Builds Hawkdriver’s 1975 FJ40 Refurb Thread (1 Viewer)

[HawkDriver]

And here we are. There are a few spots I'll have to touch up with the POR-15 paint that I didn't see when it was upside down, but that poor frame sat out in the elements with just a tarp wrapped around her for the past 7 months or so.

 

[HawkDriver]

So that's that! The next few work days will be spent adding all the brake calipers and brake lines and so forth. Once I'm at work stoppage with that I'm anxious to begin the dismantling of the body! Can't wait to start getting that hard top apart, then the fenders/front clip, then the cockpit, the tub off, the drivetrain out, and everything else. Looking forward to the day when I can haul that old frame and all the other s*** off to the scrap heap.

The SBC 350 in it right now needs to be completely gone through, and I plan to just core it. I'm tentatively in the market for a rebuilt one with a couple of upgrades, like a bigger cam and proper headers. Somewhere in the $2000 ball park is what I'm banking on as the cherry on top once the rest of the entire rig is ready for it.

Maybe I'll be a little more productive with work and my uploads now that summer is here. Thanks for tagging along!

Jeremy

 

[reddog90]

Awesome progress!

 

[HawkDriver]

Question:

Any recommendations for how to preserve these nice new rotors over the next year or so before they actually get put to use? I'd like to mount up the calipers and pads, but don't want to contaminate the pads with whatever I'll used to prevent rust. Probably should leave the pads off until it's time to roll.

All I'd done up til now was douse them with WD-40.

I was thinking some sort of thin grease, maybe with some shopping sack thin plastic placed on then cut to size...

 

[pjohnson]

I would leave the old rotors on (calipers/pads off) until ready to finish it up for the road or leave the brakes off entirely until then. You will have to take the new ones off to clean them after a year anyway regardless of how you try to protect them.

 

[74fj40]

Lots of factory and aftermarket rotors come with a light coat of primer on them. When you break in the new brakes, it just burns off.

 

[HawkDriver]

Ayyyyy!

How about a semi-annual update?!

Almost hate to post these pics because all it shows is the total disastrous state that the project is currently in. But, as we prepare to roll into winter with snow I needed to get the truck dismantled and haul off the scrap frame and free up the space to roll the new chassis into, instead of the project taking up two spaces. So began the full tear down.

 

[HawkDriver]

So. Much. Fun.......

 

[HawkDriver]

Yep.

 

[HawkDriver]

With another trip to the media blaster ought to have the tub back to a square one state, and then we can begin the build up of the body.

Meanwhile, over the winter I hope to crack the trans and t-case open and go through them in the work shed with some more new parts from Cruiser Kurt.

The magnitude of the effort that will be required for the umpteen dozen body panels to repair/prepare/paint will only be overshadowed by the reconditioning of every little knob and doohickey to get this thing back in working order!

The engine you ask? Oh, that'll just sit on the engine stand until I'm ready to exchange it for a rebuilt one from the local machine shop. That will be the last thing I tackle on this, I hope.

A couple more years in the works I'm afraid. Hoping that my schedule will afford me a lot more time to work on it this winter than last.

The best part of getting to this point is just that I can almost finally begin the buildup process where everything will be an improvement on a part towards reaching the end goal.

 

[HawkDriver]

I realized that I never uploaded these pics of the end. Back in October I finished the disassembly, more or less.

 

[HawkDriver]

Pulling the motorb and gear boxes.

 

[HawkDriver]

Damn that engine is heavy as hell! Gotta get a more solid 2x4 notched at both ends to support that thing.

 

[HawkDriver]

Alas! And I actually hauled this frame off to the scrap yard, but they wouldn't accept it without the TITLE!!! So I was like, nooooo....... that's not going to work....... So I'm setting the frame aside until I get the rig built and licensed again. I'll decide later if I'm going to be official and jump through their hoops to get the local sheriff down to file all the stupid paperwork, and for that I'll need this frame on hand. The thing is that my FJ40 has a VIN data plate riveted to the driver side door area near my knee. That'll be the VIN I use to continue the ownership and registration that I've always used. But I probably should get the frame VIN sorted out with proper documentation.... Whatevs.

 

[HawkDriver]

Now! As far as progress.... well, there hasn't been much over the past 2 months. BUT! I finally picked up the Transmission and Transfer Case rebuild kits from @cruiseroutfit with all the new parts and pieces.

Cruiser Outfitters has things completely dialed for whatever your needs are for top quality kits as well as your standard overlanding accessories. Just love doing business with Kurt!

So now I'm going to do much like I did with the axles; mask off some spots, take it to the sandblaster, POR-15 paint them with black on the cast iron and the silver on the aluminum, THEN crack them open and begin the rebuild. So as not to contaminate the fresh metal surfaces with oil I'll paint them and let them cure. If this was going to be a show rig I'd consider just dismantling them all, taking them to a shop with a caustic bath parts washer or whatever, then really reconditioning the aluminum and painting the iron. But this unit'll be under the truck so I'm sure the POR paint will work just fine.

Hoping to and kind of excited to pick up a Zinc plating kit and dip the hardware in Yellow Chromate this time around. Sure wish I'd done that with all those hardware parts in the posts above. It'll be an experiment, if I can get to it.

 

[HawkDriver]

Sure wish I'd hauled that thing off to the sandblaster already and had it sitting in my work shed. Now I'm just chomping at the bit to get into these gearboxes!

I haven't had a transmission apart since my ASE training course way back before the war. 22 years or so ago. But I'm pretty confident i can get it done. It's just bearings, seals, snap rings, and hydraulic pressing to do, supposing the synchros and all gears don't give me any nasty surprises. In actuality this will probably be the most enjoyable/gearhead part of the entire project!

If I had an endless budget I'd be installing some low range gears in there while I have it all apart. But as stated before, if I ever want to get this project done I've just got to run with what I can. Once this baby is road and trail worthy again, then I'll consider modding it. Seems kinda backwards I know, but I never really wanted to "restore/restomod" this truck. I was quite content with it before the frame crapped out.

Gear pics to come in the coming weeks!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2020.

 

[HawkDriver]

Ahoy!

A little bit of progress. Looking forward to painting these up and putting all those fresh bearings and seals in! Dropped off at the sandblaster.

And visited Mr. Bradshaw while I was out. A new little 45 project he’s cleaning up.

 

[HawkDriver]

This hokey mess is why men need shops. Anyhoo, got her hoisted up in the workshed and just gotta clean out the spots left by the sandblaster then the real fun begins.

 

[HawkDriver]

Yeah.

 

[jim land]

You should keep some parts of your old frame before you dump it , like springs hangers , body mounts and VIN# .

On most place VIN# on the frame is the one they use for registration