Author Topic: F1 Project (Read 9032 times)

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #120 on:** January 02, 2024, 01:11:14 PM »

Looks like fun!!

FormTA · « **Reply #121 on:** January 08, 2024, 05:11:46 AM »

Took the valve covers off and scraped off years of grime. Then proceeded to us my double bowl parts washer. I forgot to get an after photo but the came out great.

Last night I started on the oil pan. Once I get it mostly clean I'll remove it and spray some aluminum brightener on it and then replace the gasket and rear main seal.

Making progress, slowly but surely.

kentucky yeti · « **Reply #122 on:** January 08, 2024, 07:22:16 AM »

"Making progress, slowly but surely."

In my world, that ain't slowly. That's "impressively fast and nice!"

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #123 on:** January 08, 2024, 09:53:38 AM »

Looks great Luke! If you haven't tried it already, look at LA Awesome. I found it at Dollar General.

FormTA · « **Reply #124 on:** January 08, 2024, 11:06:29 AM »

I'll grab some today

« **Reply #124 on:** January 08, 2024, 11:06:29 AM »

81Resto · « **Reply #125 on:** January 08, 2024, 07:01:47 PM »

This is quite the project, very impressive. Never would have even thought about converting onto a modern chassis.

FormTA · « **Reply #126 on:** January 08, 2024, 07:26:58 PM »

So grabbed some of that LA totally awesome cleaner.

So to compare that to the purple power, I'd say the Awesome degreases better but the purple power seems to leave a brighter finish behind. I then used the awesome first and then a scrub with the purple. I'm still planning on using a brighter to see if I can get it just a bit better.

Now to pull it off and clean the block for a new pan gasket.

I'm not sure where it was leaking, it didn't drip much but the oil pan was covered. I do see evidence the balancer seal is leaking but I'm changing all gaskets and seals to be sure.

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #127 on:** January 09, 2024, 09:46:47 AM »

If you have any NAPA stores near you they have an aluminum bright spray that works pretty good. It is an acid and the fumes are very strong as a heads up.

5th T/A · « **Reply #128 on:** January 09, 2024, 08:07:08 PM »

Luke, that’s got to be the deepest oil pan I’ve ever seen. Nice job on cleaning up the engine.

FormTA · « **Reply #129 on:** January 09, 2024, 08:52:35 PM »

Thanks all! Ryan, that is exactly what I got. I scrubbed it down in my parts washer and I'll spray it tomorrow at work in our plastic slop sink withthe brightener. I didn't want the brightener to possibly ruin the stainless sink.

We'll see how it works

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #130 on:** January 10, 2024, 09:20:39 AM »

Wow, that is a really deep oil pan!

FormTA · « **Reply #131 on:** January 10, 2024, 09:54:55 AM »

For those that care. The aluminum brightener didn't seem to make any difference. I watched videos on it and it seemed to work great for others. Maybe I got the pan as clean as it will get. The brightener bubbled as I let it sit for a minute or two and then I washed it off. Didn't seem to change at all.

Anyway, I'm happy with my cleaning and how it came out.

FormTA · « **Reply #132 on:** January 29, 2024, 04:37:58 PM »

I cleaned the aluminum lower intake in the same manner and also cleaned the plastic upper section. The Totally Awesome worked great on this. This stuff cleans as good or better that carb cleaner and doesn't seem to harm anything.

I ordered a new fuel injection system/spider. This one is an upgrade with the injectors at the end of the tubes for better fuel atomization. I hope it makes a difference, according to the internet it does...

These Vortecs are odd as the injection goes inside the intake.

I cleaned the alternator and AC compressor mount the same way but then blasted them with glass bead media for that new look.

I also ordered new AC Delco idler, tensioner and water pump.

I cleaned and clear coated the water pump to try to reduce the rusting effect.

I am cleaning up the power steering pump and replacing the shaft seals as I think it was leaking a tiny bit. I am also working on the AC pump and alternator. I'm really trying to get the engine bay to look better than my trans am.

Hopefully I can show you a fully assembled engine soon.

Any suggestions for the exhaust manifolds? I was thinking maybe a silver Cerakote product..??

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #133 on:** January 30, 2024, 07:40:58 AM »

That looks fantastic Luke! That engine will look new when you are done with it.

5th T/A · « **Reply #134 on:** January 30, 2024, 03:52:18 PM »

Looks great Luke. I like how you are replacing water pump, Idler pulley, gasket & seals. All the things that wear out. Your truck will have a nice vintage look, 21st century reliability and modern day performance.

