Well, here it is, my first vehicle. I wanted it to be a Mopar.
So a farmer one day had "Truck" sitting out in his front yard with a for sale sign ... Show moresitting on it- $800. Okay, thats pretty good,a little bit more than I wanted for my first restoration project, but it looked like a good truck. So I went up and asked the guy if he could let me take a look at it and start her up. So that he did, and the 318 roared to life. With 140,000 miles, the 318 still sounded like it had alot of pep in it. Being inly 14 at the time, and not knowing other things to check other than the motor (if it runs). I should have checked out how it's floorboards and rocker panels were, but live and learn I guess. I find out just latly how extensive the rust is on the rockers, the inner rockers were almost non-existent, the outers gone to s***.
This trucks life started out pulling a camper for its first twelve years of life, then Tom ( the farmer) bought it to haul manure(YES, manure) from his dairy farm. It had done this for the past 10 years until I bought it. I can tell you, the frame and under body is completely COATED with manure, exaplaning the the reason why the frame has no rot on it at all, I guess it acted as undercoating.
So not im starting to restore, clean, and paint this monster. It has been challanging at times, but is many times rewarding at the end.
More to come....
Some pictures of rocker rust/cancer!!!
Current News as of 6/13
Begining Rocker panel area reconstuction. Found some 4" by 4" 12 gauge square tubing, cut it to fit so it will act as a stong rocker panel support, beacause the original rear rocker mount is totally gone. I then welded it to the frame. Its strong as hell, I jumped on it about 10 times with my 270 pounds, didn't budge. This is what Chrysler should have done at the factory! It weighs almost the same as a the flimsy 20 gauge neck that held the rocker up, and is 10 times stronger. I will also weld the seatbelt mount onto it, for extra safety.
I also have been honing my brazing and bondoing skills on my fenders, I just keep on getting better and better!
Pictures coming soon
Got two new-to-me inner fenders at the junkyard off of a '77 W200 flatbed for $20. Cleaned them up , converted the rust, put primer on, and painted it with thick oil-based enamel, and then undercoated the "sensitive" spots, like the area near the radiator
Pictures of the driver's side door being stipped of all its paint, the undercoated (with Herculiner) engine compartment, and some of the dent fixing on the box.
My extra-cool true dual exhaust system that i made my self, $15 of 2 1/4", two cherry bombs (the orange one i found on the sreet one day, what luck :D ) a homemade H-pipe,, and oil based enamel, and a 1/4 box of arc welding sticks ( i use a stick welder for everything) Its ready to bolt on me heddman headers.
CHERRYBOMB GLASSPACKS
But wait, I still have to get everything cleaned,floors redone, and rustproofed underneath.
Oh, check out my "almost" done driver's rocker panel. Looks much better now.
Oh before i ferget, heres one of the nice rust-proofed wheelwells i told you about earlier. Also you can see my new orange box and my cruise diaphram and relay re-mounted on it!!
I went to the Mopar swapmeet in Elmhurst, Illinois just a week ago, I brought $65 with me to buy stuff, and this is what I got, I sure hauled in the sh** this time!!
Okay, this is AFTER I rebuilt it, but heres the Holley model 4440 carb I got off of a guy for only $30!! It was all complete and everything, just a little bit dirty, and that was all, I got a rebuild kit anyway, and it was a good thing I did, alot of gaskets were cracking apart! I painted it with plasticote cast-gray. Looks sweet!
Heres another haul I got!! A nice-flowing 340 manifold for only $10! What a deal!. It was some older man that didn't know anything about it! I sand-blasted it, then primed it with POR-15 to prevent the cast from rusting, then painted it with silver heat paint.
Heres a pic of what it looked like after I cleaned it up and painted it!
Here guys, I thought of this saying a little while ago, just thought id share it with y'all. SAYS IT LIKE IT IS! Use it if you want, take it to a vinyl shop and get it made if you want! Show Less
