1979 J10 Project

[Mars]

Ick. Thats a lot of rust.

WD-40 is a water distributor, not a penetrating oil. I don't know why people keep thinking that. It's common misinformation.

PB Blaster is great, but Kroil is better. More expensive, but that stuff will creep in every direction. Try it and you won't go back. Buy some and dump it in a old spray container.

Kroil took two sets of leaves off a pair of rust belt 77 FSJ's with hand tools.

It was like Elfin Magic.. minus the cookies.

[91blaze]

Kroil took two sets of leaves off a pair of rust belt 77 FSJ's with hand tools.

It was like Elfin Magic.. minus the cookies.

I'm going to try some of this stuff cause I'm having trouble with the bumper bolts and PB Blaster isn't even helping.

[Atla]

I did some quick looking around, I'd always heard of the results from a Penetrating Oil test done by some Machinist Workshop floating around on the net.

I managed to find a picture of the actual article.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/random-photos/p40657-penetrating-oil-test.html

Everyone should read it and look at the results. Kroil was the best, beaten only by a home brew of ATF/Acetone mix.

[91blaze]

Funny how PB Blaster was beat be Liquid Wrench even though everybody swears by it.

[j20owner]

We use a bottle of stuff GM sells called heat valve lubricant and rust penetrant. We affectionately call it 'panther piss'.

[91blaze]

Got 6 of 8 bolts removed holding on the bed, 3 of which broke. The last 2 are the ones near the bumper. Also got the gas tank removed from the bed I got from Hoot. Also going to try to start the engine soon once I replace some of the old wiring, already got a new battery and cables, and the oil looks good. There is no lower radiator hose and the overflow tank was gone when I bought it, so there is no coolant right now, but it should be fine if I just run it for a minute or two.

[Tinkerjeep]

Got 6 of 8 bolts removed holding on the bed, 3 of which broke. The last 2 are the ones near the bumper. Also got the gas tank removed from the bed I got from Hoot. Also going to try to start the engine soon once I replace some of the old wiring, already got a new battery and cables, and the oil looks good. There is no lower radiator hose and the overflow tank was gone when I bought it, so there is no coolant right now, but it should be fine if I just run it for a minute or two.

WAIT!!!! That radiator/ water pump might have some bird/ rat nest in it which could cause a blockage...try to vacuum it out with a shop vac first...just to be safe. bugs and vermin like building homes in old vehicles...especially dark caverns like air cleaners and anything else with a big enough "door" in it.

Vac lines to the carb can have bug nests in them too.

[Tinkerjeep]

Got 6 of 8 bolts removed holding on the bed, 3 of which broke. The last 2 are the ones near the bumper. .

Some times its easier to over-tighten the bolts and break them rather than loosen them. I'd rather bust 9/16" bed bolts all day than try to loosen 8 that are rust encrusted from 30-years of use/abuse.

[91blaze]

I re-checked and the lower radiator hose is there, don't know how I missed it The only opening to the coolant system is the hose to the overflow tank, so no mice to worry about. Also working on re-doing the grill. I'm working on stripping it right now, but I think I'm going to have a plating company strip it since it's supposed to be cheap. I'm going to test a few methods to re-plate the grill and I will let you guys know how it turns out.

Before:











Partially stripped what I could, Oven Cleaner had no effect.

[Tinkerjeep]

I re-checked and the lower radiator hose is there, don't know how I missed it The only opening to the coolant system is the hose to the overflow tank, so no mice to worry about. Also working on re-doing the grill. I'm working on stripping it right now, but I think I'm going to have a plating company strip it since it's supposed to be cheap. I'm going to test a few methods to re-plate the grill and I will let you guys know how it turns out.

Before:











Partially stripped what I could, Oven Cleaner had no effect.

Yikes. That crud and a tendency to crack is why none of my 1979 J-trucks have a stock grill.

[91blaze]

Yikes. That crud and a tendency to crack is why none of my 1979 J-trucks have a stock grill.

You should have seen the one that originally came on it. Most of the chrome was gone and it was cracked and broken. This one is 10x better.

Right now, I can't find anyone local who can strip this grill, so I will be sanding off what I can and painting over the rest. Apparently, all the plating places around here only do metal plating and can't strip plastic
I don't understand how something that bubbles and peels in one place can be such a PITA to strip in other areas

Also, I will be using an epoxy to fix any cracks I find.

[Tinkerjeep]

Ever thought aboutNOT running that grill and maybe swapping to something more robust or customizing a mid 1980s or 70s Wag grill?

[91blaze]

Ever thought aboutNOT running that grill and maybe swapping to something more robust or customizing a mid 1980s or 70s Wag grill?

I don't know why, but I just prefer the pignose over other grills. Also, the going rate for an FSJ grill in good shape around here (if you can find one) is around $100.

I also found a J10 that just popped up today, $2500:

http://muncie.craigslist.org/cto/3295062751.html

Does that give you any idea of how much fsj's and their parts cost around here?

[91blaze]

This one is in slightly better condition: http://richmondin.craigslist.org/cto/3240634953.html

[91blaze]

Got the rims back from powder-coating and got the tires on them today. The rims are a little pitted where the surface rust got deeper than just the surface but they still look nice.

The rims:



On the truck:



The old exhaust pipes made it a little difficult because they are bent, but I'm replacing the exhaust later anyways so it's not a problem: