I’ve been working on the frame under the bed(have the bed off) while saving up $ for motor parts.

The stock bump stops were rusted off and left some rust damage on the underside of the frame.
I thought of welding some plates over the holes after treating the rust but not sure how to mount new bump stops to the frame.
Should I weld studs to mount new oem style stops?
What would you do. Want to choose something that’ll last and hold up, but don’t want to spend a lot of $.

Currently wire wheeling the paint off of everything and getting ready to. Coat with POR-15. But need to figure this out before painting.
Thanks!

 

 

Lookin good!

 

Thanks. I’ve since removed the leaf springs so I can coat literally every part of the frame.

Still stuck on what to do for bump stops. Do you think that welding studs to the underside of the frame is the way to go? (Read above post) I’ve had to weld plates over where the stock bump stop mounting holes were.

 

Since I don't live in the rust belt, I have never had to deal with your type of rust issues.

My original bump stops are still bolted to the frame and have never been removed.

I think either welding studs to the plate or drilling and tapping holes for bolts should work just fine.

When you are all done coating the frame an you attach the bump stop back to the frame, you can spray some Fluid Film where the bump stop meets the frame for some extra corrosion protection.

 

Im kind of concerned with just drilling & tapping holes. Feel like it may not work out very well without getting into why.

Wondering how hard it is to weld a stud to a flat surface. While trying to research how online, all I’m seeing is actual stud welders.

If the tabs on the sides sides of the bumstops I just ordered are steel, do you think I could just grind clean the tabs and weld directly to the frame (well, the plate I welded over the frame)? Basically just put a big dollop weld into the holes on the bump stop mounting tabs?



And I was thinking of smearing thick grease between the bumpstop and frame before attaching to prevent this rust from happening again. I do also plan on costing the entire undercarriage with fluid film 2x a year.

And lucky you not having to deal with rust. It’s just a headache.

heres a pic of the bump stops I ordered.

 

First off Disclaimer: I suck **** at welding.

If your going to weld them straight to the frame make sure they aren't galvanized and also a "lump of weld" is not the proper way. Weld it correctly or don't do it at all. Poorly welded stuff can and does fall off a rig at 60mph. I have seen a bumper come off a ghetto fab wheeler going down HWY 7. I would have concerns welding on something you smeared grease under to prevent rust. Any contaminates are going to compromise your weld. I would get both surfaces perfectly clean. Use a good paint to pre-treat the affected areas, bottom of bump stops and frame. Then grind clean any area to be welded and weld properly. Then follow up with a good chassis paint or just 5 coats of rustomiom (sp). And then after that fluid film it as usual.

 

^^ This goes for me as well!

I have never welded a stud to anything, but I am sure it is possible.

I would only put any sort of coating, rust proofing, or paint on after any welding. Welding the bump stops directly to the frame may melt the rubber, depending on how hot it gets.

I wish wyoming9 was still active on this forum. He dealt with welders for a living. He would know what to do.

 

THanks guys. I’m a newbie welder but do pretty decent. I know the grease could contaminate the weld but to me this seems like a pretty low stress point. Granted it’s going to take the full blow of the truck axle, it’s going to be flat onto the frame so don’t feel it’ll break off or anything. Figured I could “dollop” the weld into the bolt holes by stacking spot welds and letting cool between each one. Guess if I go that route I’ll go around the edges as well. All spot welds and always allow to cool between welds so I don’t melt the rubber.

I also do realize how grease can effect welds, but if you read up in the thread, I welded a grease covered pipe into the stock round tube crossmemeber and sealed the grease in with welds. Feel it’s never going to rust out that way If say one of the muffler hangars rusts through it, allowing moisture in.

mabe I’ll skip the grease on this application as it may seep out with heat worse.

The plating i welded to the underside of the frame was done like so -
etched underside of plate and underside of frame, sprayed both with rust paint, clamped plate on, wire wheeled edges to be welded and welded with almost no contaminate issues.

Think I’ll try practice welding some studs on some plates here soon and see how that goes. Maybe it’ll be easier to weld studs into drilled holes with a countersunk edge to allow the weld to fall into?

Ill post back with what happens on the experiment and hopefully some more experienced welders can give their input. Thank you all for yours! Appreciated

 

Almost ready for POR-15. Just gotta clean up the underside and inside of brackets etc a bit more with smaller wire wheels and sandpaper.

then gonna hit the main spots with 60 grit paper for a good rough texture and then por-15 degrease, dry, por-15 metal prep(etch), dry and paint.

