Build Body work - fixing my '79 floors and other stuff

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Finished the frame tie in part of the cage. This part of the cage build was very tedious work (at least for me). Lots of fabbing, fitting, unbolting, and doing it again. Glad to have it done and excited to move on to the cage build.

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MOTOV8R,

I've read through the entire thread, and I enjoyed it greatly. Reading through it all in fairly quick succession it was interesting to watch your skill set get better and better as the thread progressed. I found your comments on aftermarket vs OEM parts helpful, though you are a lot kinder than I when the quality of an aftermarket part I've bought basically sucks. Whenever I read the absolutely BS phrase "Meets or exceeds OEM specs" my blood pressure rises appreciably.

There are a couple of topics that really piqued my interest, and I wonder if you could expound on them a bit.

- The first is the way you shifted the wheel well openings rearward due to the rear axle moving aft due to the spring flip. Could you explain how you patched-in the front and added the flange to both that area and the newly cut opening in the rear. Your method seemed to work very well!

- The second is the acetone smoothing of 3D printed parts. I Googled the topic and I found a decent explanation, but the lack of pictures made it confusing, You have a photo, but not a lot of explanation. Your results were awesome and I'd like to learn specifically how you did it.
 
Wasatch Jay said:
MOTOV8R,

I've read through the entire thread, and I enjoyed it greatly. Reading through it all in fairly quick succession it was interesting to watch your skill set get better and better as the thread progressed. I found your comments on aftermarket vs OEM parts helpful, though you are a lot kinder than I when the quality of an aftermarket part I've bought basically sucks. Whenever I read the absolutely BS phrase "Meets or exceeds OEM specs" my blood pressure rises appreciably.

There are a couple of topics that really piqued my interest, and I wonder if you could expound on them a bit.

- The first is the way you shifted the wheel well openings rearward due to the rear axle moving aft due to the spring flip. Could you explain how you patched-in the front and added the flange to both that area and the newly cut opening in the rear. Your method seemed to work very well!

- The second is the acetone smoothing of 3D printed parts. I Googled the topic and I found a decent explanation, but the lack of pictures made it confusing, You have a photo, but not a lot of explanation. Your results were awesome and I'd like to learn specifically how you did it.
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Hey Wasatch Jay, are you in Utah? We lived in Saratoga Springs for almost 8 years and occasionally hung out with the Wasatch Cruisers.

For the fender repairs I actually bought quater panel replacements, however the quality wasn’t great so I just cut them up to use as patch panels. They had the lip rolled in already so that is mostly how I did it. In a few places I had to make the lip. I just welded a straight piece on and then welded it from the backside as well. This made it thick enough so I could grind a rounded corner. The original fender line at the front edge of the fender still exists. You can see it from inside the fender well (pic). I just added a fill panel to extend it. I hoped this would help keep this panel more rigid. I used the dimensions from the patch panel to figure how big to make the wheel opening since the PO had removed all the lower rear part of the quarter panel (to be fair rust had taken most of it first).

For the acetone, I lightly soaked a blue paper shop towel in acetone and set it under the baking dish with the part and then just watched and waited. After a few minutes you can start to see some changes, starts looking glossier. You take it out when you think it has melted enough. The purpose of the baking sheet that the baking dish is sitting on is so that I didn’t damage our countertop. The painters tape was to help keep the acetone inside.

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MOTOV8R said:
The inversion bolt hit the frame and limited droop, when I flipped it around it could droop further because the shackle could swing back further. I only tested it on the front. Looking at it, I don’t think the back has the same problem. I have a different issue in the back. The shackle rubs on the shackle mount gusset. I need to clearance the shackle or the gusset. For the short term I flipped it. The gusset was an aftermarket piece and it’s thicker than stock.

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I don't know how the anti-inversion bolt would hit the frame during droop. Not my vehicle but mine are installed in the same orientation. This is the instructions I used to install mine.
 
MOTOV8R said:
Finished the frame tie in part of the cage. This part of the cage build was very tedious work (at least for me). Lots of fabbing, fitting, unbolting, and doing it again. Glad to have it done and excited to move on to the cage build.

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Looking at the picture it appears your spring are installed in the wrong orientation. The short end should be attached to the fixed frame mount and the long end to the shackle. This may be leading to your issue with the anti-inversion shackles.
 
B y r o n said:
Looking at the picture it appears your spring are installed in the wrong orientation. The short end should be attached to the fixed frame mount and the long end to the shackle. This may be leading to your issue with the anti-inversion shackles.
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You are 100% correct, they are flipped, the driveshaft is lengthened and the wheel well opening has been moved backward. About 4” more wheelbase.
 
