Amphibious HEMTT

[WaterH]

I had these pics of some cardboard bed sides for awhile. I forgot to post em. I planed to pull it outside, but got tangled up in the console/dash. It's kind of hard to see in the garage. But you can get an idea.

Before I can work on this part I have to relocate the radiator. It will go in the side. Here you can see there should be room in there.

But I'm having fun with the console/dash right now. Here I made a little riser to get the shifter in place.

I had to make the driver's side of the console in two pieces.

Still needs lots of work, but I like it.

I got some progress to report on the dash. First, I made a glare shield.

I wanted this to shield the sun from reflecting off the lower windows. So I figured I should cut the lower windows.

I played with some cardboard to make a dash that wouldn't interfere with my line of sight to the lower windows.

Than I got to cutting metal.

Because the truck is so high, it's easy to see under the dash when standing outside. I couldn't leave the "underdash" open, so I made lower covers.

Continued


So after getting most of the dash clecoed together, it really got strong. It will even be stronger after finel riveting. I'm glad because you have a tendency to grab it when climbing in.

I might even put a pocket on the edge to hook your fingers in.

I like the way the glare shield looks from the front. I hope it can be seen after the windshield is in.

On another note, you might have noticed the angle aluminum on the pax side kick panel. I put this in to give some extra strength next to the glass. (The driver's side has the raised pedal section)

I was thinking I should make a foot pad so the pax has something to brace themselves in a exciting situation. Better than using the glass. LOL. Anyways took a day to make this.

It's going to be attached with a couple screws, but it actually fits so tight that I have to pound it on.

Update,




I never worked out a transfer case shifter, so time to through money and time at it. Since I had push-pull cables everything else, I went that route. I needed bracket on the t-case adapter to attach the cable sleeve. If you have followed this thread from the beginning, you know I swapped a aluminum adapter for a cast iron one. I like it, but for some reason they only put one threaded boss on the side for linkage to attach. (The aluminum one had two bosses) The problem with one is I had to make the bracket wrap around the casting so it won't be likely spin on the single bolt.




These are the pieces to be welded to make the bracket.

All welded, painted and bolted on. The swivel eye is held on the t-case arm with a c-clip.

The front bracket was much more difficult to make, mainly because I had allready made the console. I had to hack this thing all up to fit it in the slim area I wanted to put it.

Eventually, I got it to fit.

After I had it located, I had to measure to order the cable. I measure 8'. Since it doesn't matter if the cable is a little longer but can't be too short, I decided to get 8' 6" . So 8' 6" is 96" plus the 6". Of course 96 + 6 is 112", that's what I ordered. Seriously, that's what I ordered. Now a few inches long is not a problem, but 16" long doesn't. Nothing that another $100 won't fix.




Anyways, the console cover fit over it nicely.

The hole is where shifter connects. The shifter is "keyed" by a slant cut on the tube.

I attached a bent aluminum arm the the keyed tube.

For the top of the shifter I got an idea to use a lug nut. I had a couple extra of the high quality nuts. This simple idea was kind of a pain to do. First I couldn't find a bolt with the threads to match the nut. Lowes and even Fastenal didn't have one. I ended up buying a lug stud. I didn't need it so long so I cut it and drilled/taped it for a small countersunk bolt.

All finished, it came out nice. This is the whole way forward. (4-low)

Here the shifter all the way back. (2-high) It's far enough over that it doesn't interfere with the seat or my leg.

 

[WaterH]

So I needed to pull the truck out to turn it around. So I figured I would take a few pics with the cardboard "bedside". Not sure if this is the exact look I want, but it's kind of cool.

So I got a minor update.




I wanted to figure out my airbag control. They make air valves electric or manual. Since I'm kind of anti-computer, I chose manual. They make a whole manual control module that you just mount in the dash. But I didn't like the chincy switches. I found some really high quality manual air valves. ($) So I figured I would plumb it myself. How hard could it be? (I should have bought the finished module.)




I ordered what I needed and after about three tries I had this.

I really shouldn't have put Teflon tape on till I had the configuration set. A little more playing.

While this worked, I really didn't like the "staggered" look. The problem was I didn't have much room in the console where I was putting it. After staring at it a while, I thought of away I could make it fit.

Turned out not bad. I kind of like the look of it. Sort of like artwork. LOL. Anyways, after getting it all done, I ran some air to it for testing. Would you believe it, the brass tube leaked right out the side. There was a crack you couldn't even see.

Replaced the tube and all works. Began fitting it to the console.

All the gauges that the airbag company's sell have a 0-200 scale. My bags are from a semi and if I put 50 lbs in them, the truck will be at full droop. (Or full extension) I got these mini gauges at McMaster with a 0-60 scale.

I was able to finish the back end of console. I like the way it turned out. (Don't mind the temporary key/start box in the back)

I had to remove the driver's seat to do accomplish this work. At the same time I was able to make some seatbelt mounts. (I don't have pics) One more thing off the list.

Update,




I needed to relocate some stuff before I can continue on the body. Namely the battery and radiator. I only mounted them tempory so as to get it running.




First up was the battery. I want dual batteries as far back as possible in the truck for weight. I made a battery tray out of some .080" steel. It bent into shape easier than .065" aluminum, but I also wanted to do some bead rolls in it. That was not possible, at least with my bead roller. (not beefy enough) The tray looks decent.

It is right behind the bumper. You can barely see it below it here. The sides are open so as to drain water quickly. (if it were to get in)

I got some heavy duty solenoids. These are sappose to be able to run 500 amps continusely.

Its funny, for handling so many amps, the lugs are close together. Im running 2/0 cables and the terminals barely fit on the posts.

Im wireing this "hot" like we use to do aircraft. Basicly, what that means is there will be a switch up front that sends ground to the solinoid to "fire" it. This way, if you shut off the ground, there is no power except from the battery to the solinoid. I will have a seperate switch and solinoid for each battery. They are wired together so either one can send power forward.

These are protected in the frame rail right next to the battery.

I drew up a basic diagram for the big cables. not sure if this will show on here.

The 1,2,3 are where a up front switch will fire the solinoids. The plugs are for jumper cables or a reciever mounted winch. There will also be a (anderson) plug on the left (drivers side) battery. Not shown in the diagram.




As far as mounting the batteries, I machined up some blocks to bolt to the rear of the tray.

I fabed up some easy removed bolts out of stainless. I used some stock battery wedges.

Here you can see one installed.

I ordered another battery, heres one mounted. (The steel tubes are for some mock up.)

I need to correct something. In this pic you can see a piece of stainless that joins the too solinoids.

I googled metal conductivity and I was stupid. Stainless is a terrible conductor. Compared to copper it is only 15%. (Not 15% less, 15% of)




Silver, copper, gold or aluminum in that order. (Everything else sucks) Don't really care to make it with silver or gold. LOL. Aluminum is 61% as good as copper and I have lots of that. So if I can't find any copper, I will go with aluminum. I'm glad I didn't try to start it with that setup yet. I'm sure it would have got smoken hot.

 

[WaterH]

I ordered a battery online. The best battery I ever had was an Odessey. There no dealers close to me. I called a couple an hour away and they didn't even stock them. But they'll ordered one if I pay first. I heard awhile back that Northstar was made by Odessey, so I ordered one online. It was only slightly less expensive, but it was free shipping right to my door.

Eventually, I plan to get another Northstar because I both battery's sealed. The other thing going in the batter tray is the compressor. I got a Viair 480 and I'm in process of plumbing it to the bumper/tank.

I put a cut off valve in case of a leak. I also put a quick connect out the side of the frame. This is so I can hook up an air chuck or impact. I still need to get some kind of cover for this so it doesn't get packed with mud.

It all fits kind of tight. I will note that all the cables are made from parts I purchased from Heavy Duty, Aftermarket, Custom Battery Cables for your Car, Truck or RV They also will make the cables for you, but I like doing it myself.

I recommend them. (I'm not connected to them in any way.)

Right now I have a temporary toggle switch that operates the solinoid because I'm not ready to wire in the cab. You can see the switch just forward of the "wet" battery. Also note the "Anderson" plug on the Northstar. This is a special order plug because it is a small plug body that accepts 2/0 cable.

This way I can still drive the truck while I'm working on it. I just switch the selinoid and and then start the truck from my temporary key/start button in the cab.



Next up was radiator. Originally, I was going to buy a custom made rad from one of the quality outfits. But I like the idea of a easy to get replacement. The Bronco rad that I was using temporarily was kind nice because it mounts with only two bolts. I looked into using the core support from the donor Bronco, but it was kind of big and if I cut down, it loses all its strength. So I made a simple frame out of angle iron. I cut the lower "mount cups" off the core support.

On my project, the fans will be pulling the air through backwords from normal, so I made the frame hold the fan shroud also. This fan shroud is one I had lying around. It's the same shroud/fans that I had in my old Bronco and my current DD Bronco. This one has only one fan, but I plan to buy a new rad and fan later.

I mounted the frame on the pax side float frame with one diagonal brace. It seems quite strong.

I welded up some stainless tubing to feed and return the coolent. They have a much shorter run then the temporary setup I had. I fashioned up the tranny lines out or the old ones from the donor Bronco. These will be replaced with stainless lines. (On order)

After refilling the coolent, I took it for a spin around the yard.

In these pics, you can see the beginning of my frame to support the bed. Lots to work out yet.

Not sure if you can see, but without the front fenders, it makes the tires really stick out. I like it both ways.

