FJ40 rear tub repair

[CHCP]

I can agree with this, but I am curious as to why no one uses CCOT anymore?? Their stuff is factory tight in fit and finish.
The tolerances on my tub are easily within factory specs now.

I'll tell you why. I bought my Aqualu 3/4 for $4.3K and just checked CCOT 3/4 steel tub for $10.5K!
I think TCEd has a real good point. Once you install a non fitting part it changes more of the body than you think. Unfortunately my Aqualu was about a 1/8" too wide on each side in matching with my steel 78 cowling so we had to "stretch" the width of the front door pillars ever so slightly, then when hanging the front doors they had to be tweaked too. I've also noticed that my carburetor mechanical linkage looks misaligned but don't know how to adjust it. Gotta live with it.

 

[psmbfuer]

This is bit of a resurrection, but earlier in this thread @cruiserpilot mentioned the tubs being build in France. If I'm not mistaken, this was a reference to the Teseven stainless steel tubs. I had the chance to check one out in person roughly two months ago and the side to side measurement on it was off enough that I believe it would have been difficult to mount the hardtop. It also did not have any profile on the rear sill and uprights, where the lower portion of the ambulance doors close on the tub. I suppose both issues could be worked around and otherwise it looked like a fantastic tub - if I planned a purely convertible build, I would have likely come home with it.

In the meantime, as some of you here, we have been rebuilding our existing tub using stainless panels that we are fabricating ourselves. If interested in additional details, I recently started a build thread, which is still underway.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I can agree with this, but I am curious as to why no one uses CCOT anymore?? Their stuff is factory tight in fit and finish.
The tolerances on my tub are easily within factory specs now.

I was just in Garland a couple of months ago. Sadly the newish owner doesn’t give a crap about producing anything, just want to continue in with online sales. They have some seriously nice product
but also a lack of people. The guy doing fab is not interested in training new up and coming people
so the body panel work they do is minimal amd I presume will cease soon enough. The full tubs they
get are the ones from Central America and at $13K + aren’t near close to being the finished product
that kind of money should provide. I’m not a fan of any of their stuff from down there even though it’s
almost the only thing available. Do the research but they do offer product that can actually be used
as restoration product so the fit and finish in the end will be good.

I'll tell you why. I bought my Aqualu 3/4 for $4.3K and just checked CCOT 3/4 steel tub for $10.5K!
I think TCEd has a real good point. Once you install a non fitting part it changes more of the body than you think. Unfortunately my Aqualu was about a 1/8" too wide on each side in matching with my steel 78 cowling so we had to "stretch" the width of the front door pillars ever so slightly, then when hanging the front doors they had to be tweaked too. I've also noticed that my carburetor mechanical linkage looks misaligned but don't know how to adjust it. Gotta live with it.

I know Todd, the creator of Aqualu. He specifically mentioned that none of his parts were ever designed for restorations. They didn’t create them to factory specs. His intention was to provide a replacement piece that close enough gets a cruiser that’s rusted out back onto the road. Now over the years obviously quality and precision has been upgraded. But within the last 3-4 yrs with shipping costs and product costs ballooning anything aluminum is crazy. If you really want to see the Canadian hurt compare prices from US to CAN. Imagine if you’d buy anything where your neighbour paid 28-30% less.

This is bit of a resurrection, but earlier in this thread @cruiserpilot mentioned the tubs being build in France. If I'm not mistaken, this was a reference to the Teseven stainless steel tubs. I had the chance to check one out in person roughly two months ago and the side to side measurement on it was off enough that I believe it would have been difficult to mount the hardtop. It also did not have any profile on the rear sill and uprights, where the lower portion of the ambulance doors close on the tub. I suppose both issues could be worked around and otherwise it looked like a fantastic tub - if I planned a purely convertible build, I would have likely come home with it.

In the meantime, as some of you here, we have been rebuilding our existing tub using stainless panels that we are fabricating ourselves. If interested in additional details, I recently started a build thread, which is still underway.

That was years ago, no idea what the Frenchman is up to any more. Once I built mine using CCOT to a spec so close that Mr Toyota would be proud!
But I have to ask, why SS? It’s heavier, not that nice to fab with unless I guess you are TIG welding now.
I know my FJ40 upon completion will sure as s*** never have to worry about road salt and rust ever again.
Aside from limited use, the products - Cosmoline for example - will protect the metal until long after the apocalypse.

 

[psmbfuer]

That was years ago, no idea what the Frenchman is up to any more. Once I built mine using CCOT to a spec so close that Mr Toyota would be proud!
But I have to ask, why SS? It’s heavier, not that nice to fab with unless I guess you are TIG welding now.
I know my FJ40 upon completion will sure as s*** never have to worry about road salt and rust ever again.
Aside from limited use, the products - Cosmoline for example - will protect the metal until long after the apocalypse.

