HJ47 welcome here? (1 Viewer)

[Henry James the 47th]

next set

 

[Henry James the 47th]

a few more shots of that sweet bed liner. The color difference between the bed liner, which has been tinted to the finish color of 857 Nordic Blue, and the blue epoxy primer, can be readily seen in the 1st and third pictures below

 

[Henry James the 47th]

last set

 

[Henry James the 47th]

A little update on the 4x4Labs vigil. I called them today to check that they had shipped my knuckle arms, just in case they let them sit on someone's desk for 3 weeks like last time.

This time, that was not the problem - now one of their machines broke down and they are waiting on a part for it. This machine cuts the countersinks on the top of the knuckle where it bolts to the housing.

So, they are waiting on a part that "should arrive this week" and then they will complete my order and send me the arms.

This is moving well past the humor point for me, but what can i do? They could have at least called me last week to let me know what was happening, but that sort of communication does not seem to be part of their business strategy.

They did discover that the setting on a jig they used for tapering the hole for the TRE's was out of adjustment - which would explain the overly-loose fit of the TRE's on my arms. Brian at the company thought it was odd that no other customers had contacted them about this problem, since lots of arms had gone out with the taper too deep. I guess I can take comfort that I was able to help them out in some small way.

is the mood I am left with however.

I don't believe I'll be giving 4x4Labs any more business after this episode, and that's even assuming that the next stuff they send me will even work.

I'm also trying to figure out a solution to the wiper motor issue. I heard from someone else this weekend that they had a similar issue trying to adapt a 40 series wiper motor to a 60 series column switch. Apparently the wiper motor has some internal differences to the 60 series motor. I am thinking of taking my entire harness and the rest down to the local auto electric place, as they might be expert enough to find a good solution. Of course, since time is a little tight for me, it figures that they are quite busy right now and can't get to it until late next week.

And my painter has flaked out a little and didn't manage to deal with the rest of the bed-liner spraying the other day. He was to tired to get to it last night, and has promised me that he'll do it tonight after 7:00. Hmm, we'll see. I'm not holding my breath, but remain mildly hopeful.

I just detest being dependent upon other people and their work/business practices sometimes! I'm seriously considering buying my own HVLP sprayer and the rest of the gear so I can move this job along, even though I can't do as good a job as an experienced painter. I'll talk to the painter tonight and see what he says (not so sure i will believe it though). I'm needing to get the sheet metal into finish paint ASAP!!

 

[Bear]

HJ47,

You know, there's a lot to resto work-----and it's not just the work YOU put in. Waiting for these jokers to get to their professed professions is exasperating. And it can sometimes be all about the money----the money you are willing to part with to get a better quality company or workman, to pay for more employees or a better work ethic. That's why a good quality resto costs so much. Aggravations and delays add to the overall cost.

I think that stockpiling all the parts you think you possibly might need BEFORE you start can help. Then budgeting a bit more to pay for the outside labor than you would charge someone else. In the olden days you could count on machine shops with skilled machinists, painters with a long career behind them, and shops that WANT your business.

But you are absolutely correct--do-it-yourself is way better, and lots more thorough, since you know everything you did--right or wrong. Your thread on this project has shown us all how skillful you are and have become. It inspires those of us with lesser skills and with less courage to give it a try. And it reminds everybody why it's better for us to be in charge, rather than waiting on someone else to do the job for you.

Can you find another supplier for the parts you need and call it a day with those jokers?
They need to understand that your time is valuable---and that your time is worth money just the same as theirs is !! Maybe after the bad publicity they are getting off your adventure, they might treat the next guy just a little bit more respectfully !!

My two cents.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Hi Bear,

you wrote, " Can you find another supplier for the parts you need and call it a day with those jokers?
They need to understand that your time is valuable---and that your time is worth money just the same as theirs is !! Maybe after the bad publicity they are getting off your adventure, they might treat the next guy just a little bit more respectfully !!"

Well, i wish the other options were a little easier to stomach. Based on my original conversation with Luke Porter at the company, in which i was told they could put together a system that would work for my application, I went ahead and made modifications to my center arm to accept the larger TRE's. In order to go to another product, that investment in time and tooling would become a waste. I don't have a tie rod or relay rod on hand either, so i would have to acquire those parts along with a new center arm.

The 4x4Labs design of the product is great, as i have mentioned previously - I want to have beefier steering components, and they have not only done that with their product, but the tie rod is placed in the more protected position behind the axle. and, if the company marketing is to be believed, their attention to the Ackerman angle stuff should mean that the trucks turns better with their components than with oem. I just had no idea this would become such a hassle, going on now near to 4 months since i first phoned them up.

I would take a pair of the arms already sent to me and see if I could find a machine shop in this area to re-bend the arms, however with the tapers for the TRE being out of tolerance, i would still end up with something a little defective.

also, it has not escaped my attention that 4x4labs is a site sponsor here on the forum, which is a point in their favor for sure, so i don't have a desire to tread on any sensitive toes. I just want a knuckle arm set that will work for me here, and to have it in my hands in a reasonably timely manner. I would love it if the company would attend to me better as a customer.

