Builds Gen. Waverly (1 Viewer)

[majdomo]

Couple things. Appointment set for this Friday at K&H to replace the C-channels with the kit I received from @TRAIL TAILOR , very excited to get that done. Just remembering that I should put that last rear shackle in the back of the truck so they can replace it when finished.

Next is the bumpers. They were really starting to get me down this weekend, decided to get started on the front first. The bumpers I purchased weren't perfect, on purpose, since the rig itself is sort of rough for now I didn't want new ones looking all out of place. However, the front bumper needed some massaging with the 20-ton press before installation. Lots of rearranging and using jack stand stems for arbors which was fun, but it was all worth it in the end. Purchased used front bumper ends from Proffitt's, which was awesome, and the front license plate completes things. One instance where I think the front license plate actually adds to the look. I also repaired the hood latch, so that I don't have to slam the damn thing to get it to shut.

Next up is the rear bumper, which I've been dreading given the amount of rust back there. Most of the bolts on the bottom snapped off under torque, which was really helpful, but the top chrome rounded head carriage bolts were a total pain in the rear. Lots of death wheel and chisel / hammer action released much flaky rust from the back.

Bumper stickers be gone... the XYL says she liked them. I think they made it look crappy. Dealer sticker stays, though.

The finished product. This bumper was repaired but not rechromed, so the repaired spots look sort of off, but it's way better than the crumpled up mess that was on there before. $50 for the pair was a pretty good deal.

Found the remnants of a wasp nest under the bumper. I didn't prep or rust convert the back cross brace, will get to that if I decide to hang on to this long-term and want to spend the $$ on a better replacement bumper.

Finally, a huge shout-out to @ToyotaMatt for the OEM spec 8 JIS goodness that is adorning these less-than-perfect bumpers. Yellow ZINC plated flange nuts are on the other side of this, much too pretty for this garbage.

Next up is those C-channels and then maybe the LSPV, which has been behaving itself the last week or so. Still want to pull that off to clean.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Couple things. Appointment set for this Friday at K&H to replace the C-channels with the kit I received from @TRAIL TAILOR , very excited to get that done. Just remembering that I should put that last rear shackle in the back of the truck so they can replace it when finished.

Next is the bumpers. They were really starting to get me down this weekend, decided to get started on the front first. The bumpers I purchased weren't perfect, on purpose, since the rig itself is sort of rough for now I didn't want new ones looking all out of place. However, the front bumper needed some massaging with the 20-ton press before installation. Lots of rearranging and using jack stand stems for arbors which was fun, but it was all worth it in the end. Purchased used front bumper ends from Proffitt's, which was awesome, and the front license plate completes things. One instance where I think the front license plate actually adds to the look. I also repaired the hood latch, so that I don't have to slam the damn thing to get it to shut.

View attachment 3394330

Next up is the rear bumper, which I've been dreading given the amount of rust back there. Most of the bolts on the bottom snapped off under torque, which was really helpful, but the top chrome rounded head carriage bolts were a total pain in the rear. Lots of death wheel and chisel / hammer action released much flaky rust from the back.

View attachment 3394331

Bumper stickers be gone... the XYL says she liked them. I think they made it look crappy. Dealer sticker stays, though.

View attachment 3394332

The finished product. This bumper was repaired but not rechromed, so the repaired spots look sort of off, but it's way better than the crumpled up mess that was on there before. $50 for the pair was a pretty good deal.

View attachment 3394333

Found the remnants of a wasp nest under the bumper. I didn't prep or rust convert the back cross brace, will get to that if I decide to hang on to this long-term and want to spend the $$ on a better replacement bumper.

Finally, a huge shout-out to @ToyotaMatt for the OEM spec 8 JIS goodness that is adorning these less-than-perfect bumpers. Yellow ZINC plated flange nuts are on the other side of this, much too pretty for this garbage.

View attachment 3394336

Next up is those C-channels and then maybe the LSPV, which has been behaving itself the last week or so. Still want to pull that off to clean.

Not to sure what a XYL is or means ?

But the DIM side of me thinks the answer you give will either make me look DIM or i will wet my Carhartt Rip-Stop Cargo's

The possible 98.6' F temporary HIGH is worth the risk to me , so have at it ..


