Aussie 55 Restomod

[RUSH55]

Yes! Isn’t that great? On both of those! The auto-darkening hood is a godsend doing sheetmetal work. I also reduced the wire size which has made a huge difference. Get so used to using the bigger wire for most everything and forget to change it out, kinda makes a mess of the thin LC sheetmetal.

 

[serenity]

I’m back at it again today.

Bending replacement sheet metal. I only have a small vice for the job so I can only do short sections, which means more grinding and welding.

I had to do this piece in 2 sections. Got a nice snug fit-up for it though.

 

[serenity]

Yes! Isn’t that great? On both of those! The auto-darkening hood is a godsend doing sheetmetal work. I also reduced the wire size which has made a huge difference. Get so used to using the bigger wire for most everything and forget to change it out, kinda makes a mess of the thin LC sheetmetal.

The other challenge I have here is that my house was built in the 60s and doesn’t really have an adequate power supply for my welder. 0.9 wire tended to be hit and miss for welding with, irregular feed and voltage made it difficult. The 0.6 tends to be much less affected and much more consistent.

 

[serenity]

It feels good seeing it all go back together with fresh steel.

 

[serenity]

Started toying with colours today, I’m using house paint colours to find what I want and just rolling it on. I like the grey but I’m not a fan of the blue, looks too close to the FJ Cruiser blue.

 

[J Mack]

Blue house paint looks much better than the avocado green Toyota put on them.

 

[serenity]

Blue house paint looks much better than the avocado green Toyota put on them.

Oh hell it looks better than baby poo brown that it came as.
I’m currently waiting to get the bullbar for my Hilux out of the garage so I can get back to welding. Also waiting on a new liner, drive rolls and earth clamp to see if I can get the welder running a bit smoother.

 

[stumpofj40]

Quite a fan of the blue...Nebula green with the two tone has gotta be my favourite though!

 

[serenity]

So I got the bullbar out of the way. And completed another side project; redoing the lights in my garage. I now have 8 1000 lumen led batten lights.

I just about have the roof and gutters completed on the passenger side, getting into some of the more challenging areas now.

Speaking of challenging areas, the lower portion of the A pillar is going to school me on some new things.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Serious work right there! Good job.

 

[serenity]

More progress today along with side jobs. The Ironman bash plate under the bullbar in my Hilux was flimsy at best so I had my local sheet metal shop bend up a 2 piece replacement, the upper 1/8”, the lower 1/4”.
After being distracted by that I got out the original Toyota bash plates off the Hilux which I had kept for using on the 55, I guessed that some of the pressed curves in them may come in handy, and today they did.

A piece of the bash guard cut out and massaged slightly to get the right shape, then a cardboard template cut out of my favourite biscuit box to transfer to some fresh steel.

And then it should all fit together something like this.

 

[RUSH55]

Ingenuity right there

 

[Ol Yeller]

Great CAD engineering!


(cardboard aided design)

 

[PabloCruise]

More progress today along with side jobs. The Ironman bash plate under the bullbar in my Hilux was flimsy at best so I had my local sheet metal shop bend up a 2 piece replacement, the upper 1/8”, the lower 1/4”.
After being distracted by that I got out the original Toyota bash plates off the Hilux which I had kept for using on the 55, I guessed that some of the pressed curves in them may come in handy, and today they did.
View attachment 1996048
A piece of the bash guard cut out and massaged slightly to get the right shape, then a cardboard template cut out of my favourite biscuit box to transfer to some fresh steel.
View attachment 1996046
And then it should all fit together something like this.
View attachment 1996047

Holy cow, you have skills and courage!!!

 

[PabloCruise]

Nebula green with the two tone has gotta be my favourite though!

 

[serenity]

Holy cow, you have skills and courage!!!

Well I have courage!

 

[xtiaan2000]

Boy! I thought I was getting into it. You are killing it. Those places that you are repairing are way intimidating! Gives me courage.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I've often thought about taking my spare body, putting it on the rotisserie and working it over just for fun. fixing every rust issue with replaced metal. A good metal (mental) exercise.

 

[bobm]

Scrapdaddy 2

 

[scrapdaddy]

No Way!