[DesertLake]

This weekend I used my wife's wood lathe to customize the SOR poly bushing set.

I haven't done anything about the two mounts up front yet, I won't be bolting up the front clip for quite a while.

For the rest of this post, I'll refer to the mounts by number, where 1 is the front mount just behind the bumper, 2 is at the driver's foot, three is under the back seat, 4 is behind the rear wheel, and 5 is at the back corner.

Other than bolt length, 2 and 5 are identical, and 3 and 4 are identical.



Here is mount #2:

Note how the roughly cone shaped metal insert protrudes through the bottom of the mount. The original mounts had a hat shaped washer that covers this up, and I re-use it here. For these mounts, the new top bushing fits perfectly. I used the lathe to carve out space for the hat shaped washer to fit snugly in the lower bushing, as seen here:






Here is mount #4:



For this mount, I found I needed an extra washer between the bushings to match the length of the sleeve. I use the original 2.87" washers on top of the frame mount. I trimmed off the lip on the upper mount so it would fit flush against the washer, and narrowed the lip on the lower mount so it would fit in the hole in the frame, as seen here:


Unfortunately I bought the wrong length bolts, so I haven't snugged them down yet. I assume that the the bolt should be tightened until the large washers supplied with the SOR kit contact the sleeve. Anybody know what the torque should be?

[1973Guppie]

nice writeup and clean work! I just hit mine with my bench grinder, sloppy but they all ended up bolting in just fine.

For me, I just bolted these down by hand as tight as I could get them. That center sleeve is there so you don't overtighten things, and it is evident by the feel of the ratchet when you get them tight. I figured no torque to be necessary as I didn't want to put too much stress on those center sleeves, the lock washers should keep them tight.

Noah

[DesertLake]

Not quite right yet...#3 and #4 need more space between the bushings, and #3 needs a spacer above the bushing. Try again tomorrow...

[k9crazy]

Originally Posted by DesertLake

This weekend I used my wife's wood lathe to customize the SOR poly bushing set.

Your wife has a lathe? Awesome, I'm jealous! I need a wife...uh, oh, wait....

Your work is really well done, very clean, very nice. The little details are so important in the long run. Very cool!

[DesertLake]

Thanks!

She makes pens, and maybe pepper grinders soon. The part I want to call the spindle is a perfect fit in the bushing. Instead of using her good chisel set, I ground a couple from the $10 harbor freight set into the shape I wanted. It's a fun tool, I see why she enjoys it. Plus when you turn rubber you get rubber bands!

[Clutchee]

Great pictures of the body mount install...... helps a ton.

I sent you a PM about specifics.

[DesertLake]

I think I've got the mount spacing figured out, but it will be a while before I can take it apart again and install the correct length bolts and get pictures.

In the mean time, I've started chopping the rear quarter, partially inspired by Chicago's 60: http://forum.ih8mud.com/nv-battle-bo...-1-4-chop.html

I didn't get pictures of my initial cut to the outer fender, basically I cut right at the bottom near the apex of the curve, and two vertical cuts up to where I want the chop to end.

I want the chop parallel to the frame, and fortunately the frame is sitting level right now. This means I can use a laser level on a tripod to line up my cut. You can't really see it, but the laser line is along the top of the tape.



Hopefully I can fold the outer panel under, I'll have a lot of cleanup grinding to do before I can test that idea...

[DesertLake]

Got my 62 axles unloaded today, thanks Georg and thanks Jeremiah!

My kids did the heavy lifting...

[orangefj45]

righton, keep up the good work and posting pics!!!!!

georg

[DesertLake]

Back to the body mounts...

#3 and #4 needed spacers between the body and mount. Experimenting a bit, I found #3 needed 3 of the old body washers, roughly .4 inch. Mount 4 needed 1 washer, .13 inch.

Here's mounts 2 and 3:



And here's mounts 4 and 5:



Now I have to see if I have enough of the old washers left for the other side. Also, I'm not entirely happy with the bolt lengths yet, this can be fine tuned later. In any case, I may wind up needing a body lift, at least now all the spacers will be the same height.

