Builds Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction

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Nothing amazing this weekend.....



I did get all the welding done on the transfer case crossmember. It is 'done' at this point other than a little trimming and and adding a few holes for stuff later in the build.....exhaust clearance on the drivers side....hole for the shift cable perhaps.

I added teardrop weld washers to the forward mounts and also welded the main tab on both sides. Sometimes I am still baffled on how one part can take up so much time. I am happy with how it turned out however. The flange on the back for the clip nuts that was integrated into the rear spine turned out just like I wanted.

My other free time was spent pulling my flat fender out of the corner and getting it ready for EJS next week! Good thing I didn't think the new truck was going to be done for EJS this year!
 
Just a few little things....



I turned up some spacers for the upper M8 mounting bolts on the passenger side transfer case mount. I will weld them onto the bracket the next time I have things apart.



I also installed the transfer case crossmember back in the chassis.

I will be in a holding pattern for a few weeks most likely. EJS is next week. I am going to try and build the front part of the exhaust before I pull it off the table since that gives me a nice reference plane. I also need to start working on the tub. I need to start roughing in the rear and top structure....
 
I got a few interesting packages in the mail today....



I have been playing around with having some parts 3D printed. I also purchased a 2.25 to 3" merge pipe in purge TIG welded stainless.

This is how the 3D printed parts work in combination with a little cheap/free 2" heavy wall packing tubes.....



This took me all of about 15 minutes to mock up....

This is NOT my idea. I just reversed engineered it for my use. The original idea came from ICE engine works.

icengineworks

They pioneered this type of system for the construction of custom headers.

I twisted the idea around a little bit for my use. I wanted to use the same technology to plan out the forward Y-pipe part of my exhaust. They do not offer a 'block' in 2.25" diameter with a 3.5" CLR bend. I was able to reverse engineer the idea for my uses and have then 3D printed for me.

My improvement for my use of the idea, in exhaust work, was to be able to use some cardboard shipping tube for the longer straight sections. I designed a 1" long block that can either be used to fit between bends or can either be inserted into cardboard packing tubes with a 2" diameter. The heavy wall 2" ID shipping tubes just happen to be 2.3" OD which is close enough to simulate the 2.25" OD tubing I am using. The thicker tubes are easy enough to cut with a fine tooth wood saw.





A few more views.

I can't wait to use the 'data' provided by the mockup to order the amount of 'bend' I need. I will be able to map out each side easy enough. I will not have to waste expensive stainless steel tubing doing a trial and error fitment. Once you have a complete model of one side, you can look at how you might be able to eliminate weld joints by using the tangent 'legs' on common bend angles. Very neat technology....
 
Trying to get back in the groove....



I purchased a pre-made merge pipe. Looking back, I should have probably just built my own again. It is an ok part, but for the money, meh.

I added a stainless mounting tab to the merge pipe. I suck at doing a thick to thin fillet weld in stainless. The merge is hard mounted to a bracket that sandwiches onto the the drivers side mount pad on the adapter. I elected to hard mount the merge to the adapter similar to how I did the exhaust on my flat fender. That seemed to work really well for me on that car. It seems to keep the exhaust more stable with tight clearances.

Once I had the merge mounted, I was about to dial in the proposed path of the exhaust on the passenger side. Once that was done, I was able to record all the information from the 'exhaust legos' I had printed. Once that information was recorded....along with a few more pictures of everything for a good visual record...I then broke down that side. The drivers side went a lot quicker for the most part. With the mock up system, I was able to design the drivers side in about 15 minutes. I also recorded all that information.

Now I can break down how many bends and how much straight I need to purchase to build each side of the Y-pipe.

While I wait for the exhaust parts to get here, I am going to stick the body back on and start roughing out the body mount system. Hopefully I can make it start to look like something again!
 
Bye Bye body mounts....







I figured it was time to prep the frame for the new body mounts by removing the old ones. My hope is that I will be able to combine the body mounts, rocker tube supports, and cage tie-in points all into one clean unit.

I needed something to do while I wait for the exhaust tubing to show up.

That monster long blade on the saws-all was the way to go. Unfortunately, I didn't think of that till the 2nd side. Amazingly the blade holds up really well to sawing while it has some bend in it.

Now I need to set the body back on the frame again...on...off...on...off...on.

