The Bacon & Blue Cheese Express ( AKA The Camping Truck) (1 Viewer)

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I knew I was doing something wrong. Next you'll tell me my Kiwi safety boots (UGG BOOTS) aren't up to code.

Finished up the other side this morning.
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Some of my welds are a bit agricultural ( no disrespect to the farming community), but those areas were hard to get into. Gave it a coat of flat black and called it a day. Next up is to clean up the other panels and bolt it back on the chassis to tidy up the engine bay.
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From now on I will try to only add value to this thread - nice work!!!
 
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The exhaust system from my dads donor 80 series was the same size as the straight pipe that Glenn had fitted. So I broke out the cut off saw and got to fabber cobbling. There's a slip joint above the rear axle, so its effectively two pieces. This will allow me to move the car to my parents ( where the welder is) with out sounding like a drag car.
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Also got my colour consultant on board. I like the darker blue, not sure about the glitter. I have a lead on a couple of other front guards, so these might go on the wall.
 
So with my dodgy exhaust back on ( does have a good note to it at idle) , I turned my attentions to the engine bay wiring and cooling system. I've bypassed the heater ( its out of the car anyway) while I wait for a new valve from Japan, connected eveything back up and filled the radiator. I'm going to flush it a few times before I re-connect up the heaters.

So far I haven't found any of the "Curse of the P.O", or wiring hacks which is amazing for an old car. But I think there's some from a trailer plug to find. Anyway, mounted the headlights and realised that one of the holes in the radiator support that I repaired had been there for the headlight adjustment screw. WTF, they cut the radiator support panel instead of the screw! Might be a factory thing, it might bite me in the ass later, but I trimmed it up and screwed on the freshly painted headlight surrounds and grille. I'll no doubt have to take them off again, but its a good motivator and I could see them getting damaged. I also wanted to get an idea of how much room is there for a power steering cooler and A/C condensor.

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Continuing with making the most of what I have ( and not having to buy new parts), I've been cleaning stuff up to try and keep things moving. Tried polishing the tail lights. On the right has been done, left as bought. They're not perfect, and I didn't wash them first.
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Next was tidying up the floor. These just needed the surface rust taken off, a little bit of tin worm removed, and I've given it a coat of paint. Its not an exact match, but hey it came from the hardware store and won't be seen under (eventual) sound proofing and floor mats.
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Last up was putting the tail lights and indicators back on, and running the wiring harnesses.
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Next up will be sorting the power steering belt and flushing the cooling system in hope of moving the car so I can commence on the welding.
 
This is virtually an exact match for the floors of my 1977. I was shocked when i couldn’t find where I blended it when it dried.
Might not be to late to throw a coat on
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This is virtually an exact match for the floors of my 1977. I was shocked when i couldn’t find where I blended it when it dried.
Might not be to late to throw a coat on
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Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately we don't have ( that I've seen) that brand in Australia.

When I started the top coat I used a spray can in a colour that matched the existing paint more closely, so i had a litre tin mixed to the same code, but I think something got lost in translation. Not too fussed as you won't see much of it anyway and I I plan on getting some cygnus white mixed up for the exterior.
 
Damn I feel slow and lazy. Good work mate.

on the electrical side, I only found a few things, a worn ignition switch and a cut rear indicator wire. I repaired both of those, I would check the rear harness though for signs of them using scotch locks as it may have had a tow hitch in the past. The only other hack I picked up was someone installing a radio out of an old ford.
 
Damn I feel slow and lazy. Good work mate.

on the electrical side, I only found a few things, a worn ignition switch and a cut rear indicator wire. I repaired both of those, I would check the rear harness though for signs of them using scotch locks as it may have had a tow hitch in the past. The only other hack I picked up was someone installing a radio out of an old ford.

Thanks, I'll check on those. I've got the harness run, sprayed most of the connections with terminal cleaner and everything seems to be working.

Don't feel slow or lazy though, every time I put the angle grinder and wire wheel down my wrist hurts and I'm amazed you persevered as far as you did. And it wouldn't be going back together as quickly as it is if you hadn't labeled everything!
 
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Little bit more of the puzzle filled in today. Found a suitable belt for the power steering, finished running the return lines through a cooler and filter, topped off the reservoir and bled the system. I've gone for the drift look and mounted the cooler through the bodywork. I figured this would be as good as the metal tube Toyota puts on the front cross member on most other 4wd and the filter is peace of mind.

I wasn't sure what to expect since the tyres are the same size as my current 45 with manual steering, and my old BJ42 had 60 series steering. There's a bit of shudder on the pump when its at full lock, but I'm hoping that might go away with some adjustment to the steering stops, and the system probably needs another bleed, but ran out of fluid.

In the brief lap of my footpath it seems pretty good and should make things comfy for my kindy and shopping runs. I really want to drop my son off to day care in this thing among the urban SUV's and minivans.
 
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Another productive day on B&B Express. When I bought the car it conveniently had most of the rust cut out and a small sheet of suitable steel. I'm going to need to address a couple of areas, and it will probably need a skim coat of filler, but for the first outer panel I've welded, I'm pretty happy.

I also played with the spring on the hand brake, now it actually disengages when you turn the lever.

Unfortunately, the space I had planned on doing the other body work in is going on the market shortly and I won't be able to work on the 55 there, so I'm hoping I can send it to someone else to meet my early December deadline.
 
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Bought these guards thinking they would be better than the ones I had and allow for a quicker turn around. Described as having minor rust. Turned out the louvred part was a galvanised panel, covered with filler and glued and riveted in place.
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If that wasn't bad enough, that was over the top of a tin can riveted over the top of rust. These are actually worse than what I have. Bugger.

Up side is I got a replacement gas pedal and under dash side vents.
 

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