M37B3 Project

[k8icu]

Looking great!

BTW - where did your username "k8icu" come from?

Thanks. It's my amateur (ham) radio call sign. I've been a ham for 42 years. Originally licensed as ka8icu but I was able to get a vanity call sign and drop the A out of it. Most people did on the air anyway so I thought might as well make it official ... LOL.

[John Mc]

I thought so.

I had a ham license back in the mid to late 70s when I was in Jr High and High School (WB8ZLL - hard to believe that was 46 years ago). Started with a Novice, had no trouble getting the technician, but never went beyond that. I had no trouble with the theory/technical side of things, but at the time the Morse Code requirement for a General license was 13 WPM. My first radio was a Heathkit crystal controlled CW transceiver I built from a kit. I just did not have the time to practice and get up to that speed. I dropped it and sold my gear when I went off to college.

[PoW]

W7TFO here.

73's

PoW

[k8icu]

So, I had to figure out how to paint the underside of the frame. I don't have a lift. I wasn't going to lay on my back. My kids are all adults with their own kids and the grandchildren are not old enough to help grandpa in the garage. Flip it on it's side and paint it. Yep that's what I did. I used my engine hoist and the help of my son and son-in-law to get it on it's side. When I was done. I use the hoist again and the winch from my 1500 Ram to pull it back over. It was easy peasy. Now I can start bolting stuff back on the frame.

[NAM VET]

good to see the pics. Restoring these old, heavy Vehicles is back breaking work. Took me a year of near full time work on my own. Our own "patina" includes a few scars and wounds. Just stay at it, and one of these days you will fire it up and head on out onto the road. Hal

[Cal_Gary]

Unorthodox but effective! Well done!
Gary

[k8icu]

Unorthodox but effective! Well done!
Gary

Yeah I discovered that my diff had plenty of oil in them LOL. I had to keep cleaning to paint because they leaked out of the vent holes. But hey I got it all painted and it's now ready for parts to bolt in. Hopefully I'll get back out there in a few weeks. Lots of stuff going on right now.

[k8icu]

Got a little more work done. Got the front and rear shocks on, the rear bumpers, the pintle hitch, the crossmember for the transmission and the running board brackets on, and painted all the hardware. Next is to figure out if I want to rebuild the front axle or the rear axle.... decisions decisions. LOL.

[k8icu]

Okay I decided to start on the rear axle. Here is my saga so far....

Started working on the rear axle. Back in 2009 I ordered disk brake conversion kits off of that auction site that stated that the kit would fit either a Ford or a Dodge Dana 60 rear axle. The kit uses new rotors and calipers from a Chevy truck. Well, I got around to installing the kit this month. The rotor fits the hubs just fine. But the original bracket for the calipers didn't work. First the caliper did not fit properly between the opening in the bracket. Secondly, I think the kit was designed for a longer hub as once I put the hub and rotor on and got the nuts tightened to the proper preload, the caliper would not fit onto the rotor. It was like the caliper needed to go back another inch or so. Hmmm I'm thinking the originator of this kit new it would work on a Ford, but was guessing if it would fit a Dodge. Here is how the bracket looked on the axle for the original bolt up.

I have to say that the bracket not only did not fit the caliper but the bolt holes for the bracket to bolt to the axle were not quite in the right place and I had to make the larger in order to get the bracket to bolt up. Also, when the hub and rotor were mounted on the axle the rotor rubbed againts the bracket which was no good.

So, I went on line to try and find the correct bracket. I found what I thought was the right bolt on bracket from Rough Stuff Specialties. Less than $100.00 so I ordered them and they shipped right away and the next weekend I was back working on the truck. But this time the mistake was mine in that I thought if it's designed for a Dodge Dana 70 it will fit a Dodge Dana 60 no problem. After all, how different can they be? Right? Wrong. These brackets moved the caliper to far back and the only way to get the caliper to fit the rotor was to mount it incorrectly which would make the caliper bolts to short. Here is how that looked.


So, I contacted the folks at Rough Stuff and they were great. Very helpful, we talked through things and it came down to they didn't make a bracket that was bolt on for the Dana 60 Dodge axle, but they did have a weld on bracket that they could sell me. We worked out an RMA for me to return the Dana 70 brackets after I cleaned the OD paint off them and I said I would think about the weld on bracket. Well, I slept on it all night and I woke in the morning thinking 'ya know I could take the original brackets and modify them to weld onto the axle and also widen the opening so that the caliper fit better and make those work. So, that's what I did. I modified the brackets and welded them onto the axle and then bolted up the calipers and all is well. Here are the end results.



You know sometimes I do it nice because I do it twice or even thrice (that's fancy way of saying three times) LOL! More to come...just wishing the calendar wasn't moving so fast. It's getting cold here and soon I wont be able to work on this thing at all.

[k8icu]

Here is a link to a blog post I wrote for work. I 3d printed a part for the roof of my truck. Thought I'd share it with you all.
https://heightslibrary.org/3d-printing-one-mans-story/

BTW I have completed the work on the rear axle. New diff cover gasket, new pinion shaft seal and a new breather vent. I will now be moving forward to the front axle next.

[k8icu]

Well, the cold weather has come upon us and I didn't get as much done before the snow fell as I wanted to. Story of my life Anyway between getting other things done around the house, my job and the holidays I was able to get out to the garage when the temps were above 35 deg. Colder than that I I can't function. My older bones don't like it. I started working on the front axle on the drivers side. This was a learning curve for me. I've never worked on an axle like this and I can see why so many people don't like them. It's a Dana 44 used on Dodge trucks from model year 1976-1979. It is a non lockable/freewheel hub, which is fine, but it's put together weird. As I was trying to learn and work when I could I didn't get pictures of the disassembly and reassembly. I will try on the passenger side when I get to it in about 90 days when it get's warm enough to paint again. Anyway, I pulled the whole brakes and rotor/hub assembly apart and I replaced the u-joint on the axle shaft, all new upper and lower ball joints, new inner and out seals, new inner and outer bearings, new rotor, caliper and brake pads. Because winter is here and the temps are now averaging in the upper 30s and lower 40s I didn't get the caliper painted like I wanted to, but I did get the steering knuckle, the pitman arm and the drag links painted and installed. The tie rod is also painted, but I won't install it until the other side is done and the wheels are back on so I can set the toe-in. Here is a pick of the rebuilt drivers side.

[Cal_Gary]

That is some impressive work, Joe-thanks for sharing!
Gary

[k8icu]

Well, I've been dead in the water so to speak since mid January. I went to close the garage door and the whole bottom rail cam off in my hand. It's a wood door and it separated from the rest of the door. With the help of my son-in-law I was able to get the door somewhat closed but haven't open it since even though we've had a few good days here and there where I could have done some work, but can't get into the garage because of the broken door. Contracted with one of the local door company for a new door and it's been 5 weeks waiting on the new door to come in. And it's not anything special... So until the new door comes in and it gets installed we are sitting in limbo with the truck.

[ez8]

That's quite a striking green you are using. What is it?

[k8icu]

34094 “383” C.A.R.C. Substitute Late 1980’s to present base color for current 3 color camo pattern. Gillespie Coatings, Inc. Non-Acrylic Alkyd Enamel from Rapco Parts. I’m going to go with a modern look for the truck.

Update on my garage door. With any luck I should be able to get back into the garage after March 15th.