Small update,




I got a copper bar from Granger. It will be enough to fix my solinoid issue and make a bus bar later.

I also made a steel bar with studs to mount the solinoids. It was a total PITA to bolt the to solinoids in the frame. Now, the solinoids are mounted to studs outside the frame and the mount bar bolts to the frame with two bolts. The two bolts are from the outside of the frame and they thread directly in the bar. So I don't have to get a wrench in there.

I really like bolting the main lead in the center. Now I can put another lead on the other side. If you look at my wiring diagram, I have a main cable that goes to another solinoid that will control the aux plugs front and rear. I haven't made them up yet.


So after running around in the yard, I parked it back in the shop. The next day I found a leak. It turned out to be in the plastic end of the rad. I had planed to change out the rad and fans later, but since this was cracked, that job got moved forward. I got a all aluminum rad from Champion. It looks quality, but I've never heard of them. We'll see. It is a four core rad. That should be more than enough for this application. I wanted oversized because a water/air intercooler maybe in my future.




I got some stainless tubing for the tranny cooler lines. Here you can see one line bent up and flared. I did all the lines for the brakes and tranny cooler with the tools you see here. I hope to do the fuel lines also.

Doing the flaring on the stainless is not easy with this basic kit, but it worked. Here you can see the lines in place.

Getting all the bends right is kind of tricky. I used the old lines first too mock it up.

I was going to make one solid line from tranny to cooler, but after thinking about it, This engine runs pretty smooth, but when it shuts down, it really twists. I thought about putting a complete spiral in the line to flex, but finally decided to have a short rubber hose to allow flex. I didn't have a way to put a typical "bead" near the ends of the lines. The little bead roller to do it is like $140. I couldn't really justify that, so I just used the flare tool. The flare tool uses two actions to make a flare. Someone on this site mentioned that if you just do the first action, it makes a reasonable bead on the end. Not sure if you can see it here.

It might not be as good as the standard bead, but I'm not afraid of the hose leaking or coming off. I had the hose on straight pipe for all this time and have no leaks. I have to get some new hose and clamps. I made some plastic "stockade clamps" for the lines today. They turned out nice. I'll get some pics tomarrow.


So I had some 1" thick plastic laying around. I don't even know where I got it.

I decided to make some stockade clamps for my new stainless tranny lines. All I did is cut the plastic in half, screw it together and drill a couple holes on the split.

They hold the lines nice.

Today I ran the engine to check for leaks. No leaks and I had my friend shut it down to check the flex on the lines. It hardly moves at all down there.




The other thing I did which I need feedback on. I had to drain the rad a couple times while working on it and it was a PITA because the stock drain doesn't have a hose outlet. I put this 1/4 turn valve. I still have to get a hose barb. Does anyone know of a reason I shouldn't have it set up like this?

 

[WaterH]

Update,




The last part of the nesessary components to build is the fuel tank. I designed a large tank because I like lots of range and I might need the ballast. LOL.




Here is what I came up with.

I sent the drawing to a couple places to quote me on making it. They all came in around $2,000. I've said before "Im not on a budget" , but that seems alittle rich. How hard can it be? As I'm writing this, I'm having lots of issues, so I'll answer that question in another post. (when I'm done)




For now, I ordered a 4' by 12' of stainless sheet. I did some research and most recommended 16 ga. It measures .057" by my caliper. This is really heavy. If I were to do it again, I would go thinner. First thing I did is bend the top large part of the tank.

Actually, the first thing I did is bust my brake on the very first bend. I had a friend help me pull the brake handles and we heard a snap.

I don't know if you can see it good here, but the 1/2" stud that goes from the top finger clamp to some blocks broke the welds on the blocks. Anyways, nothing that ten lbs, of iron and a day of work can't fix.




Back to the tank, I fuse welded the edge. Fuse welding is really nice as you don't need any "back purge" or "chill block". (More about that later)

I did a trial fit on the truck.

It Fit, but a little too tight. Really pissed me off. I had it all marked for 6 1/2" tall, but it came out of the brake 7" thick. I ended up grinding off the entire fuse weld and re-tweeked the bends and reweld. It fit reasonable then.




More on the tank next up date.



More fuel tank,




Next up, is the small belly tank. This tank should keep my fuel pickup under fuel even when the tank is getting low. I figure the top big section is about 50 gallons and this little tank on the bottom will be about 12. If I can use it down to a couple inches, I should have 60 gallons of range.




First, I started bending it up.

I made some ends. Again, it is designed to be fuse welded as much as possible.

All tacked up.

And welded.

To explain fuse welding a bit. First, stainless is much more difficult to weld then normal steel. If you don't have the back side of stainless "purged" of oxygen, it will grow ugly black, grainy "Crystal" like junk that not only looks bad, but could break off and cause issues. It's kind of porous also. (Not good for a fuel tank) When you design stainless to be fuse welded, (where the two edges are joined for a 1/2") there really is no backside to purge. The argon from the tig torch gets to both exposed sides. It's also nice that you don't need filler rod. It definitely is the easy way to go if you can design for it.




Anyways here's a trial fitting of the small tank to the large.

The other benefit of fuse welding is it is fairly easy to make it water tight. A little test of the lower section. I had a couple small leaks that I fixed quick.

More fuel tank, next update.



I'm still plugging away at the fuel tank and I'll report on that soon. In the mean time, another little problem.




Awhile back, I was doing some test flexing with the fenders installed. The rear tires scraped during extreme flex.

You can see it actually bends the fender a bit. Not really problem here because it springs back, but later I will have some of the body/bed support the fender. If it gets forced, it will deform. After thinking some, I put alittle more air in the bags raising the truck about two inches over my design "ride height". If I do that, the tires don't scrape. I figured when ever I go off road, I would just jack it up. Since I will have control from the cab, it will be easy.




Recently, I was rethinking this. I wouldn't want to drive through a ditch in a quick decision and perminately bend the fender. So I got the idea to raise the back fender. I made some temporary spacers to test. Here you can see it on the same hill.

I raised the fender 6" and it now has about 2 1/2" clearence. I never measured the angle in the first test, but in this pic, it looks like it might be more of an angle. Surprisingly, the angle to the ground is only about 30 degrees. (I checked with a level)

Not sure if I like the rear fender not lining up with the front.



So some more fuel tank work.

I cut the big hole where the belly tank goes.

This allowed me to weld in some baffles/structure

For those that don't know, thin stainless is a pain to weld. If you get it too hot, it grows this carbon crystal shit. It won't do it bathed in argon, but sense the argon from the tig is only on one side, the shit can grow on the back side. The other issue is you can't get it too hot for too long or it warps terrible.




One way to solve these problems is to clamp a "chill bar" on the back side. That stops oxygen from getting to the hot stainless and it sucks the heat out quickly. So when I welded the baffles with chill bars on the back side. On the very last reinforcement I was welding, I happened to be at the end of the chill bar. It warped the top of my tank pretty bad. This end cap fit tight before I did this weld.

I attempted to shrink it to no avail.

It really sucked, I figure I can slice and shrink it, but I decided to move on to another area for now. Next up date the access plate.

 

[WaterH]

While researching the stainless I came across several things. One thing mentioned was, if you work harden it, heat it and then cool it quick with water to aneal. That seems opposite to what you would think. Haven't tried it. The issue is you can't heat it too much in the presence of oxygen. (Maybe dull red)




On the chillbars, you can use aluminum, steel or copper. I used a combination of aluminum and steel. Ideally, you would have a big bar on the bottom and a thinner bar on top clamped together. Of course the thinner bar can't touch the weld area, but it can be right next to it.




You might be afraid of welding the stainless to your chill bar, but fear not, you wont get the bar hot enough. If you have ever tried to weld something thick to something thin, you know you must get the thick stuff molten first. Otherwise, the thin stuff will just melt away.




The one PITA for me was I didn't have long reach clamps. Once you warp up the stainless a little, you can't get the chill bar to lay flat on it. Then it's effectiveness is reduced. (Sucking heat out) I just laid the whole tank on a heavy steel bar. It worked pretty good. I jump around welding for only a few seconds at a time. I had to make a rule "turn the tig off in like six seconds whether it's stuck or not". You can always go back later, but if you weld for ten seconds straight, it's warped.




This seemed to work ok untill I got to the edge of the chill bar. I couldn't understand why I was having trouble at the end of a weld. Then I looked under and saw the chill bar had ended right in the middle of my weld.



So I wanted some access to the inside of the tank and I like the idea of all the working lines going in one spot. I bought a 3/16" stainless plate to cut in to a flange and cover. Before cutting it, I drilled some hole patterns.

I needed a large hole for the fuel level sender. Instead of drilling it, I made a template to cut with the plasma cutter.

I also made a swivel to cut the edge.

I'm not very happy with the plasma, but cutting stainless is a pain no matter what. At least this part won't show when the tank is done.

At least the cover went better.

If drilling and cutting were a bitch, it's nothing compared to taping it for these little (8-23) screws.

I guess I don't have picture of the flange, but it got welded to the inside of this hole. Of course I had to tap the flange for 1/4"-20 bolts.

The next issue was the lines for fuel and vent. I welded a stainless "bung" in for the pickup. For the vent, I installed this roll over valve. But after it was done, I realized it was too tall to fit under the bed of the truck. I only have about 1 3/4". The elbow for the pickup is about 1 1/2".

