Ike shows it all

I may be a month behind my own warped and slightly unrealistic schedule, but today with the help of a friend and family, Ike is now free of his tub.

Moving Ike to the center of the garage, which proved to be eventful with the dollies shooting out from under the front tires not once but twice, the four of us grabbed the corners and lifted. The steering column and transmission/transfercase were the only real obstacles to clear. Unfortunately, I had forgot to remove the spring from the parking break, which ended up stretched to a near breaking point, and there was a few zip ties holding some wiring between the tub and frame. However, there were no mounting bolts and no other real issue with removing the tub left behind after yesterdays bolt removing adventure.

After some simple pulling and lifting, the tub was free and I could finally inspect the frame a little better. There is quite a bit of built up grease and dirt that will need to be cleaned and removed, but the initial once over looks very promising. The only part that will certainly need a repair is actually an old repair itself. At some point in the last 60 years, the forward spring mount of the rear passenger side spring broke through the frame. It was welded back in place, but since I plan on putting everything back the way it should be, it will need some attention.

I could also see all the grease and grime literally covering every surface of the transmission and transfer case, along with most of the block below the head and manifolds. My original plan was to start removing the drive shafts, parking break, and steering linkages next weekend, but now I think I might pull Ike out to the street with a pressure washer and see if I can’t get down to metal in a few more areas. It will certainly make it easier when I start to remove the transfer case, transmission, and clutch/bell housing from the block.

So, after nearly two months of work, I’m finally down to the “drivable chassis” stage. Next steps after the clean up are going to be to remove the driveline and steering linkages in preparation for removing the pwoerplant starting from the rear to the front. I’m hoping that by this time next month I’ll be working on removing the engine block (and finding a place to store all these parts!).

And now, after two months, this is what Ike looks like:

It’s a good thing I only have 4 work days before I can spend some more time on Ike. It’s almost time to start researching places to get my frame blasted and repaired and methods for finishing it.