‘74 FJ40 body dimensions and surgery

[Mr. Green]

I have been wondering how I can help this cruiser community and finally feel I have an opportunity with the body/tub. May need bits of help confirming dimensions but wanted to get it compiled into an area for lots of folks like myself looking for answers.

I am in the middle of replacing about 75% of my tub due to rust and temporary repair decisions over the last 30 years. Problem I have run into is with the structural integrity of the tub compromised over this period it has gotten out of square and a bit tweaked.

I am attempting to get it as close to original dimensions as possible. Don’t worry I love to take photos… current status below:

I was able to align the marker lights which helped immensely with confidence in the location. Also aligned using a new rear sill as there was literally no sill when I started. The body would flop and clap against the mounts on any roads making less than desirable to enjoy a cruise.

I have about 25-3/8” from to of B pillar to bottom edge of rocker and quarter panel. Is this close to what others have? I am questioning my old measurements as the gas panel doesn’t align. I’m ok with moving that but want to get opinions first.

This where it’s skewed… I remember reading 40” between wheel wells which translates to the rear quarter since they are close to flush. I have 41” and change so need to pull this in a bit I believe. Plus, look at the gap on the sill plate.

Appreciate any and all help here. I’ll continue to document as I go. Thanks to @waitingfortime for the inspiration to dive in and fix it right. Boy do I hate rust.

 

[ginmtb]

I have a 74 here are a couple of photos - looks like less than 25-3/8…

 

[wimberosa]

I'm on the fence about publishing my numbers for a 1979....but I may do it also. I have loads and loads of numbers from all kinds of angles. The reason
I'm wondering about it is that toyota clearly was allowing lots of slack/variance in some areas .... hence the vast adjustment that you can make with the
doors and hinges. I'm also sometimes uncertain about what they might have thought was an "important" number to get right every time. By this I mean
that you can measure from the seat riser to the back of the tub ... but did they really think the seat riser was important to get perfect with the rear distance?
You need to pick two points that really need to be "important".

Also the tubs can clearly vary between some years because I'm going to tell you a couple of numbers that show the differences there.

1979 rocker/rear quarter to top of B pillar (25" on driver side. 25 and 2/16" on passenger side)
1979 distance between wheel wells (41") This ALSO matches another Teseven tub that was produced for 1979. That is also the distance
that works well for ambulance doors (not counting) the overhanging door lip.

Here's a pic of another number I have that made me wonder if my original tub was slightly racked over the years..... I'd be curious if you have
a complementary number for comparison.

 

[wimberosa]

Ah.... @ginmtb has a measurement that matches my 79

 

[wimberosa]

@Mr Green I see people using skates under their wheels all the time in their pictures. I do not have any and am wondering if they really work well. Can a single person push a vehicle around on these? I would have a need for something like that but have never used any.

 

[ginmtb]

I just measured between wheel wells too - 40-7/8" to 40 15/16"

 

[wimberosa]

@ginmtb yep we are right on the money between the 79 and your 74 tub...or at least close enough for sheet metal work
separated by 5 years in the 70s.

 

[Mr. Green]

Great info thanks to all. Yes the wheel skates do work but it’s like any 4 point crab steering, giant pita. Tip is to lock one and pivot as directional uncontrolled pushes are never successful. I am a one man shop and also added a hoist for putting body on and off. Works very well. I rechecked and found 41.25 roughly between my rear span or about same and what wheel wells would be.
I’ll answer on the quality measurements later… but yeah they are road tractors.

 

[Mr. Green]

I rechecked my old bed and it’s definitely 41” between wheel well so I’ll bring that back to square next. I’m just 1/4-3/8” out on that. However, my tub rails get wider towards the back even though I’m in pretty sure it should be parallel.
This is next dimension I’d like to confirm if anyone is willing to check.

B Pillar outside to outside.

Tub rail folded outside edge:

And this us where my tub runs wide…

 

[Mr. Green]

I'm on the fence about publishing my numbers for a 1979....but I may do it also. I have loads and loads of numbers from all kinds of angles. The reason
I'm wondering about it is that toyota clearly was allowing lots of slack/variance in some areas .... hence the vast adjustment that you can make with the
doors and hinges. I'm also sometimes uncertain about what they might have thought was an "important" number to get right every time. By this I mean
that you can measure from the seat riser to the back of the tub ... but did they really think the seat riser was important to get perfect with the rear distance?
You need to pick two points that really need to be "important".

Also the tubs can clearly vary between some years because I'm going to tell you a couple of numbers that show the differences there.

1979 rocker/rear quarter to top of B pillar (25" on driver side. 25 and 2/16" on passenger side)
1979 distance between wheel wells (41") This ALSO matches another Teseven tub that was produced for 1979. That is also the distance
that works well for ambulance doors (not counting) the overhanging door lip.

Here's a pic of another number I have that made me wonder if my original tub was slightly racked over the years..... I'd be curious if you have
a complementary number for comparison.

View attachment 3263892

I’m not sure I understand which area you want me to compare after reviewing your diagram. If you can describe further I’d be happy to confirm.

