Chuzie's monster transformation

[chuzie]

Day 4 (30 Aug 10)
Objectives for today:
1. Install rocker guards
2. Remove, clean, and paint rear axle
3. Prep 4-link parts for fitting and welding
4. Prep axle for 4-link cross member fitting

Today was supposed to be a very productive day; however, it was anything but!

The first order of business was to finish the rocker guard installation from the previous work day since we were only waiting for the paint to dry. I ran a bead of black silicone around the guard holes and the upper perimeter. I let it tack up and then slapped on the guard.



Unfortunately, the driver's side guard gave me a lot of issues. The nutserts on the driver's side decided to take a spin, literally. I guess we did not have the holes tight enough to really secure them. To make matters worse, I was unable to remove one of the bolts due to a severely loose nutsert. I fought that sucker for a couple hours with no success. Finally, I had to cut a hole in the back of the rocker panel to get some vice-grips in there and hold the nutsert in place to just get the bolt removed which took another hour. Not a happy camper at all. Chuck used the angle grinder to remove all three nutserts and we ordered the next larger size. We will be unable to finish the driver's side until those parts arrive.



The passenger side went much better until I realized that the lower backing plate was poorly assembled. The nuts welded on the back of the backing plate were misaligned and prevented me from threading the bolts. We used a larger drill bit to bore out the backing plate and then cleaned up any damaged threads with a tap. The passenger side is now complete. Thank goodness! That part of the project was a bit more laboring than I had thought it would be. Objective 1 incomplete.





The folks at James Duff dropped a new set of shock hoops in the mail today so we should see them in 2 days. They were very willing to make the issue right. Hopefully the new shock hoops will fit perfectly. In the mean time, I went ahead and used a laser level to determine if my track bar was setup correctly. Looks like I need to shift to the driver's side about 5/8". I love my laser level; takes all the guess work out of this stuff.



We removed the rear driveshaft, leaf springs, and then the axle. We ran out of time so the axle did not get cleaned and painted. It is pretty nasty too; just like the front. I also have a pinion seal leak so I am debating what to do with that since the axle is out and I have easy access. Objective 2 incomplete. Anyone see a trend for the day yet? Don't worry, I'm not done yet.








I will cut this paragraph short since neither objectives 3 nor 4 were complete. The previous issues caused such a large delay and really cut into our production time so they too will have to wait until the next work day.

Today was very frustrating and the delays are getting on my nerves. I am not in a rush to get this done so the ability to step back and take a deep breath is a luxury I currently have at this time. A big plus is I may not have my "vacation" until the end of the week so we may actually be able to get some 4-link stuff done.

Day 4 complete.
Objectives 1, 2, 3, and 4 incomplete
Man Hours worked: 8
Total Project Man Hours: 39
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