Hound dog hauler

[JBNeal]

When I've pulled these steering wheels, I put a sacrificial bolt in the shaft bore, steering wheel nut on the threads finger tight, and the puller setup like ya used...keeps the shaft threads intact and keeps the puller square-threaded screw from "inserting"...yeah, my first wheel I pulled ran into this scenario.  So I put the steering wheel and nut back on and modified the puller so that the bearing splitter was indirectly resting on top of that steering wheel nut instead of the back of the steering wheel...I cut some scrap angle steel to approximate square tube that would go between the nut and splitter, using vise-grips to hold them together.  Made a U-shaped plate from scrap 1/4" steel to spread the load from the angle steel to the splitter, straddling that square threaded screw.  Then I carefully backed the square threaded screw out of the H-bar, and it eventually popped out.  I was puckering up purty good the whole way, but got r dun without incident...lesson learned

Edited October 5 by JBNeal

[Los_Control]

6 hours ago, Young Ed said:

There is probably an entire page of my build thread devoted to fixing that!

I remember reading that, was impressed with the actual fix ... a split die .... never knew such a animal existed ... what a life saver.

 

Well I think I reached my limits on this .... I'm just not getting it out.

I used a heavy chain with a weight and jerked it as hard as I could, I eventually got it to pull out about 1/4".

I can move the tool around like a joy stick ... just cant pull it out.

 

Then I put lots of heat on it and tried the weight and chain some more .... won't budge another millimeter.

 

Now I have this hillbilly rig on it .... I have a lot of tension on the tool .... will not budge.

If I try to put another pump on the jack the steering column flex's and afraid if I go any further I'm going to damage it

 

 

So I give up.

I'm going to sacrifice the tool and cut it off. Remove the wheel for clearance and keep the nut on to save the threads.

Then cut it off flush with the shaft and drill it out. .... worry about the tool another day. Just sucks because it is a new tool and the first time I used it   🥵

[Young Ed]

I didn't even spring for the split die. I basically made my own by cutting a bit I'm half. And boy was I annoyed when I did it the first time only to discover a course thread nut was mixed into the fine thread bin and I'd spent all that effort on the wrong thing. Would you be able to get the tool out if you pulled the column?

[Los_Control]

24 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

Would you be able to get the tool out if you pulled the column?

I think having it installed is more helpful to hold it ..... while I beat the crap out of the thrust washers and gears in the box    The steering box is in remarkable condition for it's age ..... no play, no leaks.

Whatever force I'm putting on top is getting transferred to the bottom.

 

Seriously, cutting the tool I'm now convinced is the correct way to go .... All I need is a long bolt to replace what I destroy.

I have a couple other pullers that use the same style bolt .... whats the chances of one of them fit in both tools and can share?

 

My biggest fear is it will be a hardened bolt, I will not be able to drill it. ..... I doubt it is.

No hole, no horn in the steering wheel. I will know in about 15 minutes.

 

 

 

[Los_Control]

Naturally it was hardened, I tried drilling and got nowhere fast.

So been working at it with a dremel tool and just hogging out the material inside with a carbide bit.

 

 

Little further to go, letting the tool cool down .... there is minor damage.

The threads are not damaged, I can start the nut and get 3 threads with my fingers and looks good and square.

Shaft is slightly oblong and not round after all the beating it took.

With all the material removed from inside, I can run the nut down and make it round again. .... Not a big deal.

 

That is why I do not have the nut on the shaft right now protecting the threads.

Working slowly with a dremel is pretty easy and I will try my best not to cause damage.

 

Thinking that is the end of this issue .... what a mess .... something that could have been simple tuned into a 3 day ordeal.

Now to move forward with other projects.

[Los_Control]

So no Children or small puppies were injured in the steering wheel episode ... It is fine in the end.

 

So I still need to finish stripping the cab, door handles and wiper motor etc .... It wont take much to prep it for paint ... most has been prepped already and painted, just really dirty and needs cleaned. Still have some seam sealer to apply.

 

So it is time to get working on the rear fenders .... If I want to paint them this year before the weather changes .... I probably should have started on them last year   🙄

 

This one is the better of the two .... I wanted to tack it back together just to make a template for a patch I need on the other side.

 

 

Seems like I get it this close, I may as well finish it then not replace it, just template and match the other side to it.

[Los_Control]

So have been patching up rips and tears, welding in holes that do not belong there.

Close enough I can start hammer and dolly to bring back shape then finish welding it.

