A journey with my boys- The Elf Barn as I call it. (4 Viewers)

[ceylonfj40nut]

Put the lift to use. Strip down done. Elves went at it. Could not wipe the grin of my face even with a handful of $hit.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Elves scuffing panels to get a better bite from air craft paint remover. They are addicted to power tools.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Enough on the American Muscle. For now. Back to Cruisers.

Found 2 1fzfe engines in Dallas for a song. Could not pass it up. This will be the engines my boys will do their first engine rebuild on. By the FSM. Nothing less.

Thinking of getting a recipe book holder for my FSM for the shop. Perhaps a gospel holder. Searching.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Got them to the barn. Boys did their first engine separation from tranny/Xfer. Used hoist to place engines on movable carts for easy storage. We will rebuild them in between their mustang project. Tucked away for now. Will get them on engine hoists shortly.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Boys got their first appreciation of no nonesense Cruiser overdesign. One of them could lift a mustang transmission. Three of us could not lift the fzj80 tranny .

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Back to the pony. Finished up scuffing. Ready for paint stripper. Took a lunch break to warm up in the sun.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

@CenTXFJ60 was in town. He helped drive the Hj60 to the barn. Me, boys and Jim grabbed dinner first. In true Jim fashion, he had to crawl under to have a look see. Die hard. Will be moving th frame into the barn next. Will start a build thread in th 60s section.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Grabbing dinner. My brother (left front) was also in town. He flew in (pilot) from Abhu Dhabi.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Yep, just now starting to sink in. However, it looks like the force was already strong in CD and his sons, and was just a matter of time.

The mediclurin count is high. Not as high as you two Yodas. Paduwans are we.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

If one is building a shop try to lay the foundation without construction joints. Critical to moving heavy things around without getting caught. Fortunately mine was done this way. Also 6” min in 4000psf concrete. Better for lift install. Drill anchor holes all the way through the slab. Doing so allows you to punch the anchors out of the slab if and when needed.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Little elves cracked open the matching numbers 351 Cleveland that sat in the car on the lift for 19 years. Got it degreased with a tad bit of diesel. Engine turned like butter. Elves were Stoked.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Stripping panels and getting scuffed to 80 grit. First body work project for me and the boys.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

First time laying down epoxy primer. Not bad. Next filler, high build epoxy, block down with guid coat at 180 grit. True test for the boys on staying on task until perfect. We are all keeping each other on point about getting prep done right.

 

[Cannon88]

Great thread. Good work by you and the boys, and some great memories you all will have.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Thanks. It has been a blessing. Memory rich for sure. Enabling them to be empowered to do anything is where my head is. We are learning together which is the coolest part for me. I will get to my Cruiser to do Lists soon I hope. Lol.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Getting all the bits sanded and primed. Elves got their game face on. It was great. Listened to our fav tunes while at it. Good memories indeed

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Primed. Ready for blocking.

 

[gunracer1]

looks great

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Thanks. We are stoked. First time at body work. Me and the boys are learning together. It’s not “dad teaching”. It is us learning on the fly. A really cool feeling.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Getting the basics right. Floating filler, guide coat, sand. Rinse and repeat. True lesson in patience and “it’s all in the prep”. Good thing this round is that the filler is great to sand. Therapeutic. Next will be high build primer.