The Captains 40.... eventually (2.0)

[Oxyartes]

So my previous thread was somehow merged with another older one and well now it's all messed up with posts from both threads and the title is wrong too.

Yes, that is the man who inspired a generation.

Actually his shirt looks to be the inspiration of the color that I want my cruiser to be, good old fashioned Land Cruiser Mustard Yellow.

So I have a '73 FJ, with a Chevy 292 in it (thanks to ih8mud for the ID on that) and I just want one place for all the stuff I have, so I am going to try to keep up on this thread. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Oxyartes]

So here are some of the first pics.

Here are pics of the bumper, got to go, it's a pos.

Here is the rear, it's classified by the EPA as a wasp colony, those wasps are damn inventive.

Here are the seats, I have two seats from a VW Golf that were going to drop in.

Here is the Chevy 292, was kinda clunky at first, but a local mechanic realized the timing was off and got it all taken care of, so the engine is solid.

Add a leafs are a classy touch most seem to think as well, from and rear my friends, only the best.

Here is the interior

Another classy part, gun racks.

 

[lostmarbles]

OK then.... I'll regurgitate my comment to do my bit to try and get this thread back to its former glory....

"Hey - Those add-on leaves are mighty thick and long!" I bet you get a real rough ride there mate!"



(Well - I think I said something like that and we can't have such a valuable contribution being lost into that big "lost data void" can we?)

Now - where's that person with the "bicycle pedal comment"?

 

[dgangle]

that bug deflector is so, so 1980's. Had one on my high school ride that hangs in the man-cave to this day.

 

[addicted56]

I actually like the bumper. Very useful. Tow bar and place for a winch, out front enough to run over a tree...GREAT.

As for that spring...yeah..wear your mouth guard. Must have been for those times that they threw that 1 ton moose in the back. Not to mention it is not wrapped. That thing is going to want to scootch out of there.

Are the clutch and brake pedals old mud racing bicycle pedals welded on? That is creative.

 

[rusmannx]

the old bumper is already gone and a new one in its place. we'll get some pics this weekend so he can update.
the pedals are expanded metal, but who knows from what. i think he's going to leave them since they are such a huge hit. many more pics to come as we've already been making progress.

 

[Seth_O]

I dig the suicide knob on the steering wheel. And love the knob/switch labels on the dash - awesome....

 

[badkarma]

now i know where to put my gun rack

 

[Oxyartes]

Well i said I had a new tub so here are some pics of it. It isn't new, but as you can see it's in decent shape, a hell of a lot better than mine. It's also been POR 15ed by the previous owner.

The only major bad area is the driver panel, however the guy who sold it too me already had the new panel he just didn't install it.

The rear had cancer that was cut out, we were going to patch these all, but decided to toss on some diamond plates. I know some don't like it because it looks like your hiding something, WE ARE. Going to hit em black on the eventual yellow tub, I like the contrast.

 

[Magnum44]

Glad to see you put a 292 in it. Thats what I have for mine. Some day I have it done.

 

[rusmannx]

This build reminds me of a song about a truck where "Her shaft is bent and her rear end leaks, you can fix her quick with an oily rag. Use a nail as a starter; I lost the key. Don't pay no mind to that whirrin' sound. She use a little oil, but outside a' that, she's cherry."

 

[nicholastheczar]

Man the pedals are awesome! Rusmannx sent me the link to your thread. I think we have the same battle ahead of us, although my pedals are ... meh ... average.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/304976-project-not-going-do-frame-off-frame-off.html

 

[jkl72-40]

just dont let your feet slip and take it in the shins!!
cool side lights!!
gun rack needs a touch up.....

 

[Oxyartes]

So it was mentioned that we got rid of that old bumper, here are the pics of the new one. It was built by rusmannx, out of 3/8ths, we kept the tow hook on it, so I don't need a trailer but when we get to the trail we can take that off and slap on some shackles.

It's stout

You can see that this grade 8 bolt/thingy we happened to pick up from a cal ranch, no idea what it is supposed to be fore but it looks like it was made for my bumper.

 

[rusmannx]

now you can edit your first post in this thread and remove that link since it doesn't work. it confuses people like myself you know.

 

[Oxyartes]

So the front seats that I inherited were in horrible shape, not to mention they really just aren't that comfortable if they were in good shape, so i decided to get some new seats and a local guy had two seats from a VW Golf (heated too) for $100 so I got them.

The first thing we needed to do was get the seat bracket off and make sure it worked. After getting it all lubed up, it slid really well, rusmannx found a way to incorperate the existing seat slinder into the new bracket.

Here is a close up of the weld for the bar the seat bracket attaches too.

Here is a larger picture of the seat, you can see that we drilled out the plate so we could bolt it to the existing seat slider control. You can also see the heating wires and stuff, not hooked up at this time.

Rear shot.

Last thing was to make some stands and then weld them to the tub. Since we are swapping tubs out this was basically a good trial run, we got it set really comfortably, I can rise and lower the seat and it slides fine as well.

 

[YellowJacket]

Wow! It's really coming along! I am sorry I haven't been able to help out more. Going to be ready in time for Moab? I have another buddy who agreed to help with my welding, so I still might have a chance.

 

[Oxyartes]

So the new tub I bought had one big problem area under the driver seat, it was fairly rusty and corroded, but I was lucky enough that the guy I bought it from already bought the replacement panel he just hadn't installed it.

We really wished we had a plasma cutter, but we cut out the old panel with an cutting wheel. But this is also our first panel we have replaced.

This is after the first welding had been done, still had a lot more to do after this point.

Another picture after I put the first weld on the new panel.

This is the underside, after I grinded down some of the welds.

Some of the metal didn't like to take a weld, it melted away like cotton candy in certain areas, these are close up pics of some of the holes that were left.

I had to cut out some small pieces and weld in, you can see it isn't perfect...

This is after I welded the small pieces in and also grinded down the welds.

Well after all that was done, I grinded more of the welds down and was left with this, again it isn't the greatest.

 

[72LC]

Looks great! I am hoping for as little rust as possible when I pick mine up this Sunday. I was told it has rust on the rear quarters(covered by diamond plate) and some rust(not cancer) on a fender. If this is the only rust I will be oh so very happy. Crossing my fingers!

 

[PatFJ40]

Looking good. I love the seats. The guy I got my fj from did everything half way and put nasty old mini van seats in it. The passenger seat was so high I could look over the windshield. I like that you got heated seats too. Keep it up man.