- Thread starter
- #101
I swear I'll take some today.
1959 FJ25 Soft Top Frame Off Restoration
- Thread starter foxfab
- Start date
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I swear I'll take some today.
- Thread starter
- #102
Before!
Before:
Before:
- Thread starter
- #103
After!
as it sits now:
as it sits now:
- Thread starter
- #105
More progress!
1. tub removed from old frame.
2. all misc brackets removed from old frame and swapped over to new frame.
3. set the points
4. road trip to parts store in my FJ25 to get a gel cell orbital battery and new cables
5. The perfect ending to a weekends worth of work:
http://foxfab4x4.com/FJ25/A1/engine/firstrun.MPG
1. tub removed from old frame.
2. all misc brackets removed from old frame and swapped over to new frame.
3. set the points
4. road trip to parts store in my FJ25 to get a gel cell orbital battery and new cables
5. The perfect ending to a weekends worth of work:
http://foxfab4x4.com/FJ25/A1/engine/firstrun.MPG
foxfab said:
Looks like my old outboard motor days. Sounds good, next step is a cruise with no body............ ;p Now would be a good time to quit while you're ahead.
- Thread starter
- #107
I need to hook up the e-brake first
Sporin
Site Addict
Sweet Mike!
Incredible!! 
Absolutely incredible.
What about the wheels . . . did ya paint them green, too? (Can't see them from those shots.)
Absolutely incredible.What about the wheels . . . did ya paint them green, too? (Can't see them from those shots.)
- Thread starter
- #113
They will be. Those are borrowed from Jim just to roll it around.
Got it. Eager to see your wheels when you get them painted.
- Thread starter
- #115
Sorry Phil. you can't have it back now
Ahh, the start of my new buggy
Progress report:
I started planning on what parts of the red tub I was going to use on the white tub. I came to the conclusion that the entire center section of the red tub is mint and the cowl and bed of the white tub are salvageable with the use of Lomusass's repro parts.
So, I started by seperating the red cowl from the tub using a combination of a cut off wheel, oxy/acet torches and a sawzall.
For those that havent done it, here's the steps. There are 6 bolts that bolt the tub to the cowl, 3 on each side right at the feet. Two are above the floor and one is under the floor. Take the cut off wheel for the welds on the floor across the cowl. Use the sawzall to cut the body seam right by the front of the door, and use the torch or plasma cutter to cut the weld in the corners that you cant get with the sawzall or cut off wheel. Voila, the cowl will come off.
The red cowl will be used for my upcoming trail rig.
I started in on removing the bed supports with a spot weld cutter. What a thankless job. After an hour, they separated.
I jumped to the rear upper bow clips that were welded to the red tub and cut them off for use on my tub so I can convert it to B bows.
Then I started in on some repairs of the red tub. A PO had sealed up the gas fill and removed the toolbox and sealed up the battery hole. Not very well on either job luckily. So, I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting welds and re-forming the profiles of both holes. I have a toolbox to use off of another truck and will use the gas fill off of the white tub. The toolbox on the white tub is usable, but the one I have is nicer. I test fit the toolbox and all should go together well.
Lastly, I torched off the body mounts, another thankless and messy job. Remember that diesel soaked pink towel Jim? FIRE!!! My lawn has a nice black mark in it. I shoulda gotten a pic of that I know....
I cleaned up a bit, took off the seat brackets and jack mount on the white tub and called it a day.
Ahh, the start of my new buggy
Progress report:
I started planning on what parts of the red tub I was going to use on the white tub. I came to the conclusion that the entire center section of the red tub is mint and the cowl and bed of the white tub are salvageable with the use of Lomusass's repro parts.
So, I started by seperating the red cowl from the tub using a combination of a cut off wheel, oxy/acet torches and a sawzall.
For those that havent done it, here's the steps. There are 6 bolts that bolt the tub to the cowl, 3 on each side right at the feet. Two are above the floor and one is under the floor. Take the cut off wheel for the welds on the floor across the cowl. Use the sawzall to cut the body seam right by the front of the door, and use the torch or plasma cutter to cut the weld in the corners that you cant get with the sawzall or cut off wheel. Voila, the cowl will come off.
