My J-4500

[SOLSAKS]

dang o mighty !!!!
can't believe he sent it back with bare metal everywhere
and that he did it in place without removing it.

man I feel for you, but you will get it done.

don't get into the happy apple juice too much before working on it.

hope you can keep it dry as possible with the coming rains,...

we are thinking about you and your truck project way over in NC

so that should help some, right ?

take care cranky

dave in NC

[Crankyolman]

dang o mighty !!!!
can't believe he sent it back with bare metal everywhere
and that he did it in place without removing it.

I can't either! Especially after all his talk about the job needing done right.

man I feel for you, but you will get it done.

I will, it's just going to take a little more time than I had planned. My wife and I are discussing options, possibly buying a cheap car for me to drive to work while working on the truck, then giving it to the kids. All they have right now is the Mustang which isn't really a winter car so they could use something front wheel drive for winter.

don't get into the happy apple juice too much before working on it.

The happy apple juice is the only thing keeping me going right now

hope you can keep it dry as possible with the coming rains,...

Currently it's inside, nice and dry while I am trying to get the bed off.
Once the bed is off the bed will stay inside and the can go back out while I work on it. Only one more bolt to go, (I think)

we are thinking about you and your truck project way over in NC

so that should help some, right ?

Thanks, sometimes it seems nothing ever goes as smoothly as I think it should.

take care cranky

dave in NC

[Crankyolman]

It's been a long week for me with little progress on the truck. I got the bed loose and ready to come off then decided to hook up the tank while keeping it in the bed. This required me to extend both the feed and return fuel lines by 5 feet. Not a big deal but it required a trip to the parts store. My wife wanted me to get some cash and run some other errands and since the ATM machine was right by my nearest O'reilly I decided to go there, pick up 10ft of high pressure fuel line then go do the errands.



So I go to Oreilly and they don't have any fuel line they say the one a couple miles down the road in the direction I'm heading does but it is $7 a foot. I'm not about to spend $70 to move a truck 50 feet so I head on down the road thinking about what to do next.



I then go to the ATM, get the money then, because I'm still thinking about what to do rather than what I'm doing, I drive off leaving my ATM card in the machine About a mile down the road I realize what I've done and scramble to get back before someone else finds it but it was too late there was already a line of cars at the machine


So I quickly call my wife and tell her to get on the phone to the back and get the card cancelled. They put her on hold for 5 full minutes before they got to her, the whole time we are both thinking about how much damage a person can do to our bank account in 5 minutes, especially given that the ATM machine was in the parking lot of a Fred Meyer and the jewelry department was at the nearest door to the ATM machine. Fortunately it looks like since there was nobody behind me at the ATM when I didn't take the card it sucked it back in and kept it so that turned out OK.



So then I head down the road and stop at Autozone to see what they have. Boy that was a pointless stop. The girl working had no clue what fuel injection line was or what any of their bulk lines were so she showed me what they had but nothing looked suitable so she then asked what it was for... I know...We've all been there So I told her they couldn't look it up that way because my setup is aftermarket. She pointed to one of the aisles and said "All our aftermarket stuff is there". At that point I just left.



I finished the errands and went home a little discouraged because this was my last vacation day for another 5 weeks and I had hoped to get the truck turned around and the bed removed before going back to work.


The next day I managed to find someone who helped me acquire two 5 foot long hydraulic lines with fittings capable of doing the job


So that evening as soon as I had a free moment I set to work hooking up the gas tank. I got the tank wired and hooked up the lines to it so I could run a little fuel though to flush out anything that might be in the new line. I then put the key in the ignition and turned it to send power to the fuel pump and nothing happened. The battery was so dead it wouldn't even light up the dash lights.


So I found my pathetic old Sears charger that is as old as the truck and hooked it up. This got enough power to flush the hoses, then check for leaks after hooking the lines to the truck but it took another 24hrs to get enough juice in the battery to actually start the truck. By then it was raining like hell.



