Due to misconceptions being inherently connected to the voiced opinions, thoughts and ideas posted herein, it is with hesitancy that I begin the documentation of Rudy's (1991 Sidekick) build.  For the sculptor, a completed masterpiece displays a visualization conceived in the mind's eye.  For the fabricator, a finished product might be a rendition of a vision, however some art is not appreciated equally by all.  
   My preamble is thus; take this build for what it is worth.

   I picked up "Rudy" about a year and a half ago with great intentions but... that was a year and a half ago and I already had "The Zuke" on the go.  So, this Spring with renewed vigor and being bored of working on The Zuke I started to tear down for a build up.  Here are some pics of The Zuke and Rudy.









For those of you wondering how the 4.5 inch Alter Ego lift by Zukination performs, I will hopefully have some more info by the end of the month for you.

Ok, I'll bite. English Major, or poet or both?  Keep the pics coming!

Nice intro  Cant wait to see the build..
Zig

keep them pics coming there romeo.

Wow... that is a lot of rust for such a straight body. 

So, no additional pics yet but, I'll give you a run down of my plans and progress.  I know, I know.  No pictures = boring build.  You shall therefore prepare yourselves to be bored (unless you quit reading now)

  Boring detail #1:
     Rudy's rusty bod is currently detached from its chassis.  It got rusty from eating road salt for 9 months out of the year.  Watch out or the same may happen to you.  So, as you can imagine, if the body is rusty, the frame must have a sweet iron oxide paint scheme too.  After a trip to the blasters, that reddish orange turned sandblasted steel color and then I convinced it with my persuasive skills to be flat black.  To get all of that stubborn rust trapping undercoating off, the sandblaster guy had to heat it with a torch and scrape the melted goo off.  But, now with 2 healthy coatings of POR 15 and some flat black top coating I don't expect rust for another few months.  By the way, it takes a good week to get POR 15 off of your hands.  This is 3 days after the fact.



  #2
     Rudy is an automatic with 4.625 (to be precise) gears.  I picked up some 5.125 (to be precise) gears to regain some gearing when I install some taller tires.

  #3
     I purchased, after much deliberation, the alter ego kit from Zukination.  I'm pretty stoked to install it on the bare, clean frame.  I haven't got that far yet because I have been attending trade school away from home for 2 months.

My reason for choosing Rudy as my money pit is because it is loaded... for a sidekick.  Power windows, power locks, cruise control, map lights, A/C.  So, although I'm anxious to "Get Her Done" the process will likely be slow.  

Thanks for your interest in this boring build.

Beings the body is as straight as it is, providing of course both sides are that straight, might be a good time to perform some surgery and cut off the rusty rockers and weld in some rock guards. Same for the fenders too, I mean what the hell, they're already mostly gone on the edges anyway, might as well trim 'em up. Once again, providing the rest is still good, such as floor and body mounts etc.
Nice find too, being loaded and all. worth fixing up imo.
 

Well, in order to build interest in the White Beast, I suppose I should continue to post.  Therefore, I shall post.

Here is my method of frame removal.  The body has been up on those blocks for 3 months.





I mentioned earlier that the frame was rusty but, I should also have said that at some point, the frame was coated in an asphalt undercoating.  The whole undercarriage is covered in this tar stuff.  As you can see from the pictures, I reinforced the front body mounts as I find that they are kinda flimsy for a winch bumper mount.  I have not yet designed the bumper but I intend on mounting it to the angle iron on the front.

Just recieved my Altered Ego 4.5" lift yesterday.

In the future if you want to remove that nasty asphalt undercoating, or the interior sound deadening all that is required is some dry ice. I take the dry ice pellets and crush them in a ziplock bag untill it resembles snow, apply the dry ice "snow" directly onto the asphalt and stand back, it will pop and ping and fly right off and only minor scraping and clean up is required, make sure to wear safety glasses, a piece of dry ice in the eye can be hazardous.

Just recieved my Altered Ego 4.5" lift yesterday.

In the future if you want to remove that nasty asphalt undercoating, or the interior sound deadening all that is required is some dry ice. I take the dry ice pellets and crush them in a ziplock bag untill it resembles snow, apply the dry ice "snow" directly onto the asphalt and stand back, it will pop and ping and fly right off and only minor scraping and clean up is required, make sure to wear safety glasses, a piece of dry ice in the eye can be hazardous.

Well, what I want to know, is what made you try this?  It's not something that would normally just pop into your head..."hey, let's just try dry ice" 
Anyways, looking forward to seeing more.  Keep us posted

Well, what I want to know, is what made you try this?  It's not something that would normally just pop into your head..."hey, let's just try dry ice" 
Anyways, looking forward to seeing more.  Keep us posted

LOL, I am not sure who originally came up with this, but it was at least 10 years ago that I first heard of using this technique, and have used it several times, in fact last summer I did a Honda civic interior, removed all the old asphalt and sprayed in LizardSkin sound deadner and then top coated with Monstaliner bedliner.

that blocking of the body doesent look safe at all 

X2   

Quote from: talonxracer on July 02, 2011, 07:27:58 AM

Just recieved my Altered Ego 4.5" lift yesterday.

In the future if you want to remove that nasty asphalt undercoating, or the interior sound deadening all that is required is some dry ice. I take the dry ice pellets and crush them in a ziplock bag untill it resembles snow, apply the dry ice "snow" directly onto the asphalt and stand back, it will pop and ping and fly right off and only minor scraping and clean up is required, make sure to wear safety glasses, a piece of dry ice in the eye can be hazardous.

Well, what I want to know, is what made you try this?  It's not something that would normally just pop into your head..."hey, let's just try dry ice" 
Anyways, looking forward to seeing more.  Keep us posted

talonxracer is spot on with how well it works... although I've not tried it with a ziplock, good idea... it's actually a method that's been around a while; a lot of old school hot-rodders have used it for dropping unneeded weight in drag cars for years.

that blocking of the body doesent look safe at all 

Safe?  What is that???  Actually, I took out all of the 2x4s after I got the frame out.  But, as you can see from the snow this is not a current picture and, it is still sitting on top of the logs.  Even after the snow melted out from under the logs.  I was a little worried about it falling when I walked by it one day and there were 6" round snow pillars under the logs holding it up.  After some jacking and chiseling I got it on safe ground.  Well, safe enough for me. 

Just recieved my Altered Ego 4.5" lift yesterday.

In the future if you want to remove that nasty asphalt undercoating, or the interior sound deadening all that is required is some dry ice. I take the dry ice pellets and crush them in a ziplock bag untill it resembles snow, apply the dry ice "snow" directly onto the asphalt and stand back, it will pop and ping and fly right off and only minor scraping and clean up is required, make sure to wear safety glasses, a piece of dry ice in the eye can be hazardous.

Talonxracer, Thanks for the tip.  I'll have to do that to the underside of the body when I get to that point.  If I can find some Dry Ice.

Here are some shots of the frame.





I decided to touch up some of the components that were rusty.







And now, The Frame.