Regarding the pick a point and align, I agree and all I have left is to use bottom of panel from cowl, level or parallel to the rear along a line. The other is using a new rear sill and aligning the new quarters to that. Problem I had though was I had nothing to reference to set top rail because mine was entirely destroyed. Below is what I started with.

 

[wimberosa]

Here's how I finally captured what I think is a good number on the rear bed all the way (including the sill) Basically I strapped a piece of angle iron to the front door opening (at the rear of the opening) and also having the bar lay flat on my seat floor area (this is a 79 so the tank is underneath the tub and the area is flat here). I then strapped a flat bar to the sill so I wouldn't be off on any rounded sill edges) I don't think this works for a 74 since you don't have this raised floor area though. I have a fig for that but I don't want to litter your thread with all my figs. Mine was 49" 12/16 on driver and 49" 11/16 on passenger.

If your on the wheel wells and need numbers for roll bars...tool bags....jump seats...etc. I have all that as well as where all the hinges go in the rear....striker....etc

 

[Mr. Green]

@wimberosa I’ll take any measurements you’ve got. The more easily this info is reachable the more it helps the next 40 owner.

Below are additional dimensions I got including how I squared up and aligned my rear quarters before cutting the panel line.

Right side was aligned.

Left side was garbage and needed help.

Brought it back in by cutting and rebracing while clamping and squaring it up. I hope I’m doing this right but if not, it’s still 1000 times better than before. (I tell myself that often)

 

[Mr. Green]

I brought the width back to 41”.

Also confirmed on my tub 17.25” is about the right height from top edge of tub rail to sill bottom. I used RSCP panels.

More dimensions on locating barn door holes from my thrashed factory tub (ignore 14-7/8” dimension):

 

[wimberosa]

My best numbers are cleaned up and can be found here at the following link. My original tub was pretty straight for a
1979 and I'm confident in all these numbers.

Wimberosa's 40 project

Well.... I've been hesitant to create a build thread on this 40 because I knew it was going to take me years of slow increments. Recently I've found myself with a proper shop and time to commit to it....so I've decided to up the ante and document it. This is a May 1979 build date. I picked...

forum.ih8mud.com

One point I decided on and what I considered since I noticed you were talking about your spare tire carrier...
The CCOT sill has capture nuts for the latch and rubber hold (not sure what the name of that thing is)...and even
though I could have left my main tire carrier attach connected to the rail (i replaced my wheel wells)..I decided to remove it so I could have
plenty of wiggle room when I finally reposition the carrier back on. Thus I didn't even measure that. I have
leeway to move it around a bit if the sill holes don't perfectly align.

 

[Fbascou]

Hi everyone, sorry for bringing this thread back....my ´77 BJ40 body was repaired many years ago by the previous owner. Now i'm reparing the doors and hard top. Doors are ready to paint, but the gaps at the B pillar are some how wrong.....it's getting bigger from the lower corner to the top of the tub. Is seams somebody didn't respect the body mountings or something. Could someone measure the with of the door opening of the tub? at the lower part where the curves of the dor end and at the top of the tub, where the B pillar meets the hard top?

Thanks very much to everyone how can help.

Best regards,

Fernando B.

 

[Mr. Green]

Mine originality went out the window when I diced it up but I did confirm the panel refit and even gaps on doors over the past year. Can provide dimensions tomorrow evening unless someone else responds sooner. I just started took all my panels back off to finish stripping for primer.

 

[wimberosa]

i don't necessarily see people repair an area around the b-pillars that would affect the door opening distance.....UNLESS someone did a half tub retrofit. Is that what has happened here? You should be able to tell if that occurred. One other prime possibility if that didn't occur is to check your mounts and any damage or wrong fitment of the bushings there. There is a bit of flex in the door area if the tub isn't sitting properly on the frame.

 

[Fbascou]

i don't necessarily see people repair an area around the b-pillars that would affect the door opening distance.....UNLESS someone did a half tub retrofit. Is that what has happened here? You should be able to tell if that occurred. One other prime possibility if that didn't occur is to check your mounts and any damage or wrong fitment of the bushings there. There is a bit of flex in the door area if the tub isn't sitting properly on the frame.

Hi, yes it was a half tub repair! The structural support under the tub were also replaced by new structural parts. Unfortunately I can´t confirm if mounting distances were respected or changed to convienence at the time. The cab was lifted and now sits aprox. 2" from the chassis.
My fear is that something wasn't done right or that the cab started bendig over time while sitting almost 2 years without the hardtop with inpropper mountings.


Best regards,

Fernando.

 

[Fbascou]

Mine originality went out the window when I diced it up but I did confirm the panel refit and even gaps on doors over the past year. Can provide dimensions tomorrow evening unless someone else responds sooner. I just started took all my panels back off to finish stripping for primer.

Would love to have those dimensions and some pic of the work you are doing!

Tks,

Fernando.

 

[Mr. Green]

This is where mine is at with the last brace still installed. Outside to outside