The 8 Year Project

Post by **SteveG** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:39 pm

8-ish years, piles of parts untouched for years, many of them rusting, a few major plan changes, a change of ownership and lots and lots of procrastinating... finally, IT BEGINS!

I blew off most of the rivets at work. Once again, I took it to work for rivet removal, temporarily bolted everything on and drove it home. The Snap-On air chisel and a good bit makes quick work of the rivets. Once in the garage, I pulled the beams and radius arm assemblies off.

A change of plans (story of my life) left me with 4 more rivets to remove. I contemplated bolting the front end back on and driving it to work but decided it would take me less time to remove them at home than it would to reassemble and take it to work.

I started by center-punching the rivet heads, then drilled them out starting with 1/8" and working my way up to about 5/16 in a few steps. I don't drill them all the way, though. I only go just passed the frame rail and stop there.

Finally, grab your chisel and give it a few good whacks. The lower one was pretty fast. I counted about 20 swings of the hammer before the head came off. The back of the rivet fell right out. The top one fought me a little more but, admittedly, I did a much worse job of drilling that one... and paid for it.

: Post-drilling and after a few whacks.; IMG_3032 (640x480).jpg (203.5 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

Tools of the trade.

: IMG_3033 (640x480).jpg (239.53 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

Drilled & cut rivet head.

: IMG_3034 (640x481).jpg (274.03 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

The previous plan... probably.

: 44-2 (640x382).jpg (144.07 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

Post by **SteveG** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:46 pm

A quick note on air chisel bits.

I've always used a standard air chisel bit. The type that lock in so they won't fly out of the air-chisel but rotate freely. This time I used a non-rotating type... very nice. The standard type work well, the non-rotating type work great! They allow more control and don't come off your target as easily.

Wood · Post by **Wood** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:50 pm

Could it be? a full width explorer? I was hoping Jeff would give up on that project and sell me the parts. When you are done putting it all together you wanna trade it for my bronco?

Post by **SteveG** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:24 am

Wood wrote:Could it be? a full width explorer?

Well that was the plan up until very recently. Everything was in place to do the conversion but a back injury has Jeff re-thinking whether or not he wants a super-wide, hole-eating truck. I still have a set of stock width Autofab D35 axle-housings and we might just end up putting those on and calling it good. So basically, a low-buck re-do of my green Explorer from days of old. Our plans are in a constant state of flux, so we'll see!

tcm glx · Post by **tcm glx** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:19 am

Explorers are cool!! Looking forward to this build. I like the idea of stock width, find some of the Ranger FXII Alcoas, slap on a set of 33x10.5s and keep it STEALTH!

Oh, and add baby seats in the back of course.

BajaF250 · Post by **BajaF250** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:59 am

tcm glx wrote:Explorers are cool!! Looking forward to this build. I like the idea of stock width, find some of the Ranger FXII Alcoas, slap on a set of 33x10.5s and keep it STEALTH!

Oh, and add baby seats in the back of course.

That's where it's at!

ChaseTruck754 · Post by **ChaseTruck754** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:01 am

SteveG wrote:Our plans are in a constant state of flux, so we'll see!

Sounds familiar. The more time I sit here & think about the next project the more the idea morphs & changes. One day I may actually get to it, and it may take me 8 years too!

Good to hear your 8 years are up though & you're moving.

Plan to have it in Pismo?

poolman · Post by **poolman** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:51 pm

My hand still hurts from knocking rivits out of my frame. pm

Post by **SteveG** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:06 pm

BajaF250 wrote:
tcm glx wrote:Explorers are cool!! Looking forward to this build. I like the idea of stock width, find some of the Ranger FXII Alcoas, slap on a set of 33x10.5s and keep it STEALTH!

Oh, and add baby seats in the back of course.
That's where it's at!

It's no secret. I'm a big fan of "speaking softly".

ChaseTruck754 wrote:Plan to have it in Pismo?

Hmmm. I hadn't really thought about it. If it ends up being stock width, that's totally doable. Full width... hell no. I should finish it before then so He and Tristen can at least cruise around the dunes with the rest of the clan.

Post by **SteveG** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:37 pm

Decisions, decisions....

economig · Post by **economig** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:45 am

Top one

yikes · Post by **yikes** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:07 am

economig wrote:Top one

Agreed.

ESHALLBETTER · Post by **ESHALLBETTER** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:10 am

Another vote for top set.

tcm glx · Post by **tcm glx** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:22 am

Going against the grain, stick to stock width sleeper.

yikes · Post by **yikes** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:29 am

tcm glx wrote:Going against the grain, stick to stock width sleeper.

Booooo.

AussieRod · Post by **AussieRod** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 1:05 pm

Steve, I' d go with whatever is the cost effective option, so it can get going quicker and be useful

yikes · Post by **yikes** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:14 pm

AussieRod wrote:Steve, I' d go with whatever is the cost effective option, so it can get going quicker and be useful

Booooooooo.

AussieRod · Post by **AussieRod** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:00 pm

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Just trying to help Steve's ADD and get the project moving

Post by **SteveG** » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:19 pm

AussieRod wrote:Steve, I' d go with whatever is the cost effective option, so it can get going quicker and be useful

Both options were paid for years ago....

I'll probably put it together stock width for now and maybe upgrade later. The full size parts have been sitting for over 6 years. Another few ain't gonna hurt!

ChaseTruck754 · Post by **ChaseTruck754** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:18 am

I vote top shelf.

Although I am starting to be a convert to the "just getting running with whatever is quickest so you can enjoy it" camp...