I couldn't tap the hole any deeper in that #6 rollover valve, so I got a #10. (I still have to cut and tap the big one)

All done here, you can see both pickup and vent in low profile. (The third small elbow is the return line from the engine. I was told that you want the return to go below the fuel level so it doesn't "airate" the fuel. That's why there's a small line going down along the pickup. I welded a small piece stainless to the two lines to make it rigid.

Update, fuel pump woes.




So the stock 4BT comes with a "diaphragm" lift pump on the side of the motor. It is reliable and efficient. But when it does fail, it has a nasty tendency to pump fuel into the block. There is some talk that it can't supply a modified 4BT. I don't really believe that or, at least, not at my power levels.




In any case, my pump is probably origenal and I might as well upgrade. The new Cummins use a "piston" lift pump that is supposed to be better. I did allot of reasearch and found out there are two piston lift pumps that can look identical, but are very differnt. One is a high pressure for "P-pump" injection engines. The other is low pressure for VE-pump injection engines. I ordered the low pressure one on the bay from "Acrotractor" as I have a VE.




Here you can see the differnce. (Piston on bottom)

The piston pump must be mounted with a spacer. Not sure why they designed it this way, but I ordered one of those too. Of course after receiving them I noticed that the bolts that mount the pump are kind of short with the spacer. I went sorting through my bolts and found two that are perfect and they were ever painted blue. (I must have removed them from this engine)

So I mounted the pump and plumbed some stainless lines. I made a stockade block to join the feed and return lines. Turned out fairly nice. I will have rubber lines for a short bit and then hard lines to the tank.

After this install, I plumbed the lines to my temporary fuel tank. (I'm still not done with the permanent one) Many people like to install fuel pressure gauges for trouble shooting if the motor starts running rough. The old saying "you need fuel, spark and compression for an engine to run" can be shortened to "you need fuel and compression" on a deisel. If you have a fuel pressure gauge, you got allot of your trouble shooting done. Made sense to me. I installed one in the line from the filter to the injection pump.




The pump has a prime pump built in. It's nice, you just crack the line after the filter and prime. Then tighten it back up. After all that, it cranked right up. I checked for leaks and all was good. That is untill I looked at the gauge. The gauge goes from 0-15psi. The low pressure pump should run from 3-12psi. With appsolute max of 18. My gauge was pegged past 15 at idle. I shut it off and did some investigating.




Here, the part number on the pump was the high pressure pump. I thought I ordered the wrong thing after all my research. Then I went back and checked my EBay account and I ordered the right pump. They sent me the wrong one. I wrote and bitched. They said I couldn't return it after so long. (About a year) The pump is not that much money, but the high pressure has the possibility of doing major damage to my injection pump. I'm not too happy with "Acrotractor"




I ordered the correct pump from another company. Here you can see the two pumps. There almost the same. The prime bulb is on top instead of the bottom.

I primed and started the engine. The fuel pressure gauge read 7-8 psi. That's good, but it doesn't mean my injection pump is good. What can happen from too much pressure is the seal blows out to the crank case. So fuel can go in to the block. I'll have to do some testing to deturmined if I have damage.


Back to the never ending fuel tank.




So I needed some more baffles/structure in the tank. The tank is going to be sitting on the frame rails. I figure I need some "ribs" right where it sits. I made some with about 1/2" holes in the corners so the fuel can get by slowly. (But not fast)

Here you can see the rib installed. I welded it in with a series of heavy tacks so as not to warp the tank. Also I was able to use chill bars a fair amount. You'll note the rib only goes up to about 3/4" from the top. This is so the fuel can spill over when filling the tank.

When I got tacking the end caps on, the one side went great. But the warp that I did earlier was not great. I just kept moving the clamps and tacking.

Eventually, I was able to tap it down with a hammer and weld it up.

I decided to weld a bung in the belly tank for a drain.

After that I tacked the belly tank on the main tank.

 

[WaterH]

The drain bung turned out to be a good place to introduce argon inside the tank for final welding.

I only have a small argon tank for my tig. I had this smaller nitrogen tank that I use for A/C leak checking. I ended up letting out the nitro and got it filled with argon for the fuel tank purge.

I put a gauge on the fill tube so I could keep tabs on how much pressure I had in the tank.

In my research, the tank should hold 3 lbs. pressure. You don't want to put more than that in because there are so many square inches, it can explode. In the beginning, with it only tacked, there were so many leaks, no danger of that. I just let the argon flow in at a slow rate. I was so slow welding it up, I ended up going through four argon tanks. But eventually the gauge started coming up.

Stay tuned. I should have another update shortly.



As I mentioned, the more I welded up the seams, the more the pressure gauge came up. I actually had to turn down the feed of argon to keep it below 3 psi. After it appeared to be all welded, I sprayed the joints with a bubble agent to see where I welded poorly. I found several leaks this way. Its actually nice doing it this way because when you find a leak, you just wipe the soap off, cut the argon feed and start welding. (I had to cut the argon because 3 psi was enough to blow out the weld)




The ultimate goal is to make the tank hold 3 psi without a feed. I couldn't do that because my biggest leak was at the temporary access cover.

After I could find no more leaks, I was still sceptical. So I decided to fill the tank with deisel. I filled it through the tube I planed to use on the truck. I put a 3/8" hole in the temporary access cover to simulate the vent. I was pleasantly surprised that I could fill at the full rate of my pump. (15 gal/min) I'm not sure how fast a deisel pump at a station is, but I'm happy with that fill rate.

I filled it to about 1/2" from the top.

After letting it sit for a few hours, I couldn't see any leaks. Then I pumped it out. I filled it with two partial drums of deisel. When I pumped it back, I completely filled one drum and put a couple gallons in the second. The drum had a line about two inches from the top to mark 55 gal. Based on that, I figure I have very close to 60 gallons of usable fuel.




Next up was trail fit in the truck. You can really see the warping in this pic.

I crawled under to check the clearance at the prop. Sorry for the dark pic.

For these pics, I let all the air out of the bags. (Full stuff) I know it's difficult to see here, but there's like 4" clearance easy.

Next I needed to locate the tank front to back. I got these rubber mounts from Mcmaster.

The rails that support the bed will have rubber glued on the bottom to clamp the tank in.

All and all, I have mixed feelings about the tank. I was quoted $2,000 to make it. I probably have $700 in it plus allot of work. But I figure the quoted tank would be much better quality. If this tank wasn't going to be hidden when the truck is done, I wouldn't use it. It just looks to "hack". I guess if it holds up, it will be OK. If it developers any kind of leak, I'm going to bite the bullet and get one custom made.




I still have more fuel system work. I'll get to that next update.



More fuel work.




Now that I had the tank located front and back, I made some Z shape pieces to make sure it doesn't move right or left. Kind of hard to see here. It just hooks the lower edge.

The other pieces I had to make are the "hat" piece you can see at the front of the tank. These pieces just make a longer support for the tank.

Next, I needed to make the fuel lines. I wanted stainless hard lines and AN fittings as much as possible. I bent all the stainless lines for the tranny with a bender I had for many years. It has three different sizes. Since the fuel feed line was 3/8" I bent a piece with my bender.

I don't know if you can see it here, but it kind of collapsed the tube in the bend. I'm sure it would be fine, but my OCD wouldn't allow it. So I bought a used Bender on the bay. It is kind of the same design, but just higher quality.

It made a tighter turn with almost no collapsing.

I bent this little jog to go through the frame. I just noticed this is the 3/16" return line, but the 3/8" feed line is the same shape. (They run parallel)

Then I bent this tube to go around the edge of the tank to the pickup. This tube will forever be known as "The Bastard". One thing about 3/8" stainless, if you bend it, there's no going back. I had to make three versions of "The Bastard" before it fit right. I was almost out of tube. (And cuss words)

Before I go on, I should show you the cut out I did for all the tank lines on the bed frame. I welded a piece of angle on the side to reinforce it.

Here you can see the lines going through the cut out. Also note the plastic stockade clamp on the right/left locating Z bracket mentioned earlier. (The 3/8" tube sticking straight out is for the vent)

Here you can see it from another angle. You can see the joints right before the lines go through the frame. Originally, I was not going to have any breaks in the lines, but it was too hard to route. The holes in the frame were allready there. (I kind of hate making holes in the frame.)

I have some more done. I should get some more typed up shortly.


Finishing the fuel,




I wanted a fuel filter prior to the fuel pump, so I got one from Summit. I made a mount from aluminum sheet.

It fits tight.

It has AN fittings. The AN fittings here and on the tank are nice, but flaring the lines is a pain. My flare tool is 45* and it works good. The AN lines are 37* and I was told the 45 will not work. I bought a 37* tool of the same design. It looked alright, but it failed right away. I should have bought a better one. I found a way to flare with the 45 partially and then come back and use the 37 to finish. It appeared tI work, but we shall see.




Anyways, here's a pic of the lines going forward. You can see the filter mount. Also you can see the plastic clamps on the feed and return line. I don't have the short rubber hoses on the front yet. (To allow for engine movement)

I made a plastic clamp mounted directly on the frame to locate the lines as they go through the frame. (I didn't want them rubbing)

So that finishes the fuel system for awhile. Haven't tested it yet. I'm going to have to pull the tank again so I can tidy up the battery cables and air lines. Also, my brake lines were never really located good. So testing is going to have to wait.

 

[WaterH]

So I did alittle work on the bed. It's 6' 6" long and 48 1/2" wide. I wanted to be able to load a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood in it. (The gate will have to be open) The sides and gate will be 18" tall, so with it open, a sheet of ply will be supported.

