1998 Isuzu NPR Tow Rig/Race Support Truck

Finally got back around to working on this again this weekend, life and aother projects put a pause on this one for a bit. 

Started by putting about half of what was left of the frame on the floor with a needle scaler

and, unfortunately, what i was left with after a final pass with a wire cup brush, was something closer to a topographical map, rather than truck frame rails.

and its rust jacked over the center crossmember too

so thats a bummer. looks like all those years with a wooden board directly on the frame really took its toll here in the rust belt. on the upside, the rest of the frame seems to be in ok shape, its only the top rails where the wood was that have the heavy pitting. im currently debating between cutting off the tops of the rails and replacing them with new 1/4" plate, or welding on some 1/8" flat stock onto whats left of the top rails, to stiffen them back up and replace the lost material.  according to both the service and upfitter manuals, the frame is just plain mild steel, not heat trated or hardened in any way, to i should be able to weld it no problem. 

once the frame was scaled, i threw a coat of primer on the top surface to protect whats left from further damage, and started tackling the dissasembly of the rest of the truck. 

managed to get the chassis wiring harness disconnected, and about 75% of the way out, and got the fuel tank removed and dealt with. its so nice being able to tilt the cab up and out of the way, and have full access to everything, most maintence jobs could be done while sitting on one of the front tires.  also noticed a small oddity on this engine, I guess the engine didn't make enough vacuum for the brake booster, so it has a small vacuum pump driven off the back of the alternator, with an oil lubrication line coming from the engine. 

im hoping this upcoming weekend i can have the engine and wiring fully out, along with pulling the rest of the plumbing and other stuff bolted to the frame, so i can finish needle scaling it to make sure theres no other areas in need of a patch. may also attempt to address some of the rust on the bottom of the cab, hopfully its not rotted all the way through. eventually id like to have the frame blasted and powdercoated, but i dont want to do that until after any additional fabrication work is done. 

Bummer about the rust but glad to see this moving forward.

AxeHealey said:

Bummer about the rust but glad to see this moving forward.

Indeed, its been a while since ive gotten to work on a fun project, fixing daily drivers one after another gets old fast.  

once again plucking away at this project, managed to get the chassis side wiring harness out, cut the exhaust off, since the bolts were predictably rusted to nothingness. also got around to trying to take the wheels off, which required the largest impact you can get from harbor freight, 10mm socket for scale. 

my air compressor is woefully inadequate to keep up with this thing, but it does at least work well enough to pull the 41mm lug nuts off

thankfully, some kind soul in this trucks past used anti-seize on the lugs, which is probably the only reason they came off.  with a torque spec of 325 Ft/lb, i was expecting a fight, but didn't get one.

also pulled off the plastic splash shields under the cab, its suprisingly clean, save for the one rail. but, it does pass the hammer test, so some wire wheeling and paint and it will be good to go. 

not a ton of progress, but im trying to at least do a couple hours each weekend to keep the ball rolling. was gonna try and pull the engine and trans this weekend, but decided to wait until some more help was available for that operation.