the "i'll never get it done" 45 shorty build thread

[nuclearlemon]

ok, as motivation to get working on this (because poser told pighead to make me get it done, now pighead is on occasion urging me to get it done), i'm starting a build thread on my 65 shorty.

bought it from a friend in wisconsin sometime around 98. towed it to englewood where i lived at the time and bolted on new fenders. year or so later put it in a storage unit in aurora. sometime later, flat towed it to my house in c-town, during which time i found the trunnion bearings were crap because every corner i took, i just drug the rig behind me. also found out that the bed wasn't attached.....ooops. glad that didn't fall off while traveling across the country.

 

[nuclearlemon]

it was kind of ugly being all the different colors, so i painted it one color (then changed the apron to a nicer one that didn't match). it came with freshly upholstered seats, but they were poop brown, so i had to cover them up and i slowly started acquiring the parts to put it all back together. baby steps

 

[nuclearlemon]

i bought a thoroughly totalled 77 fj40 from a one owner family and the engine barred over so hopefully it's good. the front frame was bent over so far the motor mount was through the oil pan and against the crank. it also had a decent rubber mat that i picked up to cover up the fact that the trans tunnel isn't correct and has a huge gap

 

[nuclearlemon]

i was on a roll. i began cleaning out the decades of dirt from the frame and figuring out what i wanted to do with it (i toyed with spring over a couple of different times)

 

[nuclearlemon]

in the end, i settled on parabolic springs, so the torch came out to get rid of the 40 year old bushings and the axle got pulled apart, semi rebuilt and cleaned up

 

[nuclearlemon]

it was time to started learning what wouldn't be bolt in about this suspension setup. for starters the bushings weren't even close to fitting and even though it's the "heavy duty" spring setup specifically for the 45s, the rear end sits too low so i clearanced the bushings and for the stance, i'll have to deal with it for now.

 

[nuclearlemon]

from there, a decade has almost passed. the water pump was bad and i couldn't afford one due to too many projects and debts. so i sold of four land cruisers and worked on paying my debt down. in the meantime, pighead bought a reman pump for it, but now we've robbed the carb and pulled the intake for something else. the front end has been gone through, the tcase resealed, driveshafts made, brakelines partially run, ezwire harness almost installed.

it's been used for storing the dirtbike, misc piles of stuff for my 1965 fj40 build, parts for my pickle build, pigheads stuff, and now parts for annie, but i've slowly been cleaning it out and trying to get it to where there is only pertinent stuff in the back. annie's almost done, i got a lot done on the pickle, we've taken on a side job for a friend that will hopefully be done in a couple of weeks and we'll see where the build goes from there. in the meantime, i had to take a bumper to the sandblasters and i decided to take the 45 roofskin with. the blaster didn't want to hit to hard and warp it or so it's not perfectly clean, but it's getting rust bullet and paint as soon as i fix one small hole. then i have to fix one broken bolt and it will go back on....let the project re-begin

 

[krzyabncanuck]

Been waiting on you to start back up on this thing.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

wow.. I had/have a VERY similar build / decade long sit and acquire stuff / pay off stuff / reorganize life.. Even the same parabolic bushing situation / nightmare from a while back. But my frame was actually FULL of oily dirt from 40 years of a leaky steering box and oil pressure regulator.
Congrats on getting back to her..

 

[nuclearlemon]

so, serious baby steps here, but it's been crazy hectic with working full time, death of a pet, working on a major pig swap for a friend, our 62 annie, and life in general, but i did get the rust bullet sprayed on the roof and i blasted the dome lamp housing and rust bulleted it and installed an led..bling......

i have some white paint i have to spray, and i need to get the headliner installed and fix a bolt before the roof goes on, that will be next.

 

[ozcrusier]

I have a nice rust free 78 fj45 sitting on the front lawn waiting for me to get motivated on the strip down and repaint. I basicly sorted all the rego stuff but the old girl doesent like the sea air from living on the mid north coast downunder. I been checking out the rust bullet paint for a few months trying to find the right stuff to preserve the old girl. What your views on the RB product.

 

[nuclearlemon]

just started using it, so not sure yet. i do like the way it spreads on and it does appear to actually gas off like they talk about. i have video of it doing, i presume, that after a metal brush fell in the container. kind of mesmerizing. i've heard good and bad, so we'll see

 

[D'Animal]

Hope you keep the momentum going on this one.

 

[daniel.watters]

Subscribed.

 

[nuclearlemon]

ok, more baby steps as work, working on a pig to pig swap, keeping the few running rigs running and life, in general, has taken up most of the time.

about 10 years ago, i found a broken early license plate in my stash. then, about 5 years ago, i bought a new one with the intent of marrying the two. today, i finally am going to finish that project. about two months ago, i drilled the spotwelds to get the broken back off and then sandblasted the old one. tonight, i drilled out the spotwelds on the new one and welded everything up, waiting for it to cool to sand down the spotwelds and paint.

 

[penangtoy]

I am wondering what tires and lift are you using on the rig? I really like the tires you choose.

 

[nuclearlemon]

the lift isn't a lift, just new parabolic springs. for tires, you'll have to be far more specific. there are five different tire combo's in these pics and i think a different set on it right now. it all depended on what i had laying around at the time.

 

[penangtoy]

From your 3rd post the tires that were on when your rig's face has been removed.