« **Reply #134 on:** January 30, 2024, 03:52:18 PM »

FormTA · « **Reply #135 on:** February 07, 2024, 02:40:10 PM »

So on my quest to clean and restore each piece going onto this engine I decided I needed to do something with the exhaust. I took the original manifolds and media blasted them with slag and then 100 grit aluminum oxide. I then sprayed them with a ceramic coating from Cerakote called the V series. It has a 1800F temperature rating. I then baked them in a oven (actual oven I use for Cerakoting fire arms) at 500F for an hour or so. Man these came out great! Hopefully they will last like this for years.

Nasty rusted and oily manifold.

Blasted manifold

Coated manifold

.

5th T/A · « **Reply #136 on:** February 07, 2024, 03:05:29 PM »

Nicely done Luke!

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #137 on:** February 08, 2024, 08:04:47 AM »

Nice work Luke. I'll have to check into that paint.

FormTA · « **Reply #138 on:** February 08, 2024, 02:55:40 PM »

It's a one part ceramic coating. The tough part is finding a way to heat it to 500°F for an hour. Luckily we have an oven at work for this purpose. Today I did the other side and the spark plug heat shields too. All came out great!

FormTA · « **Reply #139 on:** February 21, 2024, 01:24:40 PM »

Moving on to mocking up the body so I can make body mounts and see where things need to go. For now I am doing this on the old junk chassis so I don't scratch up the nice rebuilt one. Remember the new chassis is 4" higher and has 31" tires. I may go down to the size on this chassis if it looks good. So for now I'm trying to keep the cab low on the chassis.
You can see the 2000 S10 fire wall here. I will blend it in but for now I just needed the location for the steering column and brakes
I made a wood frame and bolted it to my engine lift to help this one man band.

Once I get the body mounts built I will pull the cab and start to get it ready for paint. I tried to get my wife to let me rock it in, as in condition because I think it's cool but she's not having it.... So many months of sanding and welding ahead...

rkellerjr · « **Reply #140 on:** February 21, 2024, 01:55:12 PM »

Lookin good!

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #141 on:** February 22, 2024, 11:18:58 AM »

Great progress Luke! Looks great sitting on there and I love the ingenuity using the engine hoist.

FormTA · « **Reply #142 on:** March 26, 2024, 05:43:54 AM »

Well, I have been really busy working on this heap. I needed to make a mounting point on the cab so I could bolt it to the frame. The cab used a weird arm system because the frames twisted so much back then and I didn't really trust it so I came up with a plan to cut it out and weld in a 2x2 3/16 bar and run bolts through the cab and this beam onto frame mounts that I made.

Well, I started media blasting the bottom if the cab and we'll, it started to disappear... I then started cutting things away and it started to escalate quickly. I had to weld bracing in because it all has to come out. There were no holes in the floor before but it must have been just rust holding it together.

I have more to post bit I'll have to do it in several posts because it takes too much time to do all at once and I don't want to lose the post halfway through..

FormTA · « **Reply #143 on:** March 26, 2024, 06:15:31 AM »

Both cab corners were bad and I had to fix those before I could make the floor panels I forgot to take pictures at some points so here is a mix of left and right.

CAD drawing or arts and crafts

I have a homemade brake but the radius it bends is like 3/16 or more. For tight bends I found it better to clamp the metal to a 1×1 tube and just slowly hammer it over.

I figured now would be a good time to get the shrinker stretcher out of its box that I bought like 4 years ago. I had to make a stand and used rods and made pedals so they are foot operated now.

Then I found the front door piller areas were a mess, so on to making those.

After cutting the outer skin away I found the inner post was rotten, so I had to make that part first...

And the inner panel...

I then bent up this little panel. This was quite an accomplishment for me. It came out great and it is a real panel!

More area near the cab corner needed replacement.

I had to use the English wheel on this piece because it curved vertically too.

And, another panel I had to make... I am making way too many panels....

To minimize warping, I made this tool to cool the welds quickly. Works well.

Mmi have a bit more to post here in a sec.

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #144 on:** March 26, 2024, 06:23:41 AM »

That doesn't look like fun, but if anyone can fix it it you can! Look forward to seeing more progress.

« **Reply #144 on:** March 26, 2024, 06:23:41 AM »

FormTA · « **Reply #145 on:** March 26, 2024, 10:11:21 AM »

So that is where I am right now. Basically rebuilding the entire 6" of the cab. I did buy a power bead roller so when I finally get to the actual floor panels I get to try that out. I also got a small planishing Hamer to help fix the fender damage. So my sheet metal working tool are growing and shop space is shrinking....