[DesertLake]

I took a wire wheel to the rusted out areas at the driver's feet. It looks like most of the rust was from the top, due to the heel holes worn through the floor mat and insulation collecting water. From underneath, the metal looks pretty good...except for in the body mount area. I'm thinking I might cut the spot welds, remove the box from the floor pan, and decide what metal to replace from there. Any advice?

Pics:
Driver's side floor, from the top. Note the rust-through on one of the bead rolls, and also next to the body mount bolt.


From the bottom - not much rust!


View through the rust-out next to the body mount bolt. I have to get rid of that rust somehow, maybe remove the section and rebuild depending on how much metal is left?

[locrwln1]

Sorry, I don't have anything to with regards to the rust. but awesome work so far.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Jack

[DesertLake]

Box removed, the rust was about as bad as I figured. I accidentally popped a screwdriver through the floor a few times trying to pry the box down to find spot welds I missed. The vertical piece that turns into the kick panel is in worse shape than I expected.

I'll definitely want to redesign the box to be a lot more open and allow mud to fall out.

The Harbor Freight spot weld cutter is decent, I bought 3. It does not fit a typical 1/4" hex drive, it is 7mm. One of them I ground down to fit a 1/4" extension, but it wound up a bit wobbly. Better to use one of the 7mm nut driver bits. Also ignore the instruction that says center punch the welds, the tip on the cutter isn't hardened and once it dulls it just pops out of the punch mark. Pre-drill with a 1/8" bit instead.

[1973Guppie]

that one is not bad, mine was worse, you can see how I used it in my build thread, I just basially rebuilt it by cutting out the metal and overlapping the old good metal in places. I am happy with the result, not that pretty but strong. Hope that help some.....

[DesertLake]

Originally Posted by 1973Guppie

that one is not bad, mine was worse, you can see how I used it in my build thread, I just basially rebuilt it by cutting out the metal and overlapping the old good metal in places. I am happy with the result, not that pretty but strong. Hope that help some.....

http://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pi...ml#post3935480
That is effing beautiful! I bought a welder to learn on, but at this point I pretty much destroy sheet metal. I have welded up a few quick tools, but with the hours I can put in on the project - 6/week maybe - I figure I'll have a body shop friend take care of the stuff that needs to be pretty or watertight. The box doesn't need to be pretty though...I'm thinking heavier gauge metal and without most of the bottom of the box, hopefully to let the crud fall out.

[1973Guppie]

thanks, appreciate that, but "beautiful" is not the word that comes to my mind, more like "adequate"

[DesertLake]

Alright, here's a first draft...

The body side of the #4 mounts look to be U shaped roughly 3/16" steel, attached to one of the body ribs. I think I can set this up so the #2 body mount bolt passes through a similar U instead of through the floor.

Pretend the perma-stor cardboard is 3/16" steel.






There is not room to rotate the bolt in from above, so instead the head of the bolt will be on bottom...



I'll have to build a more precise model and lower the body down to know if I can fit a wrench through to the body mount nut, but so far I think it will clear. I may add additional pieces to tie it together, but I doubt if that is necessary.

Hmmm...edge and tee welds where the 3/16" meets the sheet metal, or add bends and plug weld?

Comments? Complaints?

[OinkOinker]

my suggestion would be bends and plug. what welder do you have? unless its a TIG it will be a nightmare to weld the edges, esp the vertical up where it meets the backside of the sills.....
thats just my 2c's tho, otherwise it looks good! should let all that krud just wash out of there, why didnt toyota do this 30 odd years ago ??

will you put the support "X" brace in around where the bolt goes thru like toyota has done in pic#2??

[DesertLake]

Originally Posted by OinkOinker

will you put the support "X" brace in around where the bolt goes thru like toyota has done in pic#2??

No, but the bottom will be thicker stuff than the original. If I can make this work the way I think it is going to work, the nut will sit where the X is now, and the bolt will pass up through the mount and the bottom of the new box. It will not penetrate the floor. I've got to replace that section of the floor anyways, if the bolt doesn't go through there I won't need to reinforce a new hole.

