1964 FJ45 LB “RB1” Project

[miker]

couple more

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Perfect! Those pics make it much easier to visualize. My build is supposed to be a daily driver (we'll see how that goes) so I am concerned about some idjit rear ending me (for the third time) or blowing a red light and hitting me side on. I see in your pics the main hoop is not directly behind or beside the drivers head - so that works .

I assume you have sat in the seat and made vroom-vroom noises... how is the peripheral vision with regard to the main hoop and the corner window? Is the hoop really noticeable there? How is the old shoulder check for lane changes? I guess it's pretty subjective and a guy would obviously get used to it.

 

[miker]

I assume you have sat in the seat and made vroom-vroom noises... how is the peripheral vision with regard to the main hoop and the corner window? Is the hoop really noticeable there? How is the old shoulder check for lane changes? I guess it's pretty subjective and a guy would obviously get used to it.

Good assumption however, I'm not going to admit I made any "vroom-vroom" noises. The noises I made sitting in the seat were more like glug-glug-glug as I tipped back a cold one dreaming about the day I could actually drive it.

I didn't think about checking the over the shoulder view. I'll have to see what that's like. Even without any bar, I bet its not the best view out that window. Still a lot of metal to look around but the bar does add more stuff to get in the way.

The earlier comment I made regarding a 3/4 halo in stead of the rear hoop would provide some more space (maybe 2") to the rear bar for the driver. I think it could be tucked up into the top cap more than mine ended up. Here is a crude drawing of what I'm talking about.

 

[a.greenspan]

.. My build is supposed to be a daily driver (we'll see how that goes) so I am concerned about some idjit rear ending me (for the third time) or blowing a red light and hitting me side on. I see in your pics the main hoop is not directly behind or beside the drivers head - so that works .

Kevin,
would think about a Roll bar padding.
" [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Roll bar padding is not just roll bar padding. Tests have proven that roll bar padding plays a vital role in decreasing the potential of serious injury in crashes. All drivers should be surrounded with FIA Type A or sfi 45.1 Spec Approved Padding.[/FONT]..."
BSCI Roll Cage Bar Padding / Roll Bar Padding

Cheers
Peter

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Yes, padding is part of the layout plans

 

[miker]

Spent some time working on the tunnel cover. Have the drivers side pieces cut, fit and tacked in place.

I removed a part of the floor on the driver's side which had a bump and replaced it with a piece of flat metal. This is the bump marked with a #1. This made it a little easier to fab the tunnel on the drivers side and it also gave me some more room for the gas pedal.

On the trans tunnel cover, since you have to build/modify, I urge you to consider inverting the forward section on the driver's side, getting the vertical drop to start more or less alongside the transmission. This should yield 3 or 4" of foot space in that overly crowded area between the gas pedal and the hump.
Mark A.

Since Mark asked if I was going to modify the tunnel to allow more room for the gas pedal I took a measurement of the width and its right at 19" with the new tunnel cover. This is several inches more than the stock cover provides as Mark mentioned.

I will add a piece of metal to the #2 area and fill in that stock cutout area bordered by the blue line. Not sure what this was for but I don't need that extra room and filling it in will make that area look better.

I am considering taking out the raised area marked by #3 and replacing it with a piece of flat. I think this might have been for the stock tcase linkage. If I make this area flat it will make the new tunnel cover easier to fit up on that side.

 

[miker]

A family friend happened to be over to the house a few weeks ago and we started talking about my FJ45 project. The conversation quickly focused on "when will it be finished?". During the conversation, I started to point to the work I've done and then what is left to be done, and I soon I realized that there was not one single thing I could point to and say "That part is finished."

Sooooo, it seems that its time to start focusing on an item until I get it finished before I move on to the next. Maybe I can start checking things off the list...

With this in mind, I decided the front axle should be my fist item to check off.

A few pictures of the progress follow. Progress includes:
Front knuckles turned and welded.
Knuckle stops welded on
shock mounts welded on
Axle braces and skid plate welded on.
Painted the housing and the 3rd.
Installed the Marlin Crawler 25mm knuckle bearings and set the knuckle pre-load.
(Note that if you install the MC bearing kit, you need to enlarge the diameter of the opening in the knuckle where the race stops. The new bearing's cup i.d. is a larger diameter and the bearing cage will contact the housing if you don't enlarge the opening. Not much trimming is needed. I used a round file and slowly did this by hand with bearing races removed. Pictures are after the trimming. (Forgot to take a pic before timming.)

 

[miker]

Picture of the housing trimmed, and then the race (or cup) in place. Note that the housing is now almost flush with the I.D. of the bearing.

 

[miker]

View from inside the knuckle ball:

 

[miker]

I didn't have the SST to check that the knuckle was centered on the housing. So, I made one of my own design, but it didn't work too well (not pictured), the measurements were varying too much to have confidence in them.

So I used what I learned making the first tool, and I made another one (pictured below). This time it worked very nicely and I'm confident I have the right shims top and bottom to center the knuckle.

There is about $5 of metal in it and about 2 hours of time. My centering tool requires the seal to be removed and housing to be clean in the seal area.

 

[merbesfield]

Very nice work. I like seeing people use their noggin.

 

[Gusb]

Cool tool!
Always better the second time around

 

[miker]

First time the front wheels have been bolted on in about 6 years.

 

[miker]

cleaned up a set of used Aisin hubs, repainted the outer dial and cap.

 

[35snmud]

Things are looking good Mike. Can't wait to see it on the trail.

Kenny

 

[miker]

with the front axle about done, this past weekend I worked on the steering column mount. Since I'm using an aftermarket column, I needed to make the upper and lower column mounts to fit the column.

I got up some 2" id DOM and some 3/8" id DOM. The aftermarket column description was a 2" column however, the column is actually a little larger than 2" so I had to enlarge the id of the DOM to slip over the column. I used a variety of things to do this but mainly a 2" sanding disc on a 90 degree die grinder and then a flap drum to smooth it out. I made a releif in the 2" DOM for the 3/8 DOM and then the 2 pieces were TIG'ed together. Then I made two cuts in the piece. The cuts allow the column to be clamped in place when the 3/8" bolt/nut is tightened.

I also made the upper mount using sections of the 2" DOM and some flat bar. This piece can't be slid up this far on the column because of the wiring loom coming out of the column so this was made like the stock piece as 2 pieces. Its a loose fit so that I will be able to clamp some 1/16" thick rubber between the upper mount and the column. I'll also put a piece of this rubber between the firewall plate and the mount.

Here are some pics:

 

[miker]

Making the upper mount.

 

[miker]

Cutting out the center, welding the inside seam, and grinding smooth.

 

[miker]

Finishing up and test fitting with a piece of 2" tubing instead of the actual column.

 

[miker]

Once I knew the angle was correct, I welded up the firewall mount. (I need more practice with the TIG.) I only welded the side that goes toward the firewall.