,

- i will be diving-deep into and at GHOST's OEM rear bumper and subsequent related rear framing members that are attached to it in any way ....

 

[majdomo]

not to sure what a XYL is or means ? but the DIM side of me thinks the answer you give will either make me look DIM or i will wet my Carhartt Rip-Stop Cargo's

the possible 98.6' F temporary HIGH is worth the risk to me , so have at it ..


,

- i will be diving-deep into and at GHOST's OEM rear bumper and subsequent related rear framing members that are attached to it in any way ....

Some ham radio lingo for you! OM = old man, generally any guy on the air. YL = young lady. Any female on the air is usually called a YL.

XYL = wife ...

One last edit - on the rear bumper there are 4 bolts attached at the center, two carriage bolts and two regular bolts. Bottom bolts are easy to access, top bolts less so, but all 4 attach to a center carrier that is bolted to the rear cross member. On mine, this is all practically rusted into one piece, so I just left the carrier in place and managed to remove the bottom 2 bolts without snapping them. The top 6 pretty much all required grinding and hammering and swearing. However, it may be easier to remove the two accessible bolts that connect the carrier to the rear cross member, if your rig's a** isn't a rolling Rust-eze commercial..

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Some ham radio lingo for you! OM = old man, generally any guy on the air. YL = young lady. Any female on the air is usually called a YL.

XYL = wife ...

One last edit - on the rear bumper there are 4 bolts attached at the center, two carriage bolts and two regular bolts. Bottom bolts are easy to access, top bolts less so, but all 4 attach to a center carrier that is bolted to the rear cross member. On mine, this is all practically rusted into one piece, so I just left the carrier in place and managed to remove the bottom 2 bolts without snapping them. The top 6 pretty much all required grinding and hammering and swearing. However, it may be easier to remove the two accessible bolts that connect the carrier to the rear cross member, if your rig's a** isn't a rolling Rust-eze commercial..

Not sure if you are aware of the killer kool OEM Toyota Genuine Parts related FJ62 USA-Spec. fact that in-fact the 2 Outer Chrome Plated
carriage bolts on the top of your Sparky Fly Freshy Front Bumper assy. .....

Were and are designed by TOYOTA into the whole big picture of various Global Destination Market Regions , to double as the specified Factory FOG and Auxiliary Lamps / Lights stand-off type mounting brackets locations , most of the 5 kits included a new longer same in-kind carriage bolts hardware kit , some did not ?

there were at least 5 different and unique styled TOYOTA Part # FULL on KITS , some are Clear JIS KOITo glass , some were the PURE JDM Yellow color tone , i have never seen a kit FJ62 in old circa-era photos that Sports the now common Maple Syrup looking Color tone JIS glass , that seems at one point took the place of the Iconic PURE YELLOW that i am personally more then a bit fond of ...

ALL Kits comprised of KOITo brand JIS Glass Lumen assy's , the 2 stand off brackets to better position the most massive KOITo 6" rounds away from the front grill area surfaces and one of the 3 different and unique Small & Skinny size-spec vertical illuminated active-ON feature illuminated rocker switch;s that would occupy one of the 2 intended to be dummy knock out vacant locations in the lower HVAC switch panel , there is also a one of a Kind bad to the bone little indicator box , the center one in our USA-Spec. FJ62's has the blacked-out un-utilized windows in it , this one has a PURE YELLOW translucent shade window and the standard OEM international language logo for FOG , that iconic icon that was used in that time period .....

The one odd-azz fact that still puzzles me , is all 5 kits are comprised of ROUND Koito's , i have never seen a circa-era one to match the 4-square lamps detail in shape in any way ......?

also , the FJ40 little Egg-shape Fog Lamps , will indeed fit well as discussed above , stand off brackets too !

- those little guys were NOT part of any of the 5 different kits i have come across etc ...

 

[majdomo]

Not sure if you are aware of the killer kool OEM Toyota Genuine Parts related FJ62 USA-Spec. fact that in-fact the 2 Outer Chrome Plated
carriage bolts on the top of your Sparky Fly Freshy Front Bumper assy. .....

