MeanMark87's '88 BII Build thread

[MeanMark87]

I know I already had a thread on my purchase of this thing but I wanted to do a dedicated thread for just build/repair updates.

So I bought it recently and it looked like so:

So today I did a couple things....swapped out a tailgate handle from a '93 Explorer, put a new hood release handle on (used a recoil handle from a chainsaw ) and more importantly, swapped the rusty doors out for doors from a '92 Ranger. They have SOME rust but not nearly as much as the existing doors did. This summer will be the time for the massive amounts of body work and paint, but at least I'll save some time on the doors. The actual swap took about 20 minutes but the real bitch was getting the damn door to line up right. Next up is likely a muffler replacement.

 

[PetesPonies]

Why does society insist on "swapping out" things today?? What ever happened to just swapping? or replacing ? or changing? . . and not "changing out". Funny how everyone copies everyone else when something that isn't correct, runs rampant through the masses No direction needed for removing an item and replacing it.
OK, so you were the winner for my rant of the day. :icon_hornsup:

Truck looks to be one easily fixed. Some rust, but not falling apart as some are on here. I deal with rust all the time, but it sure is more fun to not have any. I guess I was lucky with my BII in those regards. Yours isn't bad. Are you planning a stock repaint? Certainly is much easier and less expensive than a color change. Or should I say a color change that is done correctly . . oh no, I feel another rant coming on Good luck and keep posting pics!!

 

[MeanMark87]

Why does society insist on "swapping out" things today?? What ever happened to just swapping? or replacing ? or changing? . . and not "changing out". Funny how everyone copies everyone else when something that isn't correct, runs rampant through the masses No direction needed for removing an item and replacing it.
OK, so you were the winner for my rant of the day. :icon_hornsup:

Truck looks to be one easily fixed. Some rust, but not falling apart as some are on here. I deal with rust all the time, but it sure is more fun to not have any. I guess I was lucky with my BII in those regards. Yours isn't bad. Are you planning a stock repaint? Certainly is much easier and less expensive than a color change. Or should I say a color change that is done correctly . . oh no, I feel another rant coming on Good luck and keep posting pics!!

Right now the plan is to sand down everything and go black with the paint, and then I'm going to decide what to do for trim. You can kinda see the original Eddie Bauer tan trim on the bottom, and I'm kind of tempted to re-do that. Not sure just yet. But I know I want flat black to be the overall color.

I know you're a body work whiz so I think I'm going to post some close ups of some of the bad fender rust on the rear wheel arches for some possible advice. The lower area of the wheel arch just in front of the back tire (on both sides) is basically nothing but rust. What I'm worried about is that once I hack out the rust there, there won't even BE a wheel arch corner left in that spot and I'll have to fabricate an all new one.

 

[PetesPonies]

Well, when you cut out the rust, yes sometimes you have some fabrication to do Do you have a welder or any welding experience? I used to teach MIG welding, so I can help you with that . . . as best as I can online. :icon_welder:

 

[MeanMark87]

Well, when you cut out the rust, yes sometimes you have some fabrication to do Do you have a welder or any welding experience? I used to teach MIG welding, so I can help you with that . . . as best as I can online. :icon_welder:

Well I don't have a welder but it's becoming obvious I'm gonna need one. My welding experience is pretty much limited to a small amount of mig welding I did welding a skid plate to a Cat loader once about 3 years ago....I'm not an expert at all. I'm eager to learn though....I'm going to have to tack some sheet metal to this beast to get the body looking nice.

I took a video today doing kind of a walk through on the truck. I'm a fan of PissersChannel/HacknPackShop on youtube so I did it in the same style he does just for fun.

http://youtu.be/E7BzuMd-GPc

 

[PetesPonies]

LOL . . OK, so your next purchase should be a MIG welder. A real MIG, not gasless :icon_confused: You will be using it a lot here for sure. And if you don't want to keep it ( who wouldn't though? ), you could always sell it after you are done. Along with the MIG, you need a cutoff tool or whizzer , a 4 1/2" grinder and of course an air compressor. Maybe you have those??

 

[MeanMark87]

Bit of an update, finally did some substantive work on the truck between last night and today. Finally nutted up and started tearing into the front end.

