More Mods

I have been blasting a few more parts the last couple of days and have run into a problem.  My new media blaster is creating so much dust in the cabinet I can't see what I am doing!  Today I stopped by Lowe's and picked up a cheap bathroom exhaust fan to replace my current cabinet fan.  I am hoping the additional air movement will keep the air in the box a little cleaner.

Tried it for a few minutes and have the same problem.
Driveshaft recommended I cut some holes in the other end of the cabinet to allow the exhaust fan to create a draft through the unit.  This still did not clear the air enough, though it did help a little.

What's Next:  fix the media blasting issue!!
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Blasting Improvements

I decided to break down today and purchase a pressurized media blaster.  Harbor Freight had it on sale this month and with an additional 20% coupon I payed around 70 dollars for a 40 gallon unit.  Took me about 30 minutes to get it together and hooked up.  It did take a few tries to get adjusted correctly, but it made a huge difference!  I told Driveshaft that it cut the blasting time of a coil spring from about 20 minutes down to 5.  I am very pleased with it.

What's Next:  more blasting.

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Mediablasting

Today I started blasting away on some of the parts laying around.  Currently I have a syphon feed blaster attached to the bottom of my homemade blasting cabinet.  It works pretty good, but loses suction every so often.  May look into getting a pressurized blaster later.

These are the first few parts that I did.  I sprayed some Zero Rust Prep Step on the parts once they were clean.  The Prep Step is supposed to prevent flash rust for up to 30 days.  I don't believe it worked very well....the flash rust in the pictures happened by the next day.  I will have to just blast or wire wheel the parts again before powdercoating I guess.

Link to Zero Rust Prep Step:  http://www.zerorustusa.com/prepstep.html

What's Next:  More blasting.

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More Disassembly

The last couple of days I have removed the transmission mount,

motor mounts,

and the rest of the emergency brake assembly:

What's Next:  Start cleaning some parts.
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Stripping the Rear End

Spent today disassembling the rear end components.

First, had to get the axles and brake assemblies off the driver's side.

I have never completely redone a drum brake assembly, so I took a lot of pictures in case I need them for future reference.

What's Next:  Transmission Mount removal.

Rear End Removal

Since I have decided to remove everything from the frame for this restoration, I tackled the rear end today.  Driveshaft took his sweet time getting to the shop this PM, so I was able to get the rear end, springs, trailing arms, panhard bar, and shocks removed before he showed up.

Rear trailing arm mounting bracket

Spring removed

Upper trailing arm shims

Rear end is out:

Wheel, axle, and brake assembly removed on passenger side

What's Next:  finish disassembling rear end.
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Change of Plans

After a few days of trying to get the frame clean without removing the motor and trans, I decided to bite the bullet and take it out.  Luckily, Driveshaft was around to help me.  I purchased a load leveler at Harbor Freight and it sure did help on the removal. Took us about an hour.  Now I can finish getting the frame ready for paint.

I did notice that I will have to touch up some of the paint on the motor before re-install.

As we were removing the motor, I decided to just strip the frame of everything.  Driveshaft tried to talk me out of it, but I said "A few more bolts and we can have the rear end out".  So that is now the plan.

What's Next:  Get everything else off frame.
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