I am going to be trimming about 3" of material off the rocker panels in order to make room for the rocker protection tubes. That should be easier with the body of the frame instead of the table. The rocker tubes are going to be frame mounted, but I want the most clearance possible. The FJ40 body has a pretty tall rocker panel with a lot of wasted space. I think I can trim off enough to allow me to use a 2" tall rocker tube (plus body clearance) and still have more clearance than 'stock'. Removing that vertical height off the rocker panel should also make the body look less tall. To make things a little more interesting. I want to retain a 90 degree flange on the bottom of the sheetmetal rocker panel. I think I can reform that flange pretty easy with a little bendy stick tool ( ala Project Binky ). I will also need to move the front corner near where the fender attaches...that might require some sectioning of the panel to weld that formed part back into the main panel.

I think it is also just about time to pull the engine table out and let the tires support the weight of the chassis! I wonder how that is going to change the look of things. I think the body will be dropping almost 1-2" perhaps.
 
Just keep trucking.....



I stopped by my dealer....supplier....errr....steel supplier. It is so nice to have a decent place to deal with local to me again. I can order through my work, but they only deliver once a week. Sometimes I need a fix more often than that.

Ignore the 3x3x3/16 on the left, that is going to be a tube bender stand/frame.

The rest is going to go in the new truck project. I am going to use the 2x3x3/16 to fabricate the bumpers and rocker protection. It is a little heavier than I would have liked, but I have some longer spans on this chassis. The rear of the frame is VERY wide and I want some kind of tow/haul attachment point in the middle. The rockers are also going to be fairly long. The support should be fairly evenly spread out, but this material should hold up well over time at the total vehicle weight. I plan on pushing this vehicle a little harder than my flat fender so a little extra protection is probably a good thing.

The 2x2 and 1.5x1.5 square tube, both 1/8" wall, are going to be used to form the 'framework' for the top and rear section of the body. This is basically going to be the 'cage' also. The 2x2 will be used for the B-pillar along with a spreader bar at the floor that will run side to side. The rest of the framework is going to be made from the 1.5 square tube along with some mandrel bends in the same material for the rear corners at the waistline of the body. I will use a little 1.5" DOM round tube for the A-pillar uprights.

This framework is going to be what all the body panels attach onto. Most of the panels below the waistline will be steel sheetmetal and welded in place. All the 'top' panels will be aluminum and will bolt onto this framework. My hope is that I can construct a 'modular' hard top system that will allow me to have a convertible of sorts. The roof will stay in place, but yet be replaceable if damaged. The rear window panels will be removable/replaceable. My hope is that I can make those panels store in the bottom part of the body when I want that open air feeling. The doors are most likely going to be a metal 2pc unit where the upper part of the door will be removable also. Anyhow...stay tuned for all the stuff. That is still a few months away, but if I can pull it off should be very unique.

In other news....



I removed another pair of body mounts toward the rear of the frame.



These mounts on the front of the frame are my next target. That front crossmember will also need to be removed to make room for the winch. I will be adding a crossmember under the grill to replace it along with a welded bumper assembly. I also want to change the profile of the front of the frame. The bumper is basically going to sit on top of the existing frame rail I think. I will probably taper cut the ends of the factory frame rails and box everything back in.

Oh....and I also stuck the tub back on the frame again in preparation for the construction of the body mounts, rockers, and 'cage' tie-ins. It will be SO nice to have the body mounted to the frame finally!
 
Last night I didn't get anything done on the project really. I did FINALLY get some dang light in the shop!



Now that I can see what I am doing and stop fabricating by feel thing might start to get interesting! The lights are so bright that I think I need sun glasses or a hat. If a man cave has light....is it still a cave?
 
Time to tackle the rocker protection / body mounts / cage mounts....but first lets make a tool....



I made this little 'bendy stick', ala Project Binky, to allow me to form flanges on the rocker panels after I trim them. It is just a block of scrap steel with a slit cut in it with the band saw...and then widened with a 1/16" cut off wheel in the grinder. That seems to match 16 gauge material perfectly. The rockers seem to be close to that thickness....basically between 16 and 18 gauge.

I had to make mine extra fancy with a 90 degree handle to allow me to bend the rocker panel. The stick will start out with the handle parallel to the ground and end up pointing at the ground when the flange is finished. If I would have just a straight stick the frame would have gotten in the way.

The test flange worked pretty well. To be honest it isn't as crisp as I would like, but overall not bad. This bend was formed with the panel 'floating' which provides no support. That is similar to how the panel on the vehicle will be. This is how I made the test bend....



It takes some patience for sure! You only want to go a little bit at a time working back and forth across the entire panel evenly. It helps if you pull 'out' on the tool as you change the angle.

Anyhow, with the tool built and tested it was time to move onto cutting some stuff!



I had done some previous layout on the rocker panel. On the FJ40 the rocker panel is pretty tall. The door sill is very short compared to something like a CJ/YJ/TJ. It is only about 1.5-2" tall instead of 4+" tall. This leaves a lot of material below the floor that can be trimmed away.

