Builds 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together (1 Viewer)

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Great build thread! Haven't seen it all, will probably take a while. Where are you in Nashville area? I'm in Brentwood and just purchased a 74 FJ40 in Nov. I'm exactly where you were in the beginning! Just starting to learn about what i need to do first, and what can wait. Would like to help you in any way possible, and learn from someone who has been doing this for a while. Would love to come see your project at some point, and help in any way possible when you need a second set of hands.
 
... Where are you in Nashville area? I'm in Brentwood and just purchased a 74 FJ40 in Nov. I'm exactly where you were in the beginning! Just starting to learn about what i need to do first,... and help in any way possible when you need a second set of hands.

Sounds like a new member of our local crew, @Vae Victus .

@74FJ40newbie , want to meet up with more local Cruiser heads? We get together on a very unreliable, very monthly-ish meal and a beer with, as Roger says, "Liars Club" status.
 
Curious - how do you like that press brake from SWAG? I've eyed it up numerous times but never pulled the trigger - I am, however, envying your nice clean, pressed lines in metal. Is it easy to remove/reinstall (aside from the obvious weight). I find myself constantly using my press for various tasks so I'd need to be able to swap out the tooling pretty easily.

I've been using ye olde "2x4's in a vice and hammer" method, and while functional, even passable, it's no replacement for the right tool.
 
Sounds like a new member of our local crew, @Vae Victus .

@74FJ40newbie , want to meet up with more local Cruiser heads? We get together on a very unreliable, very monthly-ish meal and a beer with, as Roger says, "Liars Club" status.
Sounds like a new member of our local crew, @Vae Victus .

@74FJ40newbie , want to meet up with more local Cruiser heads? We get together on a very unreliable, very monthly-ish meal and a beer with, as Roger says, "Liars Club" status.
Absolutely I would love to get together monthly-ish!!! Anyone going to cars and coffee this weekend?
 
Sounds like a new member of our local crew, @Vae Victus .

@74FJ40newbie , want to meet up with more local Cruiser heads? We get together on a very unreliable, very monthly-ish meal and a beer with, as Roger says, "Liars Club" status.
Progress this weekend: removed the old Weber carb, began removing the old front blinkers to replace with new ones. Replaced the headlights with OEM for now. Hope to upgrade to LED or HID in the future.

Does the 40 have a high beam switch stock?


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Removed the fuel tank (plastic - hmmm) and the fuel collector (also plastic). Floor was not too bad under it. Looks worse from below.



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Then hosed out the inside of the truck to get all the caked on dust and grime that coated it. Came out a lot cleaner.

Worked on the drivers floor board. It was coated with something that was thick (maybe 1/4") and black, maybe POR15 that I read so much about? I chiseled it out with a big screwdriver and a hammer.


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It came off in brittle chunks. Floor was virgin under it!

This morning, decided to punt on the idea of finding an inexpensive OEM booster rebuild, and went to the PullAPart for the first time. Pulled a 1995 Camry booster in about 25 minutes [EDIT - does not fit, too new!]. Pretty cool place. Felt like a criminal walking around looking inside all the cars. Very clean booster and valve for $28. Still has clear grease on the spindle. They even put little deodorize in in all the cars. I didn't even get my khakis (too) dirty.

Have about $500 in parts sitting in the SOR cart at the moment. About to pull the trigger. Getting the transfer case small parts kit, plus the additions 2-3 gaskets they said "get if needed". How the h*ll do I know if I need them until I get in the middle of this? Since they were cheap, I went ahead.

I'll tell ya, this intimidates the cr@p out of me. I've never done transmission work, and I'm kinda dreading it.

Also included is new voltage regulator, emblems and pads for the rear, new door panels (doors are from the same donor truck that gave the hood evidently). The more I dig, the more I learn.

I'm to the point now where I can begin to put the engine bay stuff back together again. Once water pump arrives, I'll put it back together. I'll work on the transfer case gaskets and bearings, fix the eBrake pads that are soaked (kit in hand already), then radiator, hoses, belt, etc.

Need to get mirrors, replace blinker flasher units, and then, hopefully, take it to go thru (fail) emissions, and get the title transferred!

Then the real work begins, but that can wait a while.

Thoughts?

Oh, burning question - the hood is structurally weak when lifted from one corner. The central brace that runs from back to front is not connected. Is the supposed to be spot welded? I see no welds or bolts in it.
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Photo of your gravity fed media blaster and cabinet please!

I have a 6CFM-ish dual tank California Air Tools compressor. Good enough for plasma cutter but is it enough to run pneumatic tools?

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Compressor

Fordem - I've seen those. Like a dental drill almost.

Been wearing a full respirator when grinding except today as we have a 5-10 knot breeze. Snot is still black though, so should have used it.

And last but not least - Hank Sr? Seriously. You are going to go and make fun of Sr? Junior I can understand, but Sr?

You don't get it - this is NASHVILLE baby. Land of country. You NJ people! ;)

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Did you know Johnny was a Case Knife man? See there's all kind of stuff 'bout country you don't know.
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Photo of your gravity fed media blaster and cabinet please!

I have a 6CFM-ish dual tank California Air Tools compressor. Good enough for plasma cutter but is it enough to run pneumatic tools?

