ANTFJ 77 Build.. (ends up as a 1978)

[antFJ]

then i went to start grinding off the crappy welds from the PPO.

also found out that the frame is not a 78 frame.. and that it is a 71 frame..... not that big of a deal to me since i have a late model rear end for it.. but you guys are the experts here - will I have any problems? i'm thinking this crossmember might be an issue once I actually have mounts for the engine and bellhousing on there will the transfercase be too high?

 

[antFJ]

and some before and semi after pictures of grinding the welds.. it started to rain when spencer came over so I didn't get any final pictures in..

 

[antFJ]

o yea. and any suggestions on a 110 welder??

 

[fj40forlife]

do you have one or lucky to buy one? Im guessing you need it to weld the frame. and good welder with argon and co2 would be good. have a sp100 and if I would do welding like that I would go with gas. no flexcore

 

[laguna80]

I like my hobart handler 125. I've been only using self-shielded wire because of the wind factor where I live. The general consensus that I saw when I did all my research was to invest in a gas mig welder, 220V if possible. Part of the reason being is that eventually you are going to want to weld thicker projects and a 110V just won't be enough.

 

[bsmith123]

frame paint

for the frame you might want to check out rust bullet I used it --it's real thick and you have to topcoat it cause it is not uv stable but it appears tough as nails. The thickness might fill in some of the pitting and you can use their top coat in satin black

I used por chassis black

Eastwood does some stuff too

 

[mikealeus]

then i went to start grinding off the crappy welds from the PPO.

also found out that the frame is not a 78 frame.. and that it is a 71 frame..... not that big of a deal to me since i have a late model rear end for it.. but you guys are the experts here - will I have any problems? i'm thinking this crossmember might be an issue once I actually have mounts for the engine and bellhousing on there will the transfercase be too high?

You probably will need to cut the crossmember and rotate it for clearance if you are running a 4-speed transmission.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Congrats on the pilot slot. I hope you're ready for a bunch of ego tripping nerd-dom. Pilots are pretty much all jerks, at least new ones are. They fart a lot too.

If you can at all swing a 220V MiG welder, then I'd do it. Even if you don't use all of the capacity, it will last a lot longer running at a lower capacity than a 110V model. I personally would go to a local welding supply shop and see what they've got. My local shop has some models you can test out, which helps a lot, especially if you aren't too experienced. The other big bonus is that they can often deal a bit on price. Our Miller 210 ended up being significantly cheaper than ordering it via the internet because of the goodies they threw in with it (like a tank filled with Argon/CO2, gloves, etc....). It's also nice knowing where to drive if I need to yell about it not working or something.

Your work looks nice there! The wiring harness really comes across nicely. That should last you a long time. Were the wires originally twisted in there before being taped, or just taped as a bundle?

Dan

 

[antFJ]

Congrats on the pilot slot. I hope you're ready for a bunch of ego tripping nerd-dom. Pilots are pretty much all jerks, at least new ones are. They fart a lot too.

haha.. i don't fart that much. and i'm gonna try to stray from the jerk thing.. but damn if it means i get to be a fighter pilot..

If you can at all swing a 220V MiG welder, then I'd do it. Even if you don't use all of the capacity, it will last a lot longer running at a lower capacity than a 110V model. I personally would go to a local welding supply shop and see what they've got. My local shop has some models you can test out, which helps a lot, especially if you aren't too experienced. The other big bonus is that they can often deal a bit on price. Our Miller 210 ended up being significantly cheaper than ordering it via the internet because of the goodies they threw in with it (like a tank filled with Argon/CO2, gloves, etc....). It's also nice knowing where to drive if I need to yell about it not working or something.

yea i called up my local shop and the guy talked to me for a while - he told me to look at the lincoln 140C and the miller 140.. he also said that I would probably get a better deal online but to make sure it comes with the warranty. he quoted me at around $700 for the lincoln which sells for $590 online

i would go for a 220 but in my current set-up it just isn't possible - so i'm leaning toward the lincoln - I'll prob end up just getting it in the store - once shipping is factored in it isn't that much of a difference.

Were the wires originally twisted in there before being taped, or just taped as a bundle?

Dan

not sure what you mean here... was it stuffed in the box before? no, it is a factory harness of off a cowl, but other than that yea as it looks now is how it was when it came off of the cowl.. just with new tape

 

[handcannon]

antFJ

Do you have a 220 volt range or clothes dryer where you are at? If so you could make up an extension cord to run a 220v welder off of for intermitent use.