 

Tomorrow want to start on this area.

Sigh!!! There is more work on the front and in the corners where the metal has been ripped .... This is the good fender.

[Dave72dt]

What's your plan of attack on that tear and since it's already had one tear welded how do you plan to prevent a third tear?

[Los_Control]

On 10/23/2024 at 11:42 PM, Dave72dt said:

What's your plan of attack on that tear and since it's already had one tear welded how do you plan to prevent a third tear?

Well, lets just say I'm diving in head first and hoping for the best.    🙄

 

First thing, I believe that since it was a construction truck .... the damage is from heavy equipment loading/unloading on the un-paved job site.     Just too many damaged areas on the bed that was not caused by a normal fender bender on the road.

So I would not use old construction equipment from the 40's to load the truck .... That would prevent the 3rd tear.

 

I Had high hopes of welding the one crack up, then to cut the other repaired crack and grind to original metal and repair it properly .... I spent a 1/2 day on that and quickly switched to making a patch for it.

That was getting me close but not very far ... I just could not get the right curve, even using different diameter of pipe.

This is where I ended up with my home made patch.

 

I was careful to repair the original edge so I did not have to recreate it, beyond my patience level.

 

Then I used the patch I started to make, I had to cut it into 3 pieces and install them separately.

Same time I had to put in 3 different pie cuts to get the metal to conform to all the different shapes going on here.

There is no question I'm a self taught noob that only has welded in some simple patches in the past .... this is by far the hardest I have ever done.

 

It is no way close to being finished, it is roughed in and now will take much patience with a hammer and dolly and tap  tap  tap .... weld weld weld grind grind grind ... I will get it close enough to match the existing bodywork on the truck.

 

[Los_Control]

Right now I'm ready to get started on this one and get it to the same level as the other one

 

 

This fender was in worse shape then it is now, I spent a minute with it a few years ago just so I could move it around without folding in 1/2 ..... Trying to get that proper curve back in would take a real body man .... I'm a carpenter 

 

Lets see how this one goes .... I can be patient and go tap  tap  tap  all day long, lets just get the major work done first so I have something to tap on.

 

 

[Dave72dt]

The picture of the first fender with the tear appeared to have a dent in the middle of tear and was curious about your work process if that was the case. That ospho treatment makes it really hard to see shapes and dent in the pics.

[Los_Control]

Making progress .... first I rebuilt the mounting flange. I specifically rebuilt the better fender first, so I could use it to make templates from.

Then I rebuilt the mounting flange on the fender.   It was pretty crazy at first, I could not believe the fender was that far off from the template .... I spent the rest of the day just getting the fender to match the new patch panel.

 

I then spent a few hours the next day making a 1.5" flat strip to follow the fender and welded it in as a L shape patch.

Then I made a longer piece shorter then the original and doubled up the mounting .... Way over kill but the bracket will not break off again.

 

Today welding in a complicated patch went a lot easier, knowing today what I did not know before, I made the patch in 3 pieces.

 

So it is going a lot smoother then the first fender patch.

 

 

When I look at this photo .... I just wonder how many beers it will take to get this to paint.

What was a solid mess and should be called scrap metal .... will be put back into service.

 

For over 5 years I have been having nightmares about fixing these fenders. 

I find that once the rear mounting bracket of the fender is put back into shape, then the middle section repaired.

The rear tail that was smashed flat wants to come back to original shape.

 

So thats two fenders roughed in, they will never be perfect, but good enough.

 

[Dave72dt]

It looks like the patches went in butt welded so you should be able to make them look good.  You can still hammer & dolly some shape into them if need be.  A lot of the dings come from the inside. Just running a file lightly over the metal will find them and a couple light taps of the hammer takes care of them.  I'm always trying to learn, more than one way to work metal is the reason I asked about the process.

[Los_Control]

14 hours ago, Dave72dt said:

I'm always trying to learn, more than one way to work metal is the reason I asked about the process.

Agreed, honestly I would be happy to learn just one way to work metal

 

I'm just stumbling through the repairs on this truck, I have not done it many times in the past ... Now I can say I've done it once before.

 

The first fender I did wrong by trying to work it out with one patch .... while just having simple hand tools.

With the right tools it could be done.

It really does not matter though, it still worked out in the end and the finished product will be fine ... it was just more difficult because I had to make pie cuts in the metal to get it to go the way I wanted it to ... it was stressful wondering if I was going to get it ..... just metal, in the end it worked out.

