[tlc_4play]

Theo ~ you should have that fugly exhaust manifold ceramic coated - then it'll really look cool.
Gr8 work ~ keep it up

[tmarx]

Thanks Oom Keith. I was thinking about it but I only have 1 spare exhaust gasket and will rather use it on that elusive 13BT manifold that I have been searching for ...

[tmarx]

Time for an update. The bad news first ...


It was almost bone dry and needs replacement


Vacuum pump seal



Both are not in stock in ZA and are now on backorder from Japan. This setback forced me to deviate from my original plans, as the waiting period could be 4 - 6 weeks
Anyway there was enough other stuff to do, where parts/seals/O-rings etc were in stock ...







All done



Fitted





Before ..




After a rebuild



and with the new TRE's all round



Also got around to fitting the rebuilt clutch release cylinder & starter



Next up, a real nightmare

[tmarx]

Heeeha got some goodies from Japan recently ....




And so I could finally continue ...









All done and fitted ..





P/S cooler lines etc







And the result

[tlc_4play]

Looking good Theo

If I were you I would've had the PS cooler pipe yellow passivated

Horses for courses

It's nearly time to put the tub back on

[tmarx]

Keith, I did think about it or at least about painting them silver but honestly I felt the motor was beginning to look a little too much like a Ford with all the silver and black In addition and as you know, I have made up my mind on the colour issue and I think the 6H9 will go much better with black bits than silver, especially with stock grey wheels ?

[tmarx]

It has been a long time since my last update but not without good reason. First the bastards burglared our home and in the process drugged my loyal late night helper, which eventually culminated in his untimely death a week later








Testing the tyres





Sleeping in after a long nite in the garage..




Go well our beloved friend , you are sorely missed everyday !


Then, no sooner had we finished the last cutting and welding on the tub and then the beater who was helping me decided to do a textbook Houdini. So there I was with only the beating ,crimping, pulling and stretching etc to be done with no panelbeater. What annoyed me the most, is the fact that I realised that my initial idea of a DIY(as far as possible) rebuild, was over. Winter was fast approaching and the Rust Bullet(with a racklife of 12 months, I was told) had to go onto the tub without further delay, so I was in a fix and started shopping around.
Enter Auto Magic M5 body and panel shop !
I had read some very good reviews about them but lets be honest not many good body shops, nowadays enjoy doing restorations inbetween the normal stuff. I phoned Gordon and his enthusiasm for this project was immediately noticed, so I was optimistic. He came to inspect the job twice even bringing his foreman with him during the 2nd visit. We agreed on a price and the work to be done and a day later they collected the tub and all panels.
Yesterday JT and I took the rolling chassis through as I want the alignment etc of the panels to be checked and done on the tub when mounted to the frame. I was pleasantly surprised/shocked when I arrived at the shop !








I had told Gordz about the elusive 6H9 colour that I wanted and in a flash his one guy not only mixed a bit but even sprayed the wiper motor cover, just to see ! The actual result was even better than what I had hoped for



It is Olive Grey but is a lot more green than grey and much darker than in the picture. I cannot wait to see it on bigger panels and eventually the final result
Today the work started in all earnest and we are now back on track

[M5driver]

Originally Posted by tmarx

It has been a long time since my last update but not without good reason. First the bastards burglared our home and in the process drugged my loyal late night helper, which eventually culminated in his untimely death a week later

Theo,
Damned shame about your helper. I'm so sorry to hear this sad news.

That diesel donk is looking good! I'd really worry about it looking to "Fordlike" if the block was dark blue

Glad to hear you found a new panel beater - it looks like you could eat off that floor

That new color is AWESOME! I can hardly wait to see pix of the finished work. Lekker!!!

Dan

[bsmith123]

So sorry about your staffy, I had one and I know they are that soulmate kiid of dog. The bas***ds

figures they used the method they did ---the cowards. Not much else a Staffy can't bounce back from

[handcannon]

Real sorry to hear about your helper/best buddy. There are certain dogs that become more than pets, they are family and when something like that happens to them you really hurt. That pic of your son and helper sleeping together sure looks familiar. Occasionally I have to go wake up my son and get amused when the bed covers start moving and this big boxer head pops out from under the covers. We have three adult boxers and eight 1 week old pups now. Too bad you are so far away. I bet your family would enjoy a pup when they are ready for new homes.

