Builds 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together (1 Viewer)

[Rainman]

I'll imagine you have but, have you checked your corners for right angles? There's got to be a hidden reason why the doors are that lopsided.

 

[Jdc1]

Scott, is your body bolted down yet? If it’s not, it’ll throw everything off. You might have to test each body mount location to see if there are any shims needed. Your painters can help you with this.

 

[Vae Victus]

Quick update: I worked a bit on finding a proper switch panel housing for the radio hole in the dash. Documented my findings here:

Switch panel in radio hole

OTR version might fit? I have some of their switches in my Hundy. I like 'em. They also have novelty switches. OTR 6 switch panel OTR Dragon Fire switch That just might be the Carline 6 up bracket! I've not seen that anywhere able to be purchased singly! Nice find. The product ID (VM6-01)...

forum.ih8mud.com

Carline VM-6 Bracket with a Carline V-USB module test fit.

 

[Vae Victus]

Doors are uneven. Ended up enlarging the bottom body-side bolts for the doors. That took away some of my ability to move the hinges somewhat in order to line the doors up so I’ll need to “wallow” out the holes a bit all around. That’s more than 1/2” out of alignment at the top of the doors.

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Figured out the wonky doors: it was indeed due to me using 8mm bolts instead of 6mm screws when I remade the captive nuts for the lower part of the doors. I went back and remade them properly, and the doors had room to adjust a little on each side, making them line up pretty perfectly!

 

[Vae Victus]

I've done a bunch of other undocumented stuff in the past few months:

- Installed the front aprons and fenders, door hinges,
- Completed 99% of the wiring placement, just need to secure it all under the dash, install the USB module and bracket in the dash (as mentioned above)
- Finished refurbishing Hazard knob, the e-brake handle knob (that took a while - similar to the steering wheel process).
- Blasted and painted, or cerakoted, or powder coated several parts including the ash tray, instrument bezel, rear license place holder
- Rewired the license plate lights
- Recoated the roll cage pads
- blasted and coated the gas pedal to carb mechanical assembly
- discovered I have the wrong gas pedal, need one that is for the mechanical assy mentioned above, not the one that has the cable attachment
- tapped out a large bolt in the frame that I missed before it was powder coated to mount the left front fender. Helicoil required there.

Maybe I'll post some of the photos from the "done" stuff.

 

[suzuguru]

I read through scattered pages of your thread. Congratulations on all of the progress, and for staying on it through the years. It looks fantastic! Also... glad to see not only another Tennessean, but another Nashvillian on here. By the looks of the land near your home, I'm thinking we probably live 10 to 15 minutes from one another. I'm currently doing a build myself, but I'm only a few weeks into it. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing you driving that around my neck of the woods!

 

[Honger]

Man, I love the color choice. The end is in sight...

 

[tls3601]

Great thread, enjoying this build

 

[tls3601]

Someone remind me - will a slim brake booster work on the 40? I located this new slim one that I bought, but can't find the new, boxed double one that is OEM sized that I bought later. 1976.

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Good question, I have a 3/76 that might be needing one in the future as well. On my ‘78 I did a narrower one that came with a small spacer.

 

[Vae Victus]

Good question, I have a 3/76 that might be needing one in the future as well. On my ‘78 I did a narrower one that came with a small spacer.

Now I have to go back and 1) look outside at the truck and remember what I did, and 2) see if I answered my own question in the thread. LOL.

(and thank you for the support - sometimes I need the feedback from the fellow cruisers to push me a bit to "just keep going" (as much as I dislike Ellen DeGeneres, I always hear Dory the fish saying that....).

 

[Vae Victus]

Man, I love the color choice. The end is in sight...

Thanks Honger. If I'd work on it straight through, probably 2 weeks at 8 hours a day.

So, 2 years....

 

[Vae Victus]

I read through scattered pages of your thread. Congratulations on all of the progress, and for staying on it through the years. It looks fantastic! Also... glad to see not only another Tennessean, but another Nashvillian on here. By the looks of the land near your home, I'm thinking we probably live 10 to 15 minutes from one another. I'm currently doing a build myself, but I'm only a few weeks into it. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing you driving that around my neck of the woods!

Thanks @suzuguru - love to get to know you. There's a fairly large group of us here in Nashville that have connected. I'll PM you.

