Builds 1971 FJ55, "Bucky" (1 Viewer)

[roadstr6]

Nathan and I started removing Bucky's interior last night to assess the rust in the floor and rockers. It looks like have a LOT of work to do. At some point in the truck's life a PO had removed the seat belts and either stripped out the mount points or lost the bolts. The belts were held in with drywall anchors! Scary stuff.

 

[PabloCruise]

Bucky looks like a keeper!

I too am a Zeppelin fan. It seems like owning a Pig is a constant "Good Times/Bad Times" experience.
But even Bad Times with a Pig is better than not having a Pig!

 

[wngrog]

Nice!

 

[61twpw]

Looks like a set of bobm’s floor panels needed. I here rumors of an upcoming run, might pm him.

 

[roadstr6]

I've been working slowly towards cutting out the crispy bacon bits. I plan to weld in 2x4 tube rockers and patch in new floor sections. Waiting on the brown truck to deliver some bobm support pieces.

Driver side rocker is gone:

Here's what is going in its place:

Capped the tube with 3/16" plate. I plan to weld up the few remaining pin holes in the tube ends and drill and tap each tube slider/rocker for quick connect air fittings. I'm wondering if each slider/rocker will hold enough volume at 120psi to air up a couple of 33x10.5 tires from 15 to 35 lbs? I'm hoping so, but I guess we will see. If not, no big loss.

 

[wngrog]

Nice work! I’ve found a $40 Vivair 12v compressor to be much easier. I used to have that done to caged and sliders. Imo not worth the effort unless you have an onboard compressor.

 

[roadstr6]

Nice work! I’ve found a $40 Vivair 12v compressor to be much easier. I used to have that done to caged and sliders. Imo not worth the effort unless you have an onboard compressor.

Good to know. Yes, I have a Master Flow MF-1050 that works very well for airing up. Maybe I will just stick with that.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Those sliders will work great for air tanks combined with the pump you could run air tools on the trail. Anyway you look at it, it's a cool project and worth doing, fun stuff.

 

[bobm]

I like the Airstream in background

 

[roadstr6]

Bucky pic dump:

 

[roadstr6]

Inner rocker cut from 16 gauge sheet metal. Inside surface coated with POR15. Top section punched for plug welds. 2x4 outer rocker attached to lower door sill and welded to inner rocker from behind. Making progress. Slow and steady gets it done.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Good job on the rocker!

 

[roadstr6]

Good job on the rocker!

Thanks, Scrap. I must admit that stitching old thin sheet metal to 3/16 thick tube does present a few challenges. We’re doing the best we can. These welds will need a bit of grinding to tidy them up.

 

[roadstr6]

I had a couple of questions about the inner vs. outer rocker and what my plans are for the 2x4 tubing. Here’s a little sketch and a couple more pics of the install so far.

 

[roadstr6]

The floor supports will be replaced with .5x1.5 C-channel. I cut two slots over what is left of the existing floor support and peeled back the floor to expose the inner part of the floor support. Used a die grinder to clean up the inside and dropped in the C-channel. Welded C-channel to old floor support on one end and to new inner rocker on the other end. It feels super solid. Sprayed a bit of primer just to get a better idea of how the rocker will look.

 

[roadstr6]

Now that the rocker is mostly welded in there is enough structural integrity to be able to jack up the driver's side of the body by the front end of the rocker and remove the rotted out front driver side body mount. I pulled the driver's fender to gain a little more access to that area and didn't like what I found. There was a lot of rust in the front door frame that had to be cut out and replaced. Here is the front body mount:

Door frame and inner fender repair. Repaired areas sealed up with POR-15:

 

[scrapdaddy]

Good job, that should last you.

 

[roadstr6]

Good job, that should last you.

Scrap, This old pig and my level of work pales in comparison to yours, but my goals for this truck are not nearly as lofty. Good enough is the mantra here. Hopefully it will be good enough. It'll be a sight better than it was and of that I have no doubt.

 

[roadstr6]

More slow piggy progress. I got the front body mount welded in and coated with POR-15. I welded .5 x.5 angle to the inner rocker to support the floor pan. Next will be cutting and fitting the driver side front floor pan. I plan to use 16 ga sheet for the pans. I will attempt to keep the good floor sections and just patch in new 16 gauge sheet for the parts of the floor that were rotten.

 

[roadstr6]

DS front floor pan burned in.