FJ80 (Thing 2) Build

[jasonc]

After I got the wings on, I noticed a GIANT rust spot where the passenger rear mud flap bolts in to the body

I got out the grinder and cut all of the rust out, and cleaned everything up.

Once all the rust was gone, I started fabricating a bracket to weld in. This was a very complex part for me to make, so it took pretty much all day.

I used some Bondo to smooth everything together as my welds were less than perfect, and I soaked it in primer and paint to make sure it won't be rusting again anytime soon. Now the mud flaps are ready to bolt on!

 

[jasonc]

As I was about to attach the mud flaps, I noticed how old and beat up they looked.

I got a nice paint marker, and went to work.

I still have to clean up a few places, but they look pretty good in my opinion.

While these were drying, I tried to replace the rear windshield wiper. Just like everything else, this did not go as planned.

At some point, a previous owner had broken the wiper arm, and screwed the blade into it. Obviously, I didn't want any owners after me to have to deal with this, so I grabbed a spare wiper arm, removed the broken one, and started repainting everything. It's drying right now, and I'm hoping it will be dry by the morning. I've got a nice RainX blade to put on it, and it will be loads better than smearing dirt all over the rear hatch.

 

[jasonc]

Well, I worked on this truck for most of today again, but didn't get a lot of stuff done.

To start with, I finished up the mud flaps, and I have to say, I'm more than pleased with how they came out.

After they completely dried, I got them installed. Lookin' good!

Then I wrestled around with the rear wiper arm, and finally got everything together after about an hour.

MAJOR PITA, but it needed to be fixed at some point.

I spent the remainder of the day rolling around under the truck with pieces of steel, markers, a square, and a measuring tape trying to build the bumper. My drawings and Cardboard Aided Designs always end up being changed, so I'm just winging it on the design of the bumper, and sorting all of the problems out as I go along. I'm also going to be building this bumper from the top to the bottom, the last one I built from the middle to the edge and had a few fitment issues. This way, everything should fit together much better. Hopefully I can get everything finished soon!