BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS is the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I can accomplish without a garage.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

20. And More Frame Work

June 9^th 2002  Weather was supposed to be bad this morning but I decided to gamble and drag out the sand blasting equipment. Unfolded the tarp part way to cover only 10' x 15' instead of the full 20' x 30'. This was easier to manage. Secured metal insect screen to the top of the siphon blaster with duct tape, a bungee cord and some blood. Blasted the other front bumper bracket and managed to cut an hour off my previous time of four hours. The weather co-operated this time with no rain and low wind. Cleanup was easier too. My next improvement will be a better blaster gun.

June 16^th 2002  Yesterday was a rainout. Today is iffy. Pulled out the equipment anyway. Blasted the rust off the front bumper brackets that had built-up during the week. Setup the powdercoating kit and coated and cured the bumper brackets, one at a time. Wired each bracket into the supporting frame and donned latex gloves to treat first with compressed air, then with PRE Paint Prep. They were coated with "Satin Black" and the whole job went easier this time which was my second attempt at powdercoating. Got light rain near the end of curing the first bracket. I had to abort the operation and hustle the infared lamp inside 'til the foul weather passed. Ended up with a dull spot on the bottom of one bracket where I don't think I got enuf coverage with powder.

August 10^th 2002  Workin' at the back of the frame today. Weather is 'posed to be good 'til this afternoon. Going to replace the rear axle U-bolts. This is somewhat risky 'cause, if things go south, I'll be stuck without transportation as the Boss's Mercedes Panzerwagon is in the shop for electrical problems. Jacked up Billybob and placed the jackstands just forward of the front spring mounts for the rear springs. Removed the wheels and rear shocks. Started working on the rusted U-bolts. Tried the easy solutions first - Penetrating oil, impact wrench and breaker bar. No joy, so I went straight to the 3" air cut-off wheel. That did the job and put me at the point of no return.

Cleaned the axle ends and spring saddles first with Eastwood's Under Gone Undercoating/Heavy Residue Remover (part #31130Z), then with wire brush and putty knife. Followed up with wire brush cup in the air powered angle grinder. Continued with a couple of applications of Eastwood's Under Gone Industrial Cleaner/Degreaser (#31131Z), PRE Paint Prep (#1679Z) and Rust Encapsulator (#16040Z). While the Rust Encapsulator dried, I did a check fit of the U-bolts to the plate . . . The U-bolts fit in the plate holes. Whew! A real relief.

After an hour the axle ends were painted with Eastwood's rattlecan Chassis Black. Overspray was wiped off brake lines with lacquer thinner. Another hour and I was ready for the new U-bolts which I had powdercoated with Satin Clear a couple of months ago. Everything went together easy. I applied threadlocker blue to the hex nuts and torqued the U-bolts to about seventy footpounds as I couldn't find the specs. I'll keep lookin' and re-torque them after they settle in a bit. Replaced the shocks and wheels and put BillyBob back on the ground. That's about it for today but I'm a little bit closer to ordering those new springs. Time for a burger and a cigar.

October 5^th 2002  Well, I've read that powder coating is idiot-proof, so I must be a mo-ron! The U-bolts have surface rust all over them so my first attempt at powder coating is a failure. We'll try something else. Good weather today. Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili have just gotten done tag-teamin' the area west of the Big Easy and the seas are relatively calm for the time being. Put BillyBob on jackstands again and removed the rear wheels and shocks.

Got the U-bolts off with the impact wrench. Tossed the hex nuts and washers in the tumbler for a cleaning session. Wire-brushed and PRE Paint Prepped the U-Bolts, then immersed them in Eastwoods OxiSolve anti-rust treatment. After the OxiSolve, The U-bolts were cleaned with PRE Paint Prep again and given a coat of Plasti-Cote Anti-Rust Primer. When that was dry, the U-bolts were finished up with a couple of coats of Eastwood's Detail Gray acrylic lacquer.

The plates that the U-bolts attach to were blasted with aluminium oxide media in the cheap Harbor Freight blast cabinet. Then, they were treated with PRE and then preheated with the powder coat infared heat lamp to outgas the parts before coating . . . Yeah, even tho' I've been humbled by my first powder coating experience, I'm gonna take another whack at it. Coated the parts with Low Gloss Black powder I ordered from the Columbia Coatings website a few weeks ago. Cured each plate for 25 minutes after the powder flashed, and then let them cool down.