I ran a piece of dryer duct from the exhaust out the side door and started it anyway so the new 150 amp alternator could actually get the battery fully charged.


Then something miraculous happened...It stopped raining! I quickly opened the door, cleared out anything in the way and quickly pulled the truck out, turned it around and backed it back in.



I didn't get much else done because I then needed to go to Harbor freight and the hardware store to buy ratchet straps and eye bolts. My week has been very busy so I never made it to either store until this morning when I made it to Harbor Freight for the straps. I now need to get to Lowe's for the eye bolts. When I do I will install eye bolts in the ceiling of the garage and more in the top rails of the truck where someone once had a camper bolted down and I will use the straps to lift the bed clear of the truck then do something about re-hooking up the fuel tank and drive the truck out of the garage without the bed.


I'm thinking I may make the truck capable of driving around without the bed so my wife can have the car when I go to work. She is kind of against that but I might do it anyway.


I'm also planning on buying a MIG welder soon so I can finish up what the body man didn't and can get started on the Mercedes floorboards but that might be a big mistake because I really want to french the tail lights on the truck about a half inch to an inch and if I have a welder I will be really tempted to do that which will take more time.

[Crankyolman]

I have to admit this whole process is getting to me a bit and I'm really trying not to hit that wall where everything just stops and I can't motivate myself to get it finished.



Yesterday I finally got around to getting to the hardware store and getting the eye bolts I needed to lift the bed off. While I was there a very helpful employee asked what I was looking for. I told him eye bolts and large area washers. He then asked what they were for and I told him "to hang a bed from a ceiling". My wife heard this and had to interject "A PICKUP BED!!! HE'S TAKING THE BED OFF HIS TRUCK!!!" Then added that I was making it sound like we were some sort of strange kinky couple...we are but she is embarrassed if anybody finds out



Anyway, when we got home I set to work raising the bed off the truck. Since I am working by myself I installed 6 eyebolts in the ceiling of my garage. Then I installed six eyebolts in the rails of the truck. Then I ran ratchet straps between them and ratcheted the bed off the truck. Once I got it high enough to clear the wheels I ratchet strapped the gas tank to the truck frame and drove it out of the garage.











It wasn't pretty but it worked. I then let it sit there for a while to charge the battery but it never took a full charge so it is sitting on the charger ever since in the hopes that the battery is still good. The battery really concerns me because it would be yet another fairly significant expense on an already considerably over budget project.



I then went back to the bed and decided the best way to work on the bottom of it would be if it was vertical, so I slowly and carefully worked it vertical using the ratchet straps.



Here is what it looks like now.






Once that was done I started thinking about how to make the truck drivable while I work on the bed. I had some cut off 2x4s in the back yard that I had been making into sawhorses for the bed and decided to see how they fit across the bed mounts. It turned out they were just right for that. I stacked 3 on the front mount and one on the back. Then I took an old piece of leftover T111 siding that happened to be leaning up against the fence, and wouldn't you know it, it was a perfect fit. So currently it looks like this.








My wife says she is dead set against me driving around with "That Beverly Hillbillies setup" but it would let me at least occasionally drive it to work so she could run errands during the day so I will probably do it. All I really need is some bolts and screws so I could mount it down and bolt the tank to the underside...or set it on top but I don't know how fuel resistant the 3000 PSI hydraulic lines are that I used to extend the fuel lines and think someone might possibly seal the entire gas tank full of gas.



So hopefully a quick trip to Lowe's or Ace hardware tomorrow and a little bit of work and I will have the truck back up and driving.

[Mikel]

Very nice!

[chubbinius]

Those ratchet straps worked really well. Cool idea!

[SOLSAKS]

still looks cool
even without the bed, and with the Jed clampet look !

[Crankyolman]

Very nice!

Thank you. It's getting there even if it's going much slower than I had planned. All the kind words from people on this site help me to stay motivated.

Those ratchet straps worked really well. Cool idea!

