Builds 1977 FJ40 Rebuild – Focus on Custom Stainless Tub
- Thread starter psmbfuer
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It is too early in the morning for comprehend the talent it takes to shape so many parts. This is amazing to me. I wish I had the time and skills to even get a part made up. Then you toss in the word hydroforming? Googled that one…wow! You’re saying using wood molds and water pressure you can create these shaped and ridged pieces?
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
Anything with complicated or tight bends would be a candidate, I'd think. I didn't have anything in particular in mind when I posted the thought.
You'd only need two stiff (maybe 1/2") plates, a fitting for the garden hose welded onto one, and a spot in the middle of the two for the material to move into. There are a few YT videos about doing this; it isn't complicated. You can also use a grease gun for the pressure source. This has the added benefit of lubricating everything so the forming goes more smoothly (no pun intended). It does make a mess though, and it'd be something to clean up for a painted part, like a body panel. A bracket or frame part, would be a good candidate, maybe.
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
Wood (really strong wood like red oak or southern yellow pine) would work for a one time mold. Anything else would need metal.
This intrigues me at lot… I don’t have any part I would need to make but just doing it once would be very cool to try. I was impressed by a YouTube video by Fitzee’s Fabrication. This man hammers and cuts some rather unique cart parts for vintage cars. In a 40 min video, he shows how he does all of these. Not something I would have and knowledge of so it did. Wow me…, this does also.
I love the 1920’s to 1960’s cars and motorcycles….restored dozens of bikes from those time periods. Most of those parts had extremely simple curves and ridges and that metal seemed to hold up well for 75 years of use. Only had 1 fender that ever needed a patch, but that was only a patch.
I can see the floor of an FJ40 with all the ridges rotting away and needing replacement…for me, unless I found a replacement to weld in, I’d be screwed. This post just makes the parts as needed…once again…wow
I love the 1920’s to 1960’s cars and motorcycles….restored dozens of bikes from those time periods. Most of those parts had extremely simple curves and ridges and that metal seemed to hold up well for 75 years of use. Only had 1 fender that ever needed a patch, but that was only a patch.
I can see the floor of an FJ40 with all the ridges rotting away and needing replacement…for me, unless I found a replacement to weld in, I’d be screwed. This post just makes the parts as needed…once again…wow
Clearly not for the one off parts need…but holy cow is that fascinating!!
I just love those Tucker cars… saw the movie several times and the documentary about Preston Tucker
I just love those Tucker cars… saw the movie several times and the documentary about Preston Tucker
Very cool to see all this progress. My 20 years and counting thread is now 32+ years. The aluminum 1/4s I installed in ‘98 will likely be replaced when I replace the door sills and the rocker panel… and then the bib and windshield frame.
when I bent up my floor my equipment was somewhat more basic. I used two 7’ lengths of 6” channel that were clamped where I wanted the bend, and then heated the 1/8” steel till it was cherry red. I then stood on the metal I wanted to bend down. Each bend took several passes with the torch and I kept my weight on it till I was satisfied with the bend.
Same - Same (but different).
when I bent up my floor my equipment was somewhat more basic. I used two 7’ lengths of 6” channel that were clamped where I wanted the bend, and then heated the 1/8” steel till it was cherry red. I then stood on the metal I wanted to bend down. Each bend took several passes with the torch and I kept my weight on it till I was satisfied with the bend.
Same - Same (but different).
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psmbfuer
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- #110
Good stuff bikersmurf - while I haven't bent 7' sections with heat, I have used it when needed, and much more often in the early days, especially on thicker pieces. And just to be certain that you noticed in the beginning of this thread - my work on this started back in 2017, so, what I have been posting is very compressed. I'm also not done, and if I decide to swap in my 1HZ, I might wind up rivaling you. I also scanned your thread, a lot of good work, and I've been curious about air bags for a while. We have them on my son's 2500 Ram and they really quiet down the ride and jitter coming from the rear.
My thread is also very condensed... I built the steel floor back in '92. My build thread started in 2012. As a whole, my progress is glacially slow. Family, health, work, house, other vehicles, and a 100 other things all slow down our progress. Unfortunately the bodywork that I hadn't done 30 years ago will now take longer... since rust never sleeps.
psmbfuer
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- #113
Getting back to the passenger wheel well, we will need to remove the remaining vertical panel, then build and install a replacement.
Here is the panel just prior to removal.
And below, you can see some of the puckering / swelling around the factory spot welds a little better, showing the presence of rust in the seam, and again, the pilot hole uses to help keep the spot weld removal bit from wandering.
On the left side of the below pic, you can see some of the deeper rust that we festering behind the old roll bar support and the vertical wheel well panel - another reason for replacing this panel.
Now removing the spot welds along the front on the panel.
Here is the panel about to come free.
Below, you can see how the rust was progressing inside the seam and if we had not removed it, we would be back in here correcting this in the not too distant future.
And below, you can see the lap mating surface on the rear floor side, which will be replaced with stainless as well.
Here is the panel just prior to removal.
