Build 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together

[Vae Victus]

Weekend project was to tackle the garage. Went from this:

To this: YIKES! Garage threw up in the driveway.

Good news is I'm giving away or selling 20 years worth of crap, and I have a lot more room.

Bad news, I'm not done. Gotta still trash, goodwill, and eBay a bunch of stuff.

Imagine how it will look without all the crap in the middle, including the tool box.

 

[TheHardWay]

Yep, you, Sir, are all set for an official driveway sale.Well done.

 

[Vae Victus]

Wow. In New Mexico the worst that has happened to me was having to add a heater to a freezing cold uninsulated garage in Santa fe.

Wet cold is colder than dry cold. Just like dry heat vs humidity in the summer. So, all y'all just stay where you are and quit moving to my state. (Not that anyone would leave New Mexico unless it was because it is starting to get to be too much like the great state of Kaliforniastan).

You gotta keep up. My jokes are densely packed and come at unexpected times.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Hey - is that a Mountain Bike I see?

 

[Weber Sarge]

Ok , so what's for sale ? Anything interesting ??
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

Wish I had one of these when I cut all that steel for the rotisserie.

http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-V40-Portaband-Table_p_63.html

Garage cleanup continues. Got $150 for my Husky rolling tool cabinet today. Was on CraigsList for about 12 hours.

 

[DPV7070]

Don't mean to digress from the tech stuff, but, how can you get condensation in your garage from temp changes?

Pretty common with the temp swings in TN. I busted my ass as a kid on a concrete garage floor because it was "sweating."

 

[Weber Sarge]

That table is a bit small for doing heavy steel , just fyi . It is absolutely handy for cutting smaller stuff , even very thick 1"+ blocks are easily cut with a Portaband . I took their design , bought an old Milwaukee 6230 for $75 in decent shape and made my own...
All the parts for the hydraulic press brake were cut on the bandsaw table , paid for itself right there ....
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

Finished building the welding extension power cable last night. Hooked it up today. When I flipped the 50A breaker I got - BOOM - immediate short.

"Hmm, I musta crossed my wires. No, I was really careful. Ahh, there's the issue."

Never trust the PO's wiring on anything!

Yea, that grounds looks a liiiitttllleeee loose!

All fixed and ready to go. Going to get the wire speed dialed in tonite so I can start on welding the rotisserie.

For those interested, here is how the 30A compressor is wired off the 50A welding circuit.

Fed from the left top side. To welder lower left. Existing Welding plug is below the Compressor's new breaker box.

 

[Rainman]

Ha! My electrical snafu was just getting to cocky and turning on not only the lights, but a heater, a drop light AND the compressor. Gee, think the circuit is weenie enough? Cramp!!!

 

[Weber Sarge]

Might have to toss that plug , pretty burnt and may not carry the voltage . Why isn't the neutral carried across ? I'd use that for the ground loop since in most cables it's heavier than the bare ground .
Nice XMT CC/CV , wish they would build 'em with ac/dc capability - if they did I'd have one already since it's so versatile .
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

Might have to toss that plug , pretty burnt and may not carry the voltage . Why isn't the neutral carried across ? I'd use that for the ground loop since in most cables it's heavier than the bare ground .
Nice XMT CC/CV , wish they would build 'em with ac/dc capability - if they did I'd have one already since it's so versatile .
Sarge

So this is what it comes down to in order to proceed with the build project. One step forward, two back:

Plug worked just fine after restripping and cleaning up. Bad news is that the surge killed something in the Welder. The fine folks over at WeldingWeb.com have been helping me fix the issue. I've been geeking out with my Digital Multimeter and soldering iron, figuring out where the problem was (it was in the Wire Feeder PC board) and how to fix it (replace a $0.70 relay) instead of buying a $400 board.

I found the issue despite the fact that the welding expert there said "get a new board". I talked to a Miller repair guy on the phone, used the diagrams the guys sent me from the forum, and then used the Multimeter to trace where we were not getting the right voltage. Although it all looks complicated, this part of it is fairly simple.

We will see but I'm 70% sure this is the fix. Hopefully it is the ONLY problem.

This little $0.70 relay here gets a signal from the trigger voltage, and sends 24v ac to the gas solenoid and back to the welder to close the contactors to get power to the welding wire. Waiting on the replacement to come. Friday hopefully I'll be back in business.

 

[Weber Sarge]

That stuff happens , but lesson learned . I opened up my Dynasty 200DX once to look at it's internals - looks like something NASA built but it's been bulletproof so far , '07 model .
The XMT is a heck of a welder , don't give up on it .
Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

That stuff happens , but lesson learned . I opened up my Dynasty 200DX once to look at it's internals - looks like something NASA built but it's been bulletproof so far , '07 model .
The XMT is a heck of a welder , don't give up on it .
Sarge

Oh I'm just beginning to get to know it! I really enjoy welding.

 

[Vae Victus]

My quest to build a car body rotisserie continues. Welder is working again. I removed the bad relay and replaced it ($0.70), put the board back in, and got gas and spark to the MIG tip!! (actually, this was a fix).


Pics for general interest (although it isn't very interesting if you are here for cruiser porn):

New Zettler relay. That little baby almost cost me $400. Amazing what you can do with a wiring diagram, a voltage/amp multimeter, and a little desire to be cheap!

Soldering genius

I can now WELD AGAIN BABY! (I did however let 800 lbs of expensive CO2/Argon gas leak out, so gotta hook up the new tank ) And, I know that is not a weld! I just confirmed it had a spark.

Man, all these closeup pictures make me feel claustrophobic.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Nice work!

Between taking part in the assembly process of the scientific instrument my new company produces, and doing electrical work on the truck, I have become 100% convinced that anything can be fixed for pennies if you know how to weld/solder.

We just fixed a coworker's flat screen TV (blew a resistor) after hours at work the other day. New board: $500. New resistor - $0.40 (+$3.95 shipping). Still, quite literally, 100X cheaper.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Well done - glad you you were able to work it all out!!

 

[Vae Victus]

Yep. I had to do a $30 minimum purchase but I got a pair of wire cutters I lost, so ultimately it was a $30+shipping cost.

Actually feels good to fix the "unfixable".

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Actually feels good to fix the "unfixable".

This probably has something to do with the reason we all own 40-ish year old Land Cruisers too

 

[Vae Victus]

Someone educate me on mounting a power steering pump bracket on a 2F with no mounting holes?

Can holes be tapped?