Builds 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together (9 Viewers)

[SuperBuickGuy]

it depends on how you welded it, if you mig-stitched, hot is the only way you'll get it to move. If you tig welded it, you can do it hot or cold. The biggest thing to remember is, when you're whacking it, that how much metal moves depends on its alloy. Mig wire cools to a pretty hard material and can only be moved with a BFH and questions about its heritage, whereas if you tig with silicon bronze, that will move with a stern look and a brush with a feather.

 

[Vae Victus]

it depends on how you welded it, if you mig-stitched, hot is the only way you'll get it to move. If you tig welded it, you can do it hot or cold. The biggest thing to remember is, when you're whacking it, that how much metal moves depends on its alloy. Mig wire cools to a pretty hard material and can only be moved with a BFH and questions about its heritage, whereas if you tig with silicon bronze, that will move with a stern look and a brush with a feather.

LOL - "... a stern look and a brush with a feather."

 

[Weber Sarge]

Wire speed is key - as well as a very solid grounding clamp . Look closely at the welder's ground and make sure it has copper or bronze tips and the ground wire is solidly bolted directly to at least one of them . The main flow of current passes through the ground , so it's important .
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

Sigh - patch #4 on this fender. No time to work on it plus a mess of thin spots = a lot of work. I shoulda replaced a large area to begin with.

I did get the shrinking disc set and have been using with success to shrink the metal where in stretching it with the hammer and dolly to try and match new and old metal.

 

[Vae Victus]

Fender coming along.

Do I need to fill in backside gaps?

 

[Vae Victus]

Put the welding table together. Finally a good work surface. Thing is called a FabBlock from TabAndSlot.com. About $500 for the whole 24x36 table kit. Took about 5 hours to finish and that only because the bottom plates didn't fit right. David was nice enough to send me a FREE second table for all the trouble (long story). Anyway, I have a second one on the way.

 

[Vae Victus]

... And picked up 5 more pieces of the blasted parts today. I'm so lucky that my doors and other parts are so solid!

Only two parts left to blast (at the blaster now), and then finish repairs on - the fender in progress and the tranny hump (why does no one make a new metal hump? They are all rotten and I don't want fiberglass).

Look at the bottom of that door! Clean as a whistle!

Talked to Johnny today - paint man. He has 2 cars ahead of me. Due out "this spring". Well good, it'll take me that long to get time for the panel repairs I need to do on the tub.

 

[Vae Victus]

And finally - ready to rebuild the rear diff now that I have the tools to do so.

Mayhem Metal Works kit.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

neat table!

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi VV
If we combined your toys with my toys we could just about build a Forty Series from scratch.
Nice welding table.
Cheers


...via IH8MUD app

 

[micdon]

Wire speed is key - as well as a very solid grounding clamp . Look closely at the welder's ground and make sure it has copper or bronze tips and the ground wire is solidly bolted directly to at least one of them . The main flow of current passes through the ground , so it's important .
Sarge

What i learned in the mean time is sticking a bit of left over metal (bigger is better) between the piece you're working on and your groundclamp works for me as well.

Oh, VV it could just be me, but if you think welding is hard, try painting with a paintgun....

btw hi guys need to update my own thread again as well

 

[Weber Sarge]

One of the best grounds I've used is just a 24" piece of heavy battery cable , stripped of insulation and twisted together with an eye bolt in a drill . You can wrap it around any shape of part and just clamp to it . When it gets dirty , just acid clean it .
Nice table , haven't seen a kit engineered like that - great design for the prices . I use the snot out of the 1,000lb table I built , but I never did the 5/8" x 2 pattern holes , just an x-top on mine .

Sarge

 

[tnkayaker]

Put the welding table together. Finally a good work surface. Thing is called a FabBlock from TabAndSlot.com. About $500 for the whole 24x36 table kit. Took about 5 hours to finish and that only because the bottom plates didn't fit right. David was nice enough to send me a FREE second table for all the trouble (long story). Anyway, I have a second one on the way.

I've been kicking around the thought of getting one of the tabandslot table kits. What are your thoughts on the material thickness of the top and the usefulness of the holes? Personally, I don't have a problem with the material thickness for my needs. I'm trying to justify the cost of their kits vs DIY.

 

[Vae Victus]

I've been kicking around the thought of getting one of the tabandslot table kits. What are your thoughts on the material thickness of the top and the usefulness of the holes? Personally, I don't have a problem with the material thickness for my needs. I'm trying to justify the cost of their kits vs DIY.

I think I'd pay as much for DIY cause I'd get a BHPoS (big honkin piece o steel) for the top. I'd then have to buy and cut the tubes and get good casters. This was much quicker and prob sturdier than what i would fab. Time savings are huge, and it is rock solid.

I don't have any 5/8" clamps yet, but I'm going to need them as the 6" side walls almost make it a necessity.