The height of the bed is approx. 4' when the truck is at ride height.

It's kind of handy, I can unbolt all of the mounts except the two front ones and lift the whole bed to access the tank. I'm not sure if I can do this after the body work is in. It would be nice if I could.

The bed is perfectly square and centered on the frame.

The only issue is the side of the bed is going to be right next to the radiator line. I should have it off center, but my OCD wouldn't allow it. Now I might have to jog the side.

Still thinking on this.



Ok, if you have been following, you know the last time I tested the truck in the water, it floated. But I have added a lot of weight to the front and I never tested it with two people sitting in the front. In addition, I had a heavy tank of water in the back. So I feel that it will float nose down too much when I'm done. I think the only answer is an additional float on the front. I'm unwilling to install something perminately, so I'm building a "quick attach" float.




First, I needed something to attach to. I had two reciever hitches up front for shackles. I just made a simple C out of 2by2, 1/4". I didn't need it that strong for the float, but I figured I still wanted at least one receiver in case I needed a hard point to winch or tow from.

I tacked it up pretty heavy and it pulled out easy. After finish welding, it had warped of course. Ended up heating and jacking it apart. This was a PITA. I finnelly got it to slide in and out without much trouble.

All painted, it doesn't look too bad.

To start, I need some ribs. Same as before, I cut the shape out of 3/4" ply and hammered some out.

The float is going to be 6' long. My brake is only 4'. I do have the use of a 8' brake at a local welding shop, but it is a giant homemade thing that is a PITA to use. Since this float is not going to be on display most times, I just decided to make it in two 3' pieces joined with a flange.

Everytime I work with sheet metal.

The general shape.

I had some aluminum channel to slide on the steel bar.

Continued.



The problem with the channel pictured in my last post is I can't have any rivet bumps. The correct thing to do is use countersunk rivets.

Of course, I didn't have the right size in countersunk rivets. I should have ordered some, but I was impatient. So I just countersunk the hole and hammered a round head rivet in. It seemed to be OK. (The channel is welded to the angle aluminum also.)

I got some stainless handles at lowes to make it easier to install after its done. If you look below the channel, you can see a lightening hole. Actually, this is so I can fill it with pour foam from the center area.

For the final access hole, I used the flange roller. This is the first time I've used it for a complete circle. Neat!

All riveted and full of foam.

I'll have some better pics soon.



So I got some outside pics.

Here you can the new design on the rear fender. (To allow more flex)

I have to say the front float looks fugly as hell.



So I needed to test the new rear fender design to make sure it cleared. Pulled the truck up to my RTI ramp.

The fender looked a little crooked in that last pic, so I got closer.

It was close but not touching anywhere. Then I saw this. The angle aluminum was broke right at the mount bolt.

I was like WTF. Then I found the problem. The link mounts were hitting the inner fender.

Back to the shop for some tweaking.

Back to the hill.

Now that's more like it! In these pics, I don't have the front "unpinned". I did that on purpose to force the rear to flex more. So it will flex even better then this.

 

[WaterH]

Ok, the pond is full. So time to do some floating. Got my step doughter and her husband to help. Into the abyss.

After we were floating, I got out to take some pics. He weighs about 200. Floating decent with him.

I had him get out. It really floats good without anybody on board.

I didn't like it much when we were both in the truck. This was without the wheel floats. I was hoping I didn't need them with the front float. I decided to install them to see the difference.

This time I drove in fast for effect. Water came flying in the lower windows. LOL.

After it settled for a bit, (and the water drained out) it floated reasonable with the two of us.

The back floated high with two of us up front.

I don't have a pic, but I had my step doughter get on the back while both of us were still in front. It still floated, but she could tip the shit out of it by walking side to side. (She might be 140 lbs.)




It didn't go too bad, but I still am not impressed with the water test. While most of the major weight is present now, I still have to install instruments, glass and doors up front. Also heating and AC somewhere. (Haven't decided yet) I'm still using a five gallon jug for fuel. The real fuel tank is almost empty. 60 gallons of deisel will weigh more then my step doughter.



One area of concern for me is the fenders. I feel they look kind of primitive even for the millitary look I want. Also, the flat edge is weak even though .065" is tough stuff. So I thought I would try to spruce them up a bit.




First, cut a piece of .065" aluminum.

To the brake for some massaging.

Then, on to the bead roller to put a flange on the edge.

Then repeat about 20 times.

You would think that if you mark them all the same, and bend them all the same, they would all be the same. Not so. It took allot of tweaking and some outright remakes to get them a close fit.

But that was nothing compared to getting them miter cut to fit the fender.

Of course, I had to cut the edge of the fenders off 2" to keep the same width. Should have been thinking ahead.

So after much work, or least time, I have some finish to the fenders.

The bent edge is very stiff. I believe after I rivet them, it will make fenders stronger.

I haven't decided how terminate the edges next to the center float. I don't really want to do allot of work there until I decide what's happening with the floats. So they are just hanging from some clamps. Of course, when I backed it in the shop after these pics, the rear of the front fell off the clamp and I ran over it. Nothing more time won't fix.

So before I get started on the bed I wanted the AC condenser mounted. Most people place this in front of the radiator. I want a dedicated fan for this. (I like my AC.)




I mounted it in rubber. I didn't have any rubber washers, so I made some. Got a little bit of tech here. They sell punches made for this, but you can just sharpen a tube in a pinch.

Another smaller tube to cut the centers.

The frame is the same as the rad on the other side. All mounted.

The next thing I made was some corners for the bottom of the rear of the cab. These are just for looks to make the cab appear square. You can compare it to the pic above. Im going to need some kind of vent here for air to get to the engine. Not sure yet how. Maybe lovers.

So I had the bottom of the bed made of 1/8" aluminum. I decided to make the sides the same. It's exactly 48 1/2" between the sides. I want a 4 x 8 piece of plywood to fit in hanging out the back. (It's only 6 1/2' long)

I have the front fenders reinforced so you can step out the door onto them. I wanted at least the front of the bed rails to be strong enough to stand on. When the aluminum gets all riveted, it's pretty strong, but I wanted a little extra at the front. So I built a rail off the frame.

The bed rail is also 1/8" aluminum.

For the outside corners, I didn't want just a right angle, so I bent some of my forty-fives to give it a little style.

It came out pretty good. I like the foot wide bed rail. It looks good and it's handy to sit on if I was hauling a bunch of people someday.

I have some more done and Should get another update up soon.



So I made some cardboard ribs to get the shape I wanted.

Then I replicated them in aluminum.

Then I made a piece to match the rear fender to the rib.

This piece was far more difficult then you would think. I made it with the cardboard first, but the aluminum copy just didn't fit without a lot of "massaging".

Next, do he same thing on the front. You can see here how the perfect fit cardboard template didn't make a good fit in aluminum.

After some triming, it got better.

I needed to flange the edge of these pieces. The best way would be to do this flange it before I bent it. I didn't do this because these parts were so hard to fit and get lined up, I had to leave extra material so I could trim to fit. Flagging after the bend is tricky, so I did some experiments to get what I wanted. The best was the right piece. I drilled a small hole on the inside edge of the flange.

You can see how the second piece fits over it.

So I flanged the actual pieces with Great apprehension. LOL. Note the access hole I installed in the rib. I put this in so it would be easy to unbolt the float. Also, you can see the slanted baffle. This had two purposes. One it holds the ribs square and two, it guides the air out of the rad up to the grill. Under this ramp will go additional floatation at some point in the future.

Next was the lower cover.

Next update, making the grill.

 

[WaterH]

So I cut and bent a cover out of .063" al.

The side would have been much easier to make in one piece and then cut out the center. The only reason I didn't do it that way is because the bend is longer than 4'. (My brake is 4')

It looks good enough, but probably not so good for cooling. After a little be of ventilating.

I did a lot of thinking on how I wanted this to look. This not the finished plan, but I wanted to see how it would look.

A little more cutting.

Of course, I needed some kind of screen to keep the leaves out.

Not sure if this is the finished look, so it's only held on by safety wire.

The last thing to do was to make a matching vent at the lower edge of the cab.

Not sure if the horizontal matches the vertical slots. To tell you the truth, I didn't think about the cab vent till I was done. I could remake the grill with horizontal slots. What do you guys think?

Oh and I almost forgot, we need some outside pics!

I didn't finish the back because I need to build the tailgate first.

So I wanted the tail gate somewhat finished before terminating the sides.




I started by welding up a U shaped frame that fits tight around the bed. It's hard to see here. (Sitting on the 2x6)

This will be welded to the frame that supports the bed. Bed it will be much easier to work on the bench.

I had some heavy bushings that I welded on to some 1/4" plate.

This will give me the pivot. Here you can see the center tube cut short on the bolt. That way I can bolt with a washer and grease to my tailgate bottom. That's just a square tube with some 1/4" end caps. There's nuts welded on the inside of the caps.

I welded the plate on the sides of the U shape tube.

I didn't really want to reinvent the wheel, so I went to the junk yard looking for some tailgate latches. I got all these parts from a Nissan Frontere. I like the steel retention bars as apposed to cables.

I needed to machine the side tubes before welding. Cut a square hole through both sides.

Then a bigger square hole through one side.

Do the same to a second tube for a matched pair.

The latches fit in tight.