And below, you can see some of the puckering / swelling around the factory spot welds a little better, showing the presence of rust in the seam, and again, the pilot hole uses to help keep the spot weld removal bit from wandering.
On the left side of the below pic, you can see some of the deeper rust that we festering behind the old roll bar support and the vertical wheel well panel - another reason for replacing this panel.
Now removing the spot welds along the front on the panel.
Here is the panel about to come free.
Below, you can see how the rust was progressing inside the seam and if we had not removed it, we would be back in here correcting this in the not too distant future.
And below, you can see the lap mating surface on the rear floor side, which will be replaced with stainless as well.
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psmbfuer
SILVER Star
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- #114
Now that have cleanly removed the existing panel in one piece, we need to take some careful measurement, for the second time, cut and bend a carbon prototype, and then the final panel in stainless.
Here is the carbon prototype in place.
Now the cut stainless panel.
And we now have the brake press, which we used on the long bend on the panel.
A contrast pic.
Now the new panel fitment.
Here is the carbon prototype in place.
Now the cut stainless panel.
And we now have the brake press, which we used on the long bend on the panel.
A contrast pic.
Now the new panel fitment.
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
Really first rate work.
psmbfuer
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- #117
But now how do we attach this new vertical wheel well panel to the rear upright without welding the seam three pics above - it's just too pretty for even a good weld. We could continue to use the inside connecting plate that we shared back in the last pic on post #97, but that too looks make-shift and a little sloppy, so here is the approach.
We'll make this connecting panel that will be welded to the vertical wheel well at the rear and the quarter panel final bend / lip slips in between the upright and this new connecting panel to form the same door mating profile as we had build into the rear sill.
In the pic below, the panel is not final welded, so imagine the nuts welded to the connecting panel on the right, with the rear quarter panel lip sliding between the upright and this connecting panel.
Spot welded the connecting panel to the wheel well panel with the TEC spot welder on the TIG.
And here is what the spot welds look like from the front of the panel. For those paying close attention, we ran out of the stainless flange nuts for the moment.
And here is how the rear inside corner all comes together - still just with a few bolts and clamps.
And here is what the final outside corner of the quarter panel and resulting profile to match that of the rear sill.
We'll make this connecting panel that will be welded to the vertical wheel well at the rear and the quarter panel final bend / lip slips in between the upright and this new connecting panel to form the same door mating profile as we had build into the rear sill.
In the pic below, the panel is not final welded, so imagine the nuts welded to the connecting panel on the right, with the rear quarter panel lip sliding between the upright and this connecting panel.
Spot welded the connecting panel to the wheel well panel with the TEC spot welder on the TIG.
And here is what the spot welds look like from the front of the panel. For those paying close attention, we ran out of the stainless flange nuts for the moment.
And here is how the rear inside corner all comes together - still just with a few bolts and clamps.
And here is what the final outside corner of the quarter panel and resulting profile to match that of the rear sill.
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psmbfuer
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- #119
Now that we have the larger panels for the passenger side rear mostly ready to be installed, there are a lot of details that need to be done before we can assemble all of this including:
- Patch the floor mounts areas on both sides - these extend to the floor outer edge, and it will much easier to work these before assembly.
- Replace the rear floor outer edges
- Replace the outer and inner edges of the remaining front wheel well panel.
- Complete the curved portion of the top wheel well panel so that it can be butt welded to the remaining front wheel well panel.
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psmbfuer
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- #120
I'm sure you have noticed that these mount areas have two layers for added strength. The support that adds the second layer runs the width of the rear floor, between the two frame mounts. Below is a shot that shows the rust between these layers at the point where we cut for the patch from the driver's side.
The best way to remove this rust, from my perspective, is to remove the support from the bottom, remake it out of stainless and then reinstall it. To do this from the top while the tub is mounted to the frame will sever the tube into two pieces, creating an unfavorable situation. Since we plan to remove the tub anyway, we will leave this work for a later date when we place the tub on our rotisserie and take care of both bottom-mounted supports and other issues that are better addressed from the bottom.
The floor is also in very good condition, and while we won't know for certain, I expect that the upper floor layer will remain after physical and chemically cleaning it from the bottom. And we will likely bolt the new stainless supports to the floor using the same screws that we used on the rear sill, and of course, using panel adhesive between the new stainless support and the carbon floor, but we'll re-evaluate all this when the time comes.
We plug welded the upper and lower panels together.
The best way to remove this rust, from my perspective, is to remove the support from the bottom, remake it out of stainless and then reinstall it. To do this from the top while the tub is mounted to the frame will sever the tube into two pieces, creating an unfavorable situation. Since we plan to remove the tub anyway, we will leave this work for a later date when we place the tub on our rotisserie and take care of both bottom-mounted supports and other issues that are better addressed from the bottom.
The floor is also in very good condition, and while we won't know for certain, I expect that the upper floor layer will remain after physical and chemically cleaning it from the bottom. And we will likely bolt the new stainless supports to the floor using the same screws that we used on the rear sill, and of course, using panel adhesive between the new stainless support and the carbon floor, but we'll re-evaluate all this when the time comes.
We plug welded the upper and lower panels together.
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