Early (1967) tire carrier alignment

[largeone]

I am in the middle of a rear sill replacement on my 1967 FJ40 (Thank you Keven AWL_TEQ, glad I bought a sill two years ago) and I’m having an issue with the hinge alignment for the tire carrier. The original sill also had this same alignment for some reason and a PO tried to rectify by lengthening the lower hinge (see booger welds on lower hinge). Obviously this only works when the carrier is in the ”stored” position against the truck!!! The hinge has always barely operated for me...very stiff to open. This misalignment would explain that. It also caused the body to get deformed around the hinge bases.

Edit: to save people from having to read this whole thread....the issue ended up being with the alignment of the pre-drilled holes on the Awl_Teq sill. I was able to drill out the weld nuts, weld up the holes, and drill the holes where they needed to be...both on the hinge and the latch.

My question(s): was there ever an intentional misalignment of these hinges? Could one of the hinges be wrong? Has anyone else seen this misalignment on their early 40?

I just can’t see any way for the hinge to operate correctly without these two hinge pins aligning perfectly over one another. So, currently, my plan is to make the two hinge bases on the body align by welding up the original holes and drilling new holes 1/2” (approximately) to the right. And then take the booger weld out of the lower hinge on the tire carrier to make it the same as the upper and align the pins perfectly.

If someone has extra hinges for an older tire carrier laying around I would be interested

 

[largeone]

OK...looking at this more, I think I have figured out what happened...the hinge broke and a PO booger welded it back together. Then, moved the bottom bracket to align with his new hinge pin position due to the weld. That makes more sense. Either way, though, I have to get the pins aligned and the hinge bases on the body aligned as well.

Also...looking at this pic from before sill replacement, makes me think that Kevin’s sill holes/nuts might have been off by a little bit as well? Seems like the hinge is a little further to the right than this pic.

 

[largeone]

As an update...I did a little more mock up work and determined that the pre drilled holes and welded nuts on the Awl_Teq sill we’re in the wrong place for my truck. So, I drilled out the weld nuts on the back, and welded the holes closed, and then started over with a blank slate.

Now, everything lines up as it is supposed to.

 

[Living in the Past]

Curious did you trying switching the top and bottom hinge to see if it made any difference? Hinges are the same top and bottom. Didn't see a picture of the bracket the upper hinge bolts to. A cruiser over forty three years old a lot could happen during that time. I will be honest I have never tackled a rear sill replacement. 9/72 the spare tire carrier along with the hinges. Not sure if that caused a alignment issue in the hinge location not sure. The site I use does not even show diagrams of the floor and sill anymore on the early 40 series.

 

[largeone]

The top and bottom hinges that attach to the tub are identical. I put them side by side and even the holes were aligned perfectly. Another member of our Rising Sun 4x4 Club, redid a ’69 a few years ago and had the exact same issue with the Awl_Teq sill. The skills are amazing construction, but the holes are off...at least for some cruisers. Kevin may have used a sample from someone’s truck that wasn’t representative of all of them?

Either way, I would have bought his sill. I just would have filled the holes before installing.

 

[65swb45]

How well did the latch and catch align? I always make a point of check their alignment before dealing with the hinges. Seen way to many tire carrier that wouldn’t stay closed without customizing the catch/ hook.

 

[largeone]

Perfect now. I started with the catch and then mounted the hinges to ensure the catch works. The catch is very worn so I welded a bead on the back of the hook and shaped it to make sure the catch pulls the carrier into the swing door.

 

[65swb45]

Excellent. That’s how the pros do it.

 

[largeone]

Now, if only I could get someone in CO to show me how to paint!

 

[65swb45]

Roller or brush?

 

[largeone]

Haha! I have a gravity sprayer that has never been used. I just need to get it setup and try it out on something other than the LC. I sprayed it with rattle can for now just over the repair, but it is just to protect the body work until I’m done. At some point it will need a “real” paint job.

 

[rlong]

What color is your 67'. I could probably help you get started on painting. I painted my 63' years ago, and a few cars and my boat. Started painting my 69', then decided to redo suspension and move axle back, then rework axles, well then got a crate vortec from another project... painting got pushed back! I primarily work on them, driving (apparently to me) is overrated : )

Bob in Fort Collins

 

[largeone]

Bob...thank you. I will PM you about the painting...

My '67 is multicolored unfortunately and will need a lot of work prior to the final paint. The original color was Lily White. Over the years, POs have rattle canned parts of the interior just plain crappy white, and in the 90s the outside got a Macco spray of a "Dune-beige-wanna-be" color that has way more green in it than the Toyota color. It has faded to a tan color that is not so bad, but impossible to match

So, in the end, I could pretty much choose any color to paint it. I am not sold on one yet, but am leaning toward either Nebula Green, or VW Dove Blue which is the closest thing to the Toyota Cadet Blue I can find and is a really cool, period correct, color.

I also need to spray the top (after repairs), which will likely be the first real thing to get paint, but is also one of the hardest to get right. However, anything will look better than what it looks like now!!!

 

[Splangy]

I had the same problem with one of his late model rear sills. His products are very high quality, but he didn’t seem to have the right dimensions for the hinge holes on his sills.

As an update...I did a little more mock up work and determined that the pre drilled holes and welded nuts on the Awl_Teq sill we’re in the wrong place for my truck. So, I drilled out the weld nuts on the back, and welded the holes closed, and then started over with a blank slate.
View attachment 2398723

View attachment 2398724
View attachment 2398725
Now, everything lines up as it is supposed to.
View attachment 2398727

 

[largeone]

I had the same problem with one of his late model rear sills. His products are very high quality, but he didn’t seem to have the right dimensions for the hinge holes on his sills.

Thank you! I thought it was just me until I heard from a couple others with similar problems. It's all in the rear view mirror now, but I sure wish I would have read some of the other build threads fully before I got as far as I did, and then had to go backward to weld up the holes. No biggie. The sill is still way better than I could have fabbed up.

 

[Dynosoar]

My sill from him also needed to have to latch holes relocated. I expected a better fit, but the quality of the piece is still worth it in my opinion. it was not that hard to realign the holes. In the process I spoke to him about this and let him know it was off.

Dyno

 

[Splangy]

My sill from him also needed to have to latch holes relocated. I expected a better fit, but the quality of the piece is still worth it in my opinion. it was not that hard to realign the holes. In the process I spoke to him about this and let him know it was off.

Dyno

My purchase was 10 years ago. We all talked to him about it and he didn’t seem to want to do anything about it. Weird, considering his attention to detail and other quality.

 

[brooklyn]

67 Lily White as well. Just had the rear sill replaced used one from real steal along with their rear quarter panels. Body &’paint guy thought I was going for a camo paint job based upon different touch up jobs that were on the truck. He painted the truck two weeks ago - seemed very happy it’s one color again. Told me to layoff the rustoleum paint work

 

[largeone]

Did you repaint it Lily White?

 

[Green Bean]

Excellent. That’s how the pros do it.

So, I finally got around to mounting the spare tire carrier on our 1970. Unfortunately, I failed to heed Mark's advice above which I'm only now seeing. The bottom of the carrier is hitting the top of the latch plate, thus preventing the carrier to close all the way and latch. It looks like the entire carrier needs to come up about 1/8". I'm wondering if I take everything apart and add an extra shim (grade 8 washer) to the hinge assembly if that will get me the clearance that I need. Any ideas?
Thanks!