Builds 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together (1 Viewer)

[Vae Victus]

Cleaning up and reattaching the brace. This DID get media blasted.

 

[65swb45]

Scott

I don’t know if this is less work than what you’re facing with the trans tunnels you have, but a little birdie just brought this by.

$200 plus the ride if you want it.

 

[Vae Victus]

I actually welded the patch back in before the brace....

 

[Vae Victus]

Scott

I don’t know if this is less work than what you’re facing with the trans tunnels you have, but a little birdie just brought this by.$200 plus the ride if you want it.

@65swb45
Mark, looks better than mine. Can you post a couple of pics of the edges where it mounts to the floor where they are rusty, and from the bottom? Any rust anywhere else?

I think I can patch the big friggin' holes better than recreate those edges and curves where the bolts go to the body. Why do people do that crap? Never mind, I know why.

 

[Vae Victus]

These two show the finished product on both sides. Seems like my first attempt (driver's) always looks better than my 2nd (passenger).

Driver’s side

Passenger side

 

[Vae Victus]

So now I'm ready to put this body back on the frame. I left the rebuilt body mount braces free floating (held by a couple of nut/bolts) so I could locate them exactly before welding them in place.

First I had to finish welding the two parts together. The main heavy mount bracket that I salvaged from the two old parts, and the new brace that welds to the body that I made using the Swag offroad that Rick mentioned before.

 

[Vae Victus]

One thing to note - if you use the newer style non-OEM body mounts, you may have to enlarge the holes in the mount braces to get them to fit. The weld around the nuts are often waay too large to fit cleanly.

The new body mounts do fit cleanly in these two recessed locations on the bottom brace however, so that was good.

 

[Vae Victus]

I promise I'm not a shill for amazon or this glove company, but I did find some gloves that I want to recommend. I'm a shop weenie that wears gloves ALL THE TIME. I have saved myself a thousand cuts and the absorption of a lot of toxic stuff by wearing them. I look like a nerd, but I don't care.

Anyway, I've been wearing some 4-5 mil gloves for several years now, and just tried this other brand that are 14 mils thick. Boy, do they make a difference. I'd get several hours and several sessions out of the old gloves, but I have yet to break one glove of this new type, and I've had that pair on for over a week now (I have a photo from the 24th with them on - it's now the 30th). Plus they have the long cuff which the other ones do not, keeping my arm free of spark burn when I grind (I also wear a long sleeve welding jacket most of the time, along with a respirator, ear pro, goggles, AND a fold down face shield - too many times I've gotten crap embedded in my face while grinding).

Anyway, here's the new glove. The old one is the Halyard brand. They are not bad, but the Adenna Hero 14 mil are great. About 2x the cost, but lasting so far about 4x the time. The gloves fit a lot tighter too.

Warning: not for those with Latex allergies, as they are made of latex.

 

[tls3601]

Great work, I used the same body mounts on mine, Energy Suspension, some were a challange

 

[Helipilot]

If they fit snug what size do you normally wear? I wear gloves most of the time as well and find that most large are too tight and usually buy x-large in the nitrile that are chemical proof and required for aerial application of forestry work by USFS.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Yessir. I used the Swag press brake and also bought the finger brake later to do some more curvy stuff. Still it is hard to do - especially small parts with inner diameters of less than 2" because they fold in on themselves in the press. You need the offset finger brakes to do much more detailed stuff. Oh, and a press that is a bit more accurate than the crappy harbor freight one that I have (that is off about 1/4" from one end to the other, making straight bends hard!!).

I have the same harbor freight press and have been eyeing up that brake attachment for a while. On my (really thin sheet) brake - I’ve usuallt gotten around the inaccuracy by scribing the bent line, clamping it in the brake lightly, then tapping it into position. I’m usually able to get it pretty close to straight.

Given the inherent badness of the HF press - is the swag brake a good investment? It’s very high on my purchase list but I haven’t scraped the pennies together yet. Can anything be done to make the press more accurate? I always saw the slop in the tracks as being the biggest source of error. Are you saying the frame itself is off?

