Cold Air Blowing

I spent the majority of the winter driving around in a truck with a worn out blower motor and luke warm air trickling in, I put up with it for too long. I had enough and decieded to replace the blower motor and while I was in there I cleaned out the ducting and did a once over on the linkages and things before re installing it in hopes that it would warm up the cab a little. Well it didn't. It silently blew barely warm air. I also had noticed that the temp gauge in the cab always reads at the coldest reading, there was only one time where it jumped a little bit after driving for a long time, I had assumed that the gauge was just broken but I was wrong again! I decided that the thermostat had to be either broken, and stuck open or there was nothing there at all. I was right, there was nothing in the thermostat spot, hence the "broken" temp gauge and cold air blowing. Now I have a temp gauge that reads in the norm and enough warm air blasting silently into the cab to make it uncomfortable! word!

Before I go 3 things:
1. My tenses in my blogging are all wrong and I know it but whatev, gimme a break! I'll work on it!
2. Thermostats have a right and a wrong way to install them. FYI the spring goes into the engine and the "point" points out at you.
3. I have noticed, and its not a suprise, that the heater core has devoloped a slight leak that I can smell with the heater on. It is not enough to make a mess yet but you can expect an update on the fix. Good news though! I happen to have an extra one of those that came in my box-O-junk I got from a guy on craigslist a while back. YESSS!

Interior before

Driver interior

Driver side patch complete

Done! also note: new seat

Passenger Floor done

I cleaned all of the rust away from the area and sprayed it down with some rustoleum to prevent further deterioration.

Driver side patched

The black paint around the under side of the patch is some Rustoleum flat black paint to keep the rust away. I used steel rivets with backing plates. The metal I used was very thin so I may end up making new patch plates when I obtain more material.

Passenger side floor holes

I used a air cutoff wheel to cut out the rusty parts

driver side interior

The interior start

I lied to you!

Ok well just as I was preparing for a very expensive axle replacement or worse I discovered that by some miracle, literally have no other explanation, the 4 wheel drive decided to work. So I will still service the front end of this thing next but at least it will just be brakes bearings and seals... Maybe u-joints too but they seem pretty tight so far. I'll keep you updated! Word homies

Rusty Floor Pans

Today I finished patching up the floor boards and sealed it all up. Below is a brief overview of the process. Pictures to follow.

1. I planned.
2. I revised my plan a lot after measuring and checking cost.
3. I remeasured and cut my patch material with a foot shear.
4. I used an air diegrinder with a cutoff wheel to cut a whole 1 inch on all sides smaller than my patch.
5. I used a wire wheel on a drill to remove all of the rust remaining on the floor and rough up the paint for a new coat.
6. With the surface clean I sprayed the exposed surface with rust oleum to stop any rust from reappearing
7. Then I applied a thick line of sealant around the 1" perimeter of the holes. I wanted to use a tar to seal it but I could only find a silicone sealant at the hardware store so I went with that.
8. Starting with one corner I drilled an 1/8" hole and riveted the plate down. I used steel rivets with backing washers.
9. Then I continued around the patch at 2" intervals drilling and then riveting to make sure everything lines up and the holes don't end up moving around as the patch is riveted down.
10. With the patches secure I sprayed the rest of the floor pan area with a heavy coat of rust oleum. I chose a semi-gloss black for the interior because the red looks terrible.

The biggest 4x2 truck around!

Ok, so I received the new hubs a couple weeks ago and quickly slapped them on and was excited to finally be driving a 4x4 again! To my disappointment though I discovered another problem, the front driveshaft was spinning but the wheels were not!

This could mean two things, differential problems or axle problems. UGH! that sucks. I'm 90% sure it's the driver side inner axle shaft that is broken but won't be certain until tear into the front axle. Why haven't I done that? I haven't started the front axle because I know the project will be a big one and will include a full brake job replacing bearings and seals and I just haven't had the dough to start it. I have been doing a ton of research though about the axle and decoding the tags to decipher what is inside.

This is what I found regarding the rear axle because it actually has a tag on it with the bill of materials and other info. The tag has this stamped on it:

4.10 D5TA LEB
603583 12 LS

I went to www.spicerparts.com to decode the tag and this is what I found. This website BTW was super helpful! I downloaded a maintenance booklet for the Trac Lok and The parts list and complete info for the rear axle. FOR FREE!!! Thanks Spicer! Also, spicer=dana=spicer interchangeable names one makes the other I can't remember which.

4.10= gear ratio: ring gear teeth/pinion gear teeth = 4.10 gears

603583 12 LS = B.O.M. Bill Of Materials, tells ya what is inside, and where it came from. This axle came from a 1975.5 Ford 3/4 ton HD 4x2 Full Float with limited slip aka Trac-Lok.