Best way to clean the plastic gas tanks? Mine is the big 22 gallon one and it has a good layer of sludge and varnish on the bottom....I've read acetone or isopropyl with a bunch of rocks and shake but that's mostly for motorcycle tanks where you can get a good shake. Not sure what to do with a big un...

 

I cleaned mine out by emptying the fuel, then reaching in thru the hole where the pump goes and wiping up the sludge using terrycloth towels (wearing rubber gloves of course). Once most of the guck was out I think I used Simple Green and a clean towel to get the stuff that was left. I rinsed it out with more Simple Green and a hose, then let it air dry for a couple days. It looked like new inside.

 

To what Ragged89 says - I'd follow with a 91% or better alcohol rinse (91% Isopropyl - it's not very long after you open it!) to make sure NO water was hung anywhere, and then consider an internal coating (shouldn't need it being plastic, but while it's out ... )

Also, while putting it all back together, I'd redo ALL the plumbing to it.

It's what I did when I did my fuel pump ...

RwP

 

Updates....hope to get some pics up by end of weekend.

Frame paint - started out rough ended up great. So I took it to my local resto shop to sandblast frame, front and rear suspension and to prime firewall and front rad support. Then to POR15 frame and rear end. I had asked for gloss POR but when I showed up to get truck they had sprayed flat. It was either blast back down to metal or they offered to spray enamel gloss over the POR. I was all for that since POR isn't UV resistant...came out great and I have multiple layers of protection.

Engine - I stripped engine of all old paint using aircraft remover and wire brushes. Alot of work...wish there was a soda blaster around. Repainted with high temp paint gloss black and came out great. Installed new water pump, pulleys, fuel delete and intake. Had a paint snafu with my alum intake. Primed then painted but didn't wait long enough for primer to cure I guess. Because primer is on hard as a rock but the next day I could blow the paint off with an air gun. Unfortunately this was after installing intake. So I've masked off entire engine and using air and wire brushes got intake back down to mostly primer. Will spray a light tack coat of primer and sand down high areas and scuff rest and let sit for a couple of days before spraying paint again.

Parts bought - all new body bushings. All new suspension bushings. New shocks front and back. New brakes and drums front and back. New oil pan to clear cross member. New bearings and seals. New weather stripping. New top. New oil pickup. New wires and plugs and oil filter.

So plenty of parts to put on and plenty of old parts to clean up. I find that's the most tedious and time consuming part of this project...cleaning and polishing and painting old parts. I have a bead blaster cabinet, vibratory tumbler, wire wheels, dremel polishers, chemicals and dip trays...taking it all to clean everything.

Question....so I'm going back with a simple setup. Carb crate 360 with no AC. Should I try to strip out the existing wiring harness which involves removing the SBEC and use the 60 pin firewall connector and rear harness...or buy one of those 14 or 18 circuit harnesses for hot rods and rerun everything, interior included?

 

Due to the age, I'd re-run everything with one of those hot rod harnesses (Painless Performance possibly?) Otherwise, you run the risk of chasing gremlins and haints for the next several years due to wires and connectors that have failed due to the stress and effort to rewire it.

But that's my take.

RwP

 

Engine, sans carb (edelbrock performer), Alternator and Power Steering

 

Looking real good!

Are you doing anything to the original motor mounts?

 

Nope....they were in great shape. Don't know if they'll hold up to the added weight or torque but I'm going to start with them.

 

Actually, by the time you subtract the weight of headers vs cast iron exhaust manifolds, an aluminum intake vs. cast iron, and no AC vs AC, that 5.9 probably isn't going to be all that different in weight than the old V6! Those V6 motor mounts may be just fine, likewise with the original torsion bars.

 

I was thinking the same thing, but I know pushing that thing around on the engine stand, she's a heavy beast. And that's sans alternator and power steering.

Speaking of which, the original alternator that was on this crate was bad. It was a denso design with the holes opposite 180 degrees. One hole on the motor with a long sleeve, the top hole using a turnbuckle mounted to the center hole above the timing cover. I want to go with a standard alternator that has the one large hole, and two small holes like this: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pw.../make/chrysler

Any ideas on mounting? I still have the old V6 brackets somewhere, but when I bought the truck the alternator was already removed and gone...I found the brackets loose in the back of the truck. I can't seem to orient the bracket to mount this alternator.