Petaluma F350 Build High Lift

[azbmxer]

Heat set the paint for best results!

That type of paint can be heat set using a hair dryer (It will also dry much faster). Either buy a cheap hand-held hair dryer (or ask your woman for her old one), put on high, and hold it about 6" away. I wouldn't recommend using a heat gun unless the heat is adjustable (some might get too hot and melt the plastic body). The paint will dry quickly and you can get back to spraying the next coat. Happy painting!

 

[FodigoDave]

Great Idea

That type of paint can be heat set using a hair dryer (It will also dry much faster). Either buy a cheap hand-held hair dryer (or ask your woman for her old one), put on high, and hold it about 6" away. I wouldn't recommend using a heat gun unless the heat is adjustable (some might get too hot and melt the plastic body). The paint will dry quickly and you can get back to spraying the next coat. Happy painting!

I can totally see that working. The orange peel did go down when it dried but it looks like it'll need another coat. Kinda looks like a dried out road map. I'm hoping to fix that with the next coat. 4 coats is a lot but it's going on thin. I think that's why I tried a heavier coat this time.

I haven't sprayed the clear coat yet.

 

[FodigoDave]

Visual Update

Putting the paint away for a moment and taking a breath. It was stressing me out.

I started working on the new design for the front bumper guard instead.

Using paint shop pro - I was able to photoshop the idea onto an old pic. this will be the concept of the final version once it's completed.

PSP is great - you can run paint ideas without having to strip and sand if you don't like it.

This is just a photo likeness of how I expect it to turn out.

 

[pantablo]

that looks great! love the soft top. that billit grill part of the f350 kit?

 

[FodigoDave]

Billet Grill

that looks great! love the soft top. that billit grill part of the f350 kit?

Hey Pantablo - the billit grill was made from styrene plastic. It was already grooved. It took three pieces of grooved styrene to get the right scale, you know how it is - trial and error. You just can't guess these things right without actually fitting it against the grill, stepping back with your thumb up in the air, and sizing it up.

I then used a thin piece of aluminum sheeting (like tin foil) and affixed it on to the styrene. I purchased the thin sheet from Hobby Town USA. Costs a couple bucks. Then painted the valleys of the grill black and wiped off the access.

Affixing it to the existing grill was a pain - took a little grinding of the original grill piece but not much - then glued it on. The pain part was it took a long time for the epoxy to dry (about 30 minutes) so, I was holding pressure on the grill for a while. My fingers took the brunt of the pressure and after a few days - the dents went away (from my fingers that is). After - I taped it tight and let it sit overnight.

Big process for such a little tweak but results were worth it. Thanks for asking.

 

[FodigoDave]

dec 17 update

I've since stripped the paint off the truck - it been light sanded and awaiting to start all over on the paint. The color-changing paint is a bit tempermental.

Started working on the front bumper concept. It's looking to be a bit of a challenge - but got to love that!

Starting working on the rear suspension again - got it painted and assembled. Worked on the rear shocks as well putting new mounts on which work better - don't bind the shocks. I used the stock shock mounts but grinded off the bump in the middle of the rod.

 

[bigdodge88]

Front bumper design looks good. What size tubing you going to use? 1/8"?

Justin

 

[FodigoDave]

Front bumper design looks good. What size tubing you going to use? 1/8"?

Justin

Justin,

I'm going to use 3 different sizes. Over-the-hood and forward bracing for same will be the smallest size.

The front main center bar and forward facing pieces will be the largest. The largest size will be the same size diameter - or just a hair larger - as the existing cross members the bumper guard came with stock.

To better answer your question, wait till I get back from the hobby store with some sample sizes for everything. I'm hoping to do the entire guard in solid brass tubing and braze everything together.

I made a scaled down mock-up using paperclip wire and the design is really strong. Should take a "got-away" into a rock without too much notice of damage.

I'll keep you posted on the bumper guard build as it develops.

 

[FodigoDave]

F350 Brush guard

Work on the brush guard. It varied slightly from the original concept becasue it was hella strong just by itself. I`t didn't require the extra tubing (that which the paper-clip mock up did).

Here's the build. I used the spare body so i wouldn't scratch the good one that's still in the paint process.

The stock Push Bar Bracket without the plastic outer housing. Started grinding the top to reduce the size.

Start of the main bumper. I used a 3/8 solid brass rod and slid it into another brass hollow tube for support. You can see the size difference of the 3/8 solid rod (lower) and the solid 3/8 rod with sleeve in the middle.

THE TEST FIT of the three main pieces.

Brazing Process.

Instead of making individual brackets - I decided to bend the bottom bar and have it mate with the top bar. Eliminating the brackets.

Bla Bla Bla - drilled the holes for the lights in the main push bar insread of creating another bar for holding them. Also didn't add a few other bars needed for support becasue it's so strong without now. Added a lower support bracket that was planned. The end results...

Soon, putting it all together.

 

[karlos]

That looks great! It will definately give your truck an attitude adjustment.8)

 

[FodigoDave]

about 50% complete?

