Builds 1978 FJ55 BATPIG

[DTC72]

Did you ceramic coat just the headers or also the entire exhaust muffler pipes?

 

[gonzopancho]

Did you ceramic coat just the headers or also the entire exhaust muffler pipes?

Whole damn thing. Hangers get powder.

 

[gonzopancho]

back from blast.

 

[gonzopancho]

Back in the shop. Little tune up for the frame before sending it to powder coat.

Fill a few holes. Tune up the stock booger welds. Nothing crazy just a tune up.

 

[gonzopancho]

Sure, it’s held for nearly fifty years. Doesn’t mean it can’t be purty in the places nobody ever looks.

 

[gonzopancho]

I bet you wish you had a blindfold…

 

[DTC72]

Kind of crazy how bad those stock/factory welds are!

 

[Lifelong40Fan]

Sure, it’s held for nearly fifty years. Doesn’t mean it can’t be purty in the places nobody ever looks.

Wait, Jim, you still talking about your pig?

 

[RUSH55]

Tune up the stock booger welds.

Kind of crazy how bad those stock/factory welds are!

Ol’ Lee in the frame department. Never held a stick of 7018 in his life until he transferred out of the sanitation department after having a dispute with his foreman, in which he was blamed for lackluster toilet cleaning skills. His coworker Yuoto threw him under the bus for the last time that day, so he pulled some strings with his father-in-law who was marketing manager at the time.

 

[gonzopancho]

steering box got sent for a rebuild, too.

Steering box is back.

 

[gonzopancho]

Just one more morning

 

[gonzopancho]

I had to wake up with the blues

 

[gonzopancho]

Pulled myself out of bed,

 

[gonzopancho]

Put on my walking shoes

 

[J Mack]

Nothing crazy just a tune up

Quite possibly one of the prettiest FJ55 frames I've seen, Kudos to the craftsmen you hired to work on this pig for you...

 

[Cruisers and Co]

Quite possibly one of the prettiest FJ55 frames I've seen, Kudos to the craftsmen you hired to work on this pig for you...

Did any of you consider the negative effect of welding on a frame before you began this beautification project on you frame? I've always been told when you weld on a factory frame you need to take precautions and certain guide lines "rules of thumb" must be adhered to or cracks will almost certainly follow.
I know you have a talented group working for you and I'm not questioning them but looking at the angles they welded this frame goes against everything I thought I knew as what you would do when welding a factory frame..
Welding over welds I was always thought was a last resort when working on frames.

Toyota issues updates on key collision repair techniques - https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2022/06/22/toyota-issues-updates-on-key-collision-repair-techniques/

If you ask your guys would you please post their reply and teach us something down here?

not the guy doing this but as an ME I would say what Mark has done here is top notch. That article is from 2022 and likely referencing new frames. I deduce that from the discussion about zinc coating, ecu’s and the SRS system… I do not believe these early frames were made with a zinc coating and they certainly do not have any ecu’s or srs systems that can be fried.

Personally I have welded on many 40/55/60 frames and none of them react like hardened steel. Also I would be shocked if the individual (who I know for a fact is extremely talented/experienced) did not back gouge the OG weld and then re-lay the new weld. Also on all the load bearing points (shock towers) it looks like the welds were wrapped which is good. Body mounts are tough but there are 8 of them and are relatively low load points in the grand scheme.

Last note… everything around this thing on the road is designed to absorb impact. Probably the safest it’s ever been to be on the road in a 55!

 

[J Mack]

I would say what Mark has done here is top notch.

100% agree. and your hair looks nice!

 

[J Mack]

Personally I have welded on many 40/55/60 frames and none of them react like hardened steel.

I like popsicles too

 

[Cruisers and Co]

Yeah I looked quickly and found a bunch of articles that said not to weld on factory frames and pretty much backed up what I thought but I was looking for something "Toyota" specifically well because we are here on MUDD and TOYOTA...

I truly believe they are just mild steel. They weld nicely when clean and didn’t have any of the odd characteristics of treated steel. Most of what you were probably reading was about newer hardened frames and let’s be honest… from a liability standpoint any oem would blanch at publicizing rewelding a frame.

I'm with you and don't see an issue with what was done for how this pig is likely to be used, my original question was aimed at the guys paying for and preforming the work if they considered any of the potential negatives when they decided to go with this plan.. AGAIN I'm not saying anything bad about the quality of the work performed just curious..

Definitely a great question and something that should be brought up. I was just trying to shed some light having done similar things on similar frames!

Do you weld vertical when you weld on the older Toyota frames or do you try to say on a diamond when possible?

Depends on the location. Trying to reduce stress concentrations by wrapping the welds is key and what I always try to do. The crystalline structure does change when you weld something but wrapping helps prevent a point of stress concentrations by dispersing the load around a bend rather than stoping at a point.

 

[bobm]

Me personally and this is just me! I would never weld over someone elses weld without removing it entirely. Don't trust it and if ya look at them factory welds they look to have minimum penetration if any! I understand @J Mack concerns. Steel changes as it ages just like us .