Don

[tmarx]

Thanks guys. Yeah, Max was a special one as he suffered from a huge identity crisis - he just didn't realise that he was not human. We all took it very hard as he was seen as one of the children and a brother to the kids.

Don we did debate getting a new pup but the consensus was that it was too soon and that it would not be fair to the new pup as he/she would be continiously "measured" against Max. The kids wanted Max back and not a new pup. But who knows , in a month or two ...

[DanS HJ-45]

Sorry to hear about the pup. That's simply no fun--at all.

Any chance I could talk you into more pictures of that PS pump, and how it mounts to the bracket? Do you have a part number for it? I suspect it's a 44320-60080, but if you have a part number, it would help a lot. The later trucks used (and the EPC shows) that 44320-60090 superceded it, and I got a 60090. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to bolt onto my bracket--which looks identical to the bracket you've got there.

Is the PS all original to the truck, or from something else? October '82-November '84 is different from November 84-November '85. My PS stuff came from an unknown truck, as did the engine, so I'm trying to piece it all together....

That motor and frame look fantastic.

Dan

[tmarx]

Sure Dan !
Mine is a 11/83 LX so the P/S is all original AFAIK. I don't have the rolling frame with me at the moment but it should be back in about a week, so if you need more pics etc just shout. In the mean time I hope these help you ....















Your number ?

[tmarx]

Dan I just checked all my pics and the closest to a number on the pump I could find is this




It reads C at the top and 3H05711 at the bottom. TOYODIY lists the pump part# for my truck as 44320-60080 but I cannot find a listing for the pumpbracket at all . Compare the part# on your bracket to mine ?

[DanS HJ-45]

I won't know for sure until I get back up to the shop, but I do believe you may just be an angel!

I was trying to mount the PS pump too high I think. We'll see if I can't get it to fit that way...

EDIT--you've got the 44443-60040 bracket (it's visible in one of the pics), which means you should have the 44320-60080 pump. The 44320-60080 pump is no longer available. The 44320-60090 pump is still available from Toyota (it's also used on the FJ-62). In about an hour I'll be able to tell you if you can use the early (October 82-November 84) bracket with the later model pump.

Dan

[tmarx]

So what's the verdict, Dan ?

[DanS HJ-45]

Verdict is that the old bracket and the new pump are not compatible. I'm about ot post some pictures on my FJ to BJ thread in the diesel section showing why...

Dan

[71 redwood]

ya congrats on the find, I too am loving your rig I want one...I like the snorkel look, I think it makes it undestructable.....

[tmarx]

Thanx redwood. I have since galvanized the snorkle and am looking for a Safari head to go with it. That previous head was just plain ugly

[lostmarbles]

Great thread Theo.

I spent quite a few hours yesterday studying it (with all your beautiful photographs).

It reminded me of a post I made a long time ago saying that I would never hot-dip a frame. - But that opinion was based on the work of a local galvanising company over here. (I noticed the galvanising tended to stay away from any lap joints etc.) And also I had difficulty getting paint to stick to hot-dipped steel.

But after seeing your frame (much better hot-dipping) and your painting methods (including your thorough preparation) - hot dipping is obviously the way to go for the ultimate corrosion protection. (I note that Roberto has gone down this route too.)

(Incidentally - My local hot-dipping company has changed hands and now achieves higher standards too.)

You must be very proud of your results. (In all areas - not just the frame!)




Tom

[tmarx]

Thanks TOm, much appreciated ! I am happy with the amount of galv that I got on the frame. We measured the galv thickness all over the frame and the ave was 4 times more than what is considered good in the market !


Unfortunately it is beginning to look like my worst nightmare may come true. We need a window period of 3/4 clear days to blast and paint the Rust Bullet but it seems Cape Town winter arrived early. Rain predicted for the next 6 days.. Just to make matters worse my imported Rust Bullet is about 11 months old so it is supposed to be nearing the end of it's "racklife"

[tmarx]

Well the Cape winter didn't play along with our plans, as we need at least 3 or 4 days to blast and Rust Bullet the tub and all panels and according to the latest forecasts that window period will only happen from next week Wednesday.

I had a few outstanding odd jobs to do, so yesterday being workers-day, was good for me but I don't work at Auto Magic everyday. What great service again from Gordon.Not only did he open the place for us but even lent us a helping hand and bought us lunch ! Thanks Gordon, the sacrifices you make for your clients are amazing
I needed to to test the new custom tubmounts that we had made which meant I also had to drill the holes for the supports(and 3mm lift) I had made for the rear tubmounts.I was sceptical about the tubmounts but not anymore. They worked great and the tub was level. (Sorry about the crappy cellphone pics )
It was good to see the tub on the chassis and to get an idea of the lift gained, from the longer shackles...