It's late in the afternoon. Time to start reassembly. Wanted to tin-zinc plate the hex nuts and washers but that will have to wait until next time. Found a couple of bare spots in the nooks and cranies that the powder didn't reach - touched them up with Eastwood's Chassis Black. Got everything back together by 5:30 PM an' I'm a bit worn through. We'll just have to wait and see if this U-bolt finish solution fairs any better than the last one. It's the same paint I used on the drive shaft and that's holding up well. Next time I get around to this end of BillyBob it will be time to attack the spare tire assembly.

November 9^th 2002  Beautiful day for work here in the shadetree garage. Last week I was in Norfolk, Virginia for the USS Abner Read Reunion. My uncle Dutch served on that ship and went down with it in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was great getting first hand history of war in the pacific from the survivors. One of them, Harry M. Huyck, died about a month before the reunion but he sent my family a letter shortly before his death. These quiet veterans (they become uncomfortable if you even think about calling them heros) always treat me well, like I belong at their gatherings, even tho' I wasn't even born yet at the time of their trama and have never served in the military. The memorial service this year was held on the USS Wisconsin . . . Very solemn and moving.

Time to remove the spare tire and carrier. This thing has been here a long time. Some previous owner before JR painted the frame light green and this tire has that green paint on it. I'll bet it's been in there since the Nixon administration and it's still holding air! I'm gonna have to cut the carrier bolts and chain holding the tire in place.

Cut the carrier threaded rods with a 3" air powered cutoff wheel. These things are anchored to frame crossmembers with hex head nuts and flat washers on both sides of the crossmember. At least I think they were hex heads once - very corroded now. It's gonna take some effort to get them off. The spare tire and carrier are gonna take a lotta elbow grease too. I removed the forward most crossmember - These are minor Channel shaped crossmembers used only to support the tire carrier so they are bolted into place with 3/8" - 24 x 1-3/4" hex bolts, not riveted like the major frame elements.

November 16^th 2002  I'm being punished for being lazy last week when the weather was good. We're right on the edge of a cold front and under constant threat of cloudbursts. I've got the doppler radar for the area from the Internet running on my computer "Buc Nekid" inside. It may give me a few minutes warning unless a cell forms right over me. Am only draggin' out tools as needed 'an I've decided to work with BillyBob on the ground when it would be easier to remove both rear wheels.

Started out by removing the rear bumper and brackets with hand tools. Used the air powered 3" cut off wheel and a chisel to get the at the bolt heads attaching the rear tire carrier cross member. With the cross member loose, I disconnected the tail light wiring bullet connectors to get the wiring out of the way and ran into one frozen bullet connector . . . had to stop long enuf to replace it with a new connector. Continued by cleaning the rear frame with a wire brush cup in an air powered angle grinder. I always wear a respirator, goggles and gloves when I do this to keep collateral damage to my old skin down to a minimum. Felt a few sprinkles from the sky . . . OH GREAT! We've just had a tornado watch issued. By early afternoon, I had PRE Paint Prepped the rear of the frame and brush painted a coat of Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. With a wary eye to the Northwest where the advancing cold front is rolling in, I started to clean up. Left the bumper and brackets off for the time being.

November 22^nd 2002  Thirty-nine years ago today, I remember sitting in a junior high school classroom (middle school nowadays) listening to radio reports over the PA system with my classmates and teacher. President Kennedy had been shot and regular classes had come to a screaming halt.

The UPS man arrived this afternoon with new springs for BillyBob from Eaton Detroit Spring, Inc. I ordered stock springs from the website a few weeks ago. A feller from Eaton called me up a couple of days later and, after a few questions, helped me decide that the "rod ride" springs would be more suitable for my uses. I don't plan on a lot of hauling but I do plan on traveling some in BillyBob someday so the softer ride might be welcome. He gave me the rod springs for the same price as stock springs. Also ordered all the installation fittings 'cept the U-bolts which I already have. These things are not painted but all the bushings are already pressed into the spring eyes - That's a big plus in my book. I will only have to deal with the frame bushings now. Eaton springs aren't cheap but this is one area where I didn't want to skimp any.

November 23^rd 2002  Chilly today for South Florida. Spent some time trying to get the mailing labels and adhesive off the new springs with utility knife, scraper and wire brush. PRE Paint Prepped the springs, spread out a plastic drop cloth, put plugs in the bushing openings, and applied a coat of Rust Encapsulator. There's no rust on these springs but I haven't had trouble with anything I've applied Rust Encapsulator to 'cept where it has come in contact with brake fluid. I've developed a general rule of thumb to use it as a primer for chassis parts.

