Thread: 53 Is back from the Body Shop

Tweet

I got more scrap money for a broken aluminum radiator than a pickup load (500+lbs) of scrap iron....

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I found some 53 parts that were long thrown in the scrap. Can you spot them?

In the top picture... lower right side.. blue and yellow - motor part if I remember right!?!?!? Maybe a piston???

Sorry 35 40, no engine parts, I don't even know what I did with the old motor. One part is a fender apron beyond repair as 40 Deluxe said, and the other part is the seat riser apron in the middle of the pic.
Scrap was $120 last week when I called and now it's down to $105, but they give you the amount on the day you call for a roll off so I got $120. If I got a dumpster the week before it would have been $130 but my pasture was too soft then from the frost coming out.The dumpster is $40 pretty much just to cover the trucking cost, it was well worth it. I got a pretty good trailer of aluminum that I separated out and they are paying .28 cents a pound for pure aluminum and deduct 20% off of that if it has plastic or some steel mixed with it. They are good people to deal with.
https://www.facebook.com/postequipment/

I started on the rear fenders again. Got the other side welded up, used a wet towel to keep things cool. One coat of mud on again. Last week I purposely didn't work on it just to take a needed break and enjoy the outdoors. Not going to get much done this week either which is OK. Going to a concert tomorrow night and a lot of Church stuff this week for Good Friday.

I may need to see what places here charge for a dumpster. I usually take my scrap to Alter's. I highly doubt they do it for $40.

I had to switch gear on the pickup a bit. I wanted to get the box painted to finish the body work part, but now I'm doing the rear suspension. I wan't to get this done first so I can trailer the pickup to the upholstery guy and he can cut and sew the carpet and make a panel for behind the seat while I finish the box. I had to chop up the new kit a bit because they weren't made for a boxed frame.

Started clean up on the 8.8 rear end. I was hoping to get it sandblasted today but I didn't get that far. I got the brackets cut off and the parking brake mess removed though.

Nice work! You just can't beat those Explorer 8.8 rearends. Limited slip, disc brakes, and 3:73 or 4:11 gears for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Originally Posted by falconvan

Nice work! You just can't beat those Explorer 8.8 rearends. Limited slip, disc brakes, and 3:73 or 4:11 gears for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Your right, $100 bucks for all that, mine has 3:73 posi. It's a great choice for old narrow cars, they were a bit overkill for a V6 Explorer.

Yup a lot of work but a good pretty good sense of accomplishment when everything is all cleaned up, painted and put together....even if you (and your friends on the net who look at the pictures) are the only ones who will see it

I got to look at the Dana 60 under my pickup again this week and I got to admit it brought a smile to my face. It also reminded me that I still hate running brake lines



.

Nice work Seth! You just got me thinking that maybe i should just look for a 8.8 instead of re gearing my ford 9". It might be cheaper since I haven't welded anything on this rear end. Haha

Getting the rear end mocked up, I will need to put the box on to see if its where I want it for sure. The old rearend seemed like it should go back about an inch so I want to make sure this is right. I have a couple of questions though. Is there any rules on how to mount the lateral bars for angles or side to side stuff or anything. Same questions with the shock angles. I have the rear end at 0 deg and the driveshaft at about 2.5 deg, is that alright? This is supposed to be a weld on kit but there sure are a lot of variables in it. Another question I have is are the pumpkins on rear ends cast iron or cast steel?. As you see in the picture , the 8.8's have a offset housing and I have a lateral bracket issue. If its cast steel, I will trim and weld, if its iron, I may have to get creative. Pretty sure it's steel though, it had a ton of scale rust on it. (I had a sandblaster issue, thats why its only half sandblasted)

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

are the pumpkins on rear ends cast iron or cast steel?

I searched long and hard for that answer for the 8.8 in the Spyder. There was no sure consensus on several different websites. One fellow said it had been tested and found to have the carbon content of steel (he never produced the report, though), but it sure appears to me to be cast iron or nodular iron. Probably the latter. It also doesn't spark like steel when ground. Cast steel would typically have a much smoother appearance than the surface on the Explorer rear. It also is telling that Ford choose to pin the tubes in rather than weld them. Seems that welding would have been much simpler.

FWIW - I treated it like cast iron when I welded the tubes in. I used nickel rods and preheat. It seemed to weld fine, but without sure info on what it actually is, I wouldn't trust it for anything critical. That's why I made the 3rd link bracket on my rear bolt on.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

I searched long and hard for that answer for the 8.8 in the Spyder. There was no sure consensus on several different websites.

I just did some checking too, your right, seems like both sides think their right. I think I'll trim it to size, weld what I can to the tube and bring it to my welding shop and have him weld the other half to the center. He's awesome at what he does.

I've seen a lot of rock crawler guys and mud buggy guys weld the axle tubes to the center with mig welders and they hold fine. I was wondering the same thing as you and found no definitive info in my searches here recently when I decided to put one in my 40. My thoughts were the same. Get it tacked in place, and take it to a guy I know and have him weld the cast side. It's always something.