Builds 1963 FJ45LP SWB Fixed Top "Sweet Simplicity" (3 Viewers)

[middlecalf]

Yup, if frozen I’ll move to another. One of the reasons I’ve taken this rig on is the challenge of making what I have work, and of what I don’t have, gettin’ it!

Speaking of gettin’, a box of Mississippi charm showed up today. Ah Nuts! (Sweet!)

 

[wngrog]

Did you see the sticker?

 

[middlecalf]

See and Eat MS? Yes!

 

[wngrog]

See and Eat MS? Yes!

My local food and travel blog. IG and Facebook.

 

[middlecalf]

Dear Progress Police -

Just a quick note to fill you in on what’s been happening around here. Shop is done finally, but still moving in. Stockpile of parts is growing, and only have two duplicate items so far, driveshafts and bellhousing cover, lol.

Drive to shop is finally in, 20+ loads of gravel. Nice and dusty until we get some rain.

Speaking of rain, I finally was able to take the tarp off of the old girl. No more snow hopefully. She’ll get dragged into the shop by weeks end, and then the tear down can start...

...as long as building of a mile of welded oil field pipe fence is completed. Including the round pen.

That’s all for now around here. Hope things are well with you.

Sincerely, Paul


Ok, this might get interesting soon.

 

[middlecalf]

“One small step for mankind, one big leap for Sweet Simplicity.”

Finally in the shop. The BFH awaiteth...

 

[middlecalf]

Sometimes I wonder where my brain is or went. How long has this thread’s title been labeled 1965 rather than 1963? Such a putz... corrected anyhow. Stay with me brain.

 

[middlecalf]

Bed removed today. Wasn’t hard, only 3 bolts left holding it on, and there wasn’t much bed metal around the bolts anyhow. Original color is evident.

Horses weren’t very interested.

So interesting bed mount on passenger side. Wonder what’s out of kilter, bed or frame? We’ll see once the cab is off.

Is this typical height for cab/body mount shims? Seems like a lot filler to me. “Shim to fit” lol

 

[wngrog]

Yeah. That’s not right. Shim is right.

 

[Ambrew]

Congrats on your find! Looks like this will be a great thread!

 

[middlecalf]

More stripping. Driver’s door is very iffy, lots of metal missing as are couple of buried hinge captured nuts. We’ll see. Horses still not interested.

This thing must of been apart and someone barely put it back together. Makes disassembly easier but makes me wonder what the history on a previous build attempt was. Tomorrow the steering wheel gets pulled (if I don’t need a better puller) and then the cab comes off.

 

[middlecalf]

Steering wheel came right off with good pull, didn’t even need a puller. More evidence that this thing has been apart and then somewhat put back together (somewhat <<< a fair amount). Are the early steering wheels (pre-63) different in their spline setup than later wheels (I think there is spline count change in the early 70’s)? The shaft has splines (albeit not very pronounced) but the wheel bore doesn’t. Almost more like bearing surface containment than spline-to-spline. There’s a slot in both the shaft and the wheel bore where a roll pin keeps it all rotating together. Is this normal for early (aka FJ25) wheels or a mod? I don’t have any info that helps with this. In any case, it is what it is. It does have the signal cancellors ( ha, someone missed those lol) and one cancellor pin. Not sure if it should have two pins, I’ve seen one pic of such and it was only one pin.

 

[middlecalf]

And a process check. I use penetrating oil, but I'd like to use heat too (if I can). PB Blaster is flammable. So I guess heat first? Seems like a chemical soak first would be the best, but I'm not a fan of fires.

And on a related note, how do I use heat on bolts that have something burnable/meltable in proximity? I'm thinking of the cab body mounts with rubber pads. Is the heat from a heat gun enough, or does it take flamage? Most likely they're going to take cutting blade anyhow. I've had PB Blaster smoking from the heat from the cutting blade. Par for the course, I guess?

 

[wngrog]

Par. Cut. Keep fire extinguishers around.

Repeat.

 

[middlecalf]

Funny how it’s good to have bolts break during destruction. Only had to cut one off. Driver’s side will be a different adventure.

 

[middlecalf]

Keep fire extinguishers around.

There’s actually a fire truck parked next to the shop, fully ready.

(and fire extinguishers)

 

[middlecalf]

One step forward, three backward. It’s why we love these old rigs. I guess, lol.

What do I do about this? Splines gone on wheel, maybe it’s a newer one that the splines were ground away to fit because of different spline count for older shaft (36)? Is it even a cruiser wheel? Can’t read the writing on the backside, no obvious TEQ symbol. There are 32 or 33 splines left on the shaft (albeit not very pronounced), don’t know how many were removed by whoever put the slot in. A roll pin does bind it all together, but... @pardion any ideas?

 

[Michael B]

More pictures of the wheel please?

 

[middlecalf]

I’ll post some more tomorrow.

 

[pardion]

Wow! never seen the roll/key pin trick. Seeing your turn signal switch, you do need a pin to cancel their operation. Early FJ45 were talking.Holler if you want an early shaft and box and wheel, as I do have some. Can't wait for more photo's.

Never seen the frame body mounts bolted, always rivited. Are those metric or SAE, USS bolts? Fun Time Here. John