 

[Vae Victus]

So, quick drop by to say that I've been working on the truck and making some slow progress in the last couple months. Slow is my mantra, and I enjoy it. It's the journey, not the destination.

Here is a shot inside the glove box. I fought like hell to get the air filter piece back in there, as the painter could not save the old one and was nice enough to build me a new one that was actually pretty darn good. However, during the Vintage Air install, I realized that it had to come out so that I could screw in the AC unit in one of the holes that the filter uses to hold it in place.

I have the Dakota Digital wires and the Vintage Air wires and computers all terminating in the glove box. Common, I know. It is going to look nice once I get it all hooked up and can spend a few minutes/hours making all the wires run in a neat manner.

 

[suzuguru]

Slow and steady wins the race. Looks good, by the way. I haven't done anything to mine lately. As you know, super cold weather around Christmas here. Then, I end up getting some crud, so I've been down with that for about a week. I'll get something done before too long, hopefully.

 

[Vae Victus]

Slow and steady wins the race. Looks good, by the way. I haven't done anything to mine lately. As you know, super cold weather around Christmas here. Then, I end up getting some crud, so I've been down with that for about a week. I'll get something done before too long, hopefully.

Yep, motivation is sometimes more difficult when it is in the single digits. Or when it is nice. Or when it is raining, or windy, or dark, o..... LOL.

 

[DSB345]

Good to see your progress! Your doing some great upgrades on your rig. I look forward to seeing the finished product. The journey is rewarding. Worth a million bucks to how it makes me feel. I haven't took a running total of my expenses. I'm afraid to look . Good luck!
Best
Dave

 

[Vae Victus]

Thought I'd try to catch up on a year's worth of work (ha ha, not) by posting a few things that have happened, not necessarily in order.

Been working on a way to mount the control box for the Ez Power Steering (electric assist) system. It is a 5x5x2.5" little brick that wants to mount nowhere in the footwell. I had an extra bracket down there so I made (after many head scratching attempts) a box to hold it and mount it to that bracket. It has a blind bracket on the rear and a foot on the right. Not quite done refining this yet (want to make the zip tie easier to put on for when my little plastic handle breaks off) and then need to print it in a different kind of plastic (ASA) that will stand up to getting hot in the TN summertime without deforming.

Bracket by the clutch pedal

The box to be mounted. Note the side notches.

Front and back of the solution.

 

[Vae Victus]

And here it is in the box.

And mounted in the vehicle:

Its printed in a draft color. Will be black. Will also have rounded edges so it looks better.

 

[Vae Victus]

Around the same time, was working on how to mount some newer accessory switches in the truck. I decided for now to not put in a radio and to create a custom mounting plate for the 40 that actually is made for it. Found the Carling Technologies modular switch plate that ALMOST fits, but it is off about 3/8" on the width, and about 1/8" on the height. Just wouldn't do!

Here is my solution. Same blue prototype color (you should see the pink), but it shows the detail well.

I took advantage of the radio mounting detents in the truck on the sides and rear. The rear will hold a nut and bolt to fix it in place and the sides have a "nub" on a flap that will allow it to slide in and out (and holds it fairly tightly even without the nut and bolt).

Left and Right detent

Rear slot (seen on the extreme right of the above photo)


I guess that I could put in a radio at a later date and use the ash tray hole for a 3 switch mount. Same basic design would work but there's less to secure it in the hole than for the radio. I'd have to use some flexy tabs on the side that would grip the hole as you (ahem) slid it in. I tried that on the radio hole and they were really hard to disengage to remove (which you'd need to do probably 50 times while working on all the switches and wiring).

 

[shipmag]

Around the same time, was working on how to mount some newer accessory switches in the truck. I decided for now to not put in a radio and to create a custom mounting plate for the 40 that actually is made for it. Found the Carling Technologies modular switch plate that ALMOST fits, but it is off about 3/8" on the width, and about 1/8" on the height. Just wouldn't do!

View attachment 3598907

Here is my solution. Same blue prototype color (you should see the pink), but it shows the detail well.

View attachment 3598908

I took advantage of the radio mounting detents in the truck on the sides and rear. The rear will hold a nut and bolt to fix it in place and the sides have a "nub" on a flap that will allow it to slide in and out (and holds it fairly tightly even without the nut and bolt).

View attachment 3598910View attachment 3598911
Left and Right detent

View attachment 3598912
Rear slot (seen on the extreme right of the above photo)

Love the ingenuity your putting in!