[Xray]

Nice work

[Henry James the 47th]

Made good progress today - pretty much a full 8 hours on the truck.
I rented a tank of mig mix yesterday, and borrowed a welder from a friend, so I spent some time setting up to work on the cab floor welding. At last!!! There's a lot of welding ahead, so it's good to make a start.

I've got to get an auto-darkening helmet in the next few days, and then the skip-welding can begin in earnest.

Started off today completing work on the pto lever mounting bracket. I did the work at the bench of a local shop, E4 Auto Repai (owned by another cruiser nut and forum participant). They had a 4-speed kicking around, so I was able to use it as a jig for re-configuring the bracket. I took a piece of square-section pipe, cut it cross-wise to a thin slice, and then cut that sliced piece vertically to leave an 'L' section. In the first picture I have the "L' section around backwards from the position into which it was finally fixed. I tacked it in place and then welded a thick washer spacer to the other upper mounting hole.

[Henry James the 47th]

Today's rookie welding mistake: I was having all sorts of problem with spattering and sputtering, and made several adjustments to wire feed speed and temperature, to no avail. I was starting to think I had lost the knack of the whole thing, and then discovered that the gas wasn't turned on. Cracked the valve on the tank and then returned to weld, and that nice sizzling sound returned and everything was again right with the universe.

I ground, filed and sanded the welds down, and then after it was looking satisfactory, i turned my attention to the front wheel hubs, went to the press the new wheel studs into place.

[Henry James the 47th]

The studs took most of the 20-ton press to push in - I'm glad I didn't try to do it with a sledge.

Then I went back to the chassis, and put the old shackles back in place. I hope it's temporary, though it has already been a two month wait on the seamail from Oz carrying the new shackles. I figured I needed to get the truck moving along, and getting the axles on the springs allows me to proceed with hub and brake reassembly.

[Henry James the 47th]

Some more shots of the front and rear axles in place. I haven't tightened up the u-bolts yet, and am waiting on a 9" square-shouldered U-Bolt from SOR - the current one being a bit too short.

I then fitted the new front breather valve into place. I'm thinking I'll want to change this to an extended one with a breather tube, but that can wait for now. It looks like the new springs, and the 2.5" lift they provide, will force me to lengthen the sway bar links. I kept the old ones, and now have used the zip disc to cut them down in preparation for welding to the new links.

[Henry James the 47th]

I then went to work on the front hubs and birfields. First I used a large socket on a 3/4" inch extension to drive in a couple of those new type of heavy duty front shaft seals that Marlin Crawler started offering recently. Then I drove the kingpin bearing races into place, using a hammer and an old race as a drift.

I think I need to clean the camera lens

[Henry James the 47th]

I got both front knuckles into place, at this point just to see how the overall tightness was. Both turned freely, though I haven't measured the tension with a pull scale yet. At this point I want to re-read the manual to make sure I'm doing it in the right order, and I'm waiting on some backing plates and dust-shield replacement shims (I'm leaving the dust shields off), which should arrive on Monday.

Yesterday I also learned of some tightening of the B.C. inspection standards for imported vehicles. I now will need to have all glass, lenses, bulbs and reflectors meet SAE/DOT or other particular standards. That means the inexpensive 70 sereis indicator lights that I got from Australia last month aren't going to fly. Fortunately, I can still fit these style of lamps as there were 70 sereis imported into Canada in limited quantities.

I located some Canadian-spec. 70 series front signal lamps at G&S Cruisers this morning, in reportedly good condition, along with another 3-section HJ61 pto drive shaft, which I would like to modify for a rear pto planned for the future.

[Henry James the 47th]

Originally Posted by Xray

Nice work

Thanks for the compliment X-Ray. I'm trying to minimize the expensive screw ups as much as possible, especially after the $400 incident with the differentials.

[Henry James the 47th]

Finished the day by treating the pto shift lever bracket to some acid etching rust converter, which I brushed on twice. Then I painted the bracket with etching primer. It was originally CAD plated, and I tried to keep as much of the plating on, though really the optimal thing to do would have been to send it out for re-plating. Since I'm likely to put a different type of pto drive on in the future, on with a different type of actuation and bracket set up, I'm not fussing too much about it - or am I? You be the judge...

[Henry James the 47th]

Got a fairly long day in today, mostly welding work.

I remembered this morning that I needed to install the rear bump stops on top of the axle, so that was the first thing I dealt with. I put Gorilla tape on the underside of the mount in an attempt to ward off the rust that results from metal to metal contact and the moisture that tends to get trapped in there.

[Henry James the 47th]

Then I went to work at welding in the major floor pan patch panels. That took me hours, and results were definitely mixed. The driver's side floor patch is mostly welded in now, and the passenger side is tacked into place.

