Nope not me.
In fact my name isn't even Robert.
I've used the "RoberMc" id, on various forums, for a long time. it started as a joke and I just kept using it.

 

Thanks !

I have used aircraft stripper on a project 20 years ago, so I picked some up from the local autobody supplier. It didn't work well on the undercoating.
EDIT: (should mention that the stuff I used 20 years ago would remove powder coating and worked great.)

The guy at the counter did say that the old stuff worked better, but due to enviro laws the current stuff they had wasn't as good.
What brand have you been using ?

Using abrasives wasn't that bad, and it also dealt with the rust.

The torsion bars and control arms were done in a blast cabinet. (easy peesy)
The frame was done over a few days.
2 of us using hand scrapers to remove as much as possible, then wire wheels and 3M rolock disks on the easy to get areas.
I then used glass beads in a vacuum spot blaster to clean up the hard to get areas.

Considering the time involved, stripper or abrasive, next time I'm inclined to drop the frame off at the local powder coating place. (As long as I get a chance to check the frame for any problems before it's powder coated)

The cost of the Rust Bullet (or POR -15 paint), plus the man hours (at a theoretical minimum wage) and the fact I had the bumpers powder coated anyhow, makes the industrial powder coating route a smarter move IMO.

The biggest problem with the project was "scope creep". Had I planned to do a complete restoration from the beginning, I would have done many things differently.
For example; when I got the bumpers done, I didn't plan on doing the frame.
It all would have gone faster, easier, and cheaper.

I should know better. I have a tendency to want to do as complete a job as possible, no matter the project. Even if it's to the point of overkill.
On top of that, I have a lazy streak that wants to "just get it done".
The fussy side wins 98% of the time, but I irrationally listen to the lazy side first. "it should only take 2 months babe. You'll have your truck back by spring"

I just had to return a faulty, brand new, drive axle that I purchased 3 years ago for the project..... LOL

My friends keep asking...."When's the truck gonna be finished ?"
My wife gave up asking a few years ago.

 

PROGRESS:

Got the replacement steering knuckle cleaned up, painted and installed.

The one on the left had oversized caliper pins installed.
(Likely because someone stripped the holes, and didn't want to use one of the repair kits that includes helicoils
The problem was, one pin was damaged and there was no way to know what pins had been used.
More importantly they were slightly larger diameter that the correct ones, which would cause the caliper to stick)
The one on the right is the replacement ready to install.





After the knuckle was installed, I discovered that the hub bearing had a bit of play in it, so I ordered an SKF replacement, waited a week for it to arrive, and installed that.




Cheers !

 

Another member suggested I contact mancini racing. No luck.
I keep checking ebay, but no luck so far.

 

PROGRESS UPDATE:

Back in 2010 I ordered 2 new cardone brand axles for the truck.

When I finally went to install them last week, I discovered that, while one went in perfectly, the second one was machined wrong.
The bolt holes where it attaches to the flange on the solid axle were drilled in slightly too small of a circle.

I called the local supplier and they no longer carry cardone axles for the truck, so no way to return the brand new one to get a replacement.

Looking at the Cardone website, it appears that Cardone, in fact no longer makes new ones and also no longer stocks rebuilt ones.
They will rebuild them on demand though. (For some reason can't find the link I had. the current page says nothing about it)

At this point I have a rebuilt one sitting here, but I'll be contacting Cardone tomorrow to see if they have a new one sitting around in some warehouse that I can swap with.

Worst case I'll be installing the rebuilt one.

In the meantime, I'll stick the rotors and calipers on and see if I can find the new hoses I have someplace in the pile of parts.

 

Nice progress so far. I assume you must be in Winnipeg, as there aren't many racing fuel plants exploding near by. I'm in Cypress River (west of Winnipeg 2 hours), and currently have my Dakota down to the frame as well.

Why did you not cut off the crossmembers and spring hangers on the rear of the frame? I cut mine off as I wanted to be able to paint them fully and get rid of the rust between them. I debated it for a while, but in the end I figured I had it that far apart I might as well do that bit of extra work, it wasn't to bad to cut them off. I'll either put it on with 1/2" Grade 8 bolts with Toplock nuts so it won't vibrate apart, or borrow the Hucklock Rivet Gun from work and rivet them on again.

I'm getting mine sandblasted and painted at work, I started wire wheeling it, but it wasn't worth it. A guy at work will sandblast and paint it for a reasonable amount, I hate doing that kind stuff so I'm fine with paying someone to do it. The other odds and ends (steering knuckle, crossmembers, etc) I'll probably just take to Millco steel in Brandon and get them to do it for me, as they are pretty reasonable when it comes to small items like that.

Have never seen a convertible Dakota around here before, it should look good once you are finished!

EDIT: And I'm not sure how I'd feel about powder coating a frame. For just a show truck I guess it would be fine. Mine isn't going to be a show truck, it is more a test bed for me to do more frame off resto's in the future, I plan to abuse this truck once I'm done, taking it hunting, fishing, drive it on stormy days, and around gravel roads. Powder coat is tough to repair once it gets chips in it, so I'm sticking to some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, and Chassis Black to paint my frame, that way I can get some spray bombs and touch it up if needed.

Also, I have a parts truck sitting here as well, my truck is a 91, the parts truck is a 92. It is in a snowbank right now, but if you are needing some odd piece let me know and I may have it. I know Dakota's can be tough to find at the wreckers in Winnipeg, I was there in the summer and stopped at a few wreckers for parts and they didn't have any. Wesman Salvage has a few in Brandon though.

 

Yup. If you're ever in town and want to say hello or see the project feel free to PM me.