I welded the tubes to my pivot tube. I also tacked a top tube in. It's not finished welded because I may have to do some machining on it also. It fit nice, but it wouldn't slam shut at first. I though I was going to have to cut the side tubes and reweld them 1/8" in. Turned out it just needed some oil in the latches. Shuts nice now.

Open, it should work for me.

I haven't decided where or even if I will use the Nilsson latch release. It would be easy to mount it in the standard location. But I kind of wanted it more hidden. We'll see. For now, I can finish the sides.

So the only way I was going to get the release I wanted was to make it myself. I started by slotting a piece of angle.

I welded some little gussets in the corners. Then I bent up a piece of stainless into a flapper.

I didn't take much for pics of building the contraption. The rods are from the Nissan. The rest is just a aluminum disc that pivots.

It actually works pretty good. It is a little rachety, but I think it will get a bit smoother once I grease it. Now you know how sometimes you have to make everything perfect even though it will be completely hidden? Me neither. This all looks very butchered, but the only thing you will see is the stainless flapper. (And not much of that.) the tailgate skin should cover the rest.

 

[WaterH]

So I cut and bent a cover out of .063" al.

The side would have been much easier to make in one piece and then cut out the center. The only reason I didn't do it that way is because the bend is longer than 4'. (My brake is 4')

It looks good enough, but probably not so good for cooling. After a little be of ventilating.

I did a lot of thinking on how I wanted this to look. This not the finished plan, but I wanted to see how it would look.

A little more cutting.

Of course, I needed some kind of screen to keep the leaves out.

Not sure if this is the finished look, so it's only held on by safety wire.

The last thing to do was to make a matching vent at the lower edge of the cab.

Not sure if the horizontal matches the vertical slots. To tell you the truth, I didn't think about the cab vent till I was done. I could remake the grill with horizontal slots. What do you guys think?

[/QUOTE]

Oh and I almost forgot, we need some outside pics!

I didn't finish the back because I need to build the tailgate first.



Now that I got the gate machanics figured, I can get to the sheet metal. First job is fermiller one making a rib form.

Got cool idea. After cutting one rib template, I clamp it with a magnet to trace the others.

A little work with a rubber hammer and I have four.

My 4' brake will actually bend 51". Of course, the tail gate skin is 51 and a 1/2". My welding shop has a brake that will bend 8'. The welding shop was completely distroyed in the hurricane. So I went to an aircraft outfit the owes me a favor and bent it on their press brake. It makes a sharper bend than I like, but you know what they say about beggars.

You can see I had to make some more of my 45 corner treatments.

Next was to make some ribs that match the gate profile.

With those screwed to the gate frame, I could get on with the skins.

This might look easy, but there was a lot of tweaking to getting this to line up.

I did get the gaps pretty good.

Here's a shot with the gate open.

if you look at this pic, you might wonder why I have the bottom of the gate slant in. This is the only access I have to the batteries and the air compressor.

I had to cover that stuff and it had to clear the gate when it was open. With the gate skin off, but the rib still inplace, you can see the 1/2"-3/4" clearance to the battery cover.

I still have a lot of work back here, but you get the idea of how it will look.

Exhaust




I did a lot of thinking about the exhaust. I thought about stacks. (Or stack) But I have to agree with most on here that stacks on a small truck looks kind of gay. I seriously considered a "back of the cab" lay out like a real HEMTT.

It would be easy to do and kind of cool. But there are several things I didn't like. Adding a lot of weight up high is not good for a wheeler not to mention a boat. LOL. Also, I didn't really want the exit 3 feet behind my head. I have it set up that I can climb back to the bed on the outside of the truck. This might be a lot harder to do with a hot exhaust along the rear of the cab.




So I decided on a rear exit up high. Started with a flex joint behind the turbo. (This is under the bed) Straight back and out the side behind the rad. I was able to mock up the route with some cardboard tubes.

I have one joint there and then up and out the back.

I came up with a pretty good idea to hold the tubes for tacking.

Just a couple pieces of aluminum and hose clamps.

Another idea I had was a simple way to cap the ends for purging with argon. Just a round piece aluminum clamped with the turbo clamp.

I did quite a bit of research on purging back when I was welding my fuel tank. It's not really needed for strength or corrosion, but it does make it easier to weld. It also will stop the little "icicles" inside the pipes. I guess if your trying to get every last hp, it would be required. In my case, I'm just trying to make it easy.




For hangers, I was looking at some trick ones manufactured by "Stainless works". There's were not going to fit, but I did buy these cool silicone bushings to make my own.

There will be a long span over the rear fender before the next hanger. This area will be for a muffler if I decide to go with one. Right now I'm running straight pipe to see how it sounds.

The pipe exits about eye level. I like the look. Not sure if this is going to cover the back of the truck with soot. I could weld an elbow that turns out or up. If I put a turned up, I'll need the hinged cap to keep water out.

You might note the deisel fill from a boat on the opposite side. I thought it was fitting. It comes with a fancy key. But if you lose it, you can just use a krugerrand you have lying around.

So if you've been following this, you know floating part of the plan is somewhat disappointing. I figure that I can make it float acceptable by increasing the "pin on" front float, making rear wheel floats and adding some floatation to the sides above the waterline. (For stability)




All that being said, it will not meet my design goal of being ready to float right from the road. (I'm not willing to drive around with the ugly front float) Besides that, I feel the side/bottom float severely limits ground clearance for wheeling. Im not planning on taking this thing on the "black diamond" trails, but it's not going to be a mall crawler either.




I mentioned earlier in the thread, I may make a non-floating version for general purpose and can be converted to float when needed. I've decided to go this route for now. It will get the truck on the road quicker too.




Removing the floats is pretty easy, but without the side floats, the radiator and the AC condenser are very prone to damage from rocks flying off the front tires. I made some panels that bolt inplace of the floats using the same mounts. I bent the edge for purely cosmetic reasons. It gives me something to paint below the belt line. These panels are easy to make and remake if they get smashed. LOL. They don't really reduce ground clearance because the frame is a little lower.

 

[WaterH]

Time to take it outside for some pics!

You can see I cut the fender lips to match the new shape. These are staying this way even if the floats are on.

Obviously, the ground clearance is much improved.

Without the front float, my steering is rather unprotected. Eventually, I will be changing to a hysteer setup and a more conventional, center mount, hydro.

While I have it out, I took a pic of the "hidden" release to the gate.

While I had it out, I decided to test the ground clearance on the floatless truck. So I pull up to the only hill on my property. I don't know if I'll ever get use to how close it gets before it starts climbing.

It was a good thing I stopped for this pic because I left the driver's step down and it plowed in to the dirt hill. If I would have kept going, it would probably be torn off. This is the second time I've forgotten to put it up. I think I'm going to redesign the step so it is held down by an electronic solinoid. Then I will have them triggered by the tranny shifting out of park to go up.




Anyways I pull up on the hill to see if I'm close to high centering.

You can see I have plenty of clearance. Than I realized that I had forgotten something else. I only made one high clearance side. The other side still had a float. After snapping the pic, I ran around to see if I had smashed the float.

Although it is very close, it was not touching. I could just get my hand under there. I would have been mad if I trashed the float. It turned out to be a good comparison.



I don't know how many of you follow the Project Binky series, but you should. Here is a link to the latest.









There are some better episodes, so don't just watch that one.




Anyways, this update is my Binky update. It reminds me of their episodes. (Except for they have more forthought, talent and attention to detail)




Compartment door,




I was thinking it would be nice if I had some "outside" storage. I'm talking about a place that I can keep a jug of anti-freeze, couple qts of oil and some basic tools. It's not to take the place of a dedicated wheeling kit, but just for everyday driving around.




I had some empty volume behind the AC condenser behind the sheet metal that I thought would suit. So I cut a hole and flanged the edge.

I cut a door out of some thicker aluminum to fit.

I didn't want the hinge to show, so I designed a hidden hinge on cardboard.

Cut out it looks kind of strange.

Folded up, it looks like this.

This is how it should sit closed.

And open.

Seems OK, let's commit to metal.

First fold.

Had to cut and flange the one side.

And final bending.

I riveted a hinge with some plate nuts on.

Screwed to the skin and closed.

Open.

Riveted the door on and walla.

Now we just need a latch. But wait, I just noticed the hinge is taking up room in the opening. Couldn't I make this much more time consuming if I redesigned at this point? Let's see. How adopt a little test piece.

Then extrude the test piece out full width. Let's see what happens when you bend a tight bend with the grain.

Bend another piece cross grain, drill all the rivets on the old door and re-rivet the new hinge and we have access.

Install a simple key latch and we have compartment.

You might notice the latch doesn't hold the door tightly shut. So I riveted a thick piece of aluminum in the flange.

Not exactly Binky worthy, but I'm happy.

I bought this air cleaner awhile back on the bay. It went on a piece of heavy equipment that had a 4BT on it. Both of the elements go inside. I was told that it might not flow good with the inner element in place. (Because I have a differnt turbo.)

It's good quality, but there's two problems. The inlet side is 4 1/2" diameter. The outlet side is 3 1/2" diameter. Both are weird sizes to get hoses for. After some searching, I found a 4 1/2" hose. On the outlet side I couldn't use a 3 1/2" even if I found some because the inlet on the turbo is 3". So I found this rubber reducer. I cut a short piece of stainless to join it to my 3" aircraft hose.

The aircraft hose is made of red silicone and can take 500 degrees. I have it routed from the engine over to the pax side of the truck where the air cleaner is mounted. I used tieraps right now, but it will be properly secured later.