The red cowl will be used for my upcoming trail rig.
I started in on removing the bed supports with a spot weld cutter. What a thankless job. After an hour, they separated.
I jumped to the rear upper bow clips that were welded to the red tub and cut them off for use on my tub so I can convert it to B bows.
Then I started in on some repairs of the red tub. A PO had sealed up the gas fill and removed the toolbox and sealed up the battery hole. Not very well on either job luckily. So, I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting welds and re-forming the profiles of both holes. I have a toolbox to use off of another truck and will use the gas fill off of the white tub. The toolbox on the white tub is usable, but the one I have is nicer. I test fit the toolbox and all should go together well.
Lastly, I torched off the body mounts, another thankless and messy job. Remember that diesel soaked pink towel Jim? FIRE!!!
My lawn has a nice black mark in it. I shoulda gotten a pic of that I know....I cleaned up a bit, took off the seat brackets and jack mount on the white tub and called it a day.
Last edited:
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Even though I am no cruiser guy this thread delivers. Very cool write up and pics of your progress. Reminds me so much of projects I have started and never finished. 
I know from experience just cleaning up a 40+ year old 4x4 is a ton of work. I spent nearly 100hrs just doing the frame on a Patrol. But I am a perfectionist so it was probaly good at 40hrs.
And that 100hrs does include repairs to the frame which included learning how to weld. 
What I did learn on my first frame was how much wire brushing sucks, seriously a lot of manual labor. In the future I think I will always blast a frame. I will take sand in my ears, eyes & nose over metal slivers any day. A week after being done with the wire brushing I was still pulling slivers out of my skin and ya I did wear protective clothing. Just not not a full grain leather suit like I should have. Using a dremal with tiny wire brushes to clean all the nooks and crannies is just no fun....point the blaster nozzle at the same area and be done in minutes. It is just a matter of using the right blast material, wearing good clothes for the job and having a good blaster set up.
One thing is for sure a truck like this FJ25 has much easier frame to clean up and restore than a Patrol. The Patrol has a full box frame making it very difficult to clean inside plus very hard to get all the crud/blast material out of the frame for a clean painting. And every single Patrol I have ever seen has a #2 crossmember plum full of funk. Each one must be cut open, cleaned, repaired, painted and rewelded up. Skip that part of the frame on a Patrol and you will end up with a rotted #2 crossmember on your restored truck.
Anyways, please keep it coming....picture posts of a frame off are just plain cool.
I know from experience just cleaning up a 40+ year old 4x4 is a ton of work. I spent nearly 100hrs just doing the frame on a Patrol. But I am a perfectionist so it was probaly good at 40hrs.
And that 100hrs does include repairs to the frame which included learning how to weld. What I did learn on my first frame was how much wire brushing sucks, seriously a lot of manual labor. In the future I think I will always blast a frame. I will take sand in my ears, eyes & nose over metal slivers any day. A week after being done with the wire brushing I was still pulling slivers out of my skin and ya I did wear protective clothing. Just not not a full grain leather suit like I should have. Using a dremal with tiny wire brushes to clean all the nooks and crannies is just no fun....point the blaster nozzle at the same area and be done in minutes. It is just a matter of using the right blast material, wearing good clothes for the job and having a good blaster set up. One thing is for sure a truck like this FJ25 has much easier frame to clean up and restore than a Patrol. The Patrol has a full box frame making it very difficult to clean inside plus very hard to get all the crud/blast material out of the frame for a clean painting. And every single Patrol I have ever seen has a #2 crossmember plum full of funk. Each one must be cut open, cleaned, repaired, painted and rewelded up. Skip that part of the frame on a Patrol and you will end up with a rotted #2 crossmember on your restored truck.
Anyways, please keep it coming....picture posts of a frame off are just plain cool.
- Thread starter
- #118
Yep, its a 25 thing. The frame is the same color as the body.