[DesertLake]

Originally Posted by OinkOinker

my suggestion would be bends and plug. what welder do you have? unless its a TIG it will be a nightmare to weld the edges, esp the vertical up where it meets the backside of the sills.....
thats just my 2c's tho, otherwise it looks good! should let all that krud just wash out of there, why didnt toyota do this 30 odd years ago ??

120V MIG, and yeah I think I see it your way. For the plug welds that face straight down, I guess I flow the puddle down from the thin floor to the thick brace? I think I'll have one of the more experienced guys (are you reading this Chicago?) show me the technique. I started grinding off the old plugs tonight, looks like I went to deep with the cutter in a few places. I guess I fill those with the MIG and grind down again?

As for why Toyota boxed it, I imagine it was a lot cheaper to stamp thick sheet into shape and weld it on, rather than assemble thin plate. Proper seam sealer would have kept all the dirt out, but it wouldn't have kept out the water from the top since my mom used to hose the floor out once in a while...

[OinkOinker]

i think you always start your weld on the thicker material....

[DesertLake]

That's what I thought too, but I can't figure out how to make the puddle go up?

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by DesertLake

Proper seam sealer would have kept all the dirt out, but it wouldn't have kept out the water from the top since my mom used to hose the floor out once in a while...

You are re-doing your Mom's old Pig? Very cool!!!

[1973Guppie]

Originally Posted by DesertLake

No, but the bottom will be thicker stuff than the original. If I can make this work the way I think it is going to work, the nut will sit where the X is now, and the bolt will pass up through the mount and the bottom of the new box. It will not penetrate the floor. I've got to replace that section of the floor anyways, if the bolt doesn't go through there I won't need to reinforce a new hole.

IMO, I would put some type of bracing directly beneath where the body bolts go through. I simply used some sheet metal and made a few braces and welded them in on the inside. It will help make sure that area does not collapse at all.

Noah

[DesertLake]

Yeah, it has been in th family since I was 3 or 4 years old. It was always the vacation car, and sometimes the grocery getter. My mom may have put more miles on it than my dad. To be fair, she probably only hosed it out 3 or 4 times. It blew heater hoses in the interior at least as often.

[OinkOinker]

Originally Posted by DesertLake

That's what I thought too, but I can't figure out how to make the puddle go up?

im having a bit of trouble here working out which welds your talking about is it the ones in the yellow box on the left (ill call those 'vertical') or the ones in the red box across the top (ill call those the 'overhead')??

[DesertLake]

Overhead - red box. Thanks, sometimes I forget my english. Too bad I don't know any other languages...

Last night one of the guys in the local club pointed out that I could drill a hole in the floor large enough for the bolt head, and just drop the bolt from the top, use a rubber plug to seal the hole. That eliminates the wrench clearance issue.

[OinkOinker]

then, id drill out the old spot welds with a 6-8mm (1/4"-5/16" i think??) then leave the new bodymount fold solid and just weld from inside the cab, start your weld on the new body mount, build the bead up till the weld has filled the hole.... This is just my back-yard 'booty fab' solution..... not super clean but it WILL get it done :P

why dont you weld a nut on top of that plate?? and then you can do away with the nuts and wrenches on the top of the mount?? screw it upwards thru the chassis-bush-bodymount-welded nut on top of new plate????

my ingrish isnt to good when i read it back eeeva. i have to re read my posts over and over and ask if i have got everything that is happening inside my head in the post so the readers understand what im on about. i do my of my 'Mudding' at work on night shift so im not always thinking clearly. ie its 1:30 am at the moment......

[DesertLake]

re plug welds on top -- holy hell you are the second person in as many days to point out what should have been obvious. Thanks!

I'm avoiding welding the nut on becuse I still need a little wiggle room for alignment. One of the guys pointed out last night that with the bolt inverted (my original plan) there is a risk of losing all of the expensive parts in the mount if it backs off, but with the nut on bottom if I lose the nut i keep the expensive bits.

[OinkOinker]

well ill give myself a pat on the back.. haha. thats why we have this interweb thingo i guess. another point of view is always handy.

nut to the bottom is in the industry the 'proper' way for that reason.... but meh, put a nylock nut ontop (couldnt weld it then) it 'shouldnt' come off