build thread from the wind tunnel

[Gunnibronco]

Epoxy primed.

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[akaFrankCastle]

What are you using to shoot that? I'm gonna be tearing into some panel replacement soon and wouldn't mind trying my hand at spraying.

[Gunnibronco]

El Cheapo HVLP gun with a 1.8 tip. You'll also want a pressure regulator at the gun.

Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Global%C2%AE ... +paint+gun

Even includes a pressure regulator, but we use ones like this:
https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Global%C2%AE ... +regulator

I'd seriously consider this kit, if you think you'd like to do more painting:

https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Global%C2%AE ... +regulator

[Gunnibronco]

Just to be sure my epoxy primer stuck, I used a pretty aggressive nylon cup brush to prep it for HNR. 99.9% stayed stuck. This time I used a shutz gun, instead of the Al's hopper gun. Also, I was very slow with the HNR , letting it sit 30 minutes between coats. Of course it started pouring rain, just as I wanted to shoot the HNR. The water based latex is really prone to running off the vertical surfaces. I had more runs than I liked the last time. Add in the extra humidity, and I was really concerned with this round. But the shutz gun really offered a lot more control than the hopper gun, and everything went really well.

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HNR was applied a couple days ago. I let it dry & used the same cup brush to prep it again. I figured I'd rather have it pull up before bedliner than after. Last time, my co-worker put on my bedliner, since I just haven't done very many, and this was such a big/intricate job. He managed to rush the job, and run a couple spots. He is a recent transplant from Tennessee and used to having to really hurry bedliner jobs. Since then I took all the bedliner jobs I could, and decided I'd do this one myself. I decided to use the shutz gun again, and I'm MUCH happier with the end result (especially if it sticks). The only down side to the shutz gun is the small cup means lots of refills. This time, my coworker helped me by refilling the gun, and mixing the next gallon of liner. It's a very difficult process to master. You can't put too much on at once, or it will run. But you can't be too slow, or the bedliner will harden up in the gun or the mixing can. So you really have to walk a fine line. Each time is different too, temp & humidity play huge rolls in how quickly the stuff sets up. Heat and humidity will really make it kick a lot faster.

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[Gunnibronco]

I didn't get much done on the Bronco today. I untaped it, and everything stayed stuck! That is longer than it stuck last time.

I also did a major garage cleaning. It really got bad, after all that masking, preping, spraying, unmasking, scraping, masking, preping, spraying, and unmasking.

I did make a major step towards a warmer garage this winter. This morning a friend came over and we poured a small concrete footer across the unusable 3rd garage door. It is actually about 4" shorter than the door opening, and NEVER worked in the almost 20 years I've lived in this house. In addition to being a huge point of heat loss (and heat gain on summer afternoons), each spring, when the alley snows melted, it flooded the garage floor.

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I'll pull the door out, and put up an insulated stick framed wall next week. Then insulate & drywall the ceiling & hopefully swap the man door & windows for some pretty nice freebies I picked up a few years ago. If I can get all that done, I think the garage will be pretty nice this winter.

[Jesus_man]

So glad to hear your success on the liner! I am sure that is a huge relief.

[Gunnibronco]

Very glad it stayed put this time. I don't know what I would have done if it didn't.

[Gunnibronco]

I have been working on the truck, but have been real bad about taking pics.

I've removed the 3rd garage door & replaced it with a stick framed, insulated wall. I also insulated & drywalled the garage ceiling. That was a huge PITA! The joist spacing varied from 16" to about 20", many wild & way out of square. Also lots of large 'shims' used to even everything out. Obvious they didn't plan on ever putting in a ceiling. Took so long, I abandoned taping & painting it. It will have to wait. Will rework my stairwell hole plug soon. Should make the garage come up to temp & stay their much easier. I'll block off the windows with styrofoam board once things really get cold.

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Also moved the 66 into a 1/2 dome storage tent, thing. I stole the driver's fresh air duct & steering wheel for the 74. The steering wheel is a vintage Sperior Performance "the 500" steering wheel. It's probably been on the 66 for a while. It's a smaller diameter wheel than the old Grant I had on the 74. Should give me some more leg room.

