[buckroseau]

few more of the fun

[buckroseau]

some more

[buckroseau]

2 more for tonight

[74fj40]

lookin good

[buckroseau]

Everyone is gone 3 days of LV all to myself.

Few pics of tonights action, about 4.5 hours of work, basicly 2 pieces of floor area bent up and welded in. The first few pics were similiar to the other side where the seat mount location was, basicly the same thing except for a couple small squares that had to be welded in next to it.

The last few pics are of the area where the recess for the x-member is and the jack tray was. Floor was thin and rotted out in a few spots, just decided to cut it out and make a new piece.

The challenge with this piece was that the bend in the floor terminated about an 1 1/4" shy of the recess, how the bend rounds out. I think I described it well, looks the same as the other side.

I bent up a piece like normal in the brake. My neighbor came over and had an idea. The pics are of him beating it over a 2 5/16" trailer ball in the vice. I thought he did a hell of a job, only took him about 10 min. I think I might have to get him more involved in the project.

Well, rockers tomorrow.

Matt

[buckroseau]

few more

[buckroseau]

some more

[buckroseau]

last 2 for tonight

[Mikesta]

Lotta work.. Im dreading my floors... shoot if someone just made a sheet full of those, with different choices... and mass produced it... It may bring some bank.

It would be great getting the sheet, cutting out the approx units and just welding them in... Dont really need a whole floor made, but portions, and the ribs are the toughest to repair.

Looks great... will you be filling in the curves in the ribs from the old to new metal? If so how

[buckroseau]

Originally Posted by Mikesta

Looks great... will you be filling in the curves in the ribs from the old to new metal? If so how

I'm not sure I understand the question? There is really nothing to fill? Once primed you can't even tell where the new and old starts anymore.

Also, most (if not all) of everything I've done will never be seen. The portions of floor that have been replaced all have seat brackets and U channel welded back in on top of the floor from the inside. On the bottom I plan on painting it and then using an undercoating/bedliner called SEM. It is a 2 part product that is tintable, so I can make it the color of the vehicle. I used this stuff on my 77 FJ40 resto/build up I finished last year. I have about 10k miles on that and I live on a gravel road. Holding up extremely well.

It's kinda sad, all this work I'm doing and no one will ever see it.

Matt

[treerootCO]

Plenty of people will see it

There are 4,000 hits on this thread already

[Mikesta]

I think alot of people are seeing it! ROFL. Whenever, if ever you decide to sell it, you will have great documentation to go with it as well.

[buckroseau]

Originally Posted by Mikesta

I think alot of people are seeing it! ROFL. Whenever, if ever you decide to sell it, you will have great documentation to go with it as well.

No plans on selling it, but everything is for sale for the right price I have no intentions on selling it, I think the price I would have to ask when I'm done would sticker shock people.

Matt

[buckroseau]

About 11 hours today, kinda beat so I decided to call it a night and giver in the morning.

I'll let the pics do the talking. I wish I would have taken a pic of the piece I made for the outside of the body, the part that I sheared out. I was just in the zone and forgot.

Rocker box took a while, had to hand bend one of the 90's because it was 90 degree bend over 30" that swayed out about 3/4" from one end to the other, took a while.

Anyway, lots of pics, I'll hit in the morning again. Hopefully get the one side wrapped up, other side isn't quite as bad.

Matt

[buckroseau]

more

[buckroseau]

more yet

[buckroseau]

even more

[buckroseau]

even more yet

[buckroseau]

more, and more

[buckroseau]

oh yes, more

[buckroseau]

more???

[buckroseau]

last 3 for today

[treerootCO]

Very nice. Keep up the good work.

[nuclearlemon]

Originally Posted by treerootCO

Very nice. Keep up the good work.

hhhhhmmmm....stuck at work again eh mike???

[Mikesta]

This may be a little off subject but... what Kind of Welder do you use?... what is the model of those Shears and what do you use to grind all the welds flush? I am creating a shopping list right now. Thanks!

[buckroseau]

Originally Posted by Mikesta

This may be a little off subject but... what Kind of Welder do you use?... what is the model of those Shears and what do you use to grind all the welds flush? I am creating a shopping list right now. Thanks!

