Project Twizler

[Twiz]

This is going to be a long post, I apologize for the inconvenience. But there are pictures to go along with it, hope that makes everyone happy, lol.

This project started a long time ago with a floor replacement. I learned to weld, grind, cut with an angle grinder, and a plasma cutter, and dozens of other things doing this. Lucky me someone approached me when he heard that I was just gonna take the truck (will be referred as Twizler from here on out) to a body shop because I didn't know how to do it.

[Twiz]

More rust pics

[Twiz]

Hence the reason to replace the floor.

So the first thing was the spider cage! That was the easy part!

[Twiz]

Now for cutting, cutting, cutting, cutting, I'm tired of cutting, and more cutting. Hey the floor is out! That was a pain in the a$$!

I seemed to have forgotten to take a pic of one of the cab corners after I cut it out... I'm sure you guys have seen one though, if not, use google. lol

Edit; It occers to me that one of these pics isn't of the floor. Don't know how to delete it. Sorry about that.

[Twiz]

After cutting the rockers out we realized we can't just put the floor in and weld it up. We moved the cab onto the bed and pushed the front end forward to set the floor onto the frame, then moved the cab onto the floor. Had to use a cherry picker and 3 people to move that damn cab! Kinda heavy...

[Twiz]

Yay! It fit!

Also replaced the rockers while I was at it.

[Twiz]

Started work on the cab corners... DON'T BUY THEM FROM LMC! They did not match the bend in the cab and had to be forced to move. I am planning on replacing them again because they are so far from correct for this truck. I have no idea how LMC gets away with them.

[Twiz]

And then other repair panels in the cab. I still have some work to do on them because I forgot to clean some metal before welding them.

[Twiz]

After that I put Twizler back together and left on a deployment. Wasn't done, but I had to leave. When I came back I found that my 283 that was in her had froze and busted some water jackets. Heartbroken, I tore it down and decided to turn it into a propain grill. Haven't even started that yet... Twizler just kinda sat in the shop for a few years till I got out of the military and started school at Hot Rot Institute. Brought the old girl in and started building the chassis.

Decided to C-notch the frame, dissasimble the front end and POR it. Reassimble it, and went back to work on the back half. Lots of pics for that stuff. As you can see in one of the pics I measured wrong and made the notch too tall. Took it back apart and re cut, perfect fit!

[Twiz]

Every bend has a fish plate on both sides inside the metal. Used 1/8th diamond plate steel for those, drilled holes in the new frame and welded them in. Then 2 90 degree plates where the new frame mounts to the old frame. Those were fun to weld... Wish I could have used a lift.

[Twiz]

After that I went to work on my axle. Using a ford 9 inch big bearing. No idea what it came out of, picked it up for $50 5 years ago. I don't even know if he knew it was a big bearing. Decided to shorten it so I could put 16 inch wide tires on the back. cut about 10 inches off each end. Used a digital level to zero out the axle side to side and front to back. Then found the degrees the housing ends were on from the factory. They were both 6 degrees down to the back. Used a hose clamp to make my mark around the tube to cut straight. Then had to cut some tubing off the housing ends so they would fit back into the tube I was using. Also had to measure for how far the disk brake kit would stick out, and find backspacing on the wheels I'm going to use. Decided to go with a 4 and 3/4 inch backspacing. All that added up to around 10 inches on each side, can't remember exactly how much I cut off. Also had to center on the pinion, not the housing itself.

[Twiz]

After that I installed a sway bar on the front. Didn't want to spend too much money so I bought the bushing for it, but not the mounts. The bar came out of a salvage yard and I built the mounts. Did some drilling and new hardware, then the prying to get everything to line up...

[Twiz]

After this class ended, I brought the truck home and ordered a disk brake kit and axle shafts. A buddy is supposed to get me a 3rd member for the axle but hes been sick and I haven't been able to get a hold of him. Hoping hes doing better, worried about his health more that the 3rd member but it's been over a week sense I last heard from him. Currently looking for a 31 spline big bearing 3rd member that is fairly cheap. Building on a tight budget...

Also just started body class at HRI so I'll post more as I get work done.