At least they have now agreed to send me a UPS retrnn shipping label with the next set of arms they send, so i am not stuck footing the bill for sending some 75lbs of metal back to California.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Well, fortunately the painter swung into action again last night, and now the bed liner stage is OVER!!!

there was nearly enough in the SEM kit to do it all, but we came up a little short. I had a can of 3M Ultra Shutz on hand, so that got put on the back of the cab floor. The higher quality SEM product got put onto the most critical areas, like the underside of the tub and fenders, along with the footwells, tranny hump and all the seams. The Ultra Shutz is a sound deadener, and that was one of the main purposes for putting the material on, besides the increased durability under normal wear and tear. Once the finish paint goes on, it will all be blue.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

next set

 

[Henry James the 47th]

last two for this morning. today's plan is to move the cab over to the side and cover it temporarily so that the roof panel and bezel can be brought in to be primed. That will conclude all the priming, which will pave the way for final paint. Final paint will go on the roof and bezel fist, then back to the 857 Blue for the cab sections, then all the other panels, probably done in a couple of hangs. There are lots of little pieces getting painted in the final color besides the main panels.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Who is pumped to see it in paint? I am. That's who.

Dan

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing some of that finish paint myself Dan.

And I'm one step closer to that, as all the priming has now been completed with the roof and bezel now re-coated in epoxy primer. I'll be hanging all the small bits (hinges, kick vents, tranny cover, running boards, and so on) for the first go round of 857 . Then we'll do the upper and lower cab sections together, then another couple of groupings of panels and it should be done. The painter is completing another project today that's been soaking up all his time, so he should be able to more regularly attend to my stuff. I do all the prep, and he throws the color down.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Here are some of those parts just waiting around with nothing to do but turn dark blue:

 

[Henry James the 47th]

In other news...

4x4Labs called me yesterday, twice, to confirm that the new set of knuckle arms is one the way via Fedex 3-day service, so I should have them in hand by early next week. fingers crossed, but Brian at the company went over the arm shape in detail with me again to confirm they had made what I wanted, so they should be pretty close at least this time. Kudos to them for stepping up and helping me out like I was an important customer.

And on the windshield wiper conundrum front, I determined from some old EPC printouts that i had kicking around that Toyota offered an intermittent wiper option from April 1981 in 40 series, most models, but only for the European and Australian markets. Associated to that intermittent wiper switch is a wiper control relay. Since 40 series with the regular 2-speed wipers did not have a relay in place for the wiper circuit, AFAIK, I concluded that the wiper control box listed *must* be for controlling intermittent function of the motor. I checked into availability of the wiper relay listed, and to my considerable surprise, is still on the shelf in Japan, for under $140 (a lot less than some other relays i have looked into, most of which aren't even available any more). I'm willing to take the chance on that component solving the problem for me - and if it doesn't, it will provide an alternative relay to choose from in any sort of jury-rigged solution that may become necessary in the end. Let's hope not - fingers crossed for 'plug-and-play' here folks.

Today i will spend lots of time with the #320 sandpaper prepping stuff for final paint, and should see the small bits painted by the end of the day.

 

[patches84]

The intermittant box is a small, plastic unit which bolts to the right (on RHD) pillar behind the dash, facing the outside of the cab. It is a Rube Goldburgh setup which has a small electric motor that spins a wheel. This wheel engages an electric contact intermittantly. I can probably get the part number off of my fj40 LX if you want.

I put intermittant wipers on my 83 US Spec FJ40, and all of the plugs were in the harness. I had to buy the 3-position dash board wiper switch and the Rube Goldburgh box, but everything else was already there. The existing wiper motor worked a treat. As I recall, I even had the mount on the pillar under the dash to bolt the box to.

As for your bedliner- WOW! That is what I wanted to do when I restored Patches, but I think it will have to wait until the next time I restore her....

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Josh wrote,

"The existing wiper motor worked a treat"

THAT was good news to read! So, in my system, the only non-40 series component will be the switch. The switch already works the wiper fluid reservoir motor, so I figure it ought to work fine.

I have the relay on order - I was mildly surprised to find that the part number was still good, and not the usual "now obsolete" or "de-listed" answer came from my inquiry.

Here's a progress report on the 47:

 

[Henry James the 47th]

next set.

Yes, that is finish paint you're seeing!! (after the first coat)

 

[Henry James the 47th]

the pictures seem to be showing the blue as a bit lighter than it actually is when you see it for real. This is still after the first coat, so the paint is a little light here and there.

anyhow, more pictures..

 

[Henry James the 47th]

another set

 

[Henry James the 47th]

The pedal box was the first thing i was able to put together - for the last time! I am looking forward to assembly. The second coat has gone on the fenders and they look friggin' awesome!! Painter Mark has got the PPG New Concept paint figured out and flowing really well. There are a very few tiny flaws here and there in the panels, but it seems like in pretty much every case something covers over the glitch and it's not seen. The paintwork is making my body work look pretty acceptable, and I'm very please about that. You can all judge for yourselves of course, but I'm very happy with what I'm seeing so far.

I'll post up pictures a little later of how the first round of panels is looking with a heavier coat of paint on.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

I think that turning the flash off on the camera was a help in getting more accurate color rendering with the pictures on here. It's a nice dark blue - I really like it.