The Memorial F150 Craptor.

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The bumpy flaky crap as well as the surface rust has been ground off. I realized I am out of alcohol wipes, paper towels, and disposable brushes to clean and apply the naval jelly. Time for a Walmart run...

I think I am just going to use paper towels with rubbing alcohol to prep / clean the surface though. The alcohol wipes often have other stuff they leave behind in them...

 

[dbhost]

Back from the grocery store. Paid too much for a paint brush, but I needed something to apply the Naval Jelly with. Applied, letting it soak, about to head back out and hose it down... Yay rust treatment!

 

[1000arms]

Back from the grocery store. Paid too much for a paint brush, but I needed something to apply the Naval Jelly with. Applied, letting it soak, about to head back out and hose it down... Yay rust treatment!

No cheap acid brushes from the plumbing department of the Home Depot (that you have mentioned in other posts)?

I'm glad you used Naval Jelly rather than navel jelly.

Urban Dictionary: Navel Jelly

The gelatinous substance that accumulates within the navel cavity after extended periods of hygiene neglect. Some have found said substance useful for removing rusted spots on oxidized surfaces.

www.urbandictionary.com

 

[dbhost]

No cheap acid brushes from the plumbing department of the Home Depot (that you have mentioned in other posts)?

I'm glad you used Naval Jelly rather than navel jelly.

Urban Dictionary: Navel Jelly

The gelatinous substance that accumulates within the navel cavity after extended periods of hygiene neglect. Some have found said substance useful for removing rusted spots on oxidized surfaces.

www.urbandictionary.com

????????????????????

Now that's just nasty...

Never thought of acid brushes. I have a metric ******** ton of those.. Go figure.

Got the solar pass through port installed. Screwed up and snapped a screw while running it in, so I rotated it a hair and had another go at it. It will work that is all I care about, and it kind of matches the angle of the window which was unintentional... The cable literally droops to exactly where I want to put the DC to DC charger / charge controller... So extra super bonus there... I want to silicone the edge and screw holes before calling it done though... Not 100% certain this thing is gonna be waterproof...

 

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Got the rust spots re treated, looking good, shot the paint & primer, just simple Rustoleum combo paint and primer. All I am looking to do is seal the metal up don't care how it looks, so yeah basic camo sand tan... Covered basically the back half of the bed, most of the tailgate etc... Looking forward to it drying / curing and the weather is hot enough it should be cured up fully by tomorrow no problem. THEN I lay out my positions for cabinets I.E get out the mattress the water jugs, and masking tape. Leaning toward the L shape bed platform. Wishing I had bought aluminum instead of wood just for weight matters. Again half ton truck and I want to carry a good amount of water...

I have a photo of my wife I want to integrate into the design somewhere. It is from one of our date nights, we were having dinner at a marina nearby.... Haven't figured out where to put the picture...

I am fairly quickly going to run out of the things I need to do before the engine gets here phase. I need to make sure the shop I am working with will be good to go.

Need to take care of the original IWE solenoid. I might need to replace the hubs as well. Not wonderful.

Yes I am putting a chunk o change into an 11th gen. But seeing used prices, $14K+ for a 2wd version of the same truck with over 200K on it. And no mods. I am looking at not counting the camper conversion, having less than $10K into repowering / freshening it up, the camper conversion will total be probably around $5K but most of that can be reused on another truck, or if I want to, Skoolie build...

 

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Okay it was hot, nasty, and just disgusting work, but the Ebay nerf bars that stupidly held water and in turn rusted out took a good while to get off of the truck. The nuts / bolts that held them to the bodywork were likewise rusted and no matter how much penetrating oil I used, there was no getting them to budge. 3 broken bolts and a head full of rusty bits later and they are laying on my curb waiting for the recyclers to come get them.

Now if only UPS would deliver stuff on time I would have a brand new set from Summit to install.

 

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So I dragged the mattress, and the water tanks out to the truck. Sure enough, the down the middle approach just felt too claustrophobic considering there would be no walkway with the bed deployed. I tested seated height of the mattress using the portable toiilet and the mattress on top with me on it, yeah there was a good amount of squish, but I figure no more height than just the one layer of mattress on top of a bed platform. I had LOTS of headroom for sitting and working, and I had plenty of storage space / walkway space...

I am considering the wood approach to framing though. I need XPS foam and old bedsheets and I am going to at least try a cube of PMF, let it cure and weight test it with my substantial load to see if I need framing, I suspect I do, and if I do, maybe go with riveted aluminum instead of wood to cut down the weight.

Again half ton truck fat driver, and I like my camp luxuries. My 12V fridge is actually turning out to be kind of huge for one person. I can hold like 2+ weeks of cold foods in it... I might have been better off with a smaller model, but if I end up with a travel partner later on... Not saying romantic partner, but say friends that rely on coolers, I can do a better job with the fridge...

I am considering replacing the front bumper, Go Rhino brush guard / winch mount and Engo E9000 winch with one of those Ebay knockoff off road bumpers, everyone has seen the type I am talking about, rated for a 12K winch. My OEM bumper is damaged and needs to be replaced anyway, and I would prefer a higher capacity winch, the Go Rhino mount is limited to 9K lbs max... Just leery of the Ebay bumpers, although I do NOT want to spend $1,500.00 on a bumper either...

