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Meet Mr Rusty

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Today was a busy day. I smoked ribs, chicken, rode motorcycle and spun wrenches. I had a few of the brackets and cross member that I had from another job. And a good member sent me a middle cross member. Thank you for the cross member. I bolted all the parts together with 3/8" bolts and will wait for the other parts to come back from coating. I have the axle to tear down and paint and the new fuel tank needs the same treatment. I have a pair of NOS rear springs that I have been storing for 20 years. Time to put them to use.012.jpg010.jpg011.jpg009.jpg013.jpg014.jpg027.jpg028.jpgIt was a lot of work and I have about 20 hours in the job so far. It was also a very hot day and the meat from the smoker was delicious. Thank you for looking and have a nice day.
 

sweetk30

Member
316
6
18
Location
horseheads,ny 14845
you do know 3/8 bolt is sloppy . better to dril tiny bit out and go 7/16 bolts .

also I don't use lock washers I use metal crimp nuts not nylock .

also I run bolts a little long for shank to fill hole even better .

but looks good there .
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
You do know they are 3/8 holes in frame. And with the amount of bolts holding this together it will be fine. And Hey I am doing this job not you. Keep the negative comments to yourself. This ain't my first vehicle I rebuilt. I basically had to thread some of them thru the holes and the brackets to get them in so they are not that sloppy. As far as nylock vs. Lock washers. frankly my friend I don't give a darn. It will work and that is all that matters. I could have drilled them out to 1/2" would that have been better? Have a nice day.
 

sweetk30

Member
316
6
18
Location
horseheads,ny 14845
you read me wrong brother . not dissing your work . never said that if you re read my post . I admit tho my post info is blunt and to the point . I don't suger coat my storys .

i have done close to a dozen of these trucks over the years .

I have found a lot of the frame holes to be between 3/8 and the 7/16 so this is why I have always just done the 7/16 .

you do what you wana do that's fine .

and if your still mad then so be it . sorry to have possibly pissed in your cheerios buddy . my info is from first hand stuff and lots of wrenching on vehicles for a living and hobby .
 
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rustystud

Well-known member
9,280
2,987
113
Location
Woodinville, Washington
You do know they are 3/8 holes in frame. And with the amount of bolts holding this together it will be fine. And Hey I am doing this job not you. Keep the negative comments to yourself. This ain't my first vehicle I rebuilt. I basically had to thread some of them thru the holes and the brackets to get them in so they are not that sloppy. As far as nylock vs. Lock washers. frankly my friend I don't give a darn. It will work and that is all that matters. I could have drilled them out to 1/2" would that have been better? Have a nice day.
I think we all are pulling for you cucvrus. Your doing a great job on a hard project.
 

Bummy

New member
33
1
0
Location
Olivia mn
Wow is that a Minnesota truck? Ha ha good luck cucvrus! If you want to work on one slightly less rusty I need some fender wells and rockers replaced. Lol
 

ssdvc

Well-known member
971
639
93
Location
CT
WOW Rick!! When you said you had some other work in progress you weren't kidding ! Looks great so far and I am following with interest !!
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
These are the best snow plow trucks hands down. They never run out of electric and don't overheat and get stuck very seldom. I have used a lot of plow trucks in my time but CUCV's are the best I ever used for plowing and general heavy work. I am not a huge fan of long trips in them but I have done my share of that also. Thank you for the support and have a nice day.
 

trukhead

New member
725
5
0
Location
dane/wi
Great work! It looks like you saved it before the abyss arrived. I am happy to hear these are tough ole birds. I am hope full for the CUCV I wish to keep and utilize.
 

Ackevor

Member
107
-1
16
Location
Fairview, PA
Wow, looking very nice. I recently blasted my bed and repaired some weak spots and plan to get it painted this weekend. Next weekend I have 5 days to do basically the same exact thing you are now. Although I want to jack the cab up a few inches if possible to put a fresh coat on the frame there as well. I just hope it goes ok, I dont have too many air tools to assist so I may resort to blasting easy to clean areas again.

Where did you get the new leaf springs? *Edit* Nevermind, I was looking back through and saw you had them stored.
 