I also needed to drill the swivel's holes on the bib that we had modified/repaired earlier which meant we had to assemble and align the front in order to mark and drill the holes. At the end JT remarked: "That was a lot of work for 5 holes" and I have to agree.















Thanks for offering up your time also JT, it is much appreciated.

[tmarx]

Time for an update: With the weather finally clearing we got our window of 4 days to blast all panels and spray the Rust Bullet. Yesterday the first load of stuff went to the blasters.It was not finished on time but that was not the worst of it. Instead of picking the tub up and turning it over the way most people would do it, these guys, in their infinite wisdom decided to roll the tub over on it's side and in the process bent one of the panels



The damage was not that bad but it was already 15H30 and we still needed to weld up the few small new pinholes, clean the remaining seam-sealer(that OEM stuff is very tough!), panelbeat the new dent and then prep and spray the 2 coats of Rust Bullet. It is fair to say that I had a total sense of humor failure ...





Enter the guys at Auto Magic again. They were fantastic ! Realising the pickle we were in with all the panels and tub being down to bare metal, they just started clicking like a unit.



I even got a shirt




While we were doing the seams Wouter set about on the beating of the tub etc.



Eventually it was just the 3 of us but at 19h20 we started spraying the 1st coat of Rust bullet






With the 2nd coat on we dragged ourselves out of there at 22h40 but very glad that we had achieved what we wanted to ...







Thanks guys, you were great !

Side notes:
The quality of the blasting with fine sand is very good- no warped panels , holes blown through etc.
My tub is actually in much better condition than what most(including myself) thought, initially.
Rust Bullet silver label is too thick and we had to dilute it with Xylene(thanks again Keith)
Rust bullet amplifies all the dents and imperfections making it easy to see the areas where work is needed.
Doing this in the Cape winter time is stressfull.

Today the the procedure was basically the same but thankfully minus any mishaps

Panels done and prepped for Rust Bullet



First coat going on ...

[DanS HJ-45]

Looks great!

How long until it gets paint?

Dan

[tmarx]

Originally Posted by DanS HJ-45

Looks great!

How long until it gets paint?

Dan

Thanks Dan !

Initially the plan was to paint as soon as possible after the filler work etc but after the mishap I want to test-fit all the panels again first, to check the alignment.(I know I am a tad anal, but what else can I do - I suspect that the area where the left fender cover and the tub meets, might also be slightly bent.We unfortunately didn't have time to check & correct that while the metal was all bare ) Seeing that the Rust Bullet application was spread over 2 days we have to wait out the 72 hrs till after the last panels were sprayed anyhow ...

[tmarx]

Now that the Rust Bullet has been sprayed it is time for the fine beating and the unavoidable filler-work. From the onset I insisted on all the panels being back on the chassis during this stage and the great bunch of guys at Auto Magic, agreed. So tonight, Hendrik and I had the entire shop to ourselves and got some work done ...





Alignment done ..





Then the rest ..









Last one



On to the next stage ..

[tmarx]

The dreaded filler work started. All of which is very slow and "old school" style, but at least it matches the old school welding

Rust bullet going on over the filler and the edges where the 10+ hrs of building up and sanding down, thinned the initial rust bullet coat a little
















Starting on the next panel ...

[millas]

Good looking job, well done so far..

[Roberto]

M

I plan on RB mine as well, dont u have to paint within so many hours? or did you just ruff it up anyway since there was filler that was needed and then u will prime and then paint? how many quarts did it take to do all ur parts so I know how many to buy for mine as well, looks great, my Body is getting ready to go out.

R

[tmarx]

Hi Rob.

We blasted everything and then gave it the 2 coats of RB. After testing some filler, we found it best to wait the advised 72 hrs for the RB to cure before starting the filler work but yes you then have to scuff it up to improve adhesion as the RB is PU based. When the filler work is done we will cover all the filler with RB, wait another 72 hrs and then give it a light sand/scuff and thereafter prime and paint. How much RB ? Initially I brought in 4x 950ml for myself but thanks to a friend I managed to obtain a further 3x 950ml and I am praying that it would be enough cos there is no more RB left in ZA anywhere ....