Were and are designed by TOYOTA into the whole big picture of various Global Destination Market Regions , to double as the specified Factory FOG and Auxiliary Lamps / Lights stand-off type mounting brackets locations , most of the 5 kits included a new longer same in-kind carriage bolts hardware kit , some did not ?

there were at least 5 different and unique styled TOYOTA Part # FULL on KITS , some are Clear JIS KOITo glass , some were the PURE JDM Yellow color tone , i have never seen a kit FJ62 in old circa-era photos that Sports the now common Maple Syrup looking Color tone JIS glass , that seems at one point took the place of the Iconic PURE YELLOW that i am personally more then a bit fond of ...

ALL Kits comprised of KOITo brand JIS Glass Lumen assy's , the 2 stand off brackets to better position the most massive KOITo 6" rounds away from the front grill area surfaces and one of the 3 different and unique Small & Skinny size-spec vertical illuminated active-ON feature illuminated rocker switch;s that would occupy one of the 2 intended to be dummy knock out vacant locations in the lower HVAC switch panel , there is also a one of a Kind bad to the bone little indicator box , the center one in our USA-Spec. FJ62's has the blacked-out un-utilized windows in it , this one has a PURE YELLOW translucent shade window and the standard OEM international language logo for FOG , that iconic icon that was used in that time period .....

The one odd-azz fact that still puzzles me , is all 5 kits are comprised of ROUND Koito's , i have never seen a circa-era one to match the 4-square lamps detail in shape in any way ......?

also , the FJ40 little Egg-shape Fog Lamps , will indeed fit well as discussed above , stand off brackets too !

- those little guys were NOT part of any of the 5 different kits i have come across etc ...

Pretty awesome to find that kit!

I am still trying to find SEV MARCHAL driving lights for my BMW 2002 that don't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[majdomo]

Been a busy couple of weeks, with the kids going back to school and a few other projects coming up. We are rounding the corner into fall, as we wait for a tropical storm (??) to hit LA over the weekend.

Working to get the back end of the frame welded up and repaired, where that rust damage is sitting near the driver's rear spring hanger. More info here in the next week or so, but have a plan together now to fix it.

 

[Spike Strip]

Break out the tarps! (it's what I've been doing all day )

 

[majdomo]

Break out the tarps! (it's what I've been doing all day )

Oh man, that sucks. Check your gutters to while you're up there. We have to set up submersible pumps to pump out our driveway when it rains this much.

We just had the roof replaced 2 weeks ago, this will be a great test run! I haven't even had a chance to pay them yet, since we were waiting on final inspection and the city finally got off their duff to check it last week. Plus my emergency comms is down, haven't put the 2m antenna back on the roof, will just run the HT for now..

 

[Spike Strip]

Tarps are to cover the junk in the yard/leaky patio cover. Project vehicles. I get lax during the long dry summer and leave stuff out, somehow still operating under the fantasy we won't get rain until Nov / December ...

Roof, fortunately, was just replaced in January... No gutters, I let that slide, too...

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Tarps are to cover the junk in the yard/leaky patio cover. Project vehicles. I get lax during the long dry summer and leave stuff out, somehow still operating under the fantasy we won't get rain until Nov / December ...

Roof, fortunately, was just replaced in January... No gutters, I let that slide, too...

just regular lax , in the hot hot LA summer sun ?

 

[Spike Strip]

As of today, I'm Ex-Lax

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Hello there!
There is a guy in the Venice area really good welder and fabricator. He is an old school guy.
I have used him before for some welding jobs I had.
The Place is called Elco welding. On Abbott Kinney and Venice blvd. Give him a call and see if he can help you out with your rear frame rails.

 

[majdomo]

Hello there!
There is a guy in the Venice area really good welder and fabricator. He is an old school guy.
I have used him before for some welding jobs I had.
The Place is called Elco welding. On Abbott Kinney and Venice blvd. Give him a call and see if he can help you out with your rear frame rails.

Thanks - will give him a call tomorrow! Have an appointment with a welder in Gardena who took a look at it yesterday and can do the repair along with installing the C-channel inserts.

It's been a nightmare trying to find a good welder in LA who is willing to tackle frame rust. We just don't see it on the west coast. I made at least 20 phone calls to guys both here and on the east coast to get an idea of what to do. Eventually I called @OTRAMM, who referred me to a local body shop, who then suggested calling a 4WD customization shop in LA. I eventually found this guy through a few additional references.

