The Duck Build.

[NGABronco]

Don't forget those little "L" brackets under each end of the dash...there's a driver side and a pass. side!!! Just saying!!!;D;D;D

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Glad to see Pops back out in the shop! Looking good!

He spent a good part of the day out there with me. Hoping he can do it again tomorrow.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Don't forget those little "L" brackets under each end of the dash...there's a driver side and a pass. side!!! Just saying!!!;D;D;D

Yeah they are not forgotten. I have to put them in tomorrow or Sunday so I can make an L bracket from the dash to the front of the AC. Then they will go back to their ziplock bag till I send them out to get plated.

 

[Mountain Ram]

Great to see you dad getting out... I assume he's seeing some improvement?

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Great to see you dad getting out... I assume he's seeing some improvement?

He is, it is just slow. He is weak but getting better more and more.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

I was fortunate to get a helping hand today. Andy drove his Stroppe up and helped me get some more items moved to the done column. We finished installing the driver rear quarter, weld, weld weld... then we test fit the hood, very happy with the outcome. I then fixed the dent in the front corner of the hood while Andy did some finish welding for me. After that I decided to finally tackle the hard top. I did not take many pictures because it was one of those keep going moments... I knew I had to replace the Pass side panel but when we removed the lift gate it was ate up pretty decent with cancer. My original top was still sitting outside and we flipped it over to have a look and the bad area on the good top was almost mint on the bad one so with a few delicate swipes of the saw-zall, a repair piece was carved, then cleaned and sectioned. Tomorrow I will drag some items outside for a quick clean by the sand blaster and then final fitment and weld the top back together... Andy was treated to some chocolate chip cookies and he is heading home now. Thanks again for the help, things always seem to go faster or at least more enjoyable when you have someone you can talk bronco with.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Well I didnt put a full day into it today but I did get more done. My initial plan was to take the top outside and blast the edge that was opened up from removing the old side panel and blasting the repair piece I cut from the old top. Thanks to the dreary rain today I had to go the long way around so I sanded and wire wheeled the rust out and then coated it with ospho on the top. On my repair piece that is about 4' long I decided to try and blast it in my HF blast cabinet... it is longer than the cabinet so I hooked up my vacuum, left the door open and draped some old shirts over to act as a dust shield and made sure all of my blasting was aimed towards the vacuum opening. It worked well, I ended up with about a pound of media on the shop floor and that was it. I will probably take a couple days off from it as I am hoping to only work a half day NYE and spend the rest of that day on the Bronco and NYD as well. If all goes as planned by the end of the weekend the metal work will be complete minus a few places to grind and touch up here and there. I am ordering steel in the am to build my body cart, I might get to build that next weekend as well.

 

[Mountain Ram]

Looks good Tom! You've come a long way since my last visit!

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Looks good Tom! You've come a long way since my last visit!

I don't know about you but I am sure tired of welding... I am glad I can see the wrenching sessions are right in front of me.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Well I just finished the next part of my build... designing my body cart so I can get the tub off of the chassis this weekend. Here are a set of prints for any who would like them. I designed the cart in a manner that when the body is off of it, it could be converted to a table by adding a sheet of plywood. The two 35" steel braces get welded in at the bottom of the legs if you are adding casters, if you want to use four 1/2" bolts, you could weld nuts in at the bottom add jam nuts and make it so you can level the cart to an uneven floor if need be.

Edit: Updated Cart Drawings to reflect finished build.

 

[wepuckett]

You gonna do bolt on risers then so the cart meets the body where the body mounts are at? So that the body doesn't flex on you at all while sitting there?

 

[englewoodcowboy]

You gonna do bolt on risers then so the cart meets the body where the body mounts are at? So that the body doesn't flex on you at all while sitting there?

That is where the 2x4 lumber comes in. Gives a soft base that you can easily drill and lag into to fasten the body to the cart through the existing body mount points in the cab. The front clip will just hang out in the open. I think I am going to drill 3/8" holes and just use old screwdrivers to peg it to it. Just remember this is a light duty cart just for painting etc. not intended for much else.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

A little New Year progress. Finished repairing rot on my top and fit the side panel. Now to get some hands to help set it on the tub so I can square it up and weld the gussets in.

 

[Bferrari]

Looks good buddy!

 

[englewoodcowboy]

I welded the panel to the top leaving the gussets loose. Now it's bolted to the tub and I have been tweaking it to get it perfectly square. They say to measure twice and cut once but with this it is measure 50x weld once...

https://vimeo.com/115881872

 

[stupidboy]

You have that looking like one of those Dynacorn bodies!!

 

[englewoodcowboy]

You have that looking like one of those Dynacorn bodies!!

It almost is. All of the panels have been Dynacorn and there is over 24 replaced...

 

[englewoodcowboy]

Got a little more done. Roof is finished and ground, body cart is almost done, building it light I need to bridge the deck area so I need to buy 1 more stick of steel. Started blasting the dash as well. Tomorrow I will spend some money and order the AOD adapter and trans tools I do not have. As soon as I get the tub off of the frame and tucked into the corner I am bringing the engine and trans out of storage to start disassembling them. The block will be sent to the machinist, the trans rebuilt then the T case then I will order the rest of the engine parts. This should take me through the winter and in the spring, paint will be flying.

 

[broncoitis]

Lookin good Tom! Keep on pluggin away! ;D

 

[englewoodcowboy]

A little more accomplished. Added the bridge gusset to my cart and it carries the weight well, just need to get a few more pieces of steel to X brace the ends and it is done and ready for paint time this spring. Leaving the front clip out there really makes finishing the engine bay much easier to do since the frame is not occupying the same space I need to to do my grinding and hole filling. I have to adjust the height of my risers a bit, they are a half inch too tall so I will address that tomorrow hopefully as well as the X braces then I can move that project to the done column.