The Moon Truck

[Squatch]

Mini update. The camper has a removable front window facing the truck cab. it also came with a boot to seal out the weather.


A while back I had obtained a NOS opening back window and gasket for the truck. I wanted to get this installed before I installed the gas tank, driveshaft ect. Plenty of room to stand on the ground behind the truck cab now. Once those things are installed that won't be so easy. I needed me on the inside and someone on the outside to do the job. I have only done this kinda stuff a couple of times and the last time was several years ago. A couple of weeks back a friend came up to help me with this. The old window came out fine without breaking. We had fits with the new one though and ended up tearing the weatherstrip. So we had to abandon the job. I got another new weather strip and today we tried again. We learned a couple of things the 1st time and that helped. We also lubed everything a lot more with silicone spray. It was a mess but we succeeded. The window is in.


After some clean up.


Now I have a pass thru to the camper.




Now that this holdup is done I can get the gas tank back in and hook it up. Then comes a quick rebuild of the driveshaft. I have new U joints and a new carrier bearing for the 2 piece shaft on the bench waiting.

 

[takesiteasy]

Great work! I am enjoying following along.

 

[buckland]

Squatch, I swear... you are an encyclopedia of abilities. Where'd you get all the experience the first time through? I have done some similar things on a much more minor scale and I never let "haven't done it before' stop me but you never cease to amaze.

 

[Happyjax]

Great work Squatch!

 

[Squatch]

Buckland this is far my my 1st time through. I've been fixing up weird old cars since before I had a license.

The Trooper got a new frame.




Like most of my stuff. My boat was junk when I got it.






Same with my tractor.




It's a disease some of us are born/cursed with! Being a poor kid probably contributed a good bit to my abilities. I didn't have a lot of choice. Fix it or do without.

I'm getting old. Laying on cold concrete and busting myself up just doesn't hold the same appeal it used to. That's a big part of why the Moon Truck project is taking so long.

 

[Squatch]

Without the pics Photobucket has been holding hostage this thread is useless. The pics have now been deleted from Photobucket and I'm declaring this thread dead.

 

[Squatch]

Since I have bought the Tundra I haven't done much on this truck. The Tundra has proven to be an ideal platform for my Eagle. For a while now I've been agonizing over what to do with the Moon Truck. Finish it? Sell it? Well my Trooper which is my 1st love when it comes to my Isuzu's needs an engine rebuild. Those who have followed this thread know this truck has a brand new engine.

It looks like I have an interested buyer who doesn't want the engine. He has a nice late model Isuzu turbo diesel from overseas that needs a home. It's a bolt in on these trucks. So I think the engine is coming out and the truck without engine will get sold. I've started the process of returning the truck back to stock specs. I'll hang on to the rare aftermarket performance parts I have, The engine will soon go into my '88 Trooper that originally brought my FWC home from Florida on a trailer when I bought it. Then I'll finish the cosmetics I never got done on the Trooper.

The Moon truck will live on. Just probably not with me! With one less vehicle around here this should give me some more free time to go campering!

 

[buckland]

Keep posting photos of the transformation ... I enjoy the workmanship.

 

[longhorn1]

The Moon Truck is for sure part of WTW Folklore. Loved the rebuild. jd

 

[Squatch]

A few pics from a couple of weeks ago. This is how the truck has sat now for some time in the garage.

 

[Squatch]

A few more.


Bed in the back yard. It has since been loaded on a trailer and brought up in the drive to be installed soon. See the river beginning to ice up in the background?

 

[Squatch]

The 4.77 gears and LSD have been removed and replaced with the stock 4.30 gears in the rear axle.


The OME 029 spring pack I rebuilt have also been removed and replaced with the stock rear spring from the truck. I had to cut out the front bushing and then replaced all the bushings with new black poly bushings.




All bolts were Loc-tited and torqued to factory specs.

Obviously it's been too cold to paint parts. Not really my intention anyway. I'm no longer doing the resto work for myself. Just putting it back together right for the next owner. It is weird to install unpainted parts for me. it's been a long while since I've done that!

