58/59 FJ25 Restoration

[65swb45]

Maybe better angle

 

[tahoe40/45]

Nice work Mark!!

 

[65swb45]

She even looks good from the backside!

 

[tahoe40/45]

What?? thats two different carbs. I hope mine didn't turn into a D40. Waiting to hear back about the metering rod.

 

[tahoe40/45]

Has anyone found 33367-55010, 3rd gear synchro ring, I'm looking for two of them. I found one, but it was on a sketchy site (megazip.net). Anyone heard of that web site?

 

[65swb45]

Sorry about that. Images are hard to nail down with the iPhone. This is the other pic that was SUPPOSED to be posted

 

[65swb45]

Blue times two!

A slightly older brother showed up between the last post and finally getting the replacement metering rod from JP. The cad is not quite as shiny as yours, but the blue paint on the throttle body was in better shape. It was in a lot rougher shape too.

I guess we're ready to settle up.

 

[tahoe40/45]

Update. I have been distracted by another Cruiser, but I'm hoping to get back to this one this winter.
Last time i worked on it i discovered that the cowl is bent towards the rear a little, makes since since it had been rolled. I have an idea on how I'm going to bend it back, but was also looking for some advise if anybody has dealt with this before.
Let me know if anyone has any ideas. thanks

 

[tahoe40/45]

Didn't realize its been so long.
I got the cowl to move, but wasn't able to get it to stay, so I planned to take the body to the body shop to have them fix it, on March 17 2020, that didn't work out.
A couple days ago it took the body down, so finally some forward movement on this project.

Made this last weekend

 

[whitey45]

Antony,

I had a bent cowl on a 45 a couple years ago. I strapped the tub to my car trailer and used the winch to pull the cowl foward. It was a little tricky as you do have to go past vertical a bit, as it does want to spring back. The winch( good old 8274) does allow for good control. It was my hill billy frame machine, but it worked!

 

[67azcruizr]

Just my 2 cents;

I would attempt to figure our exact areas the cowl needs messaging back to factory specs and then brace (with brackets and temporary welds) any of the surrounding cowl that you might be “pulling” from.
It would be counterproductive to fix one area and damage another.
Sometimes “relief” cuts are a huge help and can be repaired easy enough

 

[whitey45]

That’s great advice, My cowl was bent enough where the doors would not close. I used them as my guide. I simply pulled until the doors aligned and all gaps were even. I wrapped a 3 inch strap around the upper part of the dash to even the load. I actually have used this method on a Porsche that had front tub damage With good results. I was able to get it pulled enough to finish off with hammer and dolly. I have always pretty much done all my own work, as I hate to farm things out to others. I figure , give it a try, if it doesn’t work, then it goes to the body shop!

 

[tahoe40/45]

Thanks for the advise Whitey and Sean, i like the winch on the trailer idea, a winch would probably have been better than the car strap and come-along that i was using. My set up was strong enough to almost get it correct, but couldn't get it passed vertical, i thought the maybe some relief cut might be a necessity also as i was try to figure out what to do .

Its hard to see where its bent, looking at it you would hardly know, both a-pilars look totally straight, maybe a little flaring down by where the door stop goes in and out of the a-pilar, no other major wrinkles at all. This Cruiser did have a roll over or something, b-pilar on passenger side was bent when i got the Cruiser, so makes since that the cowl is bent.
I was test fitting some parts one day and the tranny hump was tight, didn't just sit into place, soon after that i found some doors then i realized what was wrong.

I like to do all my work too, but didn't have a big enough hammer to fix this, so its hopefully strapped in a frame machine getting yanked back into shape.

 

[tahoe40/45]

Bigger hammer wins!!