Frame and Drive Train Restoration
So I took the next 2 days to put everything back together to the original manufacturer's torque spec. I am a lunatic when it comes to being overly cautious about this stuff. I don't my axles flying out from under the truck, and I want things to hold up under load, so I am meticulous (the guys I share the shop with would argue "anal" about this type of thing). Apparently, however, I was not anal enough to get the frame sand blasted - I still regret this, but the results, as you will see, were damn near just as good.
The frame, reassembled:
Look how clean it came up after all that work! It finally is starting to feel "worth it."
You will note that no lifted suspension was installed, and no special shocks. I have a vehicle inspection order that has to be passed, so I need to build this up to stock specs (safely and completely) and then I can stuff the kits in it later. What is disappointing is that I DID buy all new leaf springs, U-Bolts, and shocks and all that shit gets tossed when I upgrade the suspeion. Talk to me if you are interested in new, unused stuff.
In this next shot, note all the new stainless steel brake lines that I had to make and custom route around the truck:
It was at this point that I set the frame aside, and I started to work on the engine. I was a little daft here. I didn't take many shots of this process as I totally assembled it from scratch (it will sure be cool if it runs) and the shots of the work in process would have been nice to have. All that i have are the engine bottom end re-assembled:
From the front:
A close-up of the flat-topped, 4 relief, Federal Mogul pistons:
One more, just because I have it:
The deck on the block was milled, the heads milled, ported, and polisehed, the bore punched out 0.030" over, the crank turned, balanced, and blue-printed. All in all, she should turn those wheels.
Click next to see how it looks when the new transmission, NP205, and drive shafts are all put in and re-assembled...