The floor pan has a flange that points down where it mates to the rocker panel. You can't really cut much more than that off. That is the top of the blue tape in this picture.

Taking some measurements from the test flange I made, I was able to determine that I needed 1" of material to form the bend....from the start of the bend to where the bendy stick hits the 'stop' at the bottom of the groove.



No turning back now!

Once the flange is formed I will gain another .75" in rocker clearance to the bottom of the new flange.

As an added bonus I got to cut away the area of the rocker with some holes drilled in it....

I still have some additional prep to do before I can form the flange. I need to remove a few of the additional brackets on the inside of the rocker panel that will be in the way. There is also an angle change, or corner, at the front of the door since I 'pinched' the body. I need to prep that area well so I can weld the flanges together on the bottom after the bend is completed. Some of the hat channels also need trimmed.

The end goal is to be able to have the 2x3x3/16 rocker tube sit about 1/4" below the new flange on the body. I should be able to have more rocker clearance than 'stock', but it will be some very stout steel tube. I will also be offsetting the rocker about 1" outboard from the body to help protect it when pivoting around things on the rocker tube. Visually, it will also help make the body look 'shorter' vertically since the rocker tube will likely be black while the body will have color. The FJ40 body seems pretty tall overall, I am trying to minimize that look....
 
More on the rocker panel modifications....



This is what the final flange ended up looking like. Overall it really wasn't to bad to form. The 'bendy stick' tool ended up working very well. It has a little bit of a learning curve. It definitely works better on a complete panel on the vehicle. It does take about 9-10 passes to make a 90 degree flange....



You can watch the angle of the 'bendy stick' I progressed through the bending process. I also made a pass along the flange with a body hammer to crisp up the bend a little bit.

As far as I can tell the bend has the same profile as the stock bend.

Next I moved onto mocking up the position of the future rocker tube...







This is with 3x2 tubing, I will be using 3/16 wall for the final product. This short cut I had laying around is 1/8" wall I think. The corner radius on the thicker will be slightly softer.

This mock-up is with a 1" offset from the body. I think that will be a nice balance. It should be enough to keep things off the body, but not so much as to get in the way. I hate it when you smack your shin, or mud up your pant leg, when you entry or exit the vehicle. It also isn't big enough to be tempted to use it as a step. I think that is a good thing. I'm not a fan of jumping on the rocker tube honestly. I think I may add a step on the back of the rocker just past the cab. I am going built in about 1/4" of clearance between the rocker tube and the body. This should prevent the body from contacting the rocker panel when the chassis flexes.

I am looking for some ideas on what to do with the rocker in general. How to terminate the ends? How perhaps to use the space inside the rocker for storage? I was also thinking about perhaps adding some hidden recovery points to the outriggers. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to hold the vehicle from the side when doing a complex recovery.
 
Some weekend progress....



I trimmed, and flanged, the drivers side rocker panel to match the work done on the passenger side. Overall that process ended up working very well for me. In the end I think it looks very factory. I found some bondo in a few places that will need to be redone, but it's not a huge amount.



Once the rockers where all trimmed I figured it was time to pull this thing off the table. To my surprise the engine didn't fall out or anything! The totally flat belly sure looks nice. I wanted to get the chassis leveled back up once the weight was on the tires. I ended up needing a 1.5" shim under the front tires to get things to sit level.



Make the noise.....



I tacked in a few box tube outriggers to help temporarily hole the rocker tubes in position. Having the belly be totally flat really helped out with that under the front part of the frame.



Here is where I stopped for the night. I cut a 60" long section of the 2x2x3/16" box tube I am using for the rocker tubes. It ended up working out that I needed a 5" tall spacer from the bottom of the frame (temp outrigger) to the bottom of the rocker tube. This ended up working pretty well really. The temp outrigger lets me position the rocker tube easily compared to the body and frame. Everything is level to the belly section of the frame. I can dial in the position of everything and then tack weld, of clamp, it all in place before building anything to connect to the frame.
 
Just building a few tools tonight....





I had drilled/tapped my welding table a few months back in a 6x6 grid pattern in 3/8-16 thread.

I finally got around to building some clamps to use with that feature. I wanted something affordable that was easy to make. I basically ended up buying some clamps from Harbor Freight and modifying them to work like I wanted.....

6 in. Quick Release Bar Clamp

These clamps where about $3 each.

I cut off the fixed end of the clamp and TIG welded on a short 3/8" bolt.

The clamps have enough depth to reach half way across the grid pattern also. That gives me a lot of flexibility in where I can space things on the table when building assemblies. Now I can basically add a clamp anywhere on the full 4x8 surface of the table.