Rust Doctor in Colorado is also an option, and while he does amazing work it was going to get very $$ quickly including shipping.

Finding outstanding specialists locally is key with this hobby, and the old school ones who are really good are few and far between. Not that I'm excited to take on more east coast rigs or anything..

 

[Spike Strip]

FWIW, Ed's Welding and Mfg in Van Nuys, on Kester, has done a few things for me. He was very good, but it's been a while. Still 5-stars on Yelp.

The manager at the NAPA a few doors down recommend him to me, many years ago.

Says 'Ed's Welding' but the guy's name is Mike. Fam business that's been in the same spot since Mannix was on the air.

 

[majdomo]

LA morning. There is just something about rolling the 110 on a sunny morning blasting 80s tunes in a 62.

So I definitely tried to get in touch with the other welders suggested and wasn't successful. I had a guy from the weekend who could do the work and fit it into his schedule, so took it down to him yesterday morning to fix the frame and install the C-channel inserts. He's also going to look at the rest of the rusty bits, we'll see.

 

[majdomo]

Weekend update - work is progressing with the welder. He's replaced the section of the rail that was all rusted on the driver's side, and pulled both C-channel inserts. After that, he's put in some reinforcement on the passenger side rail, before putting the C-channels back in. It's probably going to cost some $$, but it'll be pretty strong once it's all done and still cheaper than trying to replace the frame altogether.

He's also pulled the gas tank, which gave me the opportunity to send it off to a radiator shop to braze on some replacements for the vents that broke when I was replacing the soft lines. We are also running into issues with the NLA high-pressure fuel hoses and a rusty hard line along the frame rail that had a very slow leak when he pulled it. Researching options for those, but most likely we will just replace the high-pressure line with some EFI-rated hose and clamps, after flaring either end of the hard lines. I also have a fuel pump on order, just to replace the pump while you're in there. Pulling the tank isn't happening again any time soon.

Other updates - football has started, so that is going to chew up a lot of my time on Saturdays since that's work. FM antenna is back on the roof, along with the HF antenna which is running as a temporary setup until I can get some new feed line. I do wish it was higher up, but it's ok for now.

 

[majdomo]

Alright - think it's finally time to write up what's been going on with the rig, since I sent it off to the welder a couple of weeks ago. The initial (ha!!!) work was to just fix the frame at the driver's rear and install the C-channel inserts from @TRAIL TAILOR , which he's done. However, as can be expected, once you start grinding you start finding stuff. He wisely dropped the gas tank to improve access to the areas needing repair. This ended up being a smart move, since of course there was plenty to fix on the tank as well.

First is the repair to the frame. Not surprisingly, the entire section on the driver's side had to be replaced. This is nice and strong now, knocked off all the scale rust and neutralized the entire area with Ospho, on both sides, then installed the C-channels.

Next up was the passenger side. This was more straightforward, or so I thought, since it was supposed to be just pulling out the C-channel and replacing it with the new one. Instead, he found that the rust had gone through to the other side of the vertical piece, and the metal was paper thin. Top and bottom of the rails were fine, however.

This was repaired with a patch, with the thin metal cut out and replaced before installing the C-channel.

Some additional details of the sway link hangers and the spare tire cross brace, which was painted black. The hangers themselves needed some additional reinforcement, so he's put that in as well.

 

[majdomo]

After that, I asked him to just "take a look at" a couple of other items, namely a small rust spot at the bottom of the passenger side wheel well near the door, and a rusty bit in the cargo area just behind the wheel well. First is the one in the cargo area, where someone had evidently tried to fill it with some silicone foam or something. Here's what it looked like before. Beware ye who venture here... dead men tell no tales...

Some photos after grinding out the mess and fabricating a section to make up for the spot that had rusted out.

Covered up from underneath.

 

[majdomo]

And also the section down near the door, obviously mid-fabrication.

Semi-finished product with some finishing work left. This will be primered and painted to match. Someone's clearly been on this area before.

 

[majdomo]

And then there was the roof repair. This was one area where said he just started wire-wheeling and found a can of worms. Some context - here's a shot with it before, a little hard to see but it's up there above the passenger rear window.

Here's what was under that innocuous little spot:

Patch fabricated and installed. He said that the area just under this was a little surface rust but ok, he neutralized it with some Ospho and hit it with primer and epoxy.