[Henry James the 47th]

more welding

[Henry James the 47th]

The welding does not go so quickly at this point, with such large panels all butt-welded together, and a few problems with burn-through. To end the day on a more positive-seeming note, I bolted the freshly painted pto lever bracket into place on the transmission, and then realized again that I will have to cut and weld some more to shorten the actuator shaft to link the lever to the drive box. Sometimes I wish everything could just bolt together

This coming week i hope to finish the install of the front knuckles and disc brakes, figure out the rear disc brake brackets, move the welding further along, and, whew! Maybe some time off would be nice too!

[DanS HJ-45]

Looks good! The nice shiny axles and knuckles look especially awesome.

Are you MiG welding in those panels? From what I can see, it looks like it's working out just fine. Whenever I think my welding/patching isn't all that good, I hit it with a quick coat of primer. It'll show you real fast if it's going to be an issue or not.

sometimes I wish everything could just bolt together

Bah! You're no fun at all! Where's the satisfaction there? Your work looks great. That bracket would fool me.

Did you get that auto-darkening helmet yet? It makes welding a whole new world.

Dan

[Henry James the 47th]

ohh yeah, I got lustin' going on for the auto-darkening helmet. I welded half a day this weekend with no helmet, just closing my eyes and popping a spot of weld here and there. The trouble was, the "here and there" could be up to 1/2" from where I wanted it to be. I managed to borrow a helmet for the rest of the time, but it was one of the major points of frustration for me as it wasn't a very good helmet and the field of view was miniscule. I will be checking out an auto-darkening helmet in the next day or two - I think it will be a whole lot less aggravating, and, yup, another $150+ chunk out of my very in-the-red bank account.

I whole fabrication side is definitely fun for me, except when I'm pissed at my poor welding quality. I think I felt discouraged on Sunday when I realized how much more fabbing there was to do, and really just wanted everything to go together more quickly. When I bought this truck I had planned to get it on the road shortly after it arrived, but such has not turned out to be the case. And now it has morphed into a full one rebuild/restoration/whatever you call it, and cost way more than I had ever dreamed, and sometimes I just stand there staring at it all and wonder, "am i completely insane?" "maybe I should have bought a Tacoma..." etc.

I may be a little discouraged, but I will definitely keep banging away at it until it is done or I'm in the poor house, whichever comes first. I'm keeping my eyes on th prize and really look forward to that first drive, and then when I get it through inspection.

Hey Dan, just wanted to thank you for you support here, and also my compliments on your build thread in the mini-truck section, where you put the diesel into your truck. Nice work and very informative!

[DanS HJ-45]

I whole fabrication side is definitely fun for me, except when I'm pissed at my poor welding quality.

An auto-darkening helmet will fix that in a jiffy. I weld like I'm drunk without one, at least with one I can make some nice boogers. If you were in the neighborhood, I'd let you use mine. It's one of the best tools we've invested in.

Hey Dan, just wanted to thank you for you support here, and also my compliments on your build thread in the mini-truck section, where you put the diesel into your truck. Nice work and very informative!

Hey, I'm just counting the days until I get to make as big of a mess with mine as you have with yours! I've learned a ton just seeing how yours came apart (especially the braking system--you know I'm still trying to sift through that).

Thanks. The way my conversion worked out simply amazed me. I'm a serious convert to the beauty of Toyota Diesels (hence the HJ!).

I know wha tyou mean about the cost overruns and the extent of the project. I don't think I've undertaken a single project that didn't work out that way. But I can also say that I've been absolutely thrilled with every one of them when it was all said and done. I spent twice as much (easily) as I planned to swap the diesel in, but I sure smile each and every time I start the engine and listen to it clatter... I have no doubt that your HJ will be the same. For me, once the frame is coated and things start to get bolted back onto it is when things get REALLY exciting...

Dan

[Henry James the 47th]

Today was a good day as a three packages arrived. One contained the shackles I have been waiting on. Seamail from Oz took close to two months this time. Another package was from SOR with some assorted minor bits and pieces. The third was from trail gear, via North Shore Off Road (Vancouver), which contained extra thick backing plates for the knuckle felts, along with disc brake dust shield replacement shims.

Put in a couple of hours on the truck after work, fitting the shackles into place, along with a couple of minor tasks. First, a couple of photos showing one of the installed shackles (they're really nicely made!). The third show the new stuff from trail gear. I'm planning to continue work on the knuckle and disc brake install tomorrow.

[Henry James the 47th]

Here's another shot showing the felt backing plates - these are about 3x thicker than the stock ones.

The second picture shows the install of the fixing pin (came from SOR) to the pto winch shift handle. I greased it before driving it in.

The last is of the door switch bosses which I am fitting to the door frame. I got these from a fellow 'Mud member.