I've been helping a friend work on a rusty 67 Mustang. He had done the floor pans before I started helping. I assisted setting the quarter panels a few months ago. Recently we set the final body gaps, and did the initial fitting of his 'Elenore' front end kit. Everything is setting up nice. I'm going to start doing finish body work this weekend. Hoping to get it painted in the next couple months.

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On to my truck. So much done. Rear bumper, crossmembers, and front cage all painted & installed. Trans & t-case are installed. T-case will come out one more time to finalize my doubler shifter. Hydraulic clutch is installed & bled. Had redo my master cylinder/firewall mount because I had the wrong generation master & slave for my trans. Nothing like grinding on fresh work, at least its up under th dash. Spread some seam sealer to seal off the unused holes.

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Redid one side of my dash when my switch placement interfered with the defrost ducts. Need to finish the panel up, add my CB, lighter, & switches. Started wiring, reorganizing a Centech harnes and massaging it into place. Glove box should also end up holding relays for the horn & headlights & and a small extra fuse panel for various future junk.

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[Jesus_man]

I've been wondering how you were coming along! Glad to see you are still plugging away!

[Rox Crusher]

Chad, what do you do in your spare time ?

I feel lazy as hell just reading all that.

[Gunnibronco]

I've been wondering how you were coming along! Glad to see you are still plugging away!

Still plugging away. Started cutting off wires & crimping on terminals tonight.

Chad, what do you do in your spare time ?

I feel lazy as hell just reading all that.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but I honestly haven't had any real free time in quite a while. Top priority is to get this truck done, so I can start on the 72 Explorer Sport. Plus I'm working on getting cabinets & counter tops installed in my kitchen. I don't plan on having "free time" for a while. No ski pass this year, first time in the 22 ski seasons I've lived here. It's all for a good cause. I wouldn't be working so hard if I didn't have an ultimate goal in mind.

[Justin]

Dude, I'm tired just reading this thread....

[EFI Guy]

Looks like you've been busier than me! Nice progress, what's your secret? Mountain Dew just isn't doing it for me anymore.

[Gunnibronco]

Dude, I'm tired just reading this thread....

I have never had a problem over working myself. I have always had a problem stopping to smell the flowers.

[Gunnibronco]

Finally making some pic worthy progress.

Dash is painted & installed. Relays and fuses are installed in the glove box, but I'll probably make a new panel about 1/4" or 1/2" deeper. The lower (EFI) relay bases slightly interfere with the glove box hinge, and I had to make some impromptu changes to reorient the horn & headlight relays upright & move a fuse block to clear the glove box latch. I'm abandoning the idea of speakers in the dash, it's just too tight. I'll put some black fabric behind the grills to clean it up. I'm going to steal the speaker mounts from my 66 and put them in behind the front seats, in the quarter panel recesses.

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Gauge & switch panels are done, ready to install. Billet knobs installed.

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I've built and installed an ECU mount. It's bolted to the side of the pedal brackets with a velcro strap holding the ECU in place.

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Completed most the wiring in the engine compartment, 2 mega-fuses will feed the fuse panel, EFI, headlight relays, and aux fuse panel. I actually have 3 unused fuses available for future use. I need to set the fenders & grill and finish the headlight wiring. Winch wiring will come later, as well.

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[Digger]

I like the Bronco knobs, but we need more pictures of the Zombie Targeting System!

Perhaps some sort of belt-fed arrangement?

[Gunnibronco]

I like the Bronco knobs, but we need more pictures of the Zombie Targeting System!

Perhaps some sort of belt-fed arrangement?

That's currently classified information.

One switch will turn on my winch, one will run the York compressor. I've realized I'm going to have to remember which is which.

Big thanks to Nascar Mike for the billet knobs. I was lucky enough to buy the last 2 that Stroppe Performance had left on their shelves. I put one on the lighter & one for back up.

[Jesus_man]

Very nicely done! I will need to remember this post when it comes time to clean up my glove box area. My ECU has just been sitting in that general area forever, not held in with anything.

[Kinder]

I really like the layout & gauge setup. It is all mounted to the face of the dash instead of behind?

[Gunnibronco]

Yes, the black panels will bolt to the front of the dash. I did it that way because I hate trying to work under the dash & this truck is constantly evolving, so easy access to the wires is going to make life a lot easier down the road.