I talked to the owner at Teseven years ago, on an actual phone call, and liked what he had to say, but just couldn't part with the needed cash, especially without ever seeing one in person. Then, at some point their facility had a bad fire, and while I'm not certain of this, I believe their production of 40 tubs stopped since the fire, so as you said, I'm not sure this is a viable option today - it was more a point about the aftermarket tubs generally being slightly off from stock, since I finally go to see one first-hand.

Regarding my choice of stainless, you nailed it on your third line above - there is one primary reason - RUST. I live back east again, and have most of my life and even with good paints and prep, it is difficult to keep the rust from coming back with mild steel if a vehicle is driven in the salt bath that they apply to the roads in the winter.

Regarding weight, stainless is only marginally heavier than mild steel, so that wasn't an issue for me. Going into the build, I needed a new suspension, and planned to use Alcan. I also planned to install my 8274 Warn winch, swap out seats, etc., so I knew that I would need to provide them with real world weight - so again, adding a few pounds by using stainless wasn't a concern from my perspective.

One area were my tub is heavier is the rear sill. If you check out how I build the rear sill, you will notice that it is likely more than twice, possibly three times the weight of stock, but this is due to its design and the only location where things got a little heavy. I also kept the large panels like the quarters in 18 gauge, while only using 16 gauge on each end of mid-tub cross member (as I call it), and several other smaller panels/patches, trying to keep the weight reletively in check. I could be wrong and since I didn't weigh the truck before I started, I can't prove this, but I doubt that the tub has gained more than 30 lbs from moving to stainless.

As far as working with stainless, maybe I'm just accustomed to it at this point, but I find it very straight-forward with MIG and/or TIG - and I used both, assuming the correct setup. With the MIG, I use 309LSi 30 gauge wire, with tri-mix gas and I'm very happy with the welding process, and the result, finding it nearly the same as MIG welding carbon/mild. Forming the stainless is a little more difficult, but again, not enough to be a problem from my perspective.

I'm also with you on Cosmoline and even Fluid Film for slightly different use cases. And although Fluid Film and similar products creap better than Cosmoline, in my view, you will likely have a difficult time getting either into lap joints with good coverage, making them less effective in these locations. One example is the lap where the top wheel well panel is spot welded to the inside of the quarter.

Also, regarding the move to stainless, if you check out my thread, you will see that I was in dire need of full panel replacement in most cases, and I figured, if I need to take the time to draw these panels in CAD, work final fitment issues, etc., there was very little downside (other than cost) to simply building the panels in stainless. And as you mentioned, the winter salt doesn't make it think twice, and next spring, it will look as it did when it was installed it, even without paint.

Coming back to cost - it can be an issue and stainless in general is roughly 40% more expensive then carbon (by memory), but I have a scrap yard near me that allows you to buy from them, and they buy companies that are going out of business and other surplusses. The 304 stainless from them was nearly 50% of retail at the time, so it all just made sense for me.

 

[psmbfuer]

I know Todd, the creator of Aqualu. He specifically mentioned that none of his parts were ever designed for restorations. They didn’t create them to factory specs. His intention was to provide a replacement piece that close enough gets a cruiser that’s rusted out back onto the road. Now over the years obviously quality and precision has been upgraded. But within the last 3-4 yrs with shipping costs and product costs ballooning anything aluminum is crazy. If you really want to see the Canadian hurt compare prices from US to CAN. Imagine if you’d buy anything where your neighbour paid 28-30% less.

Agree with all of this as well - I met Todd up at his facility in Canada maybe 35 years ago, and again across the years at Easter Jeep Safari / Jeep Week down in Moab - he has always been a great guy to talk to and has been very open. I have also installed two if his tubs - they are excellent replacement tubs as you noted, but his intent was not full originality (nor is my tub work). We would have likely used one of his tubs on my 77 if it weren't for the fact that I was trying to give my son a relatively broad and deep exposure to fabrication, welding, etc.

 

[jestlurnin]

What about topnault. Have people gone away from them completely?

 

[Tigerstripe40]

What about topnault. Have people gone away from them completely?

There was 1 thread from someone who got one, and there were some problems with the fit and finish.
I haven't seen much else though, and most of the parts they have are Out of stock on their site.

I need B pillar on the passenger side and TP Auto and TROA were the only sites that listed those parts.
CCOT, RealSteel don't have those, so I am likely going to go Aqualu 3/4 when I do my tub.