Glad someone invented grinders

Well on this side I found crash damage buried under a gallon of filler.

I cut the top layer of sheet metal away and I'll try to straighten the hing post and then either make a new panel or try to fix the original and put it back on.

5th T/A · « **Reply #146 on:** March 26, 2024, 10:43:22 AM »

Luke, I am envious of your skills. Great progress!

FormTA · « **Reply #147 on:** March 26, 2024, 01:15:03 PM »

I forgot, the whole reason for this is so I have something to weld a 2x2x3/16 beam to so I can mount the cab to the chassis.

The seats were bolted to these little clips in the sheet metal floor and since I cut the floor out I made these plates that I spot welded to the big support beam. I feel much better with these to mount the seat and seat belts to.

This us the top side inside the cab. I have to media blast this area but it is strong. I already blasted the other side and it's clean and solid.

I made up two floor panels that welded to the only good floor brace which actually was used to mount the in cab gas tank at one point.
I used my bead roller with a tipping dies I made to make the curved flange and then punched the holes with my air punch and the drilled the holes along the center.

Then I made the beam which needed a curve to it. I thought my truck was heavy enough to put a bend in it. Nope.

I have a hydraulic press but that would put too sharp of a curve in it. I then remembered I had a pipe bender somewhere and dug it out. It worked great and I was able to put the perfect bend in the tube. I used a block of wood to push on the square tube as not to kink it.

Where the bolts go through the tube I turned up some sleeves to weld in so it wouldn't crush and make things loose.

Not my best TIG welding job but ok.

FormTA · « **Reply #148 on:** April 10, 2024, 01:10:43 PM »

Got the body flipped back upright and welded in another floor brace. I also made both rocker panels and a perimeter floor frame.

Then got to use my bead roller to make my first floor panel. Came out pretty good for a backyard hack.

One panel down and like 7 more to go and a transmission hump... Fun, fun.

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #149 on:** April 10, 2024, 01:56:00 PM »

Love the floor work man! I need to put a bead roll in my roof patch panel.

FormTA · « **Reply #150 on:** April 10, 2024, 07:22:28 PM »

Made another panel but I ran out of argon so both are just cleco on place

roadking77 · « **Reply #151 on:** April 12, 2024, 05:00:32 AM »

Youre a certified panel beater at this point. Great looking work! I really enjoy doing that kind of work but I dont have your skills yet or the awesome set of tools.

FormTA · « **Reply #152 on:** April 12, 2024, 07:21:08 AM »

Thanks, I'm just a backyard hack with the cheapest version of any tool I need. I then make my own upgrades to get them to do what I need or deal with results. I'm not good at any of it but I enjoy doing it and learning so it's all good. I appreciate the comments which help keep me motivated. I know it's not a F body but a panel is a panel.

roadking77 · « **Reply #153 on:** April 12, 2024, 12:33:50 PM »

My motto is to buy the best tool I can afford. However with some body work stuff I think the 'homeowner' line stuff is fine with limited use. The tools you have look great to me. A full time shop running them 8 hrs a day may wear them out quickly but they will probably last you forever. I bought a very good Iwata spray gun. It was rated as a good part time gun, and I paid about $400 for it. A pro painting every day would probably laugh at it, but for painting once every couple of years it works great for me.

FormTA · « **Reply #154 on:** April 12, 2024, 12:54:10 PM »

I was lucky as I had a friend at devilbiss and I got two extremely nice paint guns, one a vigilante kit that was almost a grand retail, for free. So I do have done nice stuff.

FormTA · « **Reply #155 on:** April 16, 2024, 07:16:51 AM »

Got some more supports for the floor welded in and two more panels made.

ryeguy2006a · « **Reply #156 on:** April 16, 2024, 11:17:53 AM »

Wow Luke, those look killer!! Outstanding fabrication work man.

b_hill_86 · « **Reply #157 on:** April 16, 2024, 11:51:39 AM »

Yea dude those are awesome! Nice job

FormTA · « **Reply #158 on:** April 16, 2024, 02:54:01 PM »

I'm no kill fab guy buy I am a little proud of how my floor is coming out.

5th T/A · « **Reply #159 on:** April 16, 2024, 04:55:19 PM »

Luke, floor panels look great!

Question, are those going to be covered up or painted to show?

« **Reply #159 on:** April 16, 2024, 04:55:19 PM »

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Author Topic: F1 Project (Read 9032 times)