Truthfully, the frame was in such good shape I never thought of it.
That's a good pointer though. Easy to do, and those spring hangers are the main place these frames rot out.

Amen to that. Like many stages of this project, I had myself convinced that I would simply "clean it up a bit". So i started the task with wire wheels. Then the fussy part of me, figured why not do the frame full, and I was in so far I deluded myself that it was simple enough to continue with that method. Thankfully my wife was willing to help.
We looked like a hazmat crew with the coveralls and masks. Especially when painting. Por-15 and Rust bullet are both very nasty, even in open areas.
We painted the frame outside in relatively windless conditions.

[quote]Have never seen a convertible Dakota around here before, it should look good once you are finished [\quote]

Surprisingly, there were 4 or so here, originally. Most, I assume rusted to death.
Though, there is someone from towards Carman, that my friends have spotted repeatedly driving into the city. I also saw one last summer downtown, near the legislature. They aren't the original ones that were here in the early 90's

Fully agree. That's why i used Rust bullet
This truck will never see winter again, but it will occasionally haul a boat, and go camping in the mtns down gravel roads.
That said, I could have had it blasted and powder coated for not much $ at all.
The problem, as you note, is the repairability powdercoat

Buck's had 2 but they are gone now I think. I keep an eye the salvage auctions and then call around to see who bought it.

The MPI rule about automatically scrapping pre 95 vehicles after any collisions, no matter how minor.... combined with scrap metal value give them a short life span in the yards here.


Thanks for the offer of parts ! The biggest thing I need to find is center caps for the 1990 and earlier aluminum wheels. I have a set of caps for the steel wheels but they don't fit the aluminum ones. I may just try find a place to 3D scan the ones I have, modify the cad file to fit, and get a 3d printer place to make me a set.

Cheers !

 

PROJECT continued:

Well... the axles are in.
In the end I used the re-manufactured one.

For some reason the axle did not include new nuts or washers or tin castle caps or cotter pins.
Fortunately, I had the old ones, which I cleaned up and used instead.
Dorman has a set available though, for those that need them.


Back to the brakes...

I may not have mentioned that the ears on the caliper were worn by the brake pad backing plates.
I had friend fill in the worn area with his mig welder. I then used a grinding wheel and surface prep disk to gently smooth it down so the worn area was gone and the repair invisible.

I want to minimize rust as much as possible, even where it's not a real problem. I have been using clear wheel paint on many of the parts.
The hub assemblies, and the metal sections of front brake hoses are an example. I mask off as needed. No idea how long it will last, but I figure it's worth a try.
The calipers and rotors were painted with caliper paint.

One hassle with painting parts, is that sometimes the part has fluid in it.
It's makes a mess of the paint, and you don't want paint inside the part.
Calipers are a good example of this.

For these one, I cut short pieces of rubber hose, that were the same inside diameter as the banjo bolt that goes into the caliper.
Slipping the hose onto the bolt, I then tightened the bolt just enough so the hose would prevent any fluid from leaking out.
I then degreased the caliper, masked off the piston, and painted it with caliper paint.

Here's a shot of the hose (covered in paint) in place on the banjo bolt.



I installed the new pads and brake hoses, got the calipers on with new guide pins (they came with thread-locker already on the threads, but I would have used it had they not been), along with the new rotors.
Only the calipers are "original", but they were in perfect shape. They were likely replaced in the recent past.


Since the front differential isn't connected to anything yet, I used the old trick of a screwdriver in the rotor vent holes.
That allowed me to torque the nuts and bolts that hold the CV axles in, without the hub spinning



Here's a shot of the new front end before I stuck the front wheels on.



removing the cab mount bolts and body lift kit is next....

 

PROGRESS:

I realized that installing the rear main wiring harness, after taking the body lift out, would be a PITA.

So I'm installing that harness now.

I previously:
a) removed all the old cloth tape that was used at the joints in the wire loom.
b) pressure washed the whole harness, cleaning all the junk that had built up inside the loom.
c) inspected the wiring for any obvious damage.
d) cleaned all the connectors with contact cleaner and emery cloth as needed.
e) used black cloth hockey tape to restore where the oem cloth tape had been. (you can buy the real stuff, but hockey tape is cheaper here and looks the same. I figure it makes it a true Canadian truck. lol)


So the harness is ready to go.

Yesterday I went through all the plastic harness clips I had salvaged.
A bunch of them had dirt, undercoating and overspray on them.
I cleaned them by sticking them in the utility sink and spraying them with heavy duty easy-off over cleaner.
The next day I used a brush on them and rinsed them off. They came out nice and clean.

Note: Vinegar, Acetone, and Oven Cleaner are awesome restoration "tools". Acetone can dissolve some things, like rubber and plastic, but used sparingly on a rag, on things like rubber weather stripping, it's great. "Pickling vinegar" works great for de-rusting small metal parts.




I have the harness mostly installed, but I can't figure out how it's routed near the transmission cross-member. The factory manual doesn't show that well at all. I left the harness zip tie/clips in the same location so they have to been near some type of hole they fit in. I believe the harness clips to the top of the cross-member itself.

First I need to determine which way the cross-member fits.
The factory manual's photos don't help
A test fit of the skid plate will tell me which side the bolt holes should be.
That will tell me which holes the harness then attaches to. It's been out too long and I'm not sure now... hehe.

Note: You can NEVER take too many reference photos.

 

Steel wheel cleaner is good for cleaning, too. The stuff that phosphoric, oxalic, and hydrofloric acid. Good for removing rust from small metal parts, let it soak for a while then flush with lots of water. Good for cleaning oxidized electrical connectors and plugs. Also removes rust stains from the dishwasher. . .