 

The 2nd fender was no stress, I looked at it and knew what I needed to do and did it in 3 patches and it was just easier to get to the same place as the first fender.

 

So anyone reading that is still learning, like myself ... just dive in and do it, you will learn from it and next time will be easier.

If it turns out bad, just cut it out and try again .... just metal and time.

[Los_Control]

Wanted to add that I do not plan to remove every little ding .... I'm getting the main stuff, fixing a bunch of the little stuff ... all the while looking at dings to save and call character .... it is a truck and I plan to daily drive it and use it like a truck.

 

If you look back in this thread we can see I did some work on this cab corner and it has some putty in it.

Yet I left 2 dings and call them character .... I could have and still can fix these .... I'm fine with them.

If you look up at 2 O'clock there is another .... I took out 50 dings in the back of the cab, I left 10.

Just looks natural on a old truck to me ....

 

The bed rail needs replaced on the truck ..... whatever ripped this fender and smashed it flat, bent the rail also.

I think this damage might have retired it from a company construction truck. Not worth fixing.

From that point the truck belonged to a night watchman that sat in a guard shack at the entrance to the construction company. People remember seeing the truck parked there all the time.

 

My only point is, If I make the fenders too nice and take every ding out of them, they will not look right for the truck.

Work smart, not hard  

 

[Los_Control]

Boy time goes by, always some other project demanding my time .... so little time to play with Hound dog 

I did get the fenders bolted on so I can finish adjusting all the body panels and get them tight .... fenders still need to come back off for bodywork and paint .... too cold for that now.

 

Got a little free time in the garage and started on the distributor conversion to the /6 electronic.

I chucked the case up in a drill and with emmory cloth, a vice and 2 hands I was able to turn the distributor body down to needed size.

Letting the paint dry before final assembly. I checked the vacuum advance and was not working,  so I have a new one on the way. The pickup and reluctor look good and possibly OEM .... Going to try them first, can always replace later if needed.

I need to double check what others have done .... seems I need to use the weights and springs from the 49 as the modern ones do not fit on the shaft ... everything else looks like it will fit ok .... won't have time to mess with it until tomorrow though.

Time to start working on the steering wheel and get it into working order .... A little here and a little there.

Not forgot about the project, just not as much free time as I'm wanting.

[bkahler]

Los, would you mind providing some info on the distributor conversion that you're doing? 

 

I know what you mean about to cold to work.  My shop isn't really insulated but it does have an overhead infrared heater installed.  The heater helps but I've noticed the holder I get the less I want to work when it's cold

 

[Los_Control]

2 hours ago, bkahler said:

Los, would you mind providing some info on the distributor conversion that you're doing? 

Here you go

This has been done by others and I'm just following what they have done in the past.

I think we need to use a OEM or old used distributor for the swap. New ones are available but the way the top shaft mounts is different and not good for the conversion.

I'm using the search term on carpart.com for a 1979 Dodge truck with a 225 /6 .... they will show the years that interchange.

 

My first blunder was I bought a lean burn distributor instead of a normal one. They are available in those years.

The difference is they have no vacuum advance and dual pick ups like dual points on a older car .... also controlled by a computer so no vacuum advance needed ..... just watch out you do not get one of those.

 

So far I think the most difficult part is turning the /6 housing down to fit into the flathead block.

The howto they clamped the body in a vice and with sand paper worked it down ... need to remove about .030 material ... not a lot.

@sniper just did a article that I can no longer find He used a 7/16" bolt and then chucked it up into his drill press.

I do not have a drill press so I did it this way .... kinda, but you get the idea.

 

 

I actually ended up using a different drill that would turn slower, I put a long piece of 110 grit emmory cloth in the vice holding one end, left hand holding the other and the right hand holding the drill ...  easy work, stand there and pull the trigger and measure often.

 

Others had a problem removing the pin out of the collar on the flathead distributor. I also had problems.

I first drilled a teeny tiny pilot hole into the center of the pin.

Then I filed the pin flat .... they peened the edges over to hold it in ... such a tight fit that the pin disappears when edges filed away .... thats why I had the pilot hole so I could still locate it .... and it punched out pretty easy at this point.

 

I could have polished mine to look nice ... I think the black paint makes it look old and possibly original.

Shiny aluminum looks out of place to me.

This is as far as I have got, will work on it more as time comes available.

[bkahler]

Thanks for the info and links.  I'll have to dig into this mod a little deeper when I have more time on my hands.