Look what I found.... 1961 FJ40 FST (5 Viewers)

[west aussie]

ahh well still pondering this....

back to rear suspension in meantime. got my favourite jack out and 'adjusted' the hoist so can get at the rear hangers. a bit of 75 tray shuffle going on in the background.



had to cut the old hangers apart then took to with hammer but it is all coming back together nice enough. this was all very seriously warped. the fading light beat us in the end but is all set ready to weld up we think. the tricky bit is finding something solid to weld to! some before pics. the solid pipe that is supporting this is a good idea of 'square' compared to the hanger point.

 

[west aussie]

and pair after pics ready for weld



this chassis is pretty stuffed. finally a pic from the front; damage i am not touching. just so you all now i am not getting all stickwelder happy on a chassis that deserves better. but we will stop the rear from tearing out for now and keep old 'rusty' from breaking in half.

"PROJECT RUSTY' it is!

 

[JohnnyC]

I like the road sign patch on the bib marker light... That rusty metal under the bib on the frame looks like shale

She has surly seen better days

 

[west aussie]

she has seen better days for sure...... but shes got some good days ahead of her yet!

honorary mudder 'bumstein' (also known as 'chantells jon' or 'the human torch') is visiting for a day or 2. he was here for very first startup night so is committed to project rusty now. putting much of the day in on rusty and making some progress!

 

[west aussie]

good day punters. it was all about attaching the rear suspension first. had to use a bit of non oem steel. wasnt much solid to weld to. anyway all good and came up nice and square.



we celabrated by declaring FINANCIAL COMMITMENT!



yep some 'el cheapo' aftermarket spring hangers and pins. got these from my local coastal 4wd store who dont do old. good price on the last pair of a runout line they are not going to restock

 

[hdjtachtig]

Man what a rust. You're our hero for saving this old truck. Really amazing can keep yourself motivated.

Here in NL it is quite essential cars have a frame number. It was hard to read so they stamped it again next to the old number. Would be hard to do that with your frame. Is there a remnant of a stamped frame nr. anyway?

Edit just read post nr. 2. One of the last rustfree bits of this truck.

 

[hdjtachtig]

BTW what's that on the rear axle at the fillerplug location?

 

[nuclearlemon]

looks like someone welded a high nut to the oe plug

 

[west aussie]

yea thats exactly what it is.

while all this was going on mudder bumstein got busy with heat and crc. he undid everything! u bolts, spring hangers, everything steering, all shockys etc etc. absolutely everything with a split pin was undone. a lot of this has been heated before. very rusty. this meant lots af heat and hours with a pin punch. many split pins had to be drilled out. none of this was dismantled. just bolts were re applied with plenty anti seize and new split pins. not a very visual change but splendid work. 'future proofing' i think its called



managed to get off the rotten rear bumpstops. had to carefully oxy off the excess thread first then get them out

 

[west aussie]

with the chassis and suspension 'fully restored' it was time to tackle the body. im not a body guy but this one needed a little work....

 

[west aussie]

we have crawled around old rusty enough to know there was absolutely nothing holding the tub on. but we had a plan that met budget. we broke out the grinder. sourced a piece of 75x75 square tube in galv 2mm to act as the main mid structure



we trimmed a bit of rust so this could be fitted from the dash side. were able to get the po broken seat bolts out by screwing then through from underneath

 

[west aussie]

galv got a few test fits to mark and predrill seat mounts and some access to bolt it to the chassis. test fit

all was going to plan and everyone was happy as the shadows lengthened

we were set for day 2

 

[cult45]

west west west. well done old son! i see the day spent on the '61 was well worth it! i have your dash parts here - i will post this week.

 

[cult45]

..and i didn't realise just HOW much rust was in this. you are a fkn hero for saving it old son!

 

[andrews520]

Excellent work as always...but I am most surprised by the sight of CLOUDS in your photos from a few days back. It couldn't have rained could it?

 

[west aussie]

we've had over an inch since australia day. narrow thunderstorm strips but welcome.

rust?? this mat not be the rustiest landruiser in the world but it is the rustiest in west aussies experience. very very lucky for this old tojo that it was bought by a couple of nutters

 

[west aussie]

day two dawned well. our umm... 'middle structural member' was a good fit. everything was coated in stockholm tar first. and there were lots of body mounts to be cut from some old conveyor belting.

 

[west aussie]

we had structure! note the cut rectangle slots; these are to acess the seat mounts and chassis mount points. nice fit

it was time to look at the back

 

[west aussie]

we knew what to expect

out with the grinder again

 

[west aussie]

rusty tojos are heaps easier to pull apart with the grinder! the rear crossmember was distored with rust. this was cleaned per oxy and chisel, coated in tar and straightened



a piece of 50x50 square tube in 3mm was nominated for the job. test fit