Builds ‘82 FJ45 build thread..... no name yet (1 Viewer)

[sloanstavern]

My tub roof and doors will be at the media blasters for a while so I’m going to put a dent in all the smaller systems that need to be cleaned fitted and prepped. First on the agenda is the radiator. The front crossmember was seriously damaged and had to be replaced Along with the radiator housing, I don’t know what years the donors came from but I did need to reuse my radiator housing mounts. Here you can see how the previous owner modified the housing to fit the aftermarket radiator, I found a little more elegant solution. No cutting involved just a little work with the body hammer.
Since I had a Hodge podge of parts I did a little test fit before the cleanup and paint. And uncovered an issue the captive bolts for the radiator housing force the housing to sit up on the crossmember rather than nest down inside of it.
In addition the passenger side support rod no longer fits

 

[sloanstavern]

I have three options to address the housing misalignment, I could put spacers on top of the houseing mounts such that it will ride above the crossmember, I could unbolt the housing mounts and install a spacer to drive them towards the motor, or I could in large the mounting holes towards the engine. No matter what option I choose, there’s no interference with the fan or shroud. However since I don’t know if there will be any grill issues I think for now I’m going to do the simplest fix and simply add a spacer between the mount and the housing ( therefore no drilling or cutting required and if I have a fitment issue later I can reverse it)

 

[sloanstavern]

I had to call an Omaha today and change the modification for the radiator housing, the spacer would not work as the The bolts were not long enough. I en large the whole slightly and then used some old polyurethane bushings to make the cushions, as I needed some more height. Now the housing rests just behind the crossmember and had a good height.
I started work on the battery mount and tray and realized why one of my radiator brace rods was too short, it mounts to the battery support not the frame rail.
Getting that rubber/plastic off of the battery tray was brutal I resorted to a propane torch and a scraper then I was able to media blast. Rather than try and replicate the rubber coating I’m just doing the whole thing in bedliner, and then I’ll put a plastic tray under the battery. That way if any issues arise the plastic tray can be replaced easily
I also had a chance to try my new 20 V impact driver, worked like a dream a little WD-40 let it sit for a few minutes and all of the battery tray fasteners came out without any issue, it has just the correct amount of breakaway torque

 

[sloanstavern]

Well that’s one hour of my life I’ll never get back. The engineer or supervisor who approved that design must’ve been a former Ford employee.

on a lighter note I scratched a pedantic itch and got myself some nice dust free storage for some power tools

 

[Living in the Past]

I like the design better than the previous style.

The carriage type bolts would just spin in the track making a lot more of a repair than just a broken bolt. This was a picture I took a couple years back. Can see one still has the support attached. This are early with the vinyl cover. Have later one with this track that are a lot worse.

 

[sloanstavern]

I finally figured out how to effectively use my media blaster. I let the tank charge up that I can blast for about 15 minutes then wait 10 to 15 minutes for it to recharge and cool off a bit and then resume so during that intermedia time I jump to another project. Today I dug out the old seats so I could see what I was dealing with. Since this vehicle is from Saudi Arabia it’s only fitting I had to do a little archaeological dig. Three total seat covers on top of the factory originals. I’ve got a picture attached.

attached is the color scheme and design I want to use on the new interior I think there’s enough contrast between this and the desert beige that it should look nice

 

[sloanstavern]

Today we had our first rain in over 3 1/2 months a nice break on the dry dusty conditions.

Not much painting today but a lot of odds and ends. I spent some time with the fuel tank and gave it a thorough inspection and cleaning a couple tiny rust spots inside but not bad I cleaned up the top half painted it with rust inhibitor and then a coat of bedliner. The bottom half is equipped with some type of rubberized liner that looks very good so I will just clean it well and should be good to go I did find the source of the rattle inside the tank and used my cool telescoping LED light to give at the inspection.

Also started stripping some ancillary parts. I don’t think I’ll ever use that massive trailer hitch but it looks too cool to leave off. I got an old Toyota jack off the Internet I know it’s not. Correct for this vehicle but I’ll paint it A nice school bus yellow and I think it’ll be a good addition

 

[sloanstavern]

It looks like my body parts might be back before Christmas from the media blaster, so I better get cracking. Pounded out some dents on the air cleaner and added a few more components to the motor. Pedal assembly, fuel tank, factory jack and accessories all done. I even found some nice button screws for the fuel tank sending unit

I’m going to try and get the motor running before The body arrives so I can troubleshoot any issues.