It's been 4+ months since the original build and to me - looks like not much progress has been made - but oh so much has been done.

rear 4 point system (all custom build and truss)
rear soft top
bed rug
roof rack
functioning lights (mfc-02 unit installed)
new rims and tires overhaul
full ball bearing overhaul
front billit grill added
front bumper guard with lights
collapsable side mirrors (Oh yea - I should show you how I did that one - neat idea..)

Yet to go -
interior?
rear bumper guard - trailer hitch?
Paint
Bed details - equipment
Front bumper flag post
rear bumper whip antenna and mount
side nurf bars to replace the side steps
fender flares
R/L front fender badge and gill insert
decals and other fun stuff


Here's a recent pic of it "thrown" together. I see the things I still need to do and now I'm wondering how the heck I'll be able to do an interior with all those wires and the MFC unit all crammed in there. And... I just found a guy who does powder coating (humm) and wants to do some work on this truck. Oh the ideas now!

So this might be the last update for a while as it gets ripped apart from the seams and I start on some of the other areas.:roll:

 

[bigdodge88]

Looks great. Nice use of the different tubing sizes.

Justin

 

[FodigoDave]

Looks great. Nice use of the different tubing sizes.

Justin

Thanks Justin, Hope that helps with the tubing sizes.

 

[FodigoDave]

Major Overhaul

Since I've pretty much stripped down the truck and frame to about where I started when I opened the Tamiya F350 High Lift Box, I decided to make a few more adjustments before going to the assembly mode.

This will put me back a few more months so the expected roll-off-the-assembly-line due date is guessed to be around April 4th. Dont ask how I picked that date - just go with it.

I recently saw a thread from "BladeMech" in regards to raising the transmission to gain ground clearance. Taking his idea and reworking it just a bit (I don't plan to go as high as he did) I think this will really help the truck out. Before the tear-down and after a few trips through the dirt and grass with the truck I found it more and more getting high sided on smaller rocks or slopes than previously estimated.



First - I needed to cut the raised portion off the cab deck plate to allow for the MFC-02 unit to fit properly inside the cab. I also found this was useful in allowing the transmission to come up through the deck plate as well.

Next is notching out the trannie case support bracket. I did this with it still drive-shaft attached - no worries. Also the trannie support bracket is solid so you don't have to worry about getting debris from grinding inside the transmission.
Here the right side was notched and the left is stock.

Notching out the left side.

I also needed to notch out the cab deck to accept the trannie brackets. Here it is without cutting.

First notch cut.

Second notch cut

Now the Cab deck (floor) will bolt right back up without having to use spacers. I didn't want to raise it any more than 3/4 inch so the drive shafts wouldn't be under too much of a load.

Next was to cut the skid plat bracket (4 point system brace). Unscrew the 4 skid plate screws, then the 4 screws thats supporting the bracket to the frame.

this is the peiece that falls out>

The tops of these will need to be cut off. With a nice cutting dremmel tool, it's hard work made easy.

Heres the before and after measured with the screw driver standing on end.
Before>

After>

Gain is about 3/4 inch. I still have to make the bracket that will support the trannie to the frame. Will do that later this week.

 

[4x4crawler]

This is a cool build. It looks like youve been brazing for years.! Well done.

 

[eron]

Awesome dude! looks great! I like your mustash lol. I saw it in the reflection of the HL bumper hehehe

 

[bigdodge88]

Coming along great man. Keep it up.

Justin

 

[FodigoDave]

This is a cool build. It looks like youve been brazing for years.! Well done.

Thanks - just getting lucky - the roof rack was my first time at brazing. I'm slowly getting the idea. Learning a lot as I go so I hope I can give confidence to anyone wanting to try. If I can - I'm sure anyone can.

Awesome dude! looks great! I like your mustash lol. I saw it in the reflection of the HL bumper hehehe

LOL :lol: You should be working at CSI!

Coming along great man. Keep it up.

Justin

Thanks Justin - Your my most loyal viewer"thumbsup" I Have a laundry list of upgrades that's coming. !! Stay Tuned.

 

[bigdodge88]

Thanks Justin - Your my most loyal viewer"thumbsup" I Have a laundry list of upgrades that's coming. !! Stay Tuned.

Haha, I like to keep an eye on good builds.

Justin

 

[FodigoDave]

jan 7 update

I decided to do the mirrors a little differently. I've seen them done similar to the way I decided to do it but other ways included replacing the mirror arms with rubber fuel tubing or rc airplane henges.

Each mirror has 2 arms that extend out from the mirror bracket to the mirrow itself. Looking at the mirrors from the inside- you can see a pocket in the extension rod where it meets the mirror bracket.

I drilled a hole that was sized just smaller than the mirror arms. The design of the mirrors hides those holes easily. Drilling again into the cab where the mirror bracket seats and then lacing up a woman's hair tie between the holes and the cab. The result was a mirror that would flex and then snap back into location without breaking in the event of a roll-over or any rocks / tree branchs that might unadvertantly dart out in front of the truck.

tomorrow - plans to visit the powder coating shop are in order.

"thumbsup"

I'm also planning an independent rear steering system thats on the drawing board but still needs to be more designed. I will have to wait till the truck gets reassembeled a bit before I can work on it more. Oh yea -- and then there's the question of exactly where to mount the winch!