Not off subject at all, that's why I/we post pics and info like this on this forum, to learn At least that's what I think there for? I've gleaned a lot of info and got a lot of help on my cruiser project(s) over the last 2 years on mud, just trying to give something back.

Welder is a Hobart handler 135. It's 110 volt, gas welder. I'm using a mix of CO2 and Argon gas. I really like it, works well. I've used Century's and Lincon welders in this class, I prefer the Hobart. I'm not sure, but Hobart might have discontinued the 135 model, the replacement is the 145. Not sure though, you'd have to check on that one. Price should be around the $500 ballpark, pretty cheap for a gas welder. Whatever welder you buy, make sure it's gas/mig welder. You might think your saving a couple hundred bucks buying a wirefeed welder that is gasless that uses fluxcore wire. That's fine for farm machinery, but if you want a decent weld, it has to be a gas welder. I also prefer the mix gas, straight CO2 doesn't seem to cut it for me.

Shear, Dewalt DW891 heavy duty shear, handles up to 14 gauge metal. Dewalt and others make lighter duty one, but I have the heavy duty, never know if you'll have to go through some heavy stuff? My bench shear/break is a 52", but it can only handle up to 20 ga. Sometimes the hand shear has to do a little heavier stuff. All my replacement parts yesterday were made in my bench shear and break. I did have to hand bend one of the bends on the rocker, because of the radius.

Yes, I grind all my welds flush. 2 tools used to do this: Any 4 1/2" angle grinder, I use a 36 grit 4 1/2" flap disc, I'll take a pic today and post it tonight, works WAY better than a grinding disc. Smoother and more control. Also an airgrinder, I use 2 - 4 1/2" resin dics stacked on top of one another. The airgrinder with the discs has more flex, so it works well in corners and uneven surface's. I'll take a pic of that also.

After I cut that metal/rocker out, I sandblasted everything in that area. The took pics, but didn't clarify that in the pics, you can see surface rust in the first few pics, then blasted, then primed. Then I started welding metal.

Heading out to the shop right now, hopefully another 11 hour productive day

Matt

[Mikesta]

Thanks for the Very informative lesson there. Hope you dont mind a few more questions. First one regarding the Welder you use. *NEWB* I know nothing of these, however I believe these require a few tanks? If so what does the cost run on these? Also, the sandblaster you have, what model is it? I just need a SAND B. (to keep forever), and I dont want to purchase one that will break in 3 years. I believe in purchasing good quality stuff that will last me a lifetime, rather than purchase stuff every 5 years.

Another question, could you take a picture of the tool that you are using to build the floor ribs? What does this tool cost... I need to rebuild a good section of my floor... any reccomendations?

I plan on practicing a ton of welding on this PIG. I dont care If I screw up on that one... then moving to the LV after I think I have it down.

[krzyabncanuck]

Awesome job on the cruiser. Keep up the good work. One day maybe I can do something like this.

[buckroseau]

About a 10.5 hour day today I know it doesn't look like much, but this is ome time consuming shit.

Started on the other rocker side. I didn't have to cut out quite as much on this side. The other side needed an entire new rocker box made and most of the outside panel. This side about the rear 16".

Cut first, then sandblasted everything, including the inside of the remaining rocker box. I stuck the nozzel in there and let'r buck for a few minutes. Shined a flashlight in there and amazingly clean. Then I stuck my paint gun in there loaded up with PPG DP50 and sprayed for a good minute or so with a lot of pressure. Primer was running off everything in there, made it all the way to the end. I was pretty pleased with that. I wish Toyota would have just did a little priming on the inside of the panels from the factory, then we wouldn't have this problem.

Bent up the pieces for the outside of the rocker panel and the inner, butt welded them in and ground them off. Pics show it all.

I made the 2 rear brackets, that hold I think what are the seatbelt mounts? I bolts threaded into the rear of the floor. One of these brackets was pretty much gone, and the other was on the way. I had to cut out the heavy iron plate on the old brackets, sandblasted them, primed and welded them into my new brackets.

I should be able to finish up all of the rockers and brackets in about 3 to 4 hours tomorrow. Then I will be moving back into the seat area on the inside, re-working seat brackets and making some new stuff. Might get that done tomorrow, although I wouldn't count on it.

My goal was to get the rocker panels and floor done this 3 day weekend, and I think I will accomplish that.

Matt

[buckroseau]

more