View attachment 763872
Compressor

Fordem - I've seen those. Like a dental drill almost.

Been wearing a full respirator when grinding except today as we have a 5-10 knot breeze. Snot is still black though, so should have used it.

And last but not least - Hank Sr? Seriously. You are going to go and make fun of Sr? Junior I can understand, but Sr?

You don't get it - this is NASHVILLE baby. Land of country. You NJ people! ;)

View attachment 763873
Did you know Johnny was a Case Knife man? See there's all kind of stuff 'bout country you don't know.
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Educate them!
 
Great build thread! Haven't seen it all, will probably take a while. Where are you in Nashville area? I'm in Brentwood and just purchased a 74 FJ40 in Nov. I'm exactly where you were in the beginning! Just starting to learn about what i need to do first, and what can wait. Would like to help you in any way possible, and learn from someone who has been doing this for a while. Would love to come see your project at some point, and help in any way possible when you need a second set of hands.
[EDIT: Corrected your name]Neil , sorry I missed you and the other guys the other night. I'm not far from you - Hillsboro road about 3/4 Mike north of OHB. I look forward to meeting you in person and seeing your project vehicle.
 
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Curious - how do you like that press brake from SWAG? I've eyed it up numerous times but never pulled the trigger - I am, however, envying your nice clean, pressed lines in metal. Is it easy to remove/reinstall (aside from the obvious weight). I find myself constantly using my press for various tasks so I'd need to be able to swap out the tooling pretty easily.
I do like it. I quickly noted is limitations in the standard setup and need to buy the offset finger dies to create the "U" channel under for braces more easily. If I had to make a few more of those I would totally spring the extra cash to make that easier.

Also my HF press is a little crooked, so the break is a little uneven, causing even more time to be taken to line up the bends before doing them. Or time redoing off-kilter bends.

It is removable but it's awkward. A 3rd hand would be helpful but I've gotten it off and back on a few times now.

One hint, if you want tighter bends pay attention to the rather brief inductions that say to stack several pieces of progressively narrower "L" or angle brackets on top of each other in the foot of the press. I have 3 - 4 additional pieces stacked, down to 1.5" inches wide (starting at 3", then 2.5", 2", and then 1.5").

The narrower width of the angle bracket at the foot as desired above allows for more flexibility when doing multiple bends so the geometry doesn't run into itself as easily.

It's very solidly built.
I've been using ye olde "2x4's in a vice and hammer" method, and while functional, even passable, it's no replacement for the right tool.
 
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Nick, sorry I missed you and the other guys the other night. I'm not far from you - Hillsboro road about 3/4 Mike north of OHB. I look forward to meeting you in person and seeing your project vehicle.
No worries, I've really enjoyed your build thread. I look forward to meeting you, and seeing smokey. So glad i found such a good group of guys to learn from. I was overwhelmed trying to figure this truck out on my own. Now it seems I have an expert in all four directions. I'm down Wilson Pike just Ravenwood HS. Enjoyed a little Moes Monday tonight, and I hear I have you to thank for that.
 
No worries, I've really enjoyed your build thread. I look forward to meeting you, and seeing smokey. So glad i found such a good group of guys to learn from. I was overwhelmed trying to figure this truck out on my own. Now it seems I have an expert in all four directions. I'm down Wilson Pike just Ravenwood HS. Enjoyed a little Moes Monday tonight, and I hear I have you to thank for that.
Ha, yes, Welcome to Moe's! Rainey just left my place after blasting some parts off of STPCHLD.
 
Been a while since posting but lots of body work being done.

First was the left rocker panel.

Had to fill a lot of weak areas in the inside. I'm learning what would be faster to replace vs "drilling and filling" holes. I prob filled 100 spots before I was done.

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Having full confidence I attacked then right rocker. The left went so well that I got cocky. Ended up with a big divot along the weld line. Humility comes in many forms. This is one. Oh well, nothing a little Bondo won't fix.

The big difference here is that I could not access the rear of the panel, where I could for the left side - it welded a lot hotter because I could not put a copper backer behind the welds to absorb the heat keep the welds small.

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I'm really bummed that this warped like it did. Like I said above, the left side had no warp because I could access the back of it since the floor panel was out on that side, and I used a copper backer which absorbed some of the heat. I guess I could have managed the heat better and gone slower, used a wet rag to cool the welds, etc. Next time.... (quarter panels). Oh well, that is how we learn!!
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Slap the running boards on and that "divot" will mostly disappear lol. I'd take your cocky any day in terms of panel repair and welding. I have that in front of me. Fun times.
 
Slap the running boards on and that "divot" will mostly disappear lol. I'd take your cocky any day in terms of panel repair and welding. I have that in front of me. Fun times.


Thanks middlecalf. Though I do wonder about this comment: "I'd take your cocky any day" :flipoff2:
 
Finishing the repair.

I shaved down a 2" roloc to a 1" size and squeezed it in there to grind off the nut.

Excuse the overweld and overspray of Rust-Oleum. When spraying metal right now I'm not being pretty, I'm protecting the metal that's going to get sandblasted soon and repainted on the outside, or never see the sun again on the inside.

I did continue to smooth the repair - just forgot to take pics.

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