November 24^th 2002  Not as cold this morning as yesterday. Started out with some scheduled BillyBob maintenance checks. After it warmed up a bit, I setup the drop cloth again and painted the new springs with rattlecan chassis black. Everything's been going well this weekend. None of the paint cans have clogged up and the wind isn't too bad. No rain. I'm wondering where Murphy is.

Last week, I wuz rained out before I got the rear of the chassis painted. I had left the bumper and brackets off in anticipation of completing the work this weekend. With the quarterly maintenance out of the way and the springs painted and drying, the rear of the frame was PRE Paint Prepped. Brush applied a coat of Chassis Black over the Rust Encapsulator. Some time back, I painted over Rust Encapsulator 'bout an hour after the Rust Encapsulator was applied. I thought I hadn't waited long enuf 'cause I was getting bleed thru from the Rust Encapsulator. Well, I was wrong, 'cause I'm having the same problem today and the Rust Encapsulator has been on the frame for over a week. It's not bad. Nothing that another coat of Chassis Black wouldn't cure. If it bothers me enuf, I'll get the paint brush out again.

November 28^th 2002  Thanksgiving day and once more into the breach. I've got four days to install the new springs along with some other jobs logged elsewhere. Started out by taking existing height measurements between running board and ground at all four "corners". Left front is 12-3/8". Right front is 12-7/8". Left Rear is 14" and right rear equals 14-1/4". I'm hoping the measurements will not be much different when the new springs are in place as I like BillyBob's current stance.

November 29^th 2002  Frost on the pumpkin today. We don't have pumpkins in South Florida an' it's not really that cold but it feels like it. Spoiled, I guess. Put BillyBob's front end up on jackstands under the frame right behind the front spring mounts. Removed the front wheels and shocks, then went inside to warm up and search for the new front axle U-bolts and spring bumpers I purchased some time back from Chevy Duty. That took awhile. I remembered where the U-bolts were, and I remembered where I put the bumpers when I first got them but, I didn't remember moving the bumpers to another box of rubber parts. I had out-organized myself.

Started with the passenger side front spring (the broken one). Supporting the front axle with the floor jack, I started on the U-Bolts with the impact wrench and a 3/4" deep socket. This hadn't worked on the rear U-Bolts but they were rusted. The front U-bolts are caked with grease. The impact wrench worked this time. Started cleaning up the bumper mount and shock bracket a bit. Not gonna attempt to refurbish these parts now. That's too much work for the timeline I have available. The goal for these four days is to get the springs in place and the niceties can wait.

Didn't have enuf room to use the impact wrench on the spring bolt but it wasn't necessary. It came out fairly easily. I did manage to bang one of my fingers and now I've got a purple badge of stupidity welling up under a fingernail. The spring eye of the new spring was a smigeon too big for the bracket opening so, I tried the other front spring thinking maybe there were left and right springs. It was too big too. I haven't used my Chicago 4" angle grinder much but today I'm glad I had the foresight to buy it. Got the spring eye ground down enuf to fit and installed the spring eye bolt and front shackle. Couldn't install the U-bolts yet as the alignment peg on the spring is 'bout a half inch from the mating hole on the front axle. Pondered the possibility of left and right springs again until I convinced myself they were the same and the mis-alignment is due to the old spring still attached to the other side and that it will disappear when I get both springs in place. Time to break loose the U-Bolts on the other side.

U-bolts on the driver side also came out easy. The spring eye bolt on this side was a little tougher . . . That's because the exhaust pipe was in the way so, naturally, in accord with Murphy, it was a bit frozen. Not too bad tho' and I had the old spring out in short order. In the interest of doing a thorough job, I managed to whack my bad finger again, this time with a ball peen hammer trying to break the shackle loose!

Spring eye had to be ground down on this side too. The axle came back into alignment with both new springs in place. A small lizard has taken up position on top of the axle and doesn't seem inclined to move off it. I don't know if he's the guy from Geico, but I've already got insurance so he's wasting his time. Got everything buttoned up and lubed. Had to put an angled zerk fitting on the driver's side spring bolt, again, because of the obtrusive exhaust pipe. The rubber axle bumpers are wedge shaped and are pressed up thru the U'Bolt saddle. Well, the new ones didn't want to fit very well and, even after snugging up the U-bolts, left a little sandwich of rubber pinched between the spring and the saddle. When dragging off the old springs, I noticed loose leaf shaped wedges about five inches long. These things are caster shims and I put them off to the side for now (took note that the old springs had the thick part of the wedge facing rearward on the passenger side and forward on the driver side??). I may not need them with the new springs. I'll test drive BillyBob for a week and revisit the U-bolts, rubber bumper excess, and caster shims next week if BillyBob is unstable.

