pyro's '81 J10

[Stuka]

Glad you found another bed!

[Strode182]

I didn't see your other thread or the damage until now. Makes me sad, I love your truck. I hope you can get it all fixed & nice again.

[pyro]

started making some progress towards paint prepping...got the old bed off:



soon the two halves will become one...

[pyro]

time for an update...its been a slow process but i'm getting there. got the welding work done. there must have been a 5th wheel, fuel cell, dog cages and some extra batteries judging by all the holes i had to fill in on this damn bed. the good news is that part is over. on an up note i now know how to weld. makes it easy when you have a connection to a welding instructor!





got my gas tank sitting on the spare mount so i can at least store the bed on the truck to keep it out of the way:


got all my tailgate mounting hardware welded on. almost makes me want to drive it down the road now..



today i pressure washed it and got my undercoating on:


next step is to start grinding off the old house paint the dumbass PO put inside the bed so i can start the bedliner.

[rocklaurence]

What, no pic of the Super Cool BDS lift you got!

[Wagnervous]

Those bed patches came out great. You sticking with black when you get to the paint?

[pyro]

What, no pic of the Super Cool BDS lift you got!

just for you! lol

got the front springs on today...was thinking to myself *why didn't i do this when i first got it???*




had to use the old hillbilly farm jack and brick lift system due to the sandy ground underneath.

Those bed patches came out great. You sticking with black when you get to the paint?

yea, gonna stay w/ black but get the OEM laredo decal scheme painted on (woot!)

edit: backs on too!




anybody need a set of barely used 31's? lets make a deal!

[pyro]

Its been a slow off and on month...made a career change among other projects around the house, however here's what I've gotten done in that time:
Motor and tranny mounts
Front shocks and stabilizer
New 2150 carb and valve cover gasket
New brake lines
Started priming bed

I just got my body mounts and new rear shock mounts that will be going on this weekend. I will also hopefully start the painting process too.

[rocklaurence]

Did you get the rear springs and shocks on. That's not a Hill Billy lift system, we use cut logs on end as jack stands

[pyro]

got the front of the bed and rear of the cab primed so I could put the bed back on (thanks james!). got the new body bushings and started prepping the underside of the hood for primer.




looks a lot better w/ the lift on and the bed back on!

i decided to paint the entire truck at once instead of breaking the cab and bed into different projects.

up next:
paint under the hood and start prepping the body for primer
weld on new rear shock mounts and install rear shocks
repair broken seat mount
hopefully replace the plastic valve cover with an aluminum one to cease the eternal leaking issue!

[pyro]

Got my loaner 35's on today to check the fitment. No rubbing anywhere, but the backspacing is too close in the back for roadworthyness. I was debating 33's for mpg and cost, but these make the truck look sick.

[Stuka]

I have those same wheels on my J10 with 12.50 wide tires. i think I have about 1/2" of clearance between the tire and spring. Ben that way for about 6 years now, no issues.

[pyro]

Yea I have maybe a half inch on the drivers side and a quarter inch on the passenger and that's being liberal.

[DarkMonohue]

...but these make the truck look sick.

Is that sick as in, "yo dawg, yo saggin' britches look mad sick", or as in, "I went home sick three days in a row after eating Aunt Gladys's potato salad"...?

[pyro]

Def mad sick bro

[rocklaurence]

Waz up Dog

[44bz]

Looks bad a$$ with those rally wheels and the 35s. Good work

[Mars]

fo shizzle

[pyro]

no pics this time around, but I did some work last weekend.

added 1/4" wheel spacers in the rear (temporary)
welded seat mounts and removed center console
sanded and rubberized the cab floor
started welding some of the drilled holes in the bed rails
welded on rear shock mounts and installed shocks (i now have a complete suspension! woot!)
sanded under the hood and put on rust inhibitor
replaced the plastic valve cover with an aluminum omix-ada model
rebuilt fresh air vents and installed new foam seals
cut exhaust after muffler

up next:
finish filling the bed rail holes
paint under the hood
install electric choke
install fresh air vents and grilles

[pyro]

alright...time to upload some pics of my progress. a lot has changed with the project (decided to redo the entire interior while i've got the truck down)

here is one of my rebuilt fresh air vents. it was the closest i could come to sealing them up while keeping them water tight:


here is the tape we used:


we took ff the hood and front fenders to replace/rebuild the bottoms (where they bolt onto the cab):


the cab corner appeared to have been rebuilt w/ bondo at some point, and we came to find that looks can be deceiving:



after removing the windshield (without cracking it!) we took out the dash to begin priming it to be repainted:


once we got the dash out, we started to grind up at some rust spots in the corners behind the dash and found that it would all need to come out...


the rebuild: (coated with body seam sealer and rust-inhibiting paint)


primed/painted behind the grille area, under the hood, and the dash:


picked up a set of 33x10.5x15 BFG A?T's and scored a free set of 15x8 wagon wheels:



up next:
finish up dash/pad install
paint door jambs/windshield frame
reinstall windshield
reinstall interior components
prep cab for paint