B y r o n said:
I don't know how the anti-inversion bolt would hit the frame during droop. Not my vehicle but mine are installed in the same orientation. This is the instructions I used to install mine.
Click to expand...
Here’s a pic of the front with a crude sketch of where the bolt would be if I ran them the other way. It limited the shackle from swinging backward. It was stopped at around vertical.

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MOTOV8R said:
Hey Wasatch Jay, are you in Utah? We lived in Saratoga Springs for almost 8 years and occasionally hung out with the Wasatch Cruisers.

For the fender repairs I actually bought quater panel replacements, however the quality wasn’t great so I just cut them up to use as patch panels. They had the lip rolled in already so that is mostly how I did it. In a few places I had to make the lip. I just welded a straight piece on and then welded it from the backside as well. This made it thick enough so I could grind a rounded corner. The original fender line at the front edge of the fender still exists. You can see it from inside the fender well (pic). I just added a fill panel to extend it. I hoped this would help keep this panel more rigid. I used the dimensions from the patch panel to figure how big to make the wheel opening since the PO had removed all the lower rear part of the quarter panel (to be fair rust had taken most of it first).

For the acetone, I lightly soaked a blue paper shop towel in acetone and set it under the baking dish with the part and then just watched and waited. After a few minutes you can start to see some changes, starts looking glossier. You take it out when you think it has melted enough. The purpose of the baking sheet that the baking dish is sitting on is so that I didn’t damage our countertop. The painters tape was to help keep the acetone inside.

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MOTOV8R,

Thank you for taking the time for such a detailed and helpful reply. I have two replacement quarter panels to harvest pieces from and seeing how successful you were is... motivating!

Yes, I live in Northern Utah. When I first got involved with FJ40s I reached out to Wasatch Cruisers via email a few times, and never heard back. Eventually, I took the hint and moved on to pursue other interests.
 
I started working on the roll bar. Got the hoops tacked to the feet. Pretty straight forward, mostly made sure they were straight up with the angle finder and where I wanted them side to side and front to back. Today I got out the HF notcher out. Took a while to get it secured to the drill press and positioned so that it still moved freely. Then a took a shot at notching some tube. It actually went really well. Got a couple of tubes notched, including an angled piece. Need to do the other side and then I have 3 pieces across top.

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Question/thought - factory roll bars have the notch at the base to secure seatbelt housing. While you're in there kind of thing (Assuming factory seat belts too). Here is a picture of one side of mine I need to install one day.

I think real steel makes a bracket you can weld on - their site is under construction - but that is what I remember when I was looking what do to with my 1980.

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and ...
 
OlYellr said:
Question/thought - factory roll bars have the notch at the base to secure seatbelt housing. While you're in there kind of thing (Assuming factory seat belts too). Here is a picture of one side of mine I need to install one day.

I think real steel makes a bracket you can weld on - their site is under construction - but that is what I remember when I was looking what do to with my 1980.

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and ...
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Thanks for bringing this up. I was wanting to do something like the factory mount. I will definitely check out real steel for some options. Do you have measurements for where those go? Also how high up is the bolt for the shoulder belt guide?
 
Crappy pictures - but basically from base of roll bar to center of bolt is about 6.25" up. (this is for the seat belt housing).

The seatbelt attaches to the bracket bolts connecting the roll bars - I measures about 27 inches up.

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OlYellr said:
Crappy pictures - but basically from base of roll bar to center of bolt is about 6.25" up. (this is for the seat belt housing).

The seatbelt attaches to the bracket bolts connecting the roll bars - I measures about 27 inches up.

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That’s perfect! Thanks for getting these measurements. I found some mounts at metal-tech. Also cruiser solutions has some. Like you mentioned the real steel page is down. I may call them to see what they have.

metaltech4x4.com

Metal Tech FJ40 Land Cruiser Roll Cage Seat Belt Mount Set

Check out Metal Tech 4x4—your home for high end off road parts and accessories, specializing in Toyota. Browse our selection of off road products today.
metaltech4x4.com metaltech4x4.com

 
I was pondering the front bars for the cage and looked at what @Owyhee Jackass had done for his cage on his 45 that has wing windows. He pulled the bar back from the dash so I decided to do that. For the front mounts I again added some spacers to the feet so it doesn’t crush the floor raised areas. For the under side I made a plate that is about 1/2” bigger all around. I could also tie this plate into the frame if I want to later. I still have more support bars to add but making progress. Now some pictures for people like me that don’t read the posts.

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Made some more progress. Rear top bars, front cross bar and some braces for the front tubes. I still have to tack all those in. Then I will fit the seat belt mounts and add some gussets. I am thinking I will pay a pro to final weld it. I may have them weld most of it in place. I will see what they say.

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