I do clean them up though before reinstalling them. The springs have a coating of dripped paint and chassis inside sealer on them from that job.

Last week it was just too cold to work in the garage. Much better this week but had some other irons scheduled in the fire. So busting to get work done any chance I can. I'm shooting to have this ready ASAP.

 

[Squatch]

Got some more done yesterday. I bought new rotors for the rear to replace the Powerstop rotors I'm keeping. These came from the local Car Quest and I'm impressed. Price was decent and the surprise was "Made in USA". The machining is nice on them.


Brakes reassembled. These are new calipers and hardware with Powerstop Evolution pads. Matches the front Powerstop pads and rotors. Parking brake cables are also hooked up at the calipers. The other ends of the cables will wait till the gas tank is back in.


Skyjacker Nitro shocks are back on. The whole rear end is now pretty much complete except for a few small brackets and pads for the bed.

 

[Squatch]

I even installed the new factory spare tire winch.


Next step is to get the gas tank assembled and back in the truck. May take a few days. The bottom is dropping out of the temps again tonight.

 

[buckland]

Was nice to have two days of relative warmth...but heading down low again. these photos are great. You are gonna have a beauty when done.

 

[Squatch]

You are gonna have a beauty when done.

Hopefully that will be someone else. I'm actually debuilding the truck back to a stocker to sell it! But even then it will be a nice example of what it is.

 

[Squatch]

Getting ready to put the fuel tank back in. The buyer is going to be converting this truck to diesel so the in tank fuel pump will not be needed. Just a fuel pickup line at the bottom of the tank. So I converted the fuel pump assembly.

Old assembly with fuel pump.


I removed the fuel pump from the assembly. Tucked up the wires in case they might get used in the future.
I then cut the bump off the end of the steel fuel line that held the short rubber hose section to the pump.
Next I used some Cunifer fuel line and a 5/16 compression union to extend this to the same length as the old pick up on the pump. I cut the fuel strainer off the old pump. Added another compression fitting to the end of the pickup line for some extra diameter. Than re-attached the strainer to that with a hose clomp. There is a plastic cage inside the strainer to keep it from collapsing. That was retained.

 

[Squatch]

While I hadn't planned on getting into all this the truck needs to be reassembled before it is sold. No sense the buyer having to take the tank back out to do the mods.
So the fuel filler needed to be opened up as well. The nozzle on diesel pumps is much bigger than for unleaded. So I used a 1 3/8" hole saw to open the reducer up.

Stock for unleaded fuel.


After wire wheeling to clean it up and cutting the larger hole with a hole saw. The outside will get a coat of POR15 to keep it from rusting anymore.


Next is to install these parts back in the tank along with new gaskets, new OEM sending unit, new rollover valves, and a new factory fuel filler hose. Then the tank can be installed in the truck.

 

[Squatch]

Somewhere along the line the previous owner high centered this truck on the fuel tank skid plate. it had a pretty good curvature to it and I didn't want to reinstall it that way. So I figured out a way to roll out the dent. I simply applied more weight than it took to bend it the 1st time. I ran over it with the front wheel of my Tundra. Back and forth in different places until the dent was rolled out.

There were a few bits I just couldn't put back on the frame without doing some kind of rust prevention on. Brake cable clips, exhaust hanger, Parking brake mech, fuel filler, exterior of the fuel pump bracket. so on a warm day they all got a coat of POR 15.

 

[Squatch]

I installed the modded fuel pickup back in the tank. Along with new late model style rollover valves, new fuel level sender and new fuel lines. The out side portion of the fuel pickup assembly got some POR15 and the tank was reinstalled using the special bolts I had made up. Basically bolt with a piece of welding rod tacked across the top to keep them from spinning when tightened. The tank was designed to be installed before the body and they are near impossible to get to. They new bolts worked like a charm. Everything was installed with new OEM gaskets and grommets.