I love a good project, but this was not what/when I wanted one.
My wife and I bought 35 ac in the Rockies to build our 'forever home" on. It had nothing on it, so I got right to work building a driveway and building pad. The mailbox is a half mile away and I knew the workshop would be at least a quarter mile from the house (don't need to wake up mama banging on an uncooperative pin at 7am). So, says I, it would be handy to have a utility vehicle for running around, hauling, etc.
I found a 2014 RTV1140CPX at auction in Dallas with 1400 hours it. It looked great in the pics! That would be the first thing this machine would teach me. "Texas is a dry climate so it shouldn't have much rust...low hours... runs...sure, lets bid on that one."
Well....
here is the original listing photo. Not bad right? I won the auction for 5500.00. I also won a trailer at a nearby auction and got them hauled out pretty reasonably (1500.00 I think.)
When it arrived I unloaded it and got my first look at my prize. It was as described. There were no false statements made in the listing, but nowhere in the description did it say "good condition." It started on the first click and begrudgingly moved forward and reverse, but...
What showed up looked like a civil war relic. Every surface was rusty, every cranny was packed full of clay, there was pitting. I could also now see the faint outline of "SUNBELT" on the hood. Oh my...I had bought someones problem. Decision point. I can:
1) Put it back onthe market as-is and make it someone else's problem,
2) Part it out,
3) Embrace the learning opportunity before me. Dismantle it, fix everything, reassemble and enjoy the fruits of my labor of love.
Guess which one I chose.
My brother and I realized one hot day while rolling around under a project that we suffer from the same mental illness-- We can't walk by a broken thing and NOT fix it. For whatever reason, We both look at a broken thing in the same way (I'm told) women look at a potential mate; "I can fix that." Presto! I've got my next project!
I'm fond of saying that 'all projects start with a pressure washing." so that was first. Nobody had ever washed this this thing. The skidplates underneath were packed solid with some type of very blond clay. As I blasted the mud out from the front differential area, oil started running out. Please be a worn out hose. Nope...The acetic clay had eaten through the differential case like a dissolving asprin. Oh boy. I noted there was another skidplate "protecting" the transmission, which is made of the same stuff as the differential case, and the space between them was also packed solid with the same clay. A quick internet search helped me decide that if the tranny case was comprimised I would be parting it out after all. It was some time before I got that far into the stripdown and discovered to my amazement that the transmission case, though pitted, was not compromised. I'll talk more about those 'protective' plates when I get to the rebuild. Back to the stripdown.
Second step, get the plastic off and start making a list.
Rust, Rot, Rats nests.
It also came with a free ant colony living under the front floor mat. The right and left floor panels are also rotted through.
Engine compartment. The starter is new in this pic. I replaced it because of a faulty assumption, so now I have a spare.
Front end. Every exposed surface was rusted badly. Steering ball joints are shot and on the shopping list.
You can see here the driveline running to the front differential. An unaccountable operator managed to smash it so it flopped when moving. Its a 900.00 part, so their repair was to cut out part of the frame it rubbed on. Pretty ghetto. My repair for this was one of the victories I am most proud of on this project. I'll get to that in the rebuild. You'll like it.
With the exception of the end plates (the most important part) the tailgate went to the recycle bin. I used the end plates to fabricate a new tailgate I think you like also.
Anyway, you get the picture-- It was a mess, but ultimately I can say I have no regrets. I learned so much doing this project and will apply what I picked up to the next one, where I will learn a lot more. I'm also happy to share what I learned on this thread and look forward to the discussions.
TO BE CONTINUED...
My wife and I bought 35 ac in the Rockies to build our 'forever home" on. It had nothing on it, so I got right to work building a driveway and building pad. The mailbox is a half mile away and I knew the workshop would be at least a quarter mile from the house (don't need to wake up mama banging on an uncooperative pin at 7am). So, says I, it would be handy to have a utility vehicle for running around, hauling, etc.
I found a 2014 RTV1140CPX at auction in Dallas with 1400 hours it. It looked great in the pics! That would be the first thing this machine would teach me. "Texas is a dry climate so it shouldn't have much rust...low hours... runs...sure, lets bid on that one."
Well....
here is the original listing photo. Not bad right? I won the auction for 5500.00. I also won a trailer at a nearby auction and got them hauled out pretty reasonably (1500.00 I think.)When it arrived I unloaded it and got my first look at my prize. It was as described. There were no false statements made in the listing, but nowhere in the description did it say "good condition." It started on the first click and begrudgingly moved forward and reverse, but...
What showed up looked like a civil war relic. Every surface was rusty, every cranny was packed full of clay, there was pitting. I could also now see the faint outline of "SUNBELT" on the hood. Oh my...I had bought someones problem. Decision point. I can:
1) Put it back onthe market as-is and make it someone else's problem,
2) Part it out,
3) Embrace the learning opportunity before me. Dismantle it, fix everything, reassemble and enjoy the fruits of my labor of love.
Guess which one I chose.
My brother and I realized one hot day while rolling around under a project that we suffer from the same mental illness-- We can't walk by a broken thing and NOT fix it. For whatever reason, We both look at a broken thing in the same way (I'm told) women look at a potential mate; "I can fix that." Presto! I've got my next project!
I'm fond of saying that 'all projects start with a pressure washing." so that was first. Nobody had ever washed this this thing. The skidplates underneath were packed solid with some type of very blond clay. As I blasted the mud out from the front differential area, oil started running out. Please be a worn out hose. Nope...The acetic clay had eaten through the differential case like a dissolving asprin. Oh boy. I noted there was another skidplate "protecting" the transmission, which is made of the same stuff as the differential case, and the space between them was also packed solid with the same clay. A quick internet search helped me decide that if the tranny case was comprimised I would be parting it out after all. It was some time before I got that far into the stripdown and discovered to my amazement that the transmission case, though pitted, was not compromised. I'll talk more about those 'protective' plates when I get to the rebuild. Back to the stripdown.
Second step, get the plastic off and start making a list.
Rust, Rot, Rats nests.
It also came with a free ant colony living under the front floor mat. The right and left floor panels are also rotted through.
Engine compartment. The starter is new in this pic. I replaced it because of a faulty assumption, so now I have a spare.
Front end. Every exposed surface was rusted badly. Steering ball joints are shot and on the shopping list.
You can see here the driveline running to the front differential. An unaccountable operator managed to smash it so it flopped when moving. Its a 900.00 part, so their repair was to cut out part of the frame it rubbed on. Pretty ghetto. My repair for this was one of the victories I am most proud of on this project. I'll get to that in the rebuild. You'll like it.
With the exception of the end plates (the most important part) the tailgate went to the recycle bin. I used the end plates to fabricate a new tailgate I think you like also.Anyway, you get the picture-- It was a mess, but ultimately I can say I have no regrets. I learned so much doing this project and will apply what I picked up to the next one, where I will learn a lot more. I'm also happy to share what I learned on this thread and look forward to the discussions.
TO BE CONTINUED...
