project mighty simple

[L.K.]

ok everyone. here is a lot of catching up..

my name is kenny and I bought this truck from a friend of mine for $200. IT WAS BONE STOCK WITH ONLY 150K ON IT. MINT INSIDE AND OUT. I HAVE ANOTHER ONE THAT I AM PICKING UP IN A FEW WEEKS... Drove it for 2 weeks and then had it dropped off at AN OLD?EX FRIEND. He was to do the work and he did work on it. But he did a very poor job at everything such as---BAD WELDS- CROOKED TABS- ONE OF MY CROSS MEMBERS WAS ALL LEANING AND SHIT. BAG PLATES AND GUSSETS LOOK LIKE?....? WELL I DONT KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.

Well me and that guy had a falling out and i brought my truck home and started re-doing it. I should have just started it and done it myself. Since bringing it home i have done a lot of grinding out welds, and rewelding them. (that is one skill that i am fairly good at. used to work for a welding company and learned to weld on pipe.) Had to add cross members and i re did how my tanks were mounted.--It has taken me almost 3 months to go over all the work that was screwed up...and i am still finding small things i need to do.-HERE ARE SOME PICS OF HIS WELDING---->




So far since i got it safe at home i have removed the bed and cab. I removed the motor and tranny and that was sold--only 150k original too.

-i then stripped the frame down to well just the frame--nothing but frame rails and crossmembers-

-i z'd the frame and got it all finished up

-i went back over 80% of the truck --GRINDING OUT and rewelding all the bad stuff that was left behind--left weld is my finished..top was his and the right one is how i ground his out..

-straightened one crossmember and added another.straightend

added

-fixed one of my lower bars- he welded it with the threaded end in and it seized in the bar and it was crooked----
-i have my lower control arms now- i ordered them from DHP.

-Ordered some more tabs and adj. link ends--got them waiting

[DroppedMitsu]

Nice truck, looks like your off to a good start on fixing his mistakes. DHP arms huh, they look pretty nice, Im thinkin about goin with a set of his arms when I bag my truck. Let me know how u like them and how the fit and everthing is. Talk to you later

Josh

[4doorciv]

Very nice. I was thinking about going with airbag suspension but I have no experience nor the knowledge on how to do it. Seeing on how you kinda got screwed by your friend, I'm having second thoughts about my friend. Hope your progress smoothed out. So far I think this would be the third airbag build thread going at the same time. That is if you don't count johnyboys thread. Lol.

[L.K.]

got a little done today. ground out a few welds and cut up some plates. Gonna be plating crossmember seems and a few places on the c notch this weekend.

also did a test fit on my new lcas.well just the drivers side...very simple to set up and install. might atleast get the drivers side done this weekend.

I have a friend of mine that just got a standard cab mazda and he is wanting to by my bag kit--(i am upgrading and gonna piece a kit together) AND HAVE ME DO THE FRONT ASAP..well atleast get it ready so that it just needs the bags put in.

Ill have plenty of pics throughout the weekend and will be updating alot aswell.

thanks for looking........

[natureboy]

Nice project.

[L.K.]

well guys just figured i would let you know that i am still out here tinkering with my max. Havent done much..been tryin to get a few other things in order around the house. Trying to get ahold of mike from DHP to get my uppers ordered.

about another week or so and i will be back on the mighty max full time.....

[4doorciv]

Good to know it's still in progress. Keep us updated with pics.

[L.K.]

made some more progress and decided to stuff a sbc in this thing when it comes to that point...

recently i have been working on making my own upper control arm mounts. i have the basic design down and got the passenger side welded up and moving onto the drivers side. i still need to gusset and strengthen. then onto the bag plates and gussets. i have to reweld some of the pass. side still not happy with the looks of it.

i cut out the passenger side motor mount since they are no longer needed and will get to the drivers side tomorrow morning before work.

here are some pics of my work...this is my first time doing anything this in depth when it comes to building a truck. so far so good i think. let me know what you guys think.
good or bad...ok...different etc. please be honest..you wont hurt my feelings i promise.

plates i made

first of work..




basic mount minus gussets and final plate size

this is a side view...and the little squiggly weld s just a filler to give me a better finish.... i have a lot of cleaning up, bracing, gusseting and misc. stuff to do still...

this is where i am at now as of this morning...

[camoit]

Well from the pictures I can see he did not have the welder heat up high enough. Did you tell him, that he is to weld it, not hot glue it..... Looks like it was a 120 volt Hobart. And looking at the size of the ground clamp wire in the pictures above it looks like another volt. but a Miller. The duel ground in the clamp is the give away. It should get hot enough for you. Just crank it up... It should sound like frying eggs when welding. Just keep in ming the duty cycle on it. 2 minutes on weld = 3 minutes off weld. Other wise you will see performance drop after 3 minutes of on arc. If I had 3 phase at my house I would have a Miller Sincro, or square wave. Bigger is better.. At least you took matters into your own hands and started cleaning up the mess. Keep up the good work.
Oh ya if it does not get hot enough change the gas over to a higher % of CO2 or run straight CO2. CO2 burns hotter but the weld will not look as clean as trimix. It will leave a lump on the top of the bead. Not as pretty but deep penetration.

[L.K.]

camoit..thanks man and yeah he was running that little hobart...my welder is much more suitable..good eye. i will keep in mind about the gas.
i seem to be getting plenty hot. thanks for the info, help and tips. They will be put to good use.

i am so glad to be building MY OWN truck the WAY I WANT IT....thanks for looking...........