Finishing the Frame, Bed, and Few More Things

As with all jobs, just getting a new bed requires a lot more than just getting a new bed. It took several months for the entire process. Jake would measure, cut, and weld while I would finish by drilling, grinding, and painting. When I painted it, I guess I thought I was getting a gray color. It actually turned out to be a pretty bright silver. It gave it a nice "racing frame" look.

 The best part about my silver racing frame was that from the cab back the frame was silver. In front of the silver was rust. And yes, there was a very distinct tan line so to speak.

As I said, putting on a bed is a lot more work than just putting on a bed. I still had to fix the gas tank, and we decided since we were there, why not replace the factory, worn out bushings with new ones. We worked on the bushings first. It was a beast getting the old rubber bushings out. We tried hammering them out, drilling them out, no luck. We finally just melted them out with Jake's torch. That intense burning rubber created an ungodly smell. Also, the new bushings would not go on. I bought polyurethane bushings from BJ's Offroad. They are one of the best sources for Jeep stuff. We ended up having to put them in the freezer for a few days before getting them into the springs. Once we got them there, we sealed them in plastic. 

After finishing the bushings, it was time for the most grueling part of the process for a new bed, working on the gas tank. My original gas tank had a hole in it, which I had patched up. Anyway, the gas tank I found seemed to be in good shape until we began washing it out. We worked forever it seemed like to get old gelled -up gas from the tank. Jake finally had an idea of just cutting the tank open and using a grinder and a wire brush head to get it out. Nobody in their right mind would want to cut open a gas tank. Sparks and old gas fumes don't mix well. So we filled the tank with water, cut a hole in it about 8" by 6". We were able to then fold a "flap" back enough for me to get me hand and the grinder inside. Cleaning out the tank took about 20 minutes. I couldn't believe how quick that was. Oh by the way, I was dealing with about a 1/2 inch of a brownish red sludge. The most tedious part was to seal up the tank again. We filled it with water again, and began to seal it shut. We tack welded it, and then brazed it. Lastly, I covered the entire seam with JB Weld. 

1976 Jeep J10 with "cow killer" bumper.

The last thing we did before I got my truck back was to mount a bumper that Jake had in his junkyard. He referred to this thing as a "cow-killer," for good reason. It's 4 inch diameter steel pipe, probably 1/8th inch thick. On either end it has a 45 angled cap that curves backward. In the middle of the bumper, there are 1/2 inch bars of steel welded to a curved top piece of steel pipe that is about 2 inches in diameter. Jake welded it on to my truck, and got it perfect. We have towed my truck out of mud, up Jake's driveway, and have put some serious abuse on it. That bumper is virtually indestructible.