November 30^th 2002  Only slightly warmer this morning than yesterday. I'd rather suffer a little cold than rain so I'm not complaining. Reminds me a little of my second year at Penn State. Students had to park their cars in big lots surrounding the campus which was about a half mile from my dorm. My '59 Ferd developed a teeth-rattling vibration on the way back to campus from home in November. I let it sit in the parking lot 'til winter break when I came back with the tools to change the tie rod ends. I remember laying on my back under the Ferd on that windswept parking lot with snowdrifts piling up around the Ferd since it was the only car left in the lot. The temperature was in the teens while I struggled to break loose the old tie rod ends. When finished, I somehow managed to get the Ferd started for a test drive across the lot. ~!@#$%^ The vibration was still there! Turned out the be a bent drive shaft at the transmission because I had reversed the rear spring shackles to jack up the the Ferd and make it look cool (if that's possible) and didn't know about shimming the rear axle to correct the pinion angle. I didn't ask Dad about the implications of reversing the shackles 'cause I knew he would'uv given me a ration of s**t for doin' such a fool thing. That Ferd was his nemesis.

Started around seven following the same methods as yesterday and had the passenger side rear spring off by nine-thirty. There is much better access in the back but this is offset by more rust. The spring eye bolt was frozen. Using a method recently suggested to me by fellow ole trucker VW Nate for stud removal, I repeatedly heated up the bolt with a torch and quenched it with penetrating oil. A washer was used as a heat sink to keep the spring eye bracket cooler than the bolt in this process. Two iterations of this procedure and some help from the impact wrench did the trick. The shackle was pretty rusted too. Had a hard time getting one shackle side off the upper shackle pin. I couldn't bang away at it much with a hammer 'cause the pin was a little loose in the bushing and I didn't want to cause any further damage to the pin and bushing. After a couple of heat and quench repetitions, I managed to get it apart with a small gear puller that didn't stress the bushing. The bushing is worn enuf that a new shackle pin will not fit, only the old pin. It's not worn thru to the bracket, however, so I have time to work on it in the weeks ahead.

The spring eye had to be ground to fit just like the front springs . . . A little more tedjus' this time to fit and grind, fit and grind, because this thing is long and heavy. The new shackle went together on the old pin easily and the U-Bolts were no problem since they're fairly new and the alignment is less critical than the front was. It's eleven now and I'm farther ahead than I was yesterday at this time. Unless Murphy really messes with me, I won't end up in a hurry sundown situation again.

Had the same problems on the driver side with the spring eye and the old shackle. The shackle bushing is worn out on this side too. Had the exact same problem getting the shackle apart, this time complicated by the tail pipe being in the way of the gear puller. I used a pickle fork this time even tho' it put a little pressure on the shackle pin and bushing. There wasn't any other way I could see to do it with the tools I had at hand. I was lucky. The pickle fork tightened the assembly up enuf so that a tap on the shackle side bar with a hammer popped it off. When it comes time to press in a new bushing, the tail pipe is going to have to move out of the way, so I better get some new hanger fittings.

The last spring had to have the spring eye ground down just like the others. After that was done, the shackle and U-bolts went together pretty quick. Finished up by installing the six new zerk fittings and greasing the spring eyes and shackles. Put the shocks back on and the wheels. Took BillyBob off the jackstands and checked the height measurements again. Left front is 14-1/4". Right front is 14-1/4". Left Rear is 16" and right rear equals 16". Gained about an 1-1/2" in the front and almost two inches in the rear. The stance is pretty much the same and I'm happy. The rear end should drop down some when I get the spare tire and bed floor in. Well, it's two forty-five and I've still got good afternoon light to finish the other job I've got going.

December 1^st 2002  It's Thanksgiving aftermath cleanup day. I've got both my big jobs finished. There's enuf carnage in this episode to post it to the website, so I'll do that before cleaning up the pile of tools I've got scattered throughout the Krash Lab. Gotta put the rear bumper back on BillyBob too. I also did a Stage I repair job on the cab floor during these past four days to keep it from turning into a Fred Flintstone car with my feet hangin' out the bottom and I've got more engine bay, brake, electrical, door and interior work to report on down the road. It was a good Thanksgiving for me. Even though skinnin' knuckles by yourself on a holiday isn't everyone's cup of tea, I felt my Dad's spirit with me in every little victory I achieved. I'm thankful for that. I hope everyone who reads these log entries had as good a Thanksgiving as I did.

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Issued Sunday December 1, 2002

Updated Thursday February 8, 2018

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