs with a few leaves taken out it will flex pretty good. Hey WT, am I gonna need a trac bar for my broncos in the rear??

[WHITE_TRASH]

Dont clear coat the flat black.  The beuty of cheap paint is its easy maintnance.  If you have to sand and feather the clear then do the same to the flat black what have you gained?  You wont need a trac-bar with those rears, they actually are a very good match to the weight of yotas.  I couldnt be happier with the sets Ive used.

[Brian83]

well heres the truck as of now, still need to put one more coat of paint on. I still don't know if I want to use the front springs I got, I'm worried they are just gonna be too stiff. I found out they are ranchos, not old alcans. I think they are 5 inch springs, they have 4 leaves and look pretty arched, so I thought about just takin off two leaves and putting one thinner one back on cause they are thick. still need to find someone to weld for me so I can get my hangers on for the bronco springs in back. I have 32 inch bfg AT's to go on this weekend, I have a friend whose shop has a mounting machine so I'll mount those this weekend. Let me know what you guys think of it. Criticism welcome 

[Brian83]

yeah the civic in the background of the 2nd pic is mine, gotta have a dd

[Brian83]

heres the springs, can anyone tell me for sure if they are 3 or 5 inch. 4 leaves, 46 inches eye-to-eye w/o weight on them, 9 inches from top of spring to level with eyes

[yotaboy79]

id say about 5  thats alot of arch

[Brian83]

anyone got pics of how to weld the spider gears on my rearend? I'd like to either do this or try and pick up a REALLY CHEAP spool or lock-right. I'd rather a lock-right to make sure I don't bust shafts but it just ain't in the budget really. Making my soft top tonight, I'll try and get some pics later.

[Brian83]

I only got the basic frame for the top tonight, I'll be adding some more pipe and a few pieces of flatbar to mount snaps. I used some 1 inch OD, .250 wall pipe. I took measurements off a fiberglass top at the junkyard today and basically copied the whole thing with a frame. This is just the basic frame, I'll add a few more bars and some flatbar for snaps. Of course I have no welder so I tapped the ends of the pipe and drilled holes through the ends to bolt them together(BOOTY FAB  , well not quite, more like college kid fab) but it's pretty strong, I stood on top of it, I weigh about 175. Tomorrow I'll go grab some canvas and my sisters sewing machine and make the top. I plan on having the sides roll up like a can-back. ok, enough, heres the pics.

[Brian83]

another

[Brian83]

last one

[Skinny_Pedal]

that looks sweet. hope the canvas works out alright

[mudguts]

Looking good, I too hope the top turns out good.

[Brian83]

got the frame for the soft top done today, not much else, I got sidetracked doing yardwork. I did find out though that the springs I got are actually skyjacker 5 inch front springs, I cleaned them up and found some numbers on the springs and did a bit of research.

[Brian83]

heres the truck now with tires on finally, just gotta make some door panels and get a radio in there. went wheeling yesterday and I guess just because I'm new to wheeling the thing suprises the crap outta me. I was by myself so I wasn't doing anything real hard, but just being able to go up to the mountains now and play around puts a big ol smile on my face. I still haven't done anything with the suspension yet. I kinda got caught up with a bunch of big ideas of making  a great wheeler but frankly I like it how it is for now. I'm sure I'll make more mods as I go along as I get to be a better and more experienced driver. I think I'm set on a lock-right for the rear next. the soft top is almost done, and I started rounding up steel for sliders and a bumper for the rear. I've been looking around for a cheap used welder but haven't found one yet.

[Brian83]

another, hmmm...needs something....oh, DENTS!

[WHITE_TRASH]

lockrite the front and weld the rear.  Its not you dd so burn some rod!  I know what you nean about yotas being very suprising.  I let a buddys dad drive mine, he's had very well built Jeeps for years and he drove mine and damn near fainted.  It still wasnt welded in the rear and there was only 1 case engaged.  It was funny, he just kept muttering holy crap.... lol