Builds Good Dog Build

[RiggityJ]

So, GD came with 2 mirrors, one on the door and one in the door pin. Got some new pins and another side mirror and installed them. Not sure which side mirror I will go with in the end, but it definitely won't be the ones in the door pins. Door pin side mirrors had threaded ends, that the PO ground down to mostly fit the door hinges. Trashed.

 

[RiggityJ]

New door pins. Sleeves go on the door side, that took me too long to figure out.

 

[RiggityJ]

Been using @wngrog patina cleaning method. Works wonders, just gotta be careful to not go too heavy with the scrubbing. Wish I had taken a before picture of the bed, as it was mostly black (PO spray painted the inside black) and rust. Cleaned up really nicely. Still working on the engine bay, I'm about 1/4 done.

 

[RiggityJ]

Cleaned up the passenger side. Took off the blower motor for better access for scrubbing and blower motor gaskets disintegrated upon contact. So, new ones ordered and arrived yesterday. Interestingly enough, not only does GD not have AC, it doesn't have heat. Just an air blower motor and vent to the passenger foot well.

Looks like the inlet cowl is original and the PO chromed it to match.

 

[RiggityJ]

PO had a bunch of foam on the inside the batty tray, probably so the battery wouldn't wear. Interestingly enough, there was foam below. Turnout there was a broken bolt (upper right in the bottom photo) which I will need to drill/tap.

Cleaned up the battery tray (had a bunch of rust and wall loss) then painted it black.

 

[wngrog]

Superb

 

[RiggityJ]

Took a while to get the motivation to post again as I have hit a couple walls.

1. I figured out why my thread tapping handle failed. It was to prevent what happened. Ended up breaking the thread tap bit in the the back bumper. Still stuck, and haven't figured out how to get it out. Sprayed it with wool wax to prevent it from rusting in, and will figure it out later.

2. Prep'd the back hatch by cleaning up the edges with goofoff, a plastic scraper, and brillow. Did a final thin clear coat over the surface to try to seal whatever was underneath and to provide a good sticking surface. Used the VHB tape.

3. Ended up in gasket hell, probably (definitely) my fault because I have ADHD and can't finish reading a forum that I was specifically told to read. Still haven't, but will go back and try again. Bought weatherstripping from racer city and the VHB tape. They didn't want to stick together at all. It was like sticking 2 positive magnet ends together. Big fail. Yes, I took the red covering off.

The one bright light was @HemiAlex recommending the 3M Stripe Off Wheel. I think its like 10X faster than goof off and scraper. Highly recommended. Probably get back to cleaning engine bay and frame, prepping frame for paint, and finish removing the old crappy weatherstripping.

 

[RiggityJ]

Broken bolt tally:
RiggityJ: 2
GD: 5 (that I know of anyways)

 

[middlecalf]

Do you have a welder?

 

[HemiAlex]

He has access to one, but I still think I can get it out for him.

 

[RiggityJ]

I’m hoping some heat and vice grips this weekend will make some progress on the bit.

 

[Drake2]

After I got the rig, I soon realized that the line "the top fell off the truck" that the previous owner fed me, was BS. During the initial walk around I started noticing dents in certain locations, cracks on the doors, one of the doors has been bent into the cabin, cracks in the rear end where the side-to-bottom bolts were ripped out, and the missing fiberglass top. Clearly this thing was rolled and apparently if freaked the previous owner out as there is a pretty nice roll cage that was installed and welded to the frame.

So, since this FJ40 knows how to roll over, it must be a...Good Dog!

Videos of walkarounds:
Running and Engine Bay Peek
Walk around Part 1
Walk around Part 2

Please post the Ebay sellers name and Ebay handle so others know to BEWARE! You can post it here and in the BAD SELLER section found here: Bad Sellers - Buyer Beware

 

[Drake2]

So, GD came with 2 mirrors, one on the door and one in the door pin. Got some new pins and another side mirror and installed them. Not sure which side mirror I will go with in the end, but it definitely won't be the ones in the door pins. Door pin side mirrors had threaded ends, that the PO ground down to mostly fit the door hinges. Trashed.View attachment 2261616View attachment 2261617View attachment 2261619View attachment 2261621

I like the windshield hinge mounted mirrors with extendable arm the best.

 

[RiggityJ]

I feel like I have ADHD or I'm playing whack-a-mole when I work on GD. I started cleaning the block and get to thinking that I need to reach a little bit further to really be able to clean property. I'll just remove a couple bolts...and BAM:

No front grill, grate, radiator, or water pump.

 

[RiggityJ]

All known broken bolts have been removed. Would have been easier if I hadn’t broken a drill bit. In case that happens to someone else, my dry wall carbide drill bit worked wonders. Just had to rock the drill back-and-forth to make progress.

Decided to clear coat some of the black components. Have the kit rebuild my thermostat coming along with a bunch of gasket adhesive, clutch rebuild kit.

Been keeping busy by starting to clean under the windshield. Had to stop cleaning when I realized I was scrubbing a hole in the rust. Not exactly sure what I am going to do here. Probably a combination of trying adhesive&rubber weatherstripping on the bottom and woolwax on the rusty bits. Just want to prevent further rusting/deterioration.

 

[RiggityJ]

Been a while. Lots of photos/progress...and yet still so far to go. Some of this may be out of order.

Replaces clutch slave/master and hydraulic cable only to discover during disassembly/reassembly, that the PO didn’t install the slave and associated brackets correctly. This caused the slave to dive forward and resulting in what I though was a leaking slave and master.

 

[RiggityJ]

All of the remaining splash guards were cracked. As an engineer, it was pretty obvious that it was a design issue (These things are designed to fail by fatigue). Didn’t want to invest the effort to fully redesign, and pull probably affect ascetics. So took the remaining ones out, welded stiffening plates on, and painted and reinstalled.

 

[RiggityJ]

 

[RiggityJ]

Improved splash guards with stiffening plates:

“New” splash guard

 

[HemiAlex]

The suspense is killing us.