Builds 1977 FJ55 west TN build: family wagon (1 Viewer)

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Just finished our “ground ball game” that we’ve played for many years. Basically a kid playing defense in every infield position with me at home throwing balls. Our 2 youngest are runners. It’s fun watching our 5yo girl running past first making the safe signal. Rockies beat dodgers 4-1 in LA.
 
ps. Why don’t we have baseball now??? It’s a social distancing sport complete with gloves, pants, hats, .... We need normality and there’s not much that can top the normality of baseball for Americans! My wife says I need to write the commissioner’s office.

Wait, pants help prevent Corona virus?!?

I”m in a lot of trouble then...
 
Well, it’s been a frustrating two weeks. My welder quit working - no wire speed control. Had to take it apart and tried replacing the potentiometer. Waited a week on that. While waiting replaced the struts and shocks on my daughter’s Escape and water pump, radiator, hoses, ...., and tune up on my son’s ‘97 Explorer (major pain). So, new potentiometer doesn’t fix it, so now new board. Wait another week. Still working on Explorer.... The board comes in and welder is much better. So, finally got a good days work in. Still figuring out the quirks of welder. I discovered that it performs very differently when using a cheap extension cord. That took a lot of poor welding to finally figure out. Anyhow, here are a few pics. I’m kinda stuck welding the crossmember bc I just figured I’d drill holes in floor and weld from the top, but I can’t get the floor pressed down hard enough for there not to be a small gap between the metal pieces that prevents good welds. So, I tried welding from underneath. Wow, gravity makes a huge difference when welding under something. The puddle gets in the way and falls. Often on elbows and arms. Yes, @bobm you warned me! I’m an impatient bozo!

Still working on Explorer.....

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lol, yup, on a beach in Mexico I was asked what kinda rash is on your chest...I said that was from welding under cars as a kid.
 

“It allows for immediacy of a schedule, where you might be able to begin it and televise it, provide Major League Baseball to America,” said high-profile baseball agent, Scott Boras. “I think players are willing to do what’s necessary because I think they understand the importance of baseball for their own livelihoods and for the interest of our country and providing a necessary product that gives all the people that are isolated enjoyment."

Yes! ⚾ ⚾ ⚾ ⚾ ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
 
I did use a cardboard template. It worked pretty well. Should be able to apply what I learned here to build a better fit for the other side. Hope to get going on that tomorrow.
 
Waiting for primer to dry. All the rot is gone. I had to do a lot more grinding than I planned and so it’s taken a lot longer than I figured. Amazing how things just seamlessly go together when you’re up at 3am thinking about it. And then there’s real life. There’s probably a lesson there if I wanted to think about it! Too bad, too busy thinking about what’s next!

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Well, the curve is in. It’s a bit frustrating bc I measured, remeasured, ground, more grinding, .... and install and there’s a 1/8” gap on one side. I dunno. Oh well, it’s my truck and I’m not interested in a show truck. It’s been fun and educational. I guess I’ll fill in the gap with seam sealer.

Onward!

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Yeah, I had that built in. I think my problem was I was being too clever. I shouldn't have welded together the side piece that goes into the corner with the curved piece before installing. The curve was fitting nicely. And then I thought I'd weld the back piece to the curve and make one solid piece that'd fit perfectly. Bad idea. Next corner, I'll just get the corner in and spot welded, and then put in the back piece that goes into the corner. My skills don't match up with my ideas at this point! Keep it simple!

So, should I try and weld together in the 1/8" gap that I now have? I think I can do it at least around the curve and back a bit. I'd try and do it a bit at a time to keep the heat down. Then I'd grind it down so there's no gap. Or just leave it and seam seal it? My plan is to add seam sealer throughout the truck after all the body panel work.
 
It may be difficult with the pieces you have, but a trick you can used to keep the heat up and get a good bead flow is to put a copper backing material behind the seam. This will help prevent burn-through and the weld doesn't stick to the copper backing plate.
 

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