Builds 1965 FJ45lv build up/resto thread

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HeavyLift said:
where is the photo spread...i gotta have more pretty pictures


This ain't playboy, there will be no photo spread. :flipoff2:

Dude, I had retaining wall landscaping stuff I had to do for the wife, gotta keep her happy too. :D

Should be more pics later tonight. I still have to grind down several hundred spot welds in the drip edge, but I'm a little burnt out on the roof right now. That was a big job and I think I'm going to be taking a break from the roof and grinding welds down, they can wait.

Onto the tailgate tonight......the tailgate appeared briefly a few months ago in an early episode. Not much ever got done, I just got is blasted and removed the outer skin because it was crushed in and full of bondo, a LOT of bondo.

I have to make a few new parts, fix some bent up stuff, weld, grind and prime and then re-skin it. Probably a weeks worth of work.


Matt
 
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cruiser_guy said:
...What about the roof cross members, are they stock? Mine has three that bolt in....

From the source aka Rick D.

Non USA Equipment:
- Right hand drive
- Split rear seat and deep extra rear seat (seats 9 short people)
- Interior window guards
- Over windshield vent and wide bolt in headliner bows
- Door pillar lights
- Ambulance doors
- Screw in door panels (all US had grey / white snap in type)
- Rear bumper options
 
Cruiser Guy,

Could you post a pic of those 3 x-members across the top. I would like to see how there bolted in?

Thanks, Matt
 
treerootCO said:
From the source aka Rick D.

Non USA Equipment:
- Over windshield vent and wide bolt in headliner bows
- Door pillar lights

I've got this equipment on mine.

I'll take some pictures in a bit and post them on root45
 
Well if you just tuned in I had mentioned that the tailgate had made an appearence in an early episode when I had the blaster out. I still have more work to do cleaning up the welds on the roof, but I'm a little sick of the roof now so I'm going to work on the tailgate for a while.

Wanted to get a full night in on the tailgate and that didn't happen. I had something work related come up tonight so I only got to work on it for 1 hour. I managed to get the handle area piece cut out of the old skin. I think you can see all the bondo still on the old skin and the lines I sandblasted out so I could drill out the spot welds. Man that thing was/is junk!!

I took a look at the remaining tailgate piece and how to tackle that. The bottom portion is bent up pretty bad. I was going to just cut out the area the bottom just between the hinge mount points and hammer the other stuff straight, but now thinking a little different. I'm going to see if I can make the part first before I cut it out. I think you can see the black lines I have drawn on the tailgate. Basiclly cut it from the inner panel opening right to the outside of the the tailgate, including all the hinge mounting points and those brackets. All that metal is bent up bad so all new stuff would be nice. Problem is that piece is a lot of bends and then keeping everything straight. It would be a fairly complicated piece to make and then the recess's for the hinges at the other angle and all the inner structure pieces where the hinges attach have to made also.

Although, hard I think might be the right thing to do?

Matt
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Let me know if you need any measurments. Hopefully you still have my number ;)

You never call anymore :D

hehe....I enjoy reading your posts. Just when I think I know where you'll go next, you hack the tailgate into little bits. Keep up the good work.
 
haha more 'matt'ifications....i love it

Are you planning on fabbing that part in two sections? ie the top portion just below the panel and then the second portion being th bottom side where the hinge placement is recessed? I imagine you would be able to make that stronger then and it would simplify it?
 
HeavyLift said:
haha more 'matt'ifications....i love it

Are you planning on fabbing that part in two sections? ie the top portion just below the panel and then the second portion being th bottom side where the hinge placement is recessed? I imagine you would be able to make that stronger then and it would simplify it?


No, it will be bent up in 1 piece, it will be a lot of bends in 1 piece. I think 2 pieces would be more difficult to line everything up and keep straight.

After it is welded in then I will have to cut out the hinge recess areas and make those areas. Quite a bit of bracketry on the backside that has to be made to.

Should be fully, "Mattified" when I'm done :)

Matt
 
treerootCO said:
Let me know if you need any measurments. Hopefully you still have my number ;)

You never call anymore :D

hehe....I enjoy reading your posts. Just when I think I know where you'll go next, you hack the tailgate into little bits. Keep up the good work.


Mike, If you need me to call and talk you to sleep still, let me know :flipoff2:

I'm sick of working on the roof :frown: The roof isn't going anywhere now, all the parts are welded in and that's done. It will be waiting for me when I come back to it ;)

I don't think I'm going to need any measurements. I have the old skin and I've got the opening on the lv that I can measure, so I should be good to go. If I do, you will be the first to know, trust me.....

You guys don't see it that well in the pics, but between those lines I have drawn it is bent up pretty bad.

Matt
 
Got about a solid 3.5 hours in on the lv tonight. Really good night, no interuptions and I think everything went really well.

As soon as I got home I started making that lower rear tailgate piece. I had the wife come out and give me a hand running the break. Pretty much hit the nail on the head the first time, turned out pretty good. Then, I layed it over the top and drew lines on each side so that it would be an exact fit. Prior to cutting it there was some braces on the inner side that had to be drilled out. I took one completely out since it was so bent up, figured I would make a new one. The other one I just drilled out the area that I was removing thinking that I could straighten that one. It stayed in there almost to the end, then I decided to remove it. It was a little tweaked, probably use that one again, just straighten it out real nice when it's completely out.

Prior to cutting the tailgate I took a few measurements, just to make sure it was the same width when I welded the new piece in. Cut off wheel, cut on the line, out the bent chub came. Used some vice grips, fit the new piece in, seemed to line up nice and the width was perfect.

After I welded it in I had to make the recess's for the lower tailgate hinges. I held the old piece over the top and transfered marks to the new piece. You can pretty much see in the pics how I had to mark it and cut out of the new piece I had just welded in and then make those other 2 pieces and weld those in. After those recess's were welded in ground everything down and cleaned it up.

I spent about a half hour with the hammer and dollied up the old metal for a while, there were little dings and dents all over it. Spent a few minutes with the wire wheel on the grinder and cleaned it up. Wiped it down with DX330 and shot a heavy coat of DP50LF on it. Should be dry tomorrow.

I have to work tomorrow night so I'm going to try to get a few hours in on it in the morning. There are still brackets I have to make that reinforce the hinge area and plates that the bolts thread into, actually quite a bit of stuff and brackets to make. I don't think that I'm going to use any of the old stuff. I think I will just make it all new.

Few pics

Matt
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