The hose comes up to the cleaner here.

I haven't run it yet. It has a vacuum gauge on it to tell you when to change it. I plan to run it at full blast and have someone ride in the back to see if the vacuum gets high enough to pull the gauge into the red. If it does, I will pull the inner element.

[/QUOTE]

I made a cover for the battery tray awhile back. It fit real tight, but I couldn't leave it like that. Once the truck gets painted, I would scratch the shit out of it. If I cut it down so it was loose, it would bounce out without something to secure it.




I got a couple of these flush aviation latches. I've used them before and I like the look/operation.

While they work nice, they not real easy to install. I think the big aviation mfg. have some kind of punch press to make the hole. I didn't have that luxury, so I made a template.

I used the template to trace the hole and drilled/cut/grind from there.

All riveted in they work/look good. (Imho)

Thanks. The latch I really wanted to use is this.

These ones are a lot easier to mount. (Just round holes) They also have a small rubber lip around them that makes them waterproof when shut.

The down side is $70 apiece. (The ones I used are about $15). I often say I don't have a budget on this project, but I just couldn't swallow that differnce. The one in the pic I bought used for $20. I might use it for a glove box or something.

 

[WaterH]

Engine cover




So I needed to make a cover for the engine. It had to be strong because it is the front of the bed. First thing I hade to do was frame out the opening. Here you can see the angle aluminum I installed along the side and top. If you look close, you can see a "pin" that bolts through the black frame tube.

I have a mating hole in the reinforcement angle on the cover.

When the cover sits on the pins (one on each side), the side can't go anywhere.

Here you can see the construction of the cover from the back side. It's all 1/8" 6061-T6.

The cover attaches to the bed rails with four flush latches. (The same ones I used on the battery cover) These latches were a lot harder to fit. For some reason they would not shut on 1/8" even though they are designed for it. I ended up grinding the flanges to about .090"

The result looks pretty good and I can walk all over it. (No flexing)

I cut two slotted holes in the side to give me a handle. The cover is heavier than you would think.

After finishing the cover, I had a crazy idea. What about a couple seats mounted facing back on the cover? Kind of like the old Subaru Brat. It's strong enough. Be kind of fun riding back there.



Long ago, someone posted I should have an escape hatch and a "ring mount" was brought up. For those unfirmillier, it's a hole in the roof with a swivel for a gun. While a true ring mount is not really practical, I like the millitary look and totally suits the build. So why not waste a bunch of time on it?




First, I need to reinforce the roof and get rid of the razor sharp edge I will create. I started with a piece of angle on the bead roller.

Squeeze the edge and it gets a pretty good curve.

After quite a bit of back and forth.

Finally matches my template.

Repeat and I have the bottom. They don't match perfect, but pretty close.

The plan for the cover is to have it pivot to the side.

To make the pivot, I used some aluminum round stock. I had to ground a tool to cut a o-ring groove.

I drilled the same hole pattern in a couple other plates. One to clamp the pivot to the roof and the other to clamp on the cover.

Here's the general idea.

More on ring mount next up date.



Next bit of nonsense is a knob to lock the pivot. Started with a chunk of scrap aluminum.

Drilled a hole in it and put bolt in to mount in the lathe.

Start by rounding the corners.

Keep going till it's round.

Chuck the round and cut off the hump.

Clamp it in the mill and do a hole pattern on the edge.

You get the idea here. This knob will be on the lower side.

I thought it looked a little boring, so I did some carving on the lathe.

Next update, more ring mount.



The next bit of machining is kind of cool, if I do say so myself.




I needed to hold the bolt on the top of the cover. A recessed hole is needed, but it must be hex shape. First I spot face a 3/4" over the hole.

Next, I used a 1/8" endmill in a small six hole pattern.

Here is the tricky part. I was able to cut two flats in the recess because they were parallel to the table travil. But the other four flats didn't line up with anything. If I had a CNC, the computer could figure it out and run stepper motors. For my manual machine, I had to do something else. I got lucky that I allready had six threaded holes in the plate. I actually threaded four bolts in and clamped it in the vice on the bolts. So I just turned it 60 degrees and clamped it back in the vice and cut two more flats.

One more time and I had this.

Bolt fits nice and tight and can't turn.

So now it's pretty much worked out. (The knob goes under the wood)

Next update, still more ring mount.



Next issue I figured wind might try to drive rain under the cover from the front. So I made a lip to go on the front edge.

I welded it on the cover with aluminum "stick" welding rods. I have a Tig, but I wanted to try them. They worked pretty good for this. This is the first time I have used them. I think they are a good deal for someone that doesn't have a Tig or if you run out of argon.

I welded about two inches at a time after tacking. I did get some warp. Just a slight curve to the cover. This actually worked in my favor because now rain should run off the cover. (It would suck to pivot it after a rain storm and get a face full of water)

Next was the hard/scary part. Cutting a hole in the roof.

It looks tight, but there's enough room to stand behind the console comfortably. It would be easy for a bikini girl to wave in a parade or a guy to wave a gun. LOL. Not sure if a spotter would be much use there.

Unobtrusive closed. (There's also a rollbar that goes across right behind the opening)

From the inside, it's far enough back not to be in the way.

There's a little post on it to grab so you can open and close it after loosening the knob.

I still have some work on this, but I'm on vacation now. So it will have to wait.



Not a lot getting done. Mounted the gauges in the dash. (bought them years ago.) Of course there not wired.

They look pretty good. I can see the speedo and tach in the wheel. A little tough to see the first two little gauges.

Not sure the final order of the small gauges. (They all have to come out later for paint.)

[/QUOTE]

 

[WaterH]

So I finally finished welding the roll bar. I did everything possible to make sure it didn't warp when I welded it. Of course, it warped and I had to use a jack and torch to get it back in to shape. You can see some holes in the bar. They are bushings I welded in. They add some rigidly and give me something to bolt on later. The bushings are sized that they can be threaded for 1/2"-13 or a 3/8" bolt will go in right now.

I got some headlights and buckets. These were halogen. I wanted LEDs, so I got these bulbs that go in a halogen mount.

Fitted to the lens.

Cutting a mount hole in the front of the truck is scary business. So I first cut in a scrap piece.

I was going to trace this hole on the truck when I came up with another idea. Since I was going to use a holesaw, I made a template for the pilot holes.

This worked really good. I just cleecoed the template on and drilled the pilots. Then in with the saw.

A cutoff wheel finished the job and in went the bucket.

Did the other side and it has eyes!

A little more work and I had turn signals.

So I need to update this before I get too far ahead.




I mounted some LED tail lights. (Not wired) Simple looking, but I like em.

Also note the license plate mount. It's just a piece of stainless with some "nutzerts". First time I have used my nutzert gun. Pretty nice.

I ordered a block to mount on my AC compressor. Of course, it didn't point the right way. So I cut off the tubes.

Then I welded them back on the other side and pointing down. (I put plugs in the original holes.)

Here you can see it on the compressor. Still need to get a longer bolt to hold it on.

I also got some Spal fans for both the radiator and AC condenser. (2 for each) I had to make a new shroud for the rad because I was set up for a Flexilite. The Spal come highly recommended and they appear to be better quality. (They are very proud of them)

I like the idea of four identical fans. If one fails, I could move one to the other location.

I know this is not the most exciting update, but some are totally uninterested.

Even when prodded, they give you that "you woke me up for this?" Look.

I needed some aluminum welded and it had to be good. That ment I couldn't do it. Lol. So I hooked up the tow bar.

It didn't tow very well and I only went about 30 mph. I've towed with this same set up before and it worked fine. I found out later I had the front wheels locked and the T-case was in 4Hi. Fortunately, it was only about ten miles. It was wild looking in the mirror.

The part I needed welded is the fender lips. The guy who welded them is a aircraft welder. His welds looked good enough to leave as is.

I choose to grind the welds down.

Although they are easy to see here, it doesn't show much in person. I think they will disappear once painted.

I ended up driving it back because of the bad towing manners. It was all back roads.


Small update.




I want this to look millitary. I'm thinking green and black camo. I did some research on "Steel Soldiers". I found the numbers for the proper colors. Also recommendations on paint. It might sound funny, but those guys say the best paint is latex house paint. Specifically, Bahr marque. The guys over there said I might not want to go flat because it's hard to wash. The consensus is satin will still look authentic and be much easier to keep clean.




I got a sample can of paint. I have never been a painter. I would never attempt to paint a nice car, but in this case, I'm thinking a run here and there will probably look millitary. I decided to spray the center float for a test to see how the paint lays.




I was told I must etch the aluminum first. I got some aircraft etching stuff and wiped it on. After a minute or so I rinsed it off. Then I wiped on a alodine "conversion" coating. This stuff is suppose to be the best stuff to stick paint. After it sits on the metal for a few minutes, your suppose to rinse it off with lots of water and let air dry.




Of course that would take along time, so it would be much easier to just wipe it off with a wet rag. That's what I did. Well I guess I didn't quite get all the stuff off. I sprayed the paint in the evening and it looked great. The next morning it looked like this.

I sware it didn't have any of this when I went to bed. It was almost completely dry. I figured next morning the sun would have it baked on. I'm guessing it was the alodine.

I have since done the other side of this float. I still used the etch and alodine, but I thoroughly rinsed it before painting. I don't have any pics, but it went much better.



Over due for an update.




If you follow this, you remember the exhaust came out the back like this.