The smaller items can be fiddelly

 

[Dagha Boy]

Good idea. I wish I had run my motor, operated gearbox etc before putting the body back. Would have saved a ton of time and a gallon of tears.

 

[sloanstavern]

I installed a little jewelry today, very very satisfying. Two OEM bumperets, some high-quality Japanese made aftermarket tail lights, stripped and refinished tow hitch, and a refurbished spare tire chain mechanism. The free rock guards that came with my tail lights did not quite fit this o duck, so I needed to do a little modification also had to do some tweaking on the rear bumper to receive the tail lights with no binding.
This kind of work is easy on the back and easy on the eyes, I need more days like this!
Next up I think I will pick up some waterless coolant and see if I can get the motor running

 

[sloanstavern]

All I need now is a dashboard to mount it too. Love the new shift instructions and glad to get that old paint off. I think it was painted with silver fingernail polish it did not want to come off

 

[sloanstavern]

I tried everything I could think of to clean up and restore the radiator overflow bottle and windshield washer bottle, but no luck. I was able to clean the inside with some blast media and soapy water and shook it around real good but the yellow staining just won’t go away even after trying retro bright. I think I sourced a replacement will find out soon. I am also replacing some of the rubber hoses and old factory lines for the fuel system. I found this wonderful aluminum fuel line from Summit racing bends like a dream and I’m using my flaring tool to put a bubble on the end to help seal it up hope that’ll work. I also did some patching and painting on the vapor separator.
I have to do some shop cleanup because hopefully the body parts will come back from the media blaster this week or next. Also got the epoxy primer in the mail today

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Try soaking the overflow bottle in oxyclean overnight.

 

[sloanstavern]

Try soaking the overflow bottle in oxyclean overnight.

Thanks Ill give that a try

 

[sloanstavern]

Try soaking the overflow bottle in oxyclean overnight.

Soaked in Oxy-clean for 30 hours but no joy. Just too far gone but thanks for the suggestion

 

[sloanstavern]

I got dealt a wild card , I was getting ready to try starting her up, and it was stuck in reverse. Did a lil open heart surgery this morning and found the reverse fork was off- thanks Pinhead for the tip

 

[sloanstavern]

It may be too far gone but given the replacement cost it’s worth a shot. I can re-use the corners of the back brace , then I’ll need to fab up some replacement prices

 

[sloanstavern]

I’ve decided not to install the oil cooler which was in pretty bad shape. It was heavily contaminated so right now I don’t have a means to measure oil pressure. I wanted to test fire the engine so I took the oil filter off bumped the starter and got a big surge of oil so I have some oil flowing. Then I did a temporary hook up a power and spark took a couple tries to work out some issues with the coil and then on the fourth try when I was confirming if I had spark or not the thing roared to life.
It’s always a good feeling when you get fuel air and spark at the right time

 

[sloanstavern]

Jay Leno has a great line and what he says, “I am president of the more money than brains club”
I don’t belong to that club but I am a proud member of the more time than money or brains club. I’ve spent the last couple mornings trying to breathe new life into some damaged ancillary parts, it’s just getting too dang expensive to keep buying replacements and I’ve got to get some more practice with my welding.

I was able to save a running board mounting bracket and patch the running board, and I think I saved my overflow bracket. I wish these photos weren’t such high DEF, it shows off my lack of welding skills but hey you got a practice right

 

[sloanstavern]

Happy New Year to all!
Boy I sure could use more days like this. Yesterday three boxes arrived with Four solutions that worked right out of the box no issues.
First I got an oil filter bracket equipped with a port for a mechanical oil pressure gauge ( thanks KevO)
Then my replacement emblem came and fit perfect
Third- I found an arched alternator bracket that just needed to be trimmed length length. ( not sure if I’ll keep the chrome)
And finally I found some custom shock mounts that fit perfect only four bucks apiece from a hot rod shop