Rebuild Rosie - SWB GQ

[kiwibronco]

Well finally decided to give my SWB GQ (Rosie) a rebuild. Rosie as in "whole lotta Rosie" as shes big, not pretty, but been a great truck. So am starting slow as also have the rebuild of an 82 bronco on the go but while thats at the panel beaters I was getting itchy tool kit fingers so decided to start giving Rosie a bit of a face lift.

Whats wrong:
- used and abused 4WDing - shes had a hard life. Sagged lift, tons of Blo-by, bit of rust in the front guards and window frames, 3rd gears starting to act weird, body and paintwork are rough, winch needs an overhaul, front bars need work.

Whats good:
Rear LSD diff recently rebuilt and fronts good. Turbo running 15psi is good as is the 3 inch exhaust. Rear quarters have been cut and tucked, rock sliders are good, legacy bucket seats are great and have a the 33 wranglers are still OK and have a new set of 117 extreme 35's. Onboard compressor is new and holding tank is good bot both need remounting

Whats the plan:
- Bolt on bits - Pull sliders and front bars, clean up and repaint, cut the rubbish welded stuff off the front bars and improve bar work.
- Winch - Overhaul winch and reload with 12mm Dyneema (I think?? any advice would be good)
- Engine - Pull head and sump, check bores and bearings, if poss just rehone, new rings, refaced rockers and new shaft and see how she goes
- Gearbox - see how she holds up with engine running right. If dodgyness gets worse then pull gearbox and do that and clutch at the same time.
- Suspension possibly front locker and new 3 inch lift.
- Body work - considering Ute conversion but still undecided - either way will be rub back, fix the worst dents and respray the whole truck - Thinking I'll go with that Army brown colour with black barwork and bits.

Here are the pics (hopefully I've got this working right) as she is now:
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054289/fullsize/betty-resto-036_800x600-(copy).jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054290/fullsize/img_0249_800x533-(copy).jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054291/fullsize/img_0251-(small)_800x534-(copy).jpg
[urlhttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054295/fullsize/20150405_163412_385-(copy).jpg][/url]
Cleaned out the old wooden tray in the interior:
[urlhttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054294/fullsize/20150405_163350_576-(copy).jpg][/url]

So started in the last weekend or two dismantling bar work and cleaning stuff up. Pics below:
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054292/fullsize/20150405_163308_511-(copy).jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/1054293/fullsize/20150405_163335_802-(copy).jpg

[kiwibronco]

Hmm does not look like the pics worked. Try again:
Current state:




And started on the front bars. Cut off the top and wrap arounds and will replace with new bars. Bottom just got wire brushed and undercoated. Also recessed bars back further into the chassis rails about two inches so it sits a bit more snug into the front. Basically as far back as I can ger without needing to mess with the radiator etc.



Note sure about cutting to a ute. Like the look but practicalities re the back getting wet I need to think about. However truck will be dedicated 4wd and when not in use will be in a shed.

[coxsy]

swb truck ute cut look naff, four door cuts are better you could just cut the rear down to the windows into hard deck ute style they look reasonable

[kiwibronco]

Hmm I'm thinkin ute like a wellside. That what you mean? Agree even then they look "short". Most i've seen retain a small side window where the rear section moves up to the front. If I took this path I'd want that side windo to be almost non existent so makes the rear wellside appear as big as poss. Still not sure I should take this path though. Keep changing my mind.

[Checkerhead]

Have seen one chopped as a wellside that looked pretty good. I think the key to making them look good is a vertical rear window, not just the angled back moved forward. Of course you could always do a MWB conversion while you are there to help the aesthetic?

Not a wellside but might help with inspiration or warning you off, viewtopic.php?f=18&t=35129&p=377600&hilit=mwb#p377600

[kiwibronco]

Yeah think there is a vid of that build i've seen somewhere?? Yup agree angling the rear window same angle as the b pillar looks much better. Have seen a mint LWB with this done and changed back to two door. Looks fantastic. SWB has a few more issues due to lack of lenth. But keeping the angles looks good.

[kiwibronco]

Well got the first bit of the front bar sorted this weekend. Recessed them back into the grill a bit, ground down the old welds, added a couple of angle braces underneath then gave the whole lot some rust kill primer and a black top coat. Still want to add some upper bars up along about bonnet edge level and bend down to the corners to protect the indicators but the base is now sorted and bolted back on.



Also pulled the rocker panel covers both sides and found some minor rust and holes so patched those, metal ready prepped them and gave those parts a coat of POR 15. Next weekend hopefully get a chance to overhaul the winch.

[coxsy]

the indicators and grille are going to contact hard stuff with that design,

[kiwibronco]

Still have to add upper bars to protect those. This is just the base. Need to get some steel and bends to finish that off. Planning on doing a central hoop over the winch then bars running off that out to the indicators and curving down to the end corners of the base.

Hey cocksy, pretty sure I saw you had a 3inch lift? How do you find it? did you alter radius arm lengths or rear arms at all?

[coxsy]

drop boxes on the front end and + 16 lower arms plus a drive shaft spacer in the rear

[kiwibronco]

So longer lower rear arms to keep the diff and gearbox angles the same? No vibration issues with the 3 inch lift?

[coxsy]

no vibs the rear drive shaft was rebuilt flogged splines u joints marginal, drop boxes replaced gearbox spacers