Then ordering -
Leaf spring bushings, (possibly Old man Emu complete springs), shackles/bushings, leaf spring to axle -bolts & nuts, shocks (maybe OME).
Then that should take care of everything under the bed.

The bed itslef has one large rust hole in the bottom I plan weld a plate over(may just somehow glue a plate over after cutting out rust and treating it) not sure if welding will go well on such thin metal.

And the underside of the bed is pretty rough, mainly the crossmemebers.. But will most likely just clean up and give it the POR-15 treatment and call it done.
Will probably spray the inside of the bed with rustoleum and then coat with a rubberized undercoating before putting the bedliner back in( product called “RUSFRĒ” ) to help the bedliner not wear through the paint again & rust.



......THEN I can get back into saving for engine rebuild parts.

Keep getting caught up with with other projects before doing the original entended one (Engin rebuild).

 

So I drilled new holes for the new bump stop on one side so far.
Was able to fish bolts into the frame box and use my finger and a coat hanger to drop them into the new holes.
Then tack welded them in place underneath the frame.
It sort of worked but forgot to drill the underside of the holes with a counter sink so the weld would fall into it. The new bump stop doesn’t sit flush with the frame now. Going to try to file away the weld and maybe drill out the tabs on the bump stop so it’ll sit flush.

On the other side ill drill countersunk holes so should go easier.

Should work im assuming and hold up for the bump stop use. Time will tell.

 

Haven’t posted in a while but here’s what I’ve gotten done while away.

-New valves/springs installed. New valves lapped in(seats were cut at machine shop). Looks to be a perfect seal

-Bump stops figured out and installed

-intake manifold & plenum accessories put back on

-Main Bearings/Crankshaft installed & properly torqued


——

accidentally spiraled the compression rings onto the new pistons and bent them(didn’t read the fine print on the directions!)
Waiting for the new ones to get here and in a week or 2 should have the bottom end fully built.
Have to measure ring end gaps (Will be the first time doing this ever)
Also have to shave down the timing chain cover to match the decked head surface(It sticks up slightly as it stands) May just use a piece of sandpaper on a block.. idk how else to do it myself.

Ordered the cam degree kit and adjustable cam gear from LCE (head was decked) and will install the head and begin setting up the timing soon after all this.

Its coming along nicely. Little hiccups here and there but enjoying the learning curve.

Feel free to add input or tips on measuring rig end gaps, setting timing and cam degree set up.

Thansk for following, here’s some pics.

 

Finished POR-15 coating the frame as well. Still have to get the axle & backing plates/drums. May just rattle can them tho. Have to order new shackles/bushings and rear leaf spring bushings to put the rear end back together.
Also have to paint the bottom of the fuel tank (paint peeled off while draining the tank).

 

Noticed that one of the thrust washers doesn’t sit into the slot like the other does..

Hopefully i I didn’t install it wrong and have to take the main cap off.

Any input?

 

Hard to tell what's what from your image, but the soft Babbitt MUST face the moving crankshaft cheeks, while the hard steel backing faces the stationary block webs.

 

I got that part right. And looking at both thrust bearings, both sets meet each other on their Ends perfectly.

Its a brand new Crankshaft from LCE so my guess is there’s nothing wrong. But still looks a bit strange.

 

If the crank turns freely with the mains torqued and its endplay is in spec, there should be no worries.

 

For some reason I received the wrong main bearings. I originally ordered a standard crank but was sent a 10 under crank with 10 over bearings to match. (They we’re still the wrong bearings for some reason)

Using a great company and am getting a standard crank and new standard bearings (safety brand instead of the previous clevites)

They arrive Monday and I’ll give an update this weekend.
Will be using plastigauge, and checking endplay preoperly this time.

Heres the measurments i found when diagnosing my issue witb the previous crank and mains. Where it says “should be” under main journals, I’m reffereing to what these journals would need to be to match ther bearings I received.

 

Neither me or the company could figure out why these bearings were so big compared to what was needed for the block main journals I’m dealing with.

Any comments? Just curious.

 

Got the new standard crank, new standard rods and new 20 thou over pistons installed yesterday. All clearances check out, but not as tight as I had hoped. Within spec so it works.

Got the bottom end ready to go. Just waiting on an oem head gasket and a few other time to instal the head and finish the build.

Questions:
Will the oem head gasket work since I’m 20 over bored?
2 if my camshaft caps look brown stained, but not scored, is this okay?