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cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
004.jpgI am back on the Mr Rusty project. I got the call from the powdercoater that the parts were completed and went and picked them up. I have to get busy bolting them back on. Tomorrow is another day. This double duty on these 2 projects is wearing me down. This is the middle day of 2015. Thank you for looking. Have a nice day. Dog days begin tomorrow so on with the show.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
011.jpg012.jpg013.jpg014.jpg015.jpg009.jpg010.jpgMr Rusty is coming along just fine. I spent 2 hours on it today. I did some fuel tank work and removed the mounting brackets. I will needle blast them and clean them up real good and coat them. Tomorrow is another day. I need to get the correct spring and shackle bushings for the rear springs. I bought a new fuel tank and was surprised that it was made in Canada just the same as the original one. I have 3 projects going in the barn yard and the barn. So I have a lot of down time and progress is slow at times. I am just to picky and spend a lot of time cleaning things and painting. Thank you for looking and have a nice day.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Mr Rusty gave me a surprise today. I was in the shop working when I started smelling Diesel fuel and I went out and looked and Mr Rusty's fuel tank was leaking fuel and it was coming out pretty good. It was in the sun and just popped a rust flake off the bottom corner and started leaking. And as luck would have it it was full to the top. I punched the hole bigger and caught all the fuel and filtered it and put it in Fuel cans. Next I brought the rear axle over for replacing the e-brake cables. The lug nuts all had to be heated to be removed. All else went well after that.009.jpg010.jpg011.jpgI am waiting for the spring bushings to arrive from Energy Suspension. Then the rear and new springs will go back in the frame. In the mean time I will clean and re-coat the rear axle assembly. Thank you for looking. Have a nice day.
 

rustystud

Well-known member
9,280
2,987
113
Location
Woodinville, Washington
Mr Rusty gave me a surprise today. I was in the shop working when I started smelling Diesel fuel and I went out and looked and Mr Rusty's fuel tank was leaking fuel and it was coming out pretty good. It was in the sun and just popped a rust flake off the bottom corner and started leaking. And as luck would have it it was full to the top. I punched the hole bigger and caught all the fuel and filtered it and put it in Fuel cans. Next I brought the rear axle over for replacing the e-brake cables. The lug nuts all had to be heated to be removed. All else went well after that.View attachment 568803View attachment 568804View attachment 568805I am waiting for the spring bushings to arrive from Energy Suspension. Then the rear and new springs will go back in the frame. In the mean time I will clean and re-coat the rear axle assembly. Thank you for looking. Have a nice day.
I have owned 2 M1008 vehicles and both had bad fuel tanks. I replaced them all with polyethylene tanks.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
012.jpg011.jpgMr Rusty gave me another surprise today. When I removed the rear cover I found that he had 411 Yukon gears in it. The brake drums are a pile of rust also. All the springs inside the drums holding the shoes are toasted. I will be heading to the parts store tomorrow again. Thank you for looking and have a nice day.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
001.jpg010.jpg009.jpg008.jpg007.jpg006.jpg005.jpg004.jpg003.jpg002.jpg011.jpgToday was a very dirty deed day. Again. The rear drums were toasted in rust. I dug around and found a pair that I had in storage and I cleaned them up and painted them. I was surprised that you could buy new ones for less then $75. But I had these and don't have a truck anymore so out with the old and in with the used better then new. These are GM drums. I have been using the Krylon Iron Guard paint for several jobs and it works well and covers well. The best part is you can wash your paint tools and guns with dish soap and water. Never thought I would see the day that good automotive paint was water clean up. Water base paint has come a long way in the past 10 years. I applied a coat to Mr Rusty's frame to cover up the rust reformer that I applied a couple weeks back. I have been looking at it closely to see if any rust is bleeding thru. So far all is well. I will clean the entire rear differential assembly and replace all the brakes, e-brake cables and hardware and apply a good coat of paint on that. Tomorrow I must return to my full time job. Then the progress will slow somewhat. But the weekend is near. Thank you for looking and have a nice day.
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,012
1,808
113
Location
GA Mountains
FYI, there a few folks out there removing all tye drum stuff from the glut of new rears that came out a few yrs back. I bought new and complete brakes and drums from a guy for $100. They are out there.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,473
10,433
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
002.jpg001.jpg003.jpg005.jpg004.jpg008.jpgThe fuel tank brackets are in good shape. The straps not so good. I usually make the straps but I saw some at Autozone for less then $25. and thought why not. The needle scaler was in full force this evening and I cleaned a lot of rust from the rear hubs, the fuel tank brackets , rear differential and fuel tank skid plate. I have the rear springs installed in Mr Rusty with new energy suspension spring bushings. I will be moving right along as soon as I get back at it again.
 
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