Right after I got it finished, I had people tell me that the back of the truck will be covered with soot if I drive it down the highway. I wasn't to keen on getting soot on my clothes, but I figured I would cross that bridge when I come to it. Now something else has come up. When standing on the side of the tailgate while idling, you get exhaust in the face. There are other issues I won't go into.




So I guess it's time to redesign.




First I cut the tube off and welded a flange joint on. The length between the two mounts is for a muffler. (If I decide to install one)

On the other end of the flange I welded a 45 and a short straight length. I cut the straight length off at a 45 just outside the side skin.

Of course, I had to cap the ends and purge with argon. Even though I did this, the welds don't look that great. (Should be leak proof though)

Cutting the hole in the finished side was kind of scary, but it went well.

I think the slashed exit looks good. Hopefully, the exhaust exiting the side will keep the soot from getting sucked into the vacuum of the rear of the truck.

Now of course, I have a hole in the back where the previous exhaust was. I will address this next up date.

 

[WaterH]

Ok, now I have a hole in the back of the truck. Of course, I could make another aluminum piece without a hole. It's not that big or complicated piece, so it wouldn't be that hard to duplicate. But I have another idea. I'm making a step so I can climb into the bed. It will be a tall step and really needs a place to grab to help you pull yourself up. I figured this hole will be the perfect location for a handle.




First, I made the hole alittle bigger and squared off a bit.

I didn't want people to be able to see into the fender from this hole. So I made a inner piece to block the view.

The actual handle was easy to make out of some scrap. I didn't have to be concerned with looks to much because most of it won't be visible. I made it bolt to the same holes that held the previous exhaust mount.

All and all, it came out good. Very comfortable to grab and pull yourself up. The pics didn't come out so good. But you get the idea.

Next update I'll show you the step I'm working on.


Ok, I got my Supermotors site working again.




I made a simple fold down step. I wanted it up out of the way when not in use. I used two different length bars so it doesn't fold exactly parallel. (Pretty close) I made it out of some scrap aluminum to get the lengths right.

Then I duplicated it in steel and welded on the back side of the bumper.

I put some diamond on the step.

When folded up, it is almost invisible. Shouldn't catch on anything.

So here is the procedure to get in the bed. You step on the step with your left foot and grab the handle. Pull yourself up and put your right foot on the bumper right behind the fender. Then put your left foot on the tailgate and up you go.

It's not real hard, but is still kind of a tall step. I don't know if you can see, but there is a spring loaded latch on the step that holds it securely when it's in the up position. (I don't have a good pic of it) To put it down, I must reach under the bumper and push the spring and pull it out.



Well I've been working on the doors for quite awhile. I don't like doing an update untill I have something finished. But these doors are such a project, that I will show them even though their not done.




First, I welded a frame out of aluminum channel. A lot of shitty welding and grinding and cutting and welding again, I finally got something that fits the opening.

They close almost flat. (Maybe a 1/4" off top to bottom.) They will flex to fit flat.

I choose to make the windows manual roll up. I didn't want to wire electric and every electric window car I've ever had has failed at some point. I got the mechanism from a Nissan pickup at a junk yard.

The window tracks were a major bitch. I couldn't find any place that sells them. I was able to get the rubber that fits in them. So I made the tracks out of .032". It took many try's to get a track to fit.

They snap into the channel of the door very tight.

After installing all around the top, I cut a piece of wood to check operation.

It seemed to work decent.

I'll type up some more shortly.



Ask and yee shall receive.




Next thing to address was the sideview mirrors. I bought two differnt styles. One was kind of like a big rig. It looked cool, but stuck out too much. I picked the smaller one. The mirror came with all the mounting, but I didn't like the way they did it. So came up with a simple aluminum mount made from two pieces of angle.

It is close to the body. Not as likely to get hit by trees and such.

Since the doors and mirrors make differnce in the looks, I figured it was time to take some outside pics.

The pax side window is up in these pics. (Hard to see)

While I had it out, I took it for a drive around the block. I'm out in the country, so my "block" is about 4 miles around. (Half paved, half dirt) It is the first time I drove it with mirrors. You can't imagine how hard it is to drive with out mirrors. Especially, on something like this. It's kind of like a panel van. (You can't see anything once it gets past the door post.) Anyways, its way nicer to drive with mirrors. (It's also the first time I backed it in the garage without getting out to check my progress several times.

After the short drive, I knoticed the new exhaust got black inside. I guess it doesn't take long.

 

[WaterH]

This update is very small for how much work it was. (And still going on)




First, after the success of the pax window, I made a template for the driver's door. Took it to the glass place and they sent it off. A week later it was back. When I tried it, the holes were in the wrong place. I figured I would put it in anyways to check the fit. Didn't fit right. I marked where it needed changed and gave it back to them. I knew they had to make a new piece of glass to get the holes right. (Their fault) I told them I would be happy to pay half the cost to get the fit better.




It came back in a week at no charge. The holes were in the right place, but the rest was exactly the same. Arggg. So I took it back and sent it out again. At home I got to thinking about it and decided to check the pax glass out better. On closer inspection, it was about 1/8" to narrow. It works, but really not as nice as it could. I guess when it get the drivers back, I'll be dropping off the pax again.




Now, on to the door handles. I liked the door handles on the early Chevy trucks. They are just a simple design with the key lock incorporated in it. I bought one at an auto parts store to try. It was a fair amount of work to mount because it mounts with two screws at differnt angles. I don't know why engineers do stuff like that.

I rigged up a bell-crank wheel to operate the latch. Another to operate the lock. The lock was a PITA because the stock arm did not go the right way for my application. So I made a wheel for it.

The latch worked great, but the lock not so much. I could lock and unlock the latch with the key, but the key can only be removed in the center of its travel. At that location, the lock is not engaged. I ended up slotting the wheel on the tumbler. This allows the key to move the mechanism to lock or unlock and then slides in the slot back to center to remove the key.




Not sure if you can see the slot here.

Since it all worked, I went back to the auto parts store to get the other handle. Guess what? They don't sell the other side. I went to three parts stores and all of them only have drivers side. Arrrgg. I guess the pax side never wares out.




So I ordered one on e-bay. GM made this style handle on late 90's trucks. In the early 2000's they made almost exactly the same handle except it's about 1/2" shorter. Of course, I ordered the wrong one. Arrrg. Nobody would ever know the differnce on each side of the truck....................but me. So order another one.




Finally, I have two handles with locks that work.

I still have to work out the inside releases and lock buttons. The buttons should be easy, but Ive allready tried and failed on one design of release handle. But that's another update.



Ok, I'm suppose to be finishing the doors. But I've tried four differnt inside door handles and I can't make any of them work. So rather than keep working on that, I moved on to something else.




I wanted a back window so I could have some view out the back. I realize it won't be real useful because the truck is so tall. The other thing I wanted was a "hatch" that I could crawl through to get from the cab to the bed of the truck.




First thing to do is make a frame to stiffen up the rear bulkhead. I had to do some experiments to cut and bend the aluminum angle. I found that just cutting a pie shape out would crack. I figured out if you drill a hole, file the hole out both ways just a little, it doesn't crack when bent.

After figuring that out cut up a long angle.

Bent it up and welded, I have a frame.

I mounted the frame and traced the center.

After cutting it out, I confirmed I can crawl in and out.

Next, I made some ribs on the inside to frame out and stiffen the back wall.

Alittle more sheet metal and I have a wide strong sill.

This sill is easy to crawl over with any sharp edges to cut or catch on your clothes on.

Next update, the window hatch.



So I made a template of the window/hatch.

I made it out of .063" aluminum. It wasn't stiff enough, so I got the aluminum angle back out. This time I wanted the angle bent with an outside bend, so I got the beadroller going.

Rolling the edge to make it bend is hard work and takes some time. Eventually I had a frame.

I couldn't find any latches I liked, so I made some I didn't like.

They look pretty crude, but work OK. Note the cheap handle I happened to have around.

On the bottom, I just have two tabs that slide into the frame. I was riveting the hatch together when I got to looking at the tabs. I really think they look like an afterthought.

Since they will be seen from the outside, I had to change them.

It works and looks good. (By my standards)

Right now I just have some scrap rubberstrip around it. But that makes the latches hold securely.

On to the next issue.




If you have been following, you've heard me say I would like a canvas top on the back. Like the old troop carriers. I was planing to take the finished truck to a place that makes boat tops. I talked to one guy and he didn't seem to enthusiastic about it. He said if you have one, he can duplicate it, but he didn't want to make it from scratch.




I remembered in the corner of my shop I have a rolled up tarp of good quality material. I got it when the hurricane distroyed our canopy at my wife's restaurant deck. It is black and a little shinny for my tastes, but the price was right. (About 20 grand new) there certainly was a big enough piece to do this cover.




First thing to do was install a frame on the back of the cab. I could just snap the canvas on the cab, but I thought it might get stripped off at high speed. With the frame set in about an inch, I figure the wind won't get underneath. I just bent it some angle and welded the corners. It might be kind of hard to see it here.

Next, I needed some frames down the bed sides. I used two pieces of channel. I want to be able to completely remove the frame and cover if I don't like it, so I used the same mount screws that hold the bed rail tops on.

The outside of the channel lines up with the angle on the cab.

Next, I needed some hoops. This sounds kind of ghetto, but I used electrical conduit. It is pretty close to what they use on convertible tops and easy to work with and galvanized. After much test bends, I got a finished hoop.

Allot more bending and I had a few.

