Recent content by pappawheely

I am sick of welding muffler tube. The muffler I have is single 3" in, double 3" out. I've been trying to do a difficult 90 degree turn up and 90 degree turn to the left to go over the frame rail with two tubes. I don't have a band saw, so it's been nearly impossible to cut the pipes perfectly...

Building my first exhaust system ever. Learning how to cut the pre-bent tubes to get where I need to go. I cut the flat flanges off my headers and replaced them with V-bands. I extended the collectors at the same time. Frieburger and Dolcich seem to think it helps the bottom end. I have to re do...

Sorry, but I need to vent. I'm ordering a lot of parts and tools online because I'm in a small town with limited resources. The tools I'm getting are junk. They fail the first time you go to use them. I was out trying to build the exhaust system today. Go to use the pipe cutter I bought. It's...

I got my custom pitman arm from the race shop today. They did an awesome job making my idea a reality. Cardboard concept. The fabricated results.

You weld with matches in your pocket? Do you also run with scissors? ;)

I planned to install the transmission and transfer case to see where the floor was going to end up. Step one was to bolt on the flex plate. I had the wrong bolts. Flywheel bolts are longer than the flex plate bolts I needed so they were hitting the block. Nobody in town had good bolts. The auto...

I got two x-members in and have a rough layout of the center section in tape. I ordered a 4 foot wide sheetmetal brake. Time to brush up on those panel fab skills I had 25 years ago. I'll clamp the blazer steering column to the trooper pedestal and see where it lands.

Today's discovery, the TC shifter is hitting the seat mount. I'm going to cut more of the floor out (most of what's left). I'll remove the seat pedestals from the old floor and mount them to new sheetmetal. I can move them back a couple inches. It will give more leg room. I won't be running the...

Put the motor in to check clearances. I still need some room on the firewall. Width is fine. ;) Need some more clearance around the distributer. Good thing I am running a hat and snorkel to the carb. A decent sized air filter on top of the carb won't fit. I might be able to run the entire...

During my daily visit to FB marketplace, I saw this toyota camper on a jeep cherokee chassis. The struggle is real when you put a Japanese truck on a V8, full size chassis. :oops:

So proud of myself. A few scratches but still have all my fingers, no slices and no puncture wounds. I also got rid of the rust, sound deadening, bumps, bulges and the swiss cheese firewall. Plenty of room for activities now. I took a lot out, but now I can put it back simple and strong. It...

The trooper chassis has left the chat! I used the good old camper jacks to lift the body up. I set it down on some steel saw horses I fabricated, then rolled the old chassis out and the blazer chassis in. The camper jacks were too narrow to clear the tires. That's why I needed the saw horses...

Like I said, the front end is all together. I picked up the steering linkage at the fab shop. They still need to build the pitman arm. They are building some amazing vehicles there, so my stuff is just fill in work. I was going to paint the linkage with STEEL-IT, but it looks so cool, maybe I'll...

Say goodbye little friend. My little friend is the firewall. I got the front axle all together and dropped it on the tires. It allowed me to take some measurements. Looks like the engine is going to get into the firewall a few inches. That's not a big deal except the width of the motor. I may...

Back on the front axle today. Pulled the carrier out after having to consult YouTube university. At first it wouldn't budge. Then I watched a video showing how to put a prybar in the carrier housing and turn to driveshaft. Came right out. Just make sure you leave the bearing caps bolted loosely...