Everything is looking amazing. You are doing a great job. I wish that your pictures of welds were around when I was doing my build up. There are a bunch of great ideas and lessons here.
Thank you for the kind words, but I don't "really" know what I am doing. Just learning as I go. I sort of wish I had taken some autobody courses back in High School instead of auto mechanics. I remember we used to call those autobody guys "bondo buddies". Man, that was a long, long time ago.
Here is a pic of my small, but growing pile of parts that I have blasted, primed and painted. I have a long way to go, but I keep on chipping away at it little by little.
It was a beautiful day here today and I finally reached a stopping point on my paperwork so I could break free and spend a little time working on the lpb.
Not much accomplished, but I got the rear end apart and ready for blasting, new seals and fresh paint. I hope to get the front axle apart tomorrow.
A couple of pics from today and a picture from last week showing that it does snow in Texas occasionally.
Worked on getting the front differential apart some on Sunday and last night. I'm almost there. What a messy job! At least everything appears to be in good shape. I've got a lot of parts cleaning to do now. A couple of pics of my progress.
Funny you should ask. I was supposed to fly out there tomorrow to work with the trainer some and then bring them back home. But, when I talked to him about a week ago he wanted to keep them a little bit longer to make sure I didn't have any problems with them when I get them back to Texas. I am anxious to get them back. They have been out in Phoenix since October 19th.
I need some help here guys! All input would be appreciated.
A while back (October 06) I decided that my cab floor was rusted beyond what I wanted to fix myself and I decided to order a complete cab floor from Panama through TLC4X4. I have no complaints about what I got from them today, I just want to know what my options are. I don't really want to wait another 6 months or so to get the right floor if that is what is called for.
I ordered it for a '78 FJ45, but I am wondering if I got a floor section for an earlier model or something. The main difference that stands out to me is the raised area on the passenger side where the transmission hump bolts on.
Here are a couple of pics of the old floor vs. the new floor. If I put this together is there a certain year transmission hump that will fit?
If not, would you recommend cutting out the hump section from my original floor (It's in good shape) and welding it into the new cab floor?
If a different transmission hump would fix my problem, does anyone have a nice one for sale at a reasonable price?
Sucks that your having that problem....I kinda felt the same way when I got my tailgate and I had to weld up the latch holes and cut new ones. Not quite as big of deal as yours, but still sucks.
Personally, if everything else is 100% correct and that is the only difference? I would quickly sand blast that area on your old floor, make sure it's solid and then cut that section out, trace it out on the new floor, cut that area out and weld the old section in. I have seen you welding skilz and I know you are capable of it. As always, take you time when welding and get it right the first time.
I think you could screw around for a while and not get nearly as nice of floor as you have there, even though it is the wrong one..or at least in that area. I'm sure once you cut it and weld it in, probably a good evening job and it will look fine.
I thought this would be a good area to cut, but maybe would change if I was standing there looking at it?
It's been an interesting year for sure and I have sort of let this project go stale and that ain't right!
I have been picking up some parts here and there that I had been looking for. You know, waiting for the good deal. I did find some good deals IMOP, but as it turned out, the shipping ended up killing me. I've got no regrets, and I learned a few things.
Anyway, I am finally back to working on this project again. I picked up a disk brake front axle from a '77 FJ40 so I can end up with Toyota front disk brakes. I also picked up a set of the 16" split rims. I have some of my parts being sandblasted right now like axle housings, brake drums and wheels. I'm working with the sandblaster on a trade for some other stuff.
Here are a couple of pics to get this ball rolling again.
It's time for this project to start making progress again.
Glad to see you're back on the progress train! I too, have been side-tracked with other stuff, and the LC's have been put on back-burner for about 8 months
My told me to get going on them or get rid of them....so I broke down and bought a sheetmetal brake/shear, so I can FINALLY make some progress too! Your welds/repair on your sidepanels are quite inspiring!
I'm looking forward to seeing some more pics of your work! Looking great!
The cab floor was $550.00. I ordered it along with a complete new bed floor kit and a tailgate. The bed floor came fully assembled with new braces etc. Shipping for all of it from CA to TX was about $350.00. It's only money, right?
I just keep putting the receipts for everything that I have bought on this project into one of the drawers in my toolbox. I know better than to total them up at this point.
I blasted a few small parts in the cabinet today and got them primered. I'm going to go back to the shop in the morning and spray some paint on them. I'm not going for a Concours restoration here, so just painting the bolts, nuts and washers is OK for me.
For these types of parts, I am using Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black paint and primer. Hopefully it will hold up, their literature says it's good stuff....haha
It does take some time to clean these parts in a parts cleaner and then blast them. And, It's pretty darned tedious.
I also recieved my front inner axle seals from Marlin Crawler today. I got an extra set for the 73 FJ40 sitting out in the backyard just in case I ever get around to working on it.
A gracious fellow MUD member is loaning me his SST for centering the front axles in the housing, and I should be getting that in the next few days.
It feels good to be making some progress again, for a change.
I blasted a few more parts today and got them all primered and painted. I took some pics, but they all sucked. My little spray booth area is not conducive to good picture taking.
If anyone is looking for a fresh air resperator for their shop, I "may" have a line on a good deal. Rhino Linings is moving their distribution center from San Diego to the Dallas area. They are offering some of their equipment at a discount so they don't have to move it across the country.
I just picked up a reconditioned 2 person respirator pump as a backup for $186.00 plus shipping. New, that thing would cost me $575.00. It's just the pump and intake filter, so you would still need to buy the mask and air hose stuff. If anyone is interested I can check to see if they have some left on Monday. Just send me a PM.
Not much progress tonight, but I did get the one caliper rebuilt that I painted this weekend.
I think I'm going to have to order some new rotors tomorrow, but I'm not sure because my FSM is at the shop. The rotor I have here at the house measures .693" and I think I remember reading that the minimum is around .75" - .77". One of the lug bolt studs is broken on this rotor, and I just noticed it yesterday. So, that is a little bit of a setback. I'm hoping to get everything together that I need to get this front axle put together and on the frame this weekend.
told me to get going on them or get rid of them....so I broke down and bought a sheetmetal brake/shear, so I can FINALLY make some progress too! Your welds/repair on your sidepanels are quite inspiring!
