Exploration into Restoration and Modification

[AtlasRucker]

So its been so cold, too cold. waiting for a little better weather to work on the explorer. Plus my project may have been derailed slightly. I will explain latter...

 

[AtlasRucker]

Hopefully today I am going to put an offer on my first house

 

[Rick]

Hope that goes well for you. That's an exciting experience for sure

 

[AtlasRucker]

Well its been awhile.... so just an update, I bought the house and am about 45 days out from closing... I have never signed so much stuff in one sitting in my life! my entire life outside of work and school has been put on hold. I am doing so much as it is, not sure where I am finding the time... So a little about the house... Its in my home town on main street. great house, I will have to get some pics up of it soon. But on to the great stuff, its a double with full basement and there is a two car garage and a 25x45 barn with a concreet floor and a second story on the property. House needs no immediate work! ready to move in, which is great! more updates to come... once things settle down

 

[AtlasRucker]

These are not welding gloves!!!

Warm streak gave me a chance to get outside and work on the ride for a little while. Just playing around until I can get it in my own garage. then the real work will hopefully begin.

 

[FIND]

These are not welding gloves!!!

I set the rubber on those on fire once with a grinder. Those things go up like roman candles.

 

[AtlasRucker]

FIND...

They sure do!!!

So, besides getting this thing stripped to the bare bones over the next couple of months (still have yet to move into my new house...) Yes I said it, it’s going to be a rotisserie job at this point... might as well right? So what body mods do you all think I should make while I got it that far? You know beside the normal rust repair... and by normal I mean normal for Buffalo... ugh so much rust...

So beyond that I have almost completed the sand blaster I was making, which puts me in the market for another compressor... something along the range of 60-80 gal 10-12 cfm@90lb psi... hmm dunno yet. Also with a rotisserie job comes the need for a rotisserie... yet another thing I will be making... figured it will cost me around 600-800 verses 5k... unless anyone know a cheaper route???

It’s too early to talk about it but why not. I will be re-working the entire frame and suspension. Still not too sure if a SAS is in the future here it is still too early to tell. Also I have been thinking about swapping out the 4.0 with a 5.0 Any opinions? Just rebuild the 4.0 maybe? Again I am still early into this whole project…

 

[obie]

There's no real need for the rotisserie. If you need something to stand it on, Summit sells a body cart that is perfect for the Ex for about four hundred. I'd offer to sell you mine, but I already traded it to the bodyshop.

Also, sand isn't a good abrasive to use for the sheet metal, it can cause the metal to warp slightly from the heat. A good soft media is best, but you have to treat the metal with more steps if you're going to use POR15.

 

[AtlasRucker]

Obie...

A rotisserie may be too much, I guess. Sure would be nice to have one though. I will have to check out the body cart you suggested. I am still shopping around trying to build my shop and increase the tools that I have. Figured since I have been working on project cars this long I might as well try to do more and learn more. Come a long way since a buddy suggested that I fix that dent in my hood with some Bondo, it's easy he said... at the time I never knew that he never had done it before...(dumb kid I was at the time and should have listened to my father, lol. I was 16 and my car finally came out looking like it was a badly frosted cake)

Good to point out about the warping that occurs when trying to strip body panels with sand blasters (reason why pros use chem dips, strippers, and low heat blasting mediums such as walnut shells and etc). Most times, panels only need to be sanded to prep the surface for new paint to adhere… depending on what kind of layering already exists. I built the sand blaster as a spot blaster, part cleaner and for doing heavy gauge material. Always adding to the tools I already have and expanding on what I have to work with.

 

[AtlasRucker]

So after a few monthys delay... I am ready to start back at it... moved in the new house and dumped way to much money into it already. But other news for you folks out there that need parts, I have one explorer up on the chopping block. So if you need parts, just let me know and we can work something out. saying anything is worth saving on it...

 

[AtlasRucker]

So, the new house has been a real leisure time killer. It’s one thing after another... ugh! But anyway the project is still coming along. New idea for what I am doing with it. It is going to be slightly more modified than I originally planned. I have it stowed away in my shop/barn and have been working on it in my spare time when I run out of money fixing things in the house (bought a real life Money Pit there folks). I haven’t worked on too much. The back hatch is finally off, after it almost took off my finger... And I finally got the one door finally opened after it broke. I should have some pictures sometime in the future... Once I find where I packed away all those computer cords.

 

[Rick]

Thanks for the update. I know how hard it can be to find time for all of the projects