Donz '65 SWB Stepper Budget Build...

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Should be a sweet build when done!

[Ta2Don]

I sure hope so...

[Ta2Don]

Another Warm Sunny day in the middle of winter… High of 62F or 16C for my mates in the UK...
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Started the day hanging a tire swing for my Granddaughter's 9th Birthday… then off to the shed to continue with the frame swap saga...
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Finished cleaning and painting the Frame, Rear Crossmember, and Track Bar Mount… then bolted the crossmember and mount on with Grade 8 hardware and Loctite….

Here's the bottom side all done…
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Topside…
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Track Bar mount…
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Crossmember…
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Completed Frame ready for Suspension...
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[bj383ss]

Looking Good Don! You are trucking along. We are having the same weather here in Central Texas although a little bit warmer. High of 74 today and tomorrow maybe a record near 80!

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking great brotha!!! Now ya just need some clear coat! lol

[greg65]

Don you have been a busy man. Your frame looks great. can't wait to see picture of it sittin in front of your tattoo shop.

[Ta2Don]

Thanks Guyz!!!

Upcoming weekend colder and wetter, so I will concentrate on Cleaning and Prepping the Rear-End and Trailing Arms for paint and re-assembly...

[dwcardfan]

Lots of progress!!!!!! Looking good.

[jlsanborn]

Looks great! Keep on truckin' Don!

[Ta2Don]

Thanks Guyz!!!

Wet Nasty day today, so when the wife and dog started watching the Puppy Bowl, I made my way to the shed and built a couple of custom tattoo machine foot switches…

One of my fellow artists, wanted the Rat Trap one and showed me a pic of a Wrench one, so…

Here's the one I fashioned for me… Nevermind the bird poop welding...
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Rear View of the Electrical hookups…
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…and a few pics of the Rat Trap one for my friend Klown…
Here's the artwork…
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Finished product…
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Now it's time to watch the Super Bowl...

[Ta2Don]

Another day with decent weather and a bit of progress...

This is how the rear end set-up started today…
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In a matter of minutes I had the trailing arms separated from the rear end and ready to clean and paint… I used a wire wheel to clean the 50 year old bolts… Here is a shot of one cleaned and the other not...
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Here are the Trailing Arms, U-Bolts, and Lower Shock Mounts painted…
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Here's a shot of the Trailing Arm Crossmember Mounts painted and installed…
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The Frame and Trailing Arms now wait for me to get the Rear End Cleaned and Painted...
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…til nest time...

[dwcardfan]

[bj383ss]

Looking good Don!

[clemdaddy]

way to go don... nice detail and you're blowing through it. will be a roller before ya know it.

[Grizz1963]

Highly impressive progress Don.

I see JoJo checking out the progress too.

[Ta2Don]

Thanks Guyz!!!

If the weather guys and gals are close to right about this coming weekend's forecast... I should have a roller… That's the plan nonetheless...

[Jeff La]

Great work Don. Getting closer all the time.

[Bomp]

Checkin in and lovin the progress!!!

[Ta2Don]

Thanks for checking in...
Gotta get some upper and lower Rear Spring Mounting Bolts and hardware as the Rust monster has used the past 50 years to slowly gnaw at these bolts...
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Aiming to get this transformed into a roller this weekend...

[Ta2Don]

Started out today with a small list of Honey-Do's...
Some springtime pruning and clean-up started, more to come tomorrow...

Before, during and after the Honey-do's I cleaned and painted the rear-end
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Then painted the Upper and Lower Spring mounts…
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Bolted up the Trailing Arms and rolled the Rear-end in place…
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Track Bar was up next…
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Rolled the frame and Rear-End out into the Sun…67F today...
Moved the Front Xmember into place and installed…
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Final job of the day involved putting the P/S Box in place…
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till next time...

[rusty76]

Looking good!

[Bomp]

All that hard work is starting to pay off.
Looking reeeal nice.

[dwcardfan]

Very nice brother!!!! It won't be long you will have that beast on the road.

[Ta2Don]

Thanks Guyz...

Had a bit of a setback...
Seems in my rush to get the steering box mounted, I measured something wrong… When I started to find the right placement for the center link, I found that no matter where I place it the pitman arm is a bit low...
After another trip to look at the old bent frame, it seems I need to raise the rear of the box about a quarter of an inch… That should eliminate the Tie Rod rubbing the Lower control arm issue that I found after getting the box and adapter plate bolted and welded in place...
Note to self… Slow down and check everything before making sparks and melting metal…

The Saga continues...

[clemdaddy]

a good deal of progress this weekend Don. you got that roller going and it looks sweet. hope you have a great week...