1974FJ Rebuild of cruiser....

[1974FJ]

Man, i didnt waste anytime today! Ive been waiting for this for 3 months now!

Heres what ive got torn down, this thing is a wreck!(literally)





Pretty obvious the motor mounts are broken!



you can see that the tranny and t-case are hanging down real low too...

 

[1974FJ]

Motor isnt sitting in there very straight....at all







Its a new moon roof design! like it?!

 

[GarnerFJ40]

You could make into the soft top style like the old beetles... Or go with a pop-up design like a RV...

 

[1974FJ]

Got the fenders and front grill pulled off getting ready to pull the motor. Its coming along...

 

[1974FJ]

pulling the motor was a major pain! i decided i didnt want to pull the t-case or trans off, so i pulled it as a whole. I had to mark all the connections because i know in a couple months when i go to put it all back together i wont know what goes where.





The motor was well oiled......on the outside!

 

[1969cruzer]

very nice! I am right in line with you as well.

 

[1974FJ]

Alright fellas!
Im on my fall break and im starting to get some things done! Heres whats been done so far...
I got the tub loose from the frame and jacked up the rear section to get to the bumper(rivets everywhere). Started to drill out all the rivets, decided that it was easier to cut the frame off and drill out the rivets without everything in the way. I need this bumper to add to my recently acquired frame(new frames bumper was a P.O.S.) Fixed some really bad spot on the new frame and on the bumper and connected to the two, which is now ready to blast and put primer on.




New frame, with crappy rear bumper removed.

 

[1974FJ]

Heres something i made for my custom exhaust manifold and turbo setup.
I needed a way for the oil drain tube to work with the chopped 6bt manifold, so here what i came up with...



Also, took the leaf spring off the cruiser and separated all the packs for blasting and painting. I was able to use my dads shop cabinet blaster and it did a great job...

 

[1974FJ]

Shot some primer on the springs before the final coat. For the final coat im using this stuff called Slip Plate. I got this stuff from Grainger and its a graphite based paint that is great for use on leaf springs to reduce friction and crud buildup....





Leafs with Slip-Plate

 

[1974FJ]

The new frame needed alot of work, but was still worth it knowing ive got a straight frame. Heres proof that my Dad is helping out. Got him to weld some with my new Lincoln 180 i got back in March. This Lincoln is so fool proof, that my Dad welds like a pro(he doesnt ever weld). Here he is welding up some modified spring perches.



I was hoping that the shinny spot on his head wouldnt glare this photo...haha

 

[1974FJ]

Started work on the rear bumper and decided that i did want the original style ball hitch with mount. I wanted a receiver style where i can remove the assembly when not using. I also welded on some D-Ring anchors and welded shut all the misc. holes. Heres what I came up with....

 

[1974FJ]

Plan for tomorrow is to work on the Hardtop. I was able to buy both a fiberglass cap and a drivers side hard top panel from Ramon(Thanks a MILLION!!). So tomorrow i will be fixin the rusted out sections of this hardtop panel and patching a few spots on the fiberglass cap. Im pretty excited about what all I got done this break. Hope to get some more done in two weeks when i have to come home for my sisters engagement party.....booo. Enjoy:

 

[mtweller]

Glad to see you are coming along on this Martin. You are going to have one BADASS machine when you're done!

 

[1974FJ]

this top I picked up is kinda weird. so i had to cut away all the way down passed the bolt holes so i could add a section from the wrecked panel to make it work with my style rear hatch. I cut out all the bad rusted areas and heres what i came up with...



heres the section from my wrecked top that im gonna use...





ended up getting it all ground down, forgot to take photo, but looks great!

 

[mtweller]

Glad to see it's workin out for you Martin.

 

[diggity]

Martin - I am already jealous of this rig. Great work, I cannot wait to see this thing finished.

Brad

 

[southerncruiser62]

Martin it appears that things are coming along nicely, let's us know if you ever could use a hand, we've done a HAMOM in High Point, and we have a large crowd in Charlotte that we need to get involved, I believe you are somewhat near the charlotte area so let us know.

 

[1974FJ]

Look what i came home to this weekend! Started to finish up the rear boxing around the rear bumper.

 

[Yo_Han]

nice welds! Making good progress, like the work on the rear bumper!

 

[1974FJ]

Got alittle bit of work done this weekend. Had to go my sisters engagement party and my grand dads b-day, so the weekend didn't have much cruiser time involved. I mostly worked on the frame some more. I was able to box the rear in some more and add bracing. I also came close to finishing the hard top panel. Heading home Friday i picked up another set of leaf springs to replace my bent ones. So now i have 4 good spring packs to work with (thanks Spence!) Came home and had my package from Orangefj45 that had my front knuckle rebuild kit and new inner seals. I then took-off to the local junkyard who told me they had my bellhousing for the cummins/nv4500. heres what went down this weekend....