The rod from the Ag. Shop

[rodgerhoyt]

HAMB'ers?

Oh come on you spoil sports - you're starting to sound like HAMB'ers!!!

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

slow progress

I haven't been doing a lot of work on my rat rod lately (Thanks to my English projects). All I've got done is cleaning it out and fixing the drivers door where it will open from inside (pics will come when film gets developed). But I've been hunting for parts and attempting to apply for my title. I'm getting a Dana 44 with a 3.73 gear and limited slip for the budget price of $0. I'll also be replacing the front axle i made with the 46 Chevy axle for safety reasons. Since i have to do some fab to get the axles to fit, I've decided to air bag it while I'm into the suspension again. I can get the parts i think I'll need to bag it for about $200. Any suggestions for ride height?

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

bed

I got my bed sides welded about 90% today and put the wood in for a picture. Would have been wiring turn signals on the '46 but it was pouring rain and didn't feel like getting sick over it.

 

[burnin#2]

your ride hight will be based on what you wanna do with your ride... i wanna do doughnuts in the gravel road intersections where i grew up and a lotta highway miles too. i picked up a pair of heavy air helper bags from a 1 ton from a wrecking yard for under $90. they give a total of 6" travel, so i set it so the frame is 1.5 to 2" off the ground with the bags deflated and with them fully inflated give me about 6".... i am running a engine driven compressor so i can change my ride hight at will [cl

 

[Sam_Fear]

What are you looking at for a air system? How big of bags? The bigger diameter, the softer the ride. As far as ride height, since it's gonna be bagged, shoot for 4" minimum cruise height. That'll get you down the road, and you can boost up for speed bumps and such.

Personally, I'd probably set the frame on the ground, place the bags 1/4" from fully compressed, and build from there. Then 4-5" of lift would be cruise height. In fact, that is what I did.....

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

The bags i'm looking at are denominator #2600. They have a 7.25" diameter. compressed height of 2.8 " and an extended height of 10.5". Sitting it on the ground and building it as if the bags are almost fully compressed seems like the way to go for me. As for the compressor, I may use an a/c compressor off of my '72 Pinto on a toggle switch. My dad can get me an air tank off of a Freightliner school bus that i can mount behind the axle. And as for switches to let air in and out of the bags i'm going basic and using ball valves.

 

[Sam_Fear]

That should do ya. Sounds like you've thought this through a bit. A couple other things you'll want are a oil/water separator and line limiters. You might be able to control it enough with manual valves, but I'd bet someday you'd accidentally bounce that front end a foot in the air - when it comes down, you better hope that frame is solid.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

I surely Hope I never pop that front end up a foot in the air. I think my frame will hold steady... but man what a hit that would be when the frame hits the ground! Anyway I'm getting a compressor for Christmas i think, and a tailgate for my 68 C10. After I work all next week I think i'll have enough to get my air bags. I already spent my money on presents for my girlfriend and gas in the C10 (5mpg ).
Since my last post i ripped some useless switches out of the dash and wired my headlights and front turn signals and park lights. I took a 1157 bulb socket out of the pinto, drilled a hole where the existing marker light was and filed it out where the bulb socket would twist in the top of the headlight bucket. The stock lens covered up the bulb no problem. tried taking pictures to show what i'm talking about but the camera died.
I also took the back glass out of my Jeep Cherokee to cut up for the windshield. I borrowed a dremel tool from my grandpa and got some diamond bits so i can cut the glass. Hopefully i'll get to start tomorrow.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

glass cutting attempt

I tried cutting my glass today with a dremel tool and an arsenal of diamond cutting bits. Aaaand the following happened.
now I'll have to spend the money i should have spent to begin with.

 

[Sam_Fear]

If you weren't spraying water on it to cool it, the glass and bit get unevenly hot and..... crack. If it was tempered glass, you never had a chance anyhow. EDIT: Looking at the pic again, it looks tempered.

As for hopping bags, I used 1/2 line and valves, etc. on my system. At 100psi in the tank, I bounced the front several inches - 160psi woulda hammered it (the rears woulda been worse!) I had to make inline limiters drilled to 1/16" to slow it down properly.

 

[rsfyj]

looks good so far

Hey looks good far' go fot it

 

[rsfyj]

looks good so far

Go for it, spelled better this time

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

I'm so lucky

Over Christmas break i finally got some work done on my trucks. I painted my tailgate for my 68 c10 and it looks Great for a first timer. i also made the decision to start taking the cab off my 46. Since i have to get the motor running to be able to say its operable on the title, it will be easier to work on the cab and motor when its on my new frame.
The reason i'm so lucky though is i have such a great family and group of friends. I got the chance to give my dad a Christmas present, a reloading press for bullets, he has asked for since i was born. He had to give it up when me and my brother were born so we wouldn't get hurt... Just had to share my joy
Also, a friend of my dad has a 46 1.5 ton he used to haul grain on when he first started farming. It was one of his prize trucks. He told me a few days ago that he's going to pull it out of his barn and let me get whatever i need off of it so he can see some use back out of it again.

But here's a pic of the 46 without the front end.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

Mock Up

So I Finally got the cab off. We hooked a block and tackle up across the rafters and used the winch on my jeep to lift it. We pushed my new frame under it and put a 4x4 block under each corner of the cab. it Fits like a Glove on that frame! I think its Crazy that I made that frame without a cab in mind and this one fits like it was made for it. My only complication was that my shifter hit the bottom of the cab when i was setting it down, but i raised it enough to get it out of the way and it sat down Perfectly!

Tell me what you think. sorry pics are blurry

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

Got some more work done today and yesterday. I patched the Huge hole in the cab behind drivers door and hit it with some primer and forest green paint and sprayed some carb cleaner over it to give it some bare spots and runs to get some surface rust.
I also took some leftover wood laminate flooring we used in our house and made a floorboard. Reinforced the bottom of it with a couple pieces of wood and screwed everything together.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

a few pics with the radiator mounted, seeing if i liked the hood on it, modifying the headlight buckets some. also some of the shifter. i like the tall shifter. What do yall think?
I'm also working on modifying the wiper motor off the back hatch of my cherokee. I just finished welding up my cab mounts and patching the driver side cab corner (I don't think i'll post pictures of my inside corner patch. It looks really rough.) hope to make my pedals either this next week or next weekend and then the cab comes back off.

 

[Sam_Fear]

The second pic of the shifter looks too high. Above the dash and below the eyes is good height IMO.

What is that radiator from? Looks narrow.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

The radiator is from a 92 Cherokee, just flipped on the end. Had it laying around and thought it was a good length it should cool good since I've seen v8 swaps in Cherokees before without changing the radiator. I'll make a grill or use the stock one so no one sees it that much.

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

going in reverse

So ive been working in reverse lately [S I put my cab back on its original 46 frame and put the fenders back on and all in an attempt to get a title. I wired up my headlights and turn and brake lights. And i took my windshield frame apart and took the busted glass out and I bought some plexi glass to put back in it. One of the pieces of plexi glass cracked when my coping saw blade busted

 

[Ag.Shoprod]

forgot to mention about the air cleaner. I thought it was kinda stupid to spend thirty dollars for a 1 barrel chrome air cleaner so i spent some time yesterday redoing the original one