Builds 76 Fj40 Face Lift (6 Viewers)

[Chungas Revenge]

The windshield bracket is installed. It needed some massaging due to the contour of the AQ windshield. Working the TROA soft top front to rear to produce a good even (tight) fit. Alex @Atram (Alexander Restorations) came up with a pretty nice idea for a bracket to help strengthen the top of the B Pillar frame connection. I’ll post up a close up a little later.


Other Semi related Mule news, the roof on the Meade Hall is a 90% solution. Old geezer buddy and I going as fast as 2 old men can climb scaffold/ladders.

@MatthewMcD ^^^ = “Other things”.

 

[MatthewMcD]

The windshield bracket is installed. It needed some massaging due to the contour of the AQ windshield. Working the TROA soft top front to rear to produce a good even (tight) fit. Alex @Atram (Alexander Restorations) came up with a pretty nice idea for a bracket to help strengthen the top of the B Pillar frame connection. I’ll post up a close up a little later.


Other Semi related Mule news, the roof on the Meade Hall is a 90% solution. Old geezer buddy and I going as fast as 2 old men can climb scaffold/ladders.

@MatthewMcD ^^^ = “Other things”.

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Looking AMAZING!

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Soft Top frame going in after paint.


Waiting on pieces and parts for the front doors. Seals/runs etc. latch and a handle for the rear (modified) doors.

 

[RevISK]

Soft Top frame going in after paint.


Waiting on pieces and parts for the front doors. Seals/runs etc. latch and a handle for the rear (modified) doors.

View attachment 3889643

Are those B pillars Chunga brown or TROA black?
Test fit or install?

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Are those B pillars Chunga brown or TROA black?
Test fit or install?

Wooops Edit: semi gloss black on the B pillars to match the top. Install of the frame only. Footman loops/fasteners are marked/matched and waiting on the final rear Ambi doors seals/handle/latch etc etc.

Earlier pic from prime and paint.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

@RevISK

Edit above.

Frame was painted semi gloss black…L/R door will be Mule Brown. Rear doors in Mule Brown. All other in Semi gloss black IOT blend the top.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

No mounting hardware provided (at least in my case). So, it’s off to the bin for fasteners. One of the talking points for the TROA thread.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Exception to the above..sorting and using what’s useable. TROA did supply footman loops and twist locks and other “fasteners”. We’re using OE twist locks and painting a set of footman loops.

Options pic #2.

 

[RevISK]

yeah…
About that

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Looks like a packing job some apprentice would do on their first day.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

yeah…
About that

Looks like a packing job some apprentice would do on their first day.

Just to make sure I’m not hacking on the top itself. I would buy it again. The fasteners/hardware not so much. MUD was pretty unanimous on the need to upgrade so I understood that going in.


It’s really my only b!+ch about the top. The footman loops are GTG and useable, the reminder of what’s provided is less than stellar.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Bringing up the rear.

So, we ditched the rear hinges that came with the AQ (Aqualu) rear doors and added an additional set of OE ambulance door hinges. Also decided early on that the flat recessed latch and the spring loaded latch pin needed to go the way of the AQ hinges too.

The solution was to incorporate the OE Ambi door inner/outer handles and the rear lock mechanism. Using the well worn 1.0 parts for mock up.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Alex has a plan.

Excellent reinterpretation of the OE look. I just try and stay out of the way…

Work in progress but you can see the direction it’s going. USPS is holding up progress on the front doors.


@Atram - Salute buddy!!!

 

[OlYellr]

Alex has a plan.

Excellent reinterpretation of the OE look. I just try and stay out of the way…

Work in progress but you can see the direction it’s going. USPS is holding things on the front doors.


@Atram - Salute buddy!!!

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Great work and appreciate the deets. I have those AQ rear doors waiting for the day.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

@Ol Yeller - Bagged and tagged. Really happy with the results.


@65swb45, here is a good look at the OE ambulance door hinges mated to the Aqualu doors. I still have the Aqualu hinges, yours for the cost of postage (karma hinges ).

Pins were warmed over via local machine shop. Ambi door upper frames are on deck.

 

[65swb45]

@Ol Yeller - Bagged and tagged. Really happy with the results.


@65swb45, here is a good look at the OE ambulance door hinges mated to the Aqualu doors. I still have the Aqualu hinges, yours for the cost of postage (karma hinges ).

Pins were warmed over via local machine shop. Ambi door upper frames are on deck.

View attachment 3890431

Jeff, I’m sorry but I don’t remember what I wanted them for now. Too many irons in the fire. But I have a different idea now! I’ll just add it to the list. Hopefully they’ll fit in a small postal box.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

SOR soft top door rubber - Repurposed for use on the Ambi door frames.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Had some play in the steering wheel. Center arm rebuilt. I suspect at some point the steering box will need to see the same treatment. It’s on the list.

 

[MatthewMcD]

Had some play in the steering wheel. Center arm rebuilt. I suspect at some point the steering box will need to see the same treatment. It’s on the list.

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The center arm rebuild was oddly satisfying. I have to do my steering box eventually. Have you found a source for gaskets?

 

[Chungas Revenge]

When you suggest to someone that you need an outside the box solution and they remind you, “there is no box”.

Alex and I talked briefly about the 65lb Falklan tire hanging off of the back of an OE sheet metal tire carrier and the subsequent irritating two hinge protesting you hear when driving on uneven pavement. Add a 3” spacer into the equation and Newtonian physics starts elbowing into your comfort zone.

Short version, I sorta put/tucked/forgot that conversation and it made its way onto the back burner.

Today I get a vid and some stills of what I consider to be a perfect solution to a 2.0 archimedian dilemma.

Fits nicely in the AQ (Aqualu) rear doors, mounts easily to the OE sheet metal and is rated at 150lbs. Couple that with the OE rear latch and a 33”-ish tire is mounted without a concern.

Salute once again @Atram.