[Henry James the 47th]

Originally Posted by DanS HJ-45

An auto-darkening helmet will fix that in a jiffy. I weld like I'm drunk without one, at least with one I can make some nice boogers. If you were in the neighborhood, I'd let you use mine. It's one of the best tools we've invested in.

I was checking out a nice unit today at an industrial supply store, problem was the price of $395 I'm looking at another one for about $175.

Hey, I'm just counting the days until I get to make as big of a mess with mine as you have with yours! I've learned a ton just seeing how yours came apart (especially the braking system--you know I'm still trying to sift through that).

Are you thinking of going to 4-wheel discs as well?

[DanS HJ-45]

Originally Posted by Henry James the 47th

I was checking out a nice unit today at an industrial supply store, problem was the price of $395 I'm looking at another one for about $175.


Are you thinking of going to 4-wheel discs as well?

I think I bought a "Hunstman" helmet? It was in the $175 range. It doesn't have fancy graphics or anything. It works OK. In the future I might pony up for a "nicer" one, but maybe not...

I don't think I'm going to do 4 wheel discs, but I'm definitely keeping the discs on the front. But my truck was definitely modified to that configuration--and not particularly well either. The vacuum is coming straight from the intake manifold, and goes straight to the vacuum booster on the MC. I'm thinking that I need to round up an alternator with vacuum pump, and run it to a reservoir (hopefully I can find an OEM one) and then to the vacuum booster. We shall see what we can find...

I know we've discussed those shackles before, but they look great! The protected zerks make a LOT of sense. I think I might have to go get me a set...

Dan

[Henry James the 47th]

The other nice feature of the Spring Art shackles is that the pins are not pressed into place: instead they thread in to the side plate on the zerk side. The part covering the zerk fitting is not a drilled bolt head, but a removable threaded-on unit. It makes repairing a pin, or the shroud, should it ever be necessary, quite easy. I made sure to use lot's of anti-seize and grease when I bolted them together. Hopefully, with regular re-greasing, they should last a good long time.

I hadn't planned on the 4-wheel discs either, however when a full rear drum rebuild was apparent on the horizon, I realized I could put discs on for the same money, and would have cheaper maintenance costs from there on out. Also, since this is to be a work truck, occasionally heavily loaded, it is comforting to know that my brakes will be more than adequate to the task, no matter what's going down. Rear brakes don't need to be powerful in most driving situations, however, considering the scenario of backing down a steel hill with a ton in the back, I think the discs will shine.

[fjwagon]

Realing nice work to say the least. Keep the pics coming.

[Henry James the 47th]

Made a LOT of progress today...pics to follow tomorrow. Worked a good 4 hours no the truck after work today.

Finally got the welding sorted out with the addition of an auto-darkening lens type of welding helmet today. What a huge difference it made! I couldn't believe it - it was like night and day - literally!

Now that I could finally see what I was doing, I welded in the entire passenger side floor patch, including the corrugated-section caps. I'm nearly ready to put the cab-chassis mounts back on.

With he welding finally happening, I'm now getting the results I was hoping for, well what to say.. it was a huge confidence booster for me today. i can do this!!

I'll take a bunch of pictures tomorrow. I'm in the middle of removing the RHD side parking brake mounting plate and having some hassles with the spot weld cutter(s). I keep chewing them up and they're spendy little items.

[Henry James the 47th]

Unexpectedly had more time available to work on Henry today.

first I thought I'd move the steering column situation a little further along. I came across a mini truck column, and noticed how mounting bar was in the style of the 60-series unit, albeit smaller and with a narrowing mounting bolt spacing, which suited the 47's dash mount bolt hole spacing. So i set to work modifying my 60 column support bracket and grafting on the mini truck piece. The thing I wanted to accomplish was to move the mounting down so as to put the wheel position~dash relationship into the same ballpark as the 47. In the third pic you can see the position into which I was looking to put the mini-truck bracket.

[Henry James the 47th]

more modifications followed

[Henry James the 47th]

To mount the bracket lower down, i had to cut the bracket support bars off the donor mini-truck column and shortened the existing 60 column bars a little

[Henry James the 47th]

more work on those bars

[Henry James the 47th]

The column pretty much mocked up to where i wanted it; a show the the chassis from the rear, and a picture of my LHD firewall and attendant electrical nightmare.

[Henry James the 47th]

A couple of shots of yesterday's welding progress, and the third pic show the newly modified 60 column clamped into approximate position. Now I have to decide whether or not to commit to the 60 column, as it will mean cutting up the lower edge of the dash a bit to fit it in more cleanly. I'm not entirely sure I have moved the mounting bracket far enough down yet, as the column seems a little further in than I was shooting for.

[Henry James the 47th]

A picture of some CCOT repair panel that are awaiting the fitting process: inner and outer sills, as well as a door repair set.

Then a couple of shots showing some patching work being completed on the driver's side floor pan.