Here's the war zone....it's times like these I hate living in a shitbox with no garage. Getting the spindle off was easily the most frustrating part....I eventually went Clarkson on it and beat it to death with a 5lb hammer and a drift/wedge to separate the rust fusion with the steering knuckle.

Took the right front axle out because I noticed this U-joint was bad. And boy was it BAD. It's pretty much metal on metal all the way around. The worst part was the retaining clips had rusted together so pounding them out was quite fun....lots of pb blaster and wire wheel on that one.

Steering knuckle and right front axle out....note the upper ball joint stud....had to take the angle grinder to it after everything else failed. It had, you guessed it, pretty much rusted completely together with the camber bushing. It's getting all new balljoints anyway.

So yeah, that happened. Gonna press out the old u-joint and balljoints. New ones on order from Rockauto....then we do the other side.

Also working on some minor cosmetic stuff and interior issues. Pulled the dash and steering column covers apart to fix an intermittent ignition switch that was causing my radio to turn off every time I turned the wheel. Also got some 4x4 emblems and a new Ford oval for the tailgate and fenders off some old F150's at the junkyard. Gonna hold off on those till after paint though.

 

[PetesPonies]

Well I guess that's what life in Minnesota gets you huh?? lots of rust and not just on the body.

 

[MeanMark87]

Yep, pretty much all the vehicles I've ever owned have been like this to one degree or another. I have to say though this one might be one of the worst in terms of parts just completely fused together by rust.

 

[MeanMark87]

Well the whole front end rebuild is done. Both driver and passenger side got the following:

- inner/outer wheel bearings and wheel seals
- axle shaft seals
- front axle u-joints
- brake rotors
- upper and lower ball joints
- outer tie rod ends

Finished product on driver's side

Upper ball joint on the driver's side broke my pickle fork in half. Notice the ol' Made In China.

Ball joints

Muffler up next! From there, the body work starts. Step one for that is getting ahold of a welder....

 

[MeanMark87]

Did a bit on the B2 today.

First up I finished grinding down the exhaust flange, then bored out the flange holes to accept some 7/16" bolts. Then I bolted up the new muffler. It's the finest cheapest O'Reilly muffler but it's doing its job. Unfortunately, the way the catalytic converter was oriented meant that I had to install the muffler with the outlet pointing upward towards the cab floor. Once I fabricate/install a tail pipe it won't be an issue though. The engine is much quieter now, but I have to say I miss the super loud roar a teensy bit.

The next step was to start the laborious process of grinding down the really rusty areas of the rear wheel wells. I just wanted to get started a bit to see what I was in for. Based on what I found, most of the front side of the wheel wells will have to be flat out cut...not much good steel left there.

I then did some investigating (with help from you fine folks) with the steering gear. I've had some serious steering slop since I got it, and having ruled out most of the linkage pieces (tie rods, pitman arm etc.) and observing that the rag joint is in good shape, I noticed the slop was coming from the gear box itself. I tightened the worm screw a bit but this didn't help like I thought it would....and the gearbox started making some unpleasant noise when turning. So I returned it to its original setting and resigned myself to the idea I'm going to be putting a new steering gear in.

 

[PetesPonies]

And what's worse is there has already been someone here stuffing bondo into the hole. That's more to hold moisture and make it worse.

As for the box , there is a correct way to adjust the sector. You DO NOT just turn the sector screw in as much as you like Not saying you can adjust yours correctly and fix your problem. Possibly someone before has already "adjusted" the sector, which can easily make the problem worse.

 

[MeanMark87]

Yeah there are pockets of Bondo in the fenders. Near as I can tell, they used a wire mesh backing and then filled the rest in with a combination of bondo and what looks like Great Stuff or some other kind of expanding foam material. Either way it's horseshit. More than likely going to have to cut the cancer out. My tentative plan is to put clean steel on the backside and then fill in the small gap with fiberglass. I'm waiting until I move into my new place at the beginning of August before I get a welder though.

As for the adjuster screw, I only turned it 1/4 turn at first. That was apparently too much, so I backed it off 1/8th of a turn. Still making noise. So I backed it off again back to where I started. Noise went away but my steering is back to being pretty crappy. I'm gonna just get a new steering gear and face the music.