They actually worked much better than I anticipated, the bed doesn't weigh as much as I expected. The hardest part was figuring out how to get it standing on end without damaging anything.

still looks cool
even without the bed, and with the Jed clampet look !

I think so too. Even without a bed these trucks still look nice.

[Crankyolman]

I think my wife is trying to prevent me from buying those bolts and making the Jed Clampet bed. I planned on stopping on my way home this afternoon and working on the truck but it was raining cats and dogs when I left work and my wife decided we needed to go do our weekly running around this afternoon. So I didn't get the chance to do anything. Hopefully I can make that happen tomorrow. My wife thinks it would be embarrassing to drive it that way but I have driven much worse in my lifetime and don't really get embarrassed by a vehicle. She forgets I was driving my '66 Gladiator when I met her complete with ventilated floorboards and intermittent brakes. Then when that got hit by someone I bought a dented up Lincoln Continental Town Coupe with the back bumper held on with a ratchet strap. She wouldn't ride in either of them but I drove that truck all over the country and all the way to Alaska and drove that Lincoln all over Alaska.

[Crankyolman]

I made it to the hardware store and got everything I need to make the truck drive and be legal, except for mud flaps. As luck would have it I was talking to someone at work and mentioned this and also mentioned that a couple months ago I threw out some rubber back seat floor mats that would have been perfect for the job. He told me he had just thrown some in the trash and would get them and give them to me So mud flaps are acquired.


Yesterday I got the cross boards bolted down and messed with a few other things but before I do the rest I need to drain the gas tank and figure out locating it on the bed so I can weld in the mounting brackets. Then I can figure out mounting it to the hillbilly bed and get it up and driving.


While I was messing with that I took a couple pix of the original license plate bracket to show you. I'm sure it has been hidden from the light of day since the truck was new and got the bumper it got.











I was considering using it to hold the license plate until I get new bumper mounts made. I want to make new bumper mounts because I want to move the bumper in a little bit to close up the gap between the bumper and the bed.



The problem with using the original license plate mount and light is it is not in very good condition and I wouldn't really trust it for holding the license plate. I think I am going to remove the mount entirely because it just gives a place for dirt and moisture to accumulate but I think it is kind of a neat thing.



I do have some good news about the battery. After sitting on the charger for the better part of a week the battery held a charge for 24hrs so I'm going to call it good Which is a huge relief.


More good news is today at work I found some metal frames of some kind in the scrap bin and decided they were exactly what I needed to make mounts for trailer lights so I can drive the truck. After doing that I realized they were also the perfect thing for making fuel tank brackets. So I quickly bent up a couple of hat channels and I now have something to weld to the bottom of the bed to hang the fuel tank from.



I know, it's not a lot of progress but it is progress and that is a good thing. I took a 3 day weekend this Tue, Wed, Thur and hopefully I will be making more significant progress during those 3 days. The temperature is rapidly dropping outside, this morning it was 35f and I need to get the painting done as soon as possible.

[SOLSAKS]

it is about to happen,....

the Clampets are coming to town !!!

I can hear the banjo playing now.

dave in NC

[Crankyolman]

Today I got up at the crack of 8 with the goal of making the truck driveable. At 8AM it was still dark so I began working by flashlight. My first task was get the gas tank drained so I stood it up on end with a hose going into a gas can. I then went to work on the tail lights. That was easy enough since two of the brackets I made were angled and there were two holes on the top of the frame on each side in the perfect place it was just a matter of marking and drilling then bolting the brackets down. Then wiring was pretty simple since there are only 2 wires to the tail lights. Some quick checks and a little fiddling and that was all done.



Next on the list was mud flaps. For that I took one of the floor mats I was given, cut it in half and sandwich it between two 2x4s then zip tie them to the truck at the overload spring bump stops.


Then came the reason I drained the tank, I installed the filler neck on the bed, then set the tank where it goes and marked where the bolts from the strap get located. Looking at the length of the strap it looks like it was made to have carriage bolts through the bed that then held the gas tank. So either I need to do the same thing or make the strap shorter because if I weld the brackets I made the strap will be too long. I don't think shortening it would be too hard but I don't think cutting some square holes for some carriage bolts would be hard either.