 

[nodaksn3]

Ant- Great posts, keep them coming. My late brother was a WPI grad, mechanical engineer. Had a nice FJ40, too. Former Marine grunt, spent a year in a rifle company in Vietnam- it convinced him to go back to school! Anyway, good luck with the project, the rest of school, and pilot training. Next time you get to Ellsworth, try out the Black Hills, they're fabulous. I'm not far away, PM me if you need help. Ned

 

[antFJ]

Ant- Great posts, keep them coming. My late brother was a WPI grad, mechanical engineer. Had a nice FJ40, too. Former Marine grunt, spent a year in a rifle company in Vietnam- it convinced him to go back to school! Anyway, good luck with the project, the rest of school, and pilot training. Next time you get to Ellsworth, try out the Black Hills, they're fabulous. I'm not far away, PM me if you need help. Ned

Thanks Ned, sorry to hear about your brother.. we seem to be following much of the path though. If I'm out that way I'll definitely give you a heads up.

 

[antFJ]

antFJ

Do you have a 220 volt range or clothes dryer where you are at? If so you could make up an extension cord to run a 220v welder off of for intermitent use.

i thought about that.. i'm going to get the welder tomorrow - i'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[bsmith123]

Welder

A pilot, an engineer, a welder? Damn whats next son--- rocket surgery? keep up the good work!

I know a bit about fighters and pilots but i've stuck to staying on the ground wishing I was in the air rather than vice versa, but did get to meet some great people along the way--Ex Crew Chief

be good to maintenance!

Back to work on the 40 !


Best of luck to ya!

 

[antFJ]

Ex Crew Chief

be good to maintenance!

hell ya! wouldn't get anywhere without you guys/gals. if i went enlisted that would be what i want to do.. i bet you got to work on some pretty cool stuff.. a bit more complex than a cruiser...

 

[antFJ]

alright.. haven't posted in about a week. I've been making slow and steady progress i guess. had a few obstacles along the way and was getting pretty frustrated but thats what makes this so much fun!!...

alright once again i changed my mind.. but you'll understand i think.. the frame i was going to use.. ended up being a 71.. so the frame that i got from dentdepotsales.. which is a 78 is the one I'm going to use since I won't have to worry about issues fitting everything up.... The 71 frame might have worked but at least this way i'll know it will work for sure.. so i got to work on it - grinding off the rivets in the rear end and drilling them out so that I can fix all of that rust..

my dad even helped me out! he broke a lot less drill bits than i did... WD40 helped was key when drilling out the rivets. I used BLU-MOL drill bits and they cut through the rivets like butter - i used a small bit, then a medium sized one.. and then the 3/8 bit and it got the rivets out no problem.

the only other place of rust on the frame is the rear upper shock mount crossmember on one side.. aparently i didn't take pictures so i'll take some more to show you all how bad it is - my welder comes in tomorrow so if it's nice outside i'm gonna see if I can get some practice in on scrap metal...

 

[antFJ]

and with the new rear end mocked up... stainless bolts to get it bolted up should be in tomorrow..

 

[antFJ]

now for the frustration part.. i got my 40 lb pressurized sand blaster from HF and i couldn't get it to work for the life of me.. I had some media from my friend that was probably used stuff and i didn't sift it out.. that didn't work so the next day i tried walnut shells that i bought from HF.. WAY to big for the machine so i need to return them.. anyways the thing was clogged up in every valve possible with walnuts so it took forever to clean them out. finally i found a screen door and just bought some playground sand at homedepot and the damn thing started to work!! that was yesterday.. after 3 days of dicking with the thing... anyways on monday when i couldn't get it to work i decided to try out my other new tool.. a HVLP gun from lowes... worked awesome!!! that is the rustoleum rusty metal primer...

 

[antFJ]

as you can see above i only have a 1.5 hp 26 gallon compressor.. it doesn't last very long at high pressures.. but it did work well on my aluminum stuff at like 30 psi

 

[antFJ]

started taking the engine apart/cleaning it when i was frustrated with the sand blaster thing.. and it rained today so it worked out.. but now a new source of frustration!!! i can't get the damn harmonic balancer, crankshaft pulley or whatever you call it off... that damn nut just won't budge.. i finally got a 46mm nut after a bunch of searching.. and its been soaking in penetrator oil for a while.. i'll let it sit overnight i guess..

i read on here to either brace the breaker bar on the frame and hit the starter.. or to use my impact wrench (duh) so i'll give that a shot tomorrow.

i'm not going to rebuild this engine.. just taking off all of the parts to re-seal them up and give them a cleaning/painting.. check out the thermostat...

also anything i can do to clean out the cooling system? it looks pretty rusted inside the block.. i think i'm going to get one of those inline cooling system filters so it doesn't get clogged up..