I was thinking of making aluminum plugs to insert in the end to bolt through. I still might do this, but I came up with an easy way to attach them to the channel. Nutzerts. I haven't used them much since I got the kit, but they seem to hold great on the conduit.

After nutzerting the rest of the hoops and drilling the channel, I had this.

Obviously, there needs to be some more bracing here, but you get the idea.

Now the big opinion question. You have to imagine the black canvas on it with these hoops making "ribs". Will it look better like this?

Or should I tilt them forward to match the back of the cab like this?

If I get a chance, I'll pull it outside so you can see it better.

 

[WaterH]

I got some more work done. I installed some more nutzerts and a piece of flat bar on the sides. This located the hoops much better and I can grab one and shift them all. (I don't have an angle brace yet)

As mentioned before I have this tarp from my hurricane damaged patio cover. It is shinny on the outside and flat on the inside. I like the flat side, but I called the installer and he said it can't be facing out.

I decided to snap the front edge of the tarp to the cab. I didn't go down the sides because it will probably change depending on my hoop choice.

I pulled the tarp as tight as I could, but it is hard to get flat. (I wish I washed the tarp when it was on the ground)

I couldn't take the truck out because it was raining bad, but you can see the slanted hoops vs vertical.

I know it's hard to see the differnce inside the building. Maybe I'll get it out tomarrow.

One thing, I cant really show the ribs unless the tarp is stretched tight. I think it will look better with the ribs showing.





Took a break from the roof cover to work on HVAC.




I got a lot of stuff from Vintage Air. I have to say I'm not happy with that company. One of the things I'm not happy with is their defrost vents. I don't have a pic, but they are very cheap looking and have chency mounts.




I got these defrost vents from Summit and like them much better. In fact, I'm using them for defrost and my heat outlets.

The only issue I had was they were perpendicular to the mounting surface. That was fine for my heat outlets under the dash, but it was too steep of an angle to defrost the windshield. So I made these little sockets to change the angle.

These sockets mounted to the under side of the dash glare shield. Here you can see how they pass through the shield.

Here you can see the glare shield installed. The defrost vent just barely clears the windshield wiper motor. (Right behind the steering valve)

It's hard to get a good pic, but here you can see the defrost vent installed. I have since painted the aluminum flat black, so this is pretty hidden now.

Some more on HVAC next update.



I wanted a combined heater/AC unit, but I couldn't fit any of the models I checked. Kind of irritating I can't fit them in such a large dash. But actually most heat/AC units are half inside and half under the hood. In my case there is no "under the hood".




So I ended up choosing a Summit heater.

And a Red Dot AC unit.

I'm very pleased with both of these units construction. Fitting them under the dash was tight, but doable.

I had to make a few ribs to hang them off.

You can see how tight it all fits and can imagine how stuffed it will be after plumbing and ducts.

The heater came with two outlets for 3" hose. My defrost ducts are only 2" and my heat outlets are the same. So I needed four 2" outlets for ducts. The defrost kits I bought came with plastic ends that would snap in a proper hole. So I made my own plenum.

Attached to the heater box, you can see I made some sharp bends to route the duct hose better.

You might note that I will have no control of the heat/defrost flow. I will be able to control the hot water to the core and the fan speed, but the air flow will go to both defrost vents and both heat vents. (Pointed at your feet) Not sure if this will be a problem. If it turns out to be an issue, I'll have to make some kind of valve.




I'll finish this up next up date.



Back to the HVAC,




Here you can see the heat diverter installed.

The next thing was to install some AC vents in the center of the dash.

These vents came frame Vintage air. While there pretty simple, I have a complaint. On the back there is an oval flange to plug the 2 1/2" hose on. The hose goes on real loose. I thought I got the wrong vents.





So I got two more vents from Vintage. It was tight to fit the driver's side because it's close to the gauges.

I like the look enough. Might freeze my hand. Lol

So I got the truck outside for something unrelated. Might as well take some pics of the top hoops.

I have the hoops locked vertical. To make them slanted is a matter of drilling two holes. I still haven't made a decision on this yet.

One thing kind of think is I should have made the hoops slightly taller than the roof. Not taller than the roll bar, but maybe the Same height.

I put some snaps on the leading edge before, so I snapped the tarp on. It looks kind of bad because it's not stretched tight.

I also tried to wash the tarp while I had it off. (Not very successful)

The reason I had the truck out was to take it to a glass place to install windshields and the lower windows. The glass place is closing for Corona, so they told me to come and get it. (Even though it wasn't done) They did get the two lower windows. Not sure if you can see them here. Of course, they cut the rubber seal alittle short.

I flat towed the truck to the glass shop. I drove it back on all back roads. (Mostly dirt) It was really fun to drive. It still has the sheet metal drum sound and some rattles. (I don't have all the screws in or rivets)






I figured I would finish up the bed cover. First, I needed a way to hold the tarp relatively tight while I worked. The front edge was allready snapped on, so I hung a weight on the rear with some welding clamps.

I needed a way to mark the holes for the snaps. The snap company's have a "spike snap" for this purpose. I didn't have one, so I sharpened a screw.

I allready had threaded holes in my frames. I threaded the sharp screw in from the back side so it stuck out.

Then I would pull the tarp as tight as I could and push it on the spike to poke a hole. This pic shows the second hole being poked. (The first has a scribe in it) sorry I didn't take the pics in order.

Next, I would poke an awl through the hole to make it a but bigger.

The assemble the snap/rivet.

Finally, smack the snap tool with the hammer. The back side of the snap sits in a dished tool for this step. You can see the dish in the previous pic.

I would do two snaps on each side. Then I had to snap it all back on to Mark two more holes. It was very tedious. This material doesn't really stretch and the end result sucks ass.




I just couldn't get the sides tight and flat. If I were to do it again, I think I could do it better. But it will go to a professional next time.

All along I planned to take it to a canvas shop because I didn't like the shinny texture of this material. But I was hoping far a better job here.

I don't know if you can see in these pics, but I put the hoops vertical. Still don't know if I like it better, but it's probably the route I will go. Part of the reason I think my cover didn't go right is because I didn't make the hoops identical. So I might be making them again before it goes to a canvas shop.

 

[WaterH]

OK, that was a bitch moving all that from Pirate. but im cought up now. I got some more done and Ill have a new up date soon.

 

[backchat]

Thanks for moving it over like you did. I enjoy this build. Keep it up!

 

[gt1guy]

I had no idea this started out as a Bronco. That's awesome.

 

[WaterH]

I got some more done on the doors. I really needed some releases on the inside of the door. I bought quite a few from advanced auto, but couldn't make any of them work for me. So I decided to make some simple "push to open" levers.

I did the same thing on the door locks.

Then I made some arm rest/door pulls.

These door locks are kind of a pain. If you have them locked, you can't shut the door. So I made the lever in "lock" position in the middle of the door pull. Hopefully, you won't try to pull the door shut with it forward.

After that, I just started making pieces to close up the door on the inside. A middle forward piece.

Lower piece.

Rear middle piece.

Then I made a door pocket. I figured I need to have a place for a map or glock.

I'll get finished with the doors next update.

 

[Lurker]

Holy fuck. Now that I got more than a glimpse in your head, it all makes sense.

The thing is fucking cool and I commend you for sticking with it. Thanks for moving the thread, it was kinda weird without the commentary from other posters, but I enjoyed it. Good job Waterhead.

Oh and pics of the "step doughter" please!

 

[WaterH]

Holy fuck. Now that I got more than a glimpse in your head, it all makes sense.!

That's a scary thought. Lol.

Thanks for watching.

 

[Midget]

This is by far one of the coolest builds, thank you for moving it over!

 

[FJC11]

Way cool , can't wait to see more. :cool:

 

[Flatbed]

Dude, holy fuck. What a roller coaster of Grammar and do overs. It looks awesome man, thanks for moving this over and I will continue to follow it. Carry on Brother!

 

[WaterH]

Dude, holy fuck. What a roller coaster of Grammar and do overs. It looks awesome man, thanks for moving this over and I will continue to follow it. Carry on Brother!

Yea, if your looking for spelling/grammar, this is not the thread for you. Lol.

thanks for watching.

 

[WaterH]

So next up is finish the door pull. It had to extend down to cover the lock mechanism.

The front edge needed to taper in sharply so I can get to the window crank.

This door pull was one of the more difficult things to make. Now that it's done, I don't know why.

The two ends were attached with flush rivets. I don't really like flush rivets, but in this case, I might be covering the door pulls with upholstery. Note, I finally got some window cranks in black. (Chrome didn't suit me) Not sure if I will keep the door release chrome.

I'm worried that bare metal painted black will get pretty hot.

Of course, I had to duplicate everything on the other side.

 

[dnsfailure]

Glad you're moving this over, and continuing it! :-)

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Nobody hates you, ya big ****. Yer just stubborn and maybe a little stupid, like most of us.

Wait, Bgaidan might hate you, I don't really know. On the plus side, he's not here yet, but maybe he'll join to keep hacking on ya.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Nobody hates you, ya big ****. Yer just stubborn and maybe a little stupid, like most of us.

Wait, Bgaidan might hate you, I don't really know. On the plus side, he's not here yet, but maybe he'll join to keep hacking on ya.

Edit: Those stars are supposed to be ****.

Edit: whatthefuck? I'm being censored? Is this so this site can get picked up by the app store or something? When will this end? What else is censored? Shit Piss Fuck **** cocksucker motherfucker tit fart turd twat.