Once that was done I set to work finishing the hillbilly bed frame and mounting the tank to it.






I made the frame up, made sure the fuel pump and sending unit worked
then put the T111 on top. You might notice the ratchet straps I used to make sure the tank didn't go anywhere. It does have the original strap but it was a little bit loose so I used the ratchet straps just to be on the safe side. You might also notice the liberal use of zip ties for securing a lot of things


Anyway, Here is the picture of the final outcome.



At this point I got excited and wanted to go for a drive so I cleared the tools and stuff away, fired it up and headed down the road. I was about a mile down the road when I realized that I had forgotten to install the back license plate and also forget to grab my wallet So I quickly turned around and headed home. Thankfully I didn't run into any police.


While I was working on the truck my neighbor came over to BS. He said he was going to suggest I do just what I was doing so I could have it up and running. I told him about my wife calling it a Beverly Hillbillies bed and he suggested I mount a rocking chair on it So now I'm planning on making some visits to goodwill and see if I can find a cheap rocking chair

[Crankyolman]

So.....


Today I went out and bought a $20 rocking chair just to mount on the back of the truck





My wife has started to come around to accepting this idea of me driving the truck like this while I work on the bed She even suggested I attach springs to the rocker so it can rock when I drive it and decorating it for the holidays So tomorrow I plan on buying some springs and figuring out how to attach the rocker so it can rock. Then I need to get my son's girlfriend to sew up a big Santa doll and maybe a pilgrim to put in it for Thanksgiving and Christmas

[Crankyolman]

What started off as a pretty good week for me ended in a fairly bad day.


To begin with, as you know, I got the truck up and running, which was a good thing but was still having starting issues. I wasn't sure if it was the battery has gone bad or something was causing a draw but to make it work I was putting it on the charger overnight and it would be fine for the day.



I had Thursday off so my work week began on Friday and the truck did just fine. Friday after work I got some springs and mounted the rocking chair on the back









I think it's hilarious and it gets a lot of attention. Most people have a very positive reaction. Most of the older people get the jokes right away, the younger ones ask what the deal is, several have had to look up the Beverly Hillbillies so they understood the joke.



Saturday night I didn't hook up the battery charger so I could see if it would be fine Sunday morning... it wasn't. So I jump started it. It ran fine but needed jumped again after work. So that night I plugged it in.


This morning (Monday) which is my Friday, the truck started and ran fine. After work it required a little extra cranking to start, which I noticed but it did start. I got about halfway home when the engine just stopped I coasted to the side of the road and tried to restart it. It didn't start and after only a few seconds the battery wouldn't turn it over.



I called my wife to come give me a jump but when she got there it would crank but still not start. When I looked at the fuel pressure gauge it was reading zero. For some reason the fuel pump had quit and I didn't have any way of testing it or doing much of anything to it.


So I reluctantly let my wife call a tow truck and for the first time since I've owned the truck it failed to get me home.


Once home I began troubleshooting with the help of my neighbor and a multi meter. The power going to the gas tank was correct so the next thing was to take the T111 off and pull the pump. I found that somehow the plug that locks into the pump had somehow come disconnected. So I reconnected it and it is now working again but I don't know that I will ever really trust it again so may get a frame mounted pump as a hot spare in case I ever need a backup again.


We also kind of looked into the battery issue. My neighbor thinks the started is going bad, even though it is only a few years old I suppose that is possible, especially since the headers get so close to it. I have it on the charger again and in the morning I will take the battery to Auto zone and have it tested and if it tests good I'll pull the starter and see if that's the problem.

[Compound W]

This is clearly the best and highest use ever conceived for that chair and your truck. high marks for engineering, fabrication and installation. Whatever transpires after this will be the ordinary product/result/decay of entropy. Well done.