Rob's K/35 Project - 4wd Conversion
Page 2
5.
5] Before bolting the part in place I like to prime the surfaces that will be touching. Rest of the frame will be sprayed later but these areas won't be accessible then. Proper bolts are important: Grade 8 with steel self locking nuts and a hardened washer on both sides:
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6. 
6] Installed. For these parts, bolting was the best approach........................
(this is actually a top
view of the frame, at an odd angle)
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7.
7] ........................while for the radiator saddle mounts I elected to weld them. Partly because of the difficulty in replacing the two rivets in the spring mount with bolts (lack of space) and partly because although the mounts were the same general shape & size, the 4 holes in the frame web didn't quite match the ones in the mount. (Hey, I said the parts were "interchangeable", not "identical"!) Here the mount is clamped in place, next step is to tack weld at the 2 rivets into the spring mount, then plug-weld the 4 holes to the frame web.
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8. 
8] Completed and primed. I also ran a couple of passes around the mount where it touches the frame, again not really necessary but didn't take long since I had the welder sparked up anyway.
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9. 
9] Rear springs I decided to go all new with. Total cost of the springs and all required hardware came to about $1000 (Canadian) - and that's new EVERYTHING! Plus these are the good heavy 1-ton springs, main has 10 leaves total and the helper 5. When assembling this sort of stuff, use lots of anti-seize on the bolts.
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10.
10] The rear spring hangers were salvaged from the crew cab frame and bolted to the new rear frame section. Same procedure was used: Remove/clean up/drill/bolt in place. You can see a lot of holes in the frame web, some I will be re-using to mount things like the helper spring pads, others I will plug-weld and grind once I know they aren't needed. That is more of a cosmetic touch than anything, frame is plenty strong enough without them filled in.
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11.
11] Additional extra welding that I did: the rear axle shock mounts and spring pads aren't welded all around, they are now. Here you can see a pass I added on the inside of the shock mount, still to be done is the other side and front and rear of the spring pad.
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Truck Restoration Parts - Here
Northern Tool -
Hand tools, power tools, shop supplies, hoists, small engine parts,
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