Also planning on taking out the Pro Comp 6" stainless steel off road lights from 2006. They have LEDs now after all...

 

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The hunter step bars are sitting by the curb. Apparently the trash guys didn't want to pick them up on heavy trash day. No worries. Will cut them down and chuck them into the recycle bin. Those guys are gonna pick this stuff up whether they like it or not...

The Summit step bars are here, unboxed and sitting in the bed of the truck. Too hot to want to lay on my back under the truck and install these things. I still need to strip off the nut inserts that hunter used as these use some sort of different hardware.

Took and ran a bunch of foamy engine brite off of the engine, got rid of some mud dawber nests that had been growing, and hopefully getting them to move on. Need to go see if I can find seals for the headlight sockets so I can quit swamping my headlights.

 

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Ran to Home Depot today and got the errant split / lock washer that Summit messed up and tossed the wrong size in the bag. Got the step bars bolted on and tested, no issues holding my considerable weight so we are good there.

Swapped out the failed IWE solenoid for the updated one. Probably made a bad choice but went with the Dorman as it has a little roof that diverts any water off to the sides and away from anything water can mess with.

Piddling down what I can at this point prior to engine swap. Might pull the struts and have the coils swapped prior to the engine swap, might not. Not sure... It would be nice to have it done while it is on a lift instead of crawling around on my driveway.

Not 100% on the awning due to the recesses in the raised part of the camper shell. Considering just going with a tarp rig instead. I am mostly just looking for covered kitchen and lounging space for too sunny, or mild rain / snow conditions. Hard weather will drive me into the back of the truck which I want to minimize...

 

[dbhost]

The HD winch bumper has been ordered, and while I am at it I am going to pull the Engo E9000 off of the truck and swap in a Badland ZXR.

I REALLY wanted a 12K winch as the 9K engo was all I could do way back when and it is just not a capacity I am comfortable with on a full size pickup. Now if I had a Jeep that would be another story...

 

[dbhost]

Just FWIW, and yes I am trying to keep costs down so I am not going with like a huge name, but the bumper ordered is a DV8 Off Road Bumper. Heard pretty good things about them, and it looks pretty decent.

I am not sold on the Badland ZXR but am looking for a similar winch. My biggest concern is the length of the cable itself at a mere 65 feet. However it isn't that I need to drag my truck 65 feet, but get to something to connect to... In that case, I have tree strap, chain, recovery strap etc... I can do this...

I am definately going with a winch with steel rope though. I known synthetic will take weight off the front end, but I just don't trust synth line for long term use.

I have a Daystar hook isolator (black) coming in as well as unknown brand D ring isolators to keep the D rings from banging around on the bumper.

Looking for a suitable rear bumper with built in step, D rings, and integrated LED reverse lights. My OE bumper has met trailers a few too many times so it needs to be replaced anyway...

 

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Un-wired the Engo E9000, the cable is definately rusty. Apparently the cover leaked. Dang... Oh well. The rest is in great shape. Un wired the old Explorer Pro Comp stainless steel off road lights. Not going to re-use them as I have the lights in the bumper, and I may add a small light bar in the grille.

I have the STX / FX4 bar style grille, I need to re-measure but I think 12" light bars will fit... I am looking to throw light up a little and straight forward a lot in front of the truck, particularly along forest roads... The bumper lights should cover the lower down stuff.

I now have more than enough space on the battery terminal for the DC to DC charger wiring... Just need to route it / install it. Before then though, get the old winch, mount, bumper off of the truck...

 

[Slocral46]

The F150 is a great choice. An 05 like yours has served our family well for many years. All luck to you.

 

[dbhost]

I am on a temporary covid caused pause to my build. I think I'm going to opt for just going with the Ozark trail 12 by 12 camping camping tarp set up over the back of the camper that way I don't have to worry about the space weight or complexity of an easy up or the fragility and mounting problems of a diy awning...

 

[dbhost]

Okay so the Paxlovid is doing its thing and for the most part I feel okay-ish. It is also getting wickedly hot in Houston Metro again, so not a LOT of time spent out in the driveway working on the truck. I did however get the roller fairlead and the entire winch / associated wiring removed. What shocks me is seeing how many Jeeps out there nowadays are running with 12K winches. In years past Jeeps, LandCruisers, 4Runners and similar size rigs were always outfitted with 9K winches. No clue why a Wrangler needs a 12K winch unless you want to yank it straight up in the air to drain all the fluids out the tailpipe... But I digress...

I've been sorting camping gear and whittling it down. I had everything set aside and, well set up for couples travel. I don't need 2 cast iron skillets per se. I have a 10.5 and a 12" and the 12 is getting left behind.

I've been watching a lot of youtube since I am sick, found some guy called Crazy Quady, running an '07 - whatever Silverado, sorry don't pay attention to Chev years. Nice truck mind you other than a bit of midwest salt cancer, but I digress... His setup is super obnoxious simple, simpler than I want to do, but he is also spending most of his time at park campgrounds with power, and he does one to two day trips, and I am pretty sure he doesn't shower. As a big man that is a non debateable must have...

Going to start making the cuts for the bed frame tonight I think, depends how much oomph I have tonight. COVID definately sucks...