I just got the second table and dang if it isn't warped along the 3' axis of the 2'x3' top. It'll weld up fine but its going to take more care when i weld this one up. Looks like it got dropped in shipping. I was planning on making this one really straight, whereas i didnt worry as much with the first one given that the bottom corner panels had to have the tabs ground off to fit properly.

 

[Vae Victus]

One of the best grounds I've used is just a 24" piece of heavy battery cable , stripped of insulation and twisted together with an eye bolt in a drill . You can wrap it around any shape of part and just clamp to it . When it gets dirty , just acid clean it .
Nice table , haven't seen a kit engineered like that - great design for the prices . I use the snot out of the 1,000lb table I built , but I never did the 5/8" x 2 pattern holes , just an x-top on mine .

Sarge

I need to try this type ground. I did buy one of those magnetic clamps with the on/off twist knob but I've not yet hooked it up.

Table is engineered really well and the customer service has been great. I sent a text at 8pm EST and the owner replied to me in 5 minutes! I wasn't expecting a response that night at all. Then he sent me a new table because there was a mixup in the correct corner panels getting to me 2x. He said "Keep the old one, I'm ending you a brand new one." He also sent a new product to me for free when trying to fix the corner panel issue the first time - really unexpected!

The laser cut tab and slots are very precise, and the notches in the tubes make it just snap together. Dab a bit of weld metal in the slots and attach the casters and you are done.

 

[Weber Sarge]

My only issue with their kit is how the thick the top material is - I'd want a bit more beef for the 5/8" socket hole clamps . Plan to try and make some female socket ends to use with off the shelf sliding bar clamps when I've got time ....
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

My only issue with their kit is how the thick the top material is - I'd want a bit more beef for the 5/8" socket hole clamps . Plan to try and make some female socket ends to use with off the shelf sliding bar clamps when I've got time ....
Sarge

You concerned the holes would deform? 1/4" thick with ribs every foot.

Question from above - do i need to close the gaps in the back of the material where the welds didnt penetrate all the way? See photos up several postings.

 

[djcfj40]

Not that I'm an expert, but I think I would fill those gaps. I'd be afraid the weld material would be too thin and possibly crack down the road.
Spending more time now is much better than having to redo it after paint.

 

[micdon]

You concerned the holes would deform? 1/4" thick with ribs every foot.

Question from above - do i need to close the gaps in the back of the material where the welds didnt penetrate all the way? See photos up several postings.

if you're talking about the pics in post #1425, then i would say you're good it the pictures are showing the rear of weld. As long as you're not seeing cracks after grinding when look at it from the top. I've seen repairpanels only tacked in then bondo'd. Not the way to go off course, but before mediablasting there was no way to tell.

When are you planning on using that shrinking wheel? I would love to see some pics as to how it works. Thanks

 

[Vae Victus]

Well.... I've been avoiding the hard metal work. Dreading it really. I got the sandblasted parts back from the blaster. Remainder looks great. They blasted the fender I was trying to finish up, and it looks great after taking out all the welding discoloration. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, and really only needs a little more cleanup and straightening to fix the "main" rust issue.

There is a small area on the side of the fender that is rusted through that I wanted to see what it did during blasting. Fortunately it came back pretty much the same size - blasting didn't eat it up, so I've got a lot of good metal around it. It'll be an easy patch. I'll post a photo later - can't find it now.


The big thing I've been dreading is of course the metal work on the BIG panels, but I've also been dreading the paint process. Stroking the check. Paying the piper. Yes, doling out the greenbacks. I found a possible recently after meeting a new local FJ40 buddy recently. He is Doug aka @oldschool4wheeling on mud, and he has a connection here in town with the local auto diesel college. Friday, we are going to visit their paint and body instructor, who is always looking for classic vehicles upon which to train his students. When Doug mentioned his 40 to the instructor, he said you could see the drool forming in the corner of his mouth.

Long story short, it sounds like Doug will get his truck body work done and painted for the cost of the materials and the trust that it will be done fairly well, and in less time than 99.9% of all paint jobs. If that goes well, then I might be able to go that same route.

Wait - before all you purists yell and scream - how many of us really need a $10,000 (or more) paint job on a 40 year old truck? Unless I am making an investment in this truck to sell it at Mecum's and need the pedigree of a professional restoration paint job, even one at 95% of a pro will look good even at the 2' mark (remember, Maaco paint jobs are 20 foot paint jobs, and Rattle Can paint jobs are 30 footers). I'm not trying to be cheap, but I was having a lot of heart burn over paying that much money for this work, and being assured it would be at least a year before I got it back (and we all know, when it's said and done, that's about how long it ends up being most of the time).

We will see. Perhaps I will get lucky and keep this investment below the $30,000 mark. If not, then I'll bite the bullet and let Hot Rod Johnny do his thing on my paint, but I won't be happy about it for a long time.


Next task - rebuild that #$@#$ diff I've been putting off.

Need motivation.... Someone remind me how much fun it is to actually finish this job and drive it.