Overall, for less than $5 a clamp I am pretty happy. I think I have enough to build about 10 units. I got 4 done after work tonight. I will build the others soon.

I have a few things coming up on the new project that this will be handy for....
 
Tonight's progress....



I stuck the hood and windshield back on the body. I needed to get some measurements with the windshield in place to plan the B-pillar and halo. It is also nice to double check the position of the hood and engine.

Running at tape measure around the body a few times, boy it would be nice to have a complete stock FJ40 to measure. It doesn't matter that much, and I tend to overthink things, but knowing what 'stock' was would be nice. Oh well. I will muddle through it.



I made some super fancy high tech drawings to help plan things out for the top structure.....super fancy.....

I am going to try and lower the 'top' of the door slightly from stock and 'pull down' the future top panel compared to what I can see in stock pictures. This should help reduce the overall height a bit without having to chop down the windshield.

It also looks like my idea to have the rear window panels un-bolt and store in the bottom part of the body should work out! I have to raise the belt-line of the tub about 2.25" but I don't think that will be too noticeable. It will actually help me have a little extra vertical height for the bed which I think will help with the fenders and bed rail....



I let the saw cut some material for the B-pillar and spreader that will be at floor level. I need to miter some of the ends so I can weld it into a big U-shape.



While I was waiting for the saw to cut everything, I finished up the set of table clamps I as making. I now have a set of 10. That should be handy for laying out the B-pillar, halo, beltline tube, etc....

Fun stuff!
 
Just a little bit tonight, I am fighting off some kind of genetically engineered super flu that has been going around the office....ugh.



Trimmed and capped the rocker bars. I have been working on my TIG welding a bit. Practice practice practice. I actually got a 'free' huge bottle of argon to use up this month from work. We are changing suppliers and they didn't want to return a bunch of gas for 'free'. Small win for me.



I was able to finish one side before my head felt like it was going to explode like an alien wanted out. I cut the front of the rocker to 45 degrees to match the fender angle and fancy things up a bit for no particular reason.



While I was welding I let the bandsaw chew on the tubing for the B-pillar and a spreader at floor level. I will be welding these parts into a big U-shape. I needed to miter the ends for the corner junctions.



I also took another look at the position of the body. I had been questioning myself on how tall the body looks at full bump. My perception on that are pretty screwy after building my flat fender. That thing sits so low it's silly. The new truck just seems tall.

I have done some fishing around for some 'stock' measurements for an FJ40 to compare to. Near as I can tell, this thing sits about the same height at full bump as a stock FJ40 does at ride height. Stock tires on an 40 series are about 28" tall. I am running 40" tires. That means that I can add approx 6" of uptravel and still maintain a near 'stock' overall relative height. That makes me pretty happy.....but it still seems tall. I think the stock FJ40 is just a taller vehicle.

Short version. If I bolted 40" tires on a stock FJ40 it would about as tall as mine hybrid is going to be.
 
How about a front suck down winch?



I am thinking about sticking it on the original passenger side motor mounts pad. That mount is well built and perfectly formed around the front axle. It would also put the line in the correct path and location on the front axle housing.

Use this little winch....

http://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-11...UTF8&qid=1460654102&sr=8-1&keywords=ATV+winch

I would change the line over to some 3/8" synthetic line for durability. It would only need less than 10 feet of line. Then weld something to the front axle to direct the line to the opposite frame rail under the crank pulley. I just have enough space for that.

Thoughts?
 
Trying to keep my progress going last night...



I welded the caps on the second rocker bar and got it roughed into position. I also raised the body about another about 1/8" to account for bushing deflection in the body mounts and hole tolerance.....and just leveled the body to the rocker bars, which are level to the bottom on the frame.



I started laying out the B-pillar sub assembly on the table. Yes, I am using square tubing for some of the cage. Since the cabin area is going to be on the small size since the body is only about 56" wide, I didn't want an obtrusive separate 'cage' taking up space. I decided that I wanted to use the structure for multiple purposes. It will not only provide some protection from a roll over for the occupants, it will also define a lot of the lines of the body along with provide something to hang the body panels off of. The lower back panels below the belt-line of the body will be fresh 16 gauge sheetmetal that will be welded in place and mate up to the existing body. All the top panels will be bolting to this new stucture. That will include the windshield frame, top panel, and rear upper window panels. I guess you could think of it as an semi-hidden exo-cage.

The B-pillar is 2x2x0.12 wall tubing. That structure will be a big U-shape with a full side to side spreader at floor level. It will will also contain the mounting flanges for the rear body mounts. This structure will basically be right behind the existing door post.