[Gunnibronco]

Starting to put things together for good.

Added a couple weld washers to the Ruffstuff track bar bracket to reduce the hole size from 9/16" to 1/2" to match the SPC rod end I used. It had a longer shank than the Ruffstuff rod end previously installed. The change from a stock track bar frame mount bracket to the Ruffstuff frame bracket made about 1" difference in the track bar length. Instead of making a new one, the SPC rod end made up the extra length.

Also finalized the collapsible lower steering shaft to the 4x4x2 box. Used the lower 1/2 of the 78/79 steering shaft, about 8.25" of 1"DD tubing & a u-joint from Borgenson.

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Here is a pic of the nearly completed dash & the steering wheel I stole from the 66. I think it all looks pretty good.

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The punch list is getting smaller, and doesn't completely depress me when I think about it.

[Rox Crusher]

Let's go wheelin this summer !

[Strike2]

Wow great progress. The dash works looks awesome nice work!

[Jesus_man]

Chad - the end is in sight!! Keep crackin'!

[mickphatmac]

Nice work Gunni!
Those gauges look great!

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks!

[Gunnibronco]

I looked over this thread recently and realized that it's time to post up an overdue update. It looks like I stopped posting about my progress a couple months before I moved last summer. I continued to work on the truck for about a month or so after the last post. It's hard to remember what was done during that time. I bolted as much to the truck as possible, installed shocks, bought a Tom Woods driveshaft for the rear end (still need a new front driveshaft), filled & bled brakes, wired as much as time allowed, welded, painted & installed the roll cage, and probably a lot more.

I hoped to drive it onto the trailer, for the move, but that didn't happen. I abandoned that goal when I realized I had ordered incorrect fittings to build -6an hoses for the power steering & h-boost system. Instead, the truck was winched onto my trailer, and left at a friends house, with my F250. I loaded up a U-haul & trailered the 72 Explorer Sport to Nevada about August 10th of last year. I returned to Gunnison in late September, grabbed the F250, trailer & Bronco. Despite blowing a fuel line and soaking my clutch with diesel, between Montrose & Delta, I did finally get everything to my home in Nevada. Yes, I still have to return this summer to retrieve my 39 Plymouth, and a bunch of parts I still have in a storage unit.

It took a while to settle in here. I don't have the garage or storage space I did in Gunnison. But I have space & plans to build a proper shop soon, I hope. If everything goes well I hope to put up a 26'x36' building. We'll see. Until then, I'm stuck trying to put this back together in my 2 car garage.

It's hard to itemize what I've done since I posted last. But I have a punch list, in some kind of order. My goal is to have it back on/off the road by the end of May. I've finished up 99% of the wiring, plumbed h-boost, did some quickie cosmetic stuff, tweeked the water pump to heater hoses, shortened the oil fill neck to clear the slightly lower hood location. The not so short list of 'to dos' is: exhaust, front driveshaft, straighten out a rear shock mount & put the uppers into double shear, tie up & loom wiring, tweek my ZF shifter (too close to the dash in 1st gear), plumb OBA, figure out a parking brake cable set up.

Hopefully, I'll start enjoying the awesome trails around here before everything is done. I'm blown away at all the trails so close to my home. Today, I was a passenger on an awesome trail that is quite literally just minutes from my house. I've been attending meetings & riding along with a local 4x4 club that is super active. They have averaged a couple runs per month, even during the winter. Their summer schedule is even more busy, with a couple Rubicon trips planned.

[Gunnibronco]

I've renamed the thread appropriately. We regularly get winds here. Last year we had 120+ mph winds that tore my neighbor's roof off. I've seen 75 mph winds, but it was a relatively mild winter. LOL. It beats 6 month winters & -40*.

[Rox Crusher]

Thanks for the build update

You said Rubicon.........keep learning those trails so you can be our guide !

[Jesus_man]

Thanks for the build update

You said Rubicon.........keep learning those trails so you can be our guide !

Well said!! It's a bucket list item for sure!! My parents enjoyed their winter near Lake Havasu and they were on the trail twice a week for a couple months it seemed!! So much in that area!