[paranoid56]

oh, and heres the new bends with the new brake. much better looking. the one on the left was made with my homemade brake, and the new one on the right.

[Jakes40]

nice work!
new break makes it alot easer and nicer!
still lookin for someone arowed northern va with one to finish my rear sill

[paranoid56]

Originally Posted by Jakes40

nice work!
new break makes it alot easer and nicer!
still lookin for someone arowed northern va with one to finish my rear sill

i got mine off ebay awile ago. nice and cheap. might try making my own now next time

Shane

[Coolerman]

Is that 16ga? how long a piece can you bend in 16ga? What brand brake is that? I've been looking at the HF one and the ones EastWood sell...

[paranoid56]

that is 18ga. using that as thats what the body is. the max cap for the brake is 16ga, but i doute that it would do that along the full lenght.
this is the harbor freight 48" model.

[UNO_RACING]

That thing is going to be wicked; can't wait to see the finished project!

[paranoid56]

why is it that no welding shop is open on the weekends. i broke my damn cup on the tig welder, then broke the hole saw bit later on. and figured that was enought for one day
so, got the b piller hoop finished and tacked in. started working on some more cross bars but the bit took a shit.

close up of the intersection.

and a shot with a seat. am going to make the seat bars next weekend. but this is about where it will be. seat might be a bit higher in the end.

[paranoid56]

oh, and here is a pic of the new HF brake.

[paranoid56]

more cage work. added rear cross support, and some door bars.
rear cross bars.

door bars. I didnt want them too high as to impead getting in and out. but, now that i am looking at it, i might make another set that goes up to that new cross bar, or just add an extra tube to mate up to it.

[fj40_73]

nice read, I like stories with lots of pictures.

[rjcruiser]

That cage looks indestructable....but one thing....are you going to tie it into the frame or just leave it attached to the body?

Awesome build and you've got crazy fab skills!!

[paranoid56]

yea, its getting tied to the frame. trying to figure out a way to make it bushing mounted. maybe have an intergrated tub mount / cage mount

Shane

[paranoid56]

man, i need to put down the pipe, as i keep messing with this damn tube. i set off to make the seat tubes, but couldnt find a good way to attached it to the my cage. so added these which the seat tubing will now attach to.

close up of the tubing. man, making those huge notches sucked.

[Skim]

What is your wheelbase now ?

[paranoid56]

looks to be around 98" or so. so i might stretch it a bit more. The front axle could go forward more, but the steering box is at its ferthest place and the drag link and tie rod almost touch as it is.

Shane

[paranoid56]

well, cage is finished.
took it out again to paint and finish welding. man, welding that thing all up seemed to take like 4 hours.

[Skim]

Looks good stretched. How much did you add to the body ?

[billybongo63]

Just found this thread, best reading I've done in a long time. Fantastic fab work! I've heard of Franken40's, but that thing is a FJZILLA! Nice concept-use what you got!

[Brian in Oregon]

Any pics of how you embossed the strengthening ribs into the floor panels?

[paranoid56]

Originally Posted by Skim

Looks good stretched. How much did you add to the body ?

I added 14" to the body

Shane

[paranoid56]

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

Any pics of how you embossed the strengthening ribs into the floor panels?

i used my super duper harbor freight bead roller

[F-junker]

I love the steering wheel! great idea. I may steal that one. I've enjoyed watching the project. Keep up the good work. Are you staying with the 22R?

[paranoid56]

yea, the 22r has a cam and headers and is portmatched. so it runs good. only around 10k on the last rebuild also. will see how it works hopfully it will be a fun weeknd driver with ok gas milage

Shane

[Degnol]

Shane, what is the thickest sheetmetal that bead roller will do? Your work looks great! Thanks for sharing.

Ed

[paranoid56]

I think the instructions say max is 16ga steel. i used it on the 18ga metal i was using and it worked great.

Shane

[paranoid56]

well got the seats installed. finaly figured out how i wanted them
I bought some trick tabs for the seats. i orderd a bunch online, but where not here in time, so i got shafted localy for 3 bucks a pop :shaking:

i welded some plate to the bottom of the seats to help give them some strenght.

i even put the steering colum in. and tested it out. sits nice and steering wheel seems perfect.

[paranoid56]

worked on the steering wheel mount a little also. when i put my custom dash in, the part that holds the steering shaft (and ebrake) was no longer attached to the dash. so it was very flopy. and i dont think the ebrake would even work.
so, i fabed up a simple bracket to tie into those two pieces.

bottom side. man, i need to reweld that one

[paranoid56]

ok, now for a major issue. i sware that i measured this crap, but now this is going to be an issue.
here is a side shot. to me the front axle is too far back. but, as you see in the other pic, i am not sure what i can do. any ideas?

and as you can see here. the axle is already pushed forward. the tir rod and drag link dont touch, but they get close.

and as you can see, i dont really have any room to move the box forward


man, my parents always told me to plan things out oh well

[paranoid56]

oh, and on another note, i am tieing the cage into the frame. so that part is hard mounted, but the body is usaly rubber mounted. is there any reasion why i shouldnt just hard mount the body also?

SHane

[FJota]

Nice truck. It is looking very good. As has been said before I can only wish for the equipment and time to do a build like this. I will be checking in regularly for updates.