 

[65swb45]

@65swb45
Mark, looks better than mine. Can you post a couple of pics of the edges where it mounts to the floor where they are rusty, and from the bottom? Any rust anywhere else?

I think I can patch the big friggin' holes better than recreate those edges and curves where the bolts go to the body. Why do people do that crap? Never mind, I know why.

Will try tomorrow; gimping around pretty bad today with a pinched nerve in my back. Putting down a new floor in my bathroom this morning didn’t help.

 

[middlecalf]

@Vae Victus amateur is not an appropriate adjective description of your skills. Having done a bit (little) of what you’re doing I know this takes a goodly amount of skill at a minimum to achieve these results. Old metal, warpage, access, etc. make this a bigger challenge than is seen in most of the internet welding videos where “experts” are welding thick, new pieces of clean steel together on a welding table in a controlled environment. I.E. your repairs are worthy at any distance.

Question: your ground connection looks skookum for in situ (on rig) welding. Not familiar with that connection. Can you provide details? Thanks.

 

[65swb45]

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

View attachment 2121850View attachment 2121851

For what it's worth - those holes are easy to patch - I had to address far more jagged ones on my transmission tunnel. the sheet metal is super thin (like 20 gauge) so getting the bends in and lined up was pretty easy (I literally did it by hand and with a wooden dowel to keep it smooth).

 

[Vae Victus]

For what it's worth - those holes are easy to patch - I had to address far more jagged ones on my transmission tunnel. the sheet metal is super thin (like 20 gauge) so getting the bends in and lined up was pretty easy (I literally did it by hand and with a wooden dowel to keep it smooth).

Thanks Rick - gives me reassurance.

 

[Vae Victus]

Will try tomorrow; gimping around pretty bad today with a pinched nerve in my back. Putting down a new floor in my bathroom this morning didn’t help.

@65swb45 Mark, yes I’d like it! I’ll call you. I’m in LA right now but won’t make it by. Too bad - like to meet the legend.
Hope your neck gets better!

 

[Vae Victus]

If they fit snug what size do you normally wear? I wear gloves most of the time as well and find that most large are too tight and usually buy x-large in the nitrile that are chemical proof and required for aerial application of forestry work by USFS.

I normally wear L to XL - I’m 6’3”. L fits better in nitrile and I like the snugness of the latex version. XL in the nitrile is too long and loose.

In normal cold-weather gloves I wear XL so finger tips don’t get cold.

 

[Vae Victus]

@Vae Victus amateur is not an appropriate adjective description of your skills. Having done a bit (little) of what you’re doing I know this takes a goodly amount of skill at a minimum to achieve these results. Old metal, warpage, access, etc. make this a bigger challenge than is seen in most of the internet welding videos where “experts” are welding thick, new pieces of clean steel together on a welding table in a controlled environment. I.E. your repairs are worthy at any distance.

Question: your ground connection looks skookum for in situ (on rig) welding. Not familiar with that connection. Can you provide details? Thanks.

Thanks man!

it’s a magnetic mount. I’ll send photos once I return to Nashville tomorrow. It works much better than the clamp type while working On body panels. I grind off a clear area and stick it on.

I created a whip with a short cable and connector to change from the clamp to the mag.

 

[Vae Victus]

I have the same harbor freight press and have been eyeing up that brake attachment for a while. On my (really thin sheet) brake - I’ve usuallt gotten around the inaccuracy by scribing the bent line, clamping it in the brake lightly, then tapping it into position. I’m usually able to get it pretty close to straight.

Given the inherent badness of the HF press - is the swag brake a good investment? It’s very high on my purchase list but I haven’t scraped the pennies together yet. Can anything be done to make the press more accurate? I always saw the slop in the tracks as being the biggest source of error. Are you saying the frame itself is off?

Hard to say about “is it worth it” - depends on how much bending you need to do going forward. I’m prob not doing much but I do like this kind of activity so who knows.

There are some videos I think on making the HF press more accurate but I haven’t pursued researching.

I am not sure if the frame is off (but 90% sure that’s the source) or my welding on the brake.

I’ve done so little bending that I haven’t worried about it. I did finish a lot of the bends with a hammer and vice or anvil.