The majority of the rest of this structure will be 1.5x1.5x.12 square tubing with a few mandrel bends to form the shape of the rear corners. The A-pillars will be 1.5x.12 DOM tubing along with the spreader bar at the top of the windshield....which will be rolled to match that shape. I will also have to do a little additional weld on sheetmetal work to form the upper part of the door surrounds.



I guess my saw needs a little fine tuning at the 45 degree cut setting. I aligned the tubes using a large square....this was the resulting gap. Not terrible, but will require a little adjustment. to fit correctly for welding. The new clamp system for the table is SOOO nice. You can leave the clamps just snug and still tap things around. Once in position you can really crank them down and stuff doesn't want to move at all.

Fun stuff. I will continue working towards getting the body mounted to the frame.....sadly I can see that taking a few more weeks to build all the supporting structures. I am really curious to see the shape of the body tub start to emerge. I think it will really help define the shape of the vehicle.
 
I also took a large number of suspension measurements for the spring and shock mounts.

Front suspension.
-7.5" coil height in chassis at full metal bump
-17" shock mounting compressed length , to stem/stem style mount flats
-20.25" Drivers spring free length
-19.5" Passenger spring free length

Rear Suspension.
-7.75" coil height in chassis at full bump
-16.5" shock mounting compressed length, eye bottom to stem top surface
-18.5" Drivers spring free length
-18.0" Passenger spring free length

That tells me the stock front coils have 12" of travel. The rear coils have about 10.25" of travel. Those numbers will maintain the coil in the mounts. You would still have to have a shock with enough travel. I will need to take a careful look at what shocks will fit. It would be really nice to have about an 11" shock in the chassis. I have a few ideas how I might add a little bit more rear suspension up-travel by relocating an upper shock mount cup and changing the outer rubber bump pad for a shorter unit.

On the rear suspension, There is a large diameter tall inner bumpstop of the rear suspension. It is 6" tall. At full bump, when the outer solid rubber stop engages there is only 3.5" of space for the inner bumpstop. That means that inner unit compresses 2.5" before the axle stops on the outer part. I have to wonder if the large inner units are some kind of progressive rate overload feature?
 
Ok.....one last time to find some weights! I should really be building but this is so annoying I had to get some numbers I had some faith in.

This time I busted out the big guns and brought home some certified wheel scales from work!





The weights from this method of measuring are as follows....

2840 Total

Front-
1660 total
880 drivers side
780 passenger side
640 unsprung ( front axle, suspension, steering would be 366 )
1020 sprung

Rear-
1180 total
560 drivers side
620 passenger side
620 unsprung ( rear axle, suspension would be 346 )
540 sprung

Tire and wheel is still 137lbs

I think these numbers are the best so far. These scales are meant for much higher weights, but should be accurate enough.

Ok....back to building now.
 
Trying to get back at it....









I finished making the main B-pillar U-structure. This is the 1st part for the cage structure. The small tube at the top is just a temp fill to keep everything square, I had some slight pulling from the welding which needed to be managed.

This structure will do a few things. It provides the B-pillar vertical. That will basically form the back of the door surround also. The rear body mounts will be tied into the lower corners. I decided to add the full floor width spreader bar also. That will provide a strong base for the rear of the seat mounts. This will all be welded into the body structure when finished. This structure is all 2x2x1/8 square tube.

Next up are templates for the inside of the rear body mounts. I am going to pattern them up in the vehicle, tack, and pull it to weld in those brackets. They will also act as gussets for the rear lower corners. Once those brackets are done I can tack the assembly in the vehicle in the final position and move onto the rear body mounts which are integrated into the rocker bar outriggers.
 
Making some B-pillar body mounting bracket things...















Overall I think this is turning out pretty well. I have at least another few hours in welding to do....
 
Little bit....






Th
These are the start of the rear body mounts. These will basically bolt to the floor pads that I built into the B-pillar structure. These not only will provide the body mount for the rear of the body, they will also be the 'cage' tie-in at that location. The isolation will be with a universal poly bushing assembly. That will be mounted with a 14mm bolt in double shear. This mount will be tied directly to the frame and integrated into the rocker bar outrigger. The frame is very wide at the B-pillar so the outrigger and moment arm is very short. That should make it very strong....

I still have a few days on these parts for sure with fitting and welding. I need to make a spine in the middle of the assembly also to give it a little more of a complete structure. I have to work around the 1" stiffer I added to the rear of the old body also. I also need to make a temp shim to take the place of the rear floor material. I will make some aluminum dummy bushings to make setup a little more heat tolerant when fitting and tacking parts.

Fun Fun.
 
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