Red_Chili's body swap

[Cheeseman]

Bill got me to the place he is having his work done. They are pretty good people. I have seen the mock up of the rear fender mod. Looks interesting. It will be fun to see what Bill agrees to.
________
Bbw granny

 

[Red_Chili]

turns out, not likely. Terry doesn't like the way it turned out. In fact, he doesn't like other options either. The wheel well may remain stock but with a 1" BL.
[edit] It's official, new quarter panel even. Bone stock. Just a kudo for Terry, because he did exploratory surgery and feels he should have been more cautious, he is eating the quarter panel, just charging me the labor he would have anyway.
Y'all should consider him seriously if you have body work to do.

FWIW, Bradford Auto Body never even called me back and made it pretty clear they were not interested in taking over a job already started. Didn't even want to discuss it.

 

[87Xota]

painter sprayed the engine compartment today

It's RED

Before

 

[Red_Chili]

Doncha just love the web?
It ain't orangey-pink as it appears above, its VERY RED. And VERY SHINEY.
Gonna have to steam clean the motor monthly!

 

[RockRunner]

Doncha just love the web?
It ain't orangey-pink as it appears above, its VERY RED. And VERY SHINEY.
Gonna have to steam clean the motor monthly!

Better get a nice and powerfull steam cleaner to get all that road grim and de-icer of there

 

[87Xota]

Bill we measured your frame this morning and nothing was out of spec. Biggest variation was 3mm and that is well within the specs the factory builds them at.

That doesn't surprise me, one of the toughest frames we ever have to pull, are the Toyota truck frames, they are tough!

I didn't try and pull your spare tire carrier out yet, as I would need to turn it around on the frame rack and clamp it down.

I think i'll get the body off first and then i'll probably roll just the frame over to the rack, saves me alot of work getting access to clamp the frame down.

 

[Red_Chili]

Awesome. The batteries are hanging from the rear deck of the body, you probably knew that. Let me know when you pull the body; I want to reroute the battery cables when they are accessible, and I have a new heavier duty solenoid to put in when it is convenient (same location and same bolt holes).

Let me know any questions you have on any of the custom stuff - I know that can be a pain and I can scoot up there to help in the afternoon after 3-ish with a day's notice (so I can drive instead of light rail).

 

[Beater]

Gonna have to steam clean the motor monthly!

And how is this a change for you?

 

[Red_Chili]

Slight increase in frequency...

 

[87Xota]

Spent the morning on the dash and I got all the wiring looms on the right side of the dash, unhooked and pulled thru the firewall

Took lot's of pics like these that I can refer to later, so hopefully I get everything back together like it was before.

 

[Red_Chili]

The way I did those center switches is a pain in the butt. Don't sweat those too much, I plan on cleaning that up (following the lead of how my son did his, so there, Squishy!). The ARB arrangement is of course designed to be a pain in the butt.

I have Royal Purple PS fluid for when you put that back together (the PS pump is unhappy with anything else). I also have Valvoline synth brake fluid I can bring by, and can bleed the brakes & clutch painlessly if you like. Let me know if I need to pick up any Toy parts, and it occurs to me you will need new PS fluid cooler attachment zip ties most likely unless you can finagle getting the rad, PS cooler, and condenser out in one piece.

P.S. this would be a good time to delete the aftermarket cruise control harness that is no longer in use! It's taped off in the engine bay. Your prerogative of course.

 

[87Xota]

I finally have some progress to show

Cut off Bill's sliders so I can get the hoist under the body.

Wasn't welded on there very good, it only took about six cut off discs to get them off

And the body is FINALLY off of Bill's frame, that's Greg's truck in the booth about to get a new coat of paint.

I've got so many bodys and frames here in the shop, hope I don't get all confused and put the wrong combination together

 

[Red_Chili]

Cheeseman, don't you get any ideas about parts upgrades!!

 

[Shark Bait]

Which body part(s) is this work costing you guys?

 

[Red_Chili]

I dunno, let me SIT on it and think a while...

Thank goodness for good insurance. I highly recommend Traveller's, and HRH Insurance Agency here locally.

 

[corsair23]

It might just be me but the amount of body lift is the last picture seems just a tad excessive

Seriously though, Bill and Terry this is SOOOO to get to read and watch

 

[87Xota]

Today I got the old Chili Pepper body onto the donor frame (or Gregs frame or something, I'm easily confused) It still needs alot of stuff removed and put on the new body, but everything underneath is off.

Then I got the new body back on the hoist, and i'm gonna start replacing the quarter panel before I put it on the frame.

The factory attaches the quarter panel with spot welds around the perimeter and you can usually find the tell tale circular dimples that need to be drilled out.

Here I've marked a bunch of the spot welds. When I drill, i'll use about a 5/16" drill bit and I will only drill thru the top layer of metal, more on that later.

I could just go ahead and start drilling, but i prefer to cut the most of the quarter panel off first, and leave just the edges, that makes it a lot easier for me to remove the edges of the quarter panels. no matter how carefully I drill and grind off the spot welds, it usually takes some chiselling and prying to get the edges loose.

Using a combination of a cut off wheel and an air shear, I'll make cuts inside the edges to remove most of the panel

I'll stay close to the edges where I can and trim back to the edges wherever I can't make my initial cut real close.

Here you see part of the quarter panel and it folds over the tailgate inner panel, once i drill off the spot welds, it will be easy to remove

Excuse me if i get too long winded or boring showing this process, some may find it interesting I hope!

 

[Red_Chili]

Ooooooooooo yes. VERY interesting. For those who dare to do it at home.

Me, if it is 1/4" thick, I'll give it a go. That thin stuff gets a mind of its own IME.

 

[nakman]

Dang, this is cool to watch. opcorn:

 

[Rezarf]

bravo!