ih8mud inspired build (1 Viewer)

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On the 45 forum, there is a guy in Canada that makes the truck beds. He bends the metal in sheets back and forth,making the ribs, then clamps them down, cuts where he wants the rib to end, then welds it all together. Looks great (actually, in the end and no press needed.

back to the tranny tunnel... I fought this too.

I ended up making a pattern out of wood. Then I heated up the metal with a torch and beat it to shape. Yes the wood got a little hot, but I got my one piece made.... Here is the link to when I did the work on the tub side of the part.

Ol' Blue, my 68' fj40 project

Here is on the tunnel side.

Ol' Blue, my 68' fj40 project
 
The Dagha Boy now has a brace under the left side floor and the boing has gone. Thanks to Sarge and 2Fpower for the push in the right direction.

During the day also took a final decision to do the raised bit of floor in fibreglass. That will have to wait till I get to a real town again. Edit (But now I have just read Sarge's latest post, and now I'm all undecided again.

I've got that brace in there now and I really don't believe there will be any movement of the steel it will be tied to. The only steel it will tie to is the new brace and the original brace that runs across the floor.

Thanks JohnnyC for the link, I'm going to have a good look at that. Maybe if I get a piece of bonnet from a wrecked modern car it will be thin enough to press. After all it is more of a cover than a structural part (Apart from holding up the one seat leg, but a brace for that solves that.)

I have finished filling all the holes, cut, drilled, hacked and punched into the dash and firewall. even did the filler and it came out quite nicely . Only done with 60 grit thus far. I just needed to know whether I could do it to the necessary standard. I think I can.

Also did the filler on the two rear corners of the tub. Came out just as nice. Nice-nice! I am celebrating progress tonight with a stiff "Klippies-and-coke" (South Africa's "national drink" Klipdrift Brandy and Coke) ("Klipdrift" means stone ford or stoney ford. "Klippies" is the diminutive form of "klip" meaning stone.)

Thanks for the interest, guys. You inspire me to do a bit everyday.

DASH IN THE ROUGH.

IMG_3127.JPG


A BIT OF BONDO... JUST FOR NICE.

IMG_3128.JPG
 
Now I've had time to look at the link. Thanks again JohnnyC. It seems do-able!

I see he used 18 guage whereas I'm using 2mm which falls between 14 (1.8974) and 13 (2.2784) Nice and thick to accommodate my poor welding skills, but not so good for pressing. I'm thinking a piece of 1.2mm (18 gauge) The VW Polo hood I'm thinking of re-purposing must be even thinner. The way I've got that floor braced now and with the addition to the brace to carry the seat the piece I need to make requires no strength other than to keep its own shape??? A piece of 5 gallon oil can???

Ah, Man! Why didn't you leave well alone! Now I start all over...
 
Hi 2Fpower

I'm not good with wood But thanks for yet another option to confuse me.

I have to do about about an 18" strip of the load bed. Next part of the project after the tub and it has been worrying me. What the Canadian guy does seems quite feasible and a good option to me if I can't find a scrap bed to cut up or an off cut where somebody has shortened the bed. Shortening the bed is quite fashionable here. they take off about 2' at the back to give a better egress angle. Hopefully ther is some of the left over lying somewhere.

But now that you have given me the idea, I am sure I could make a bending jig to bend up what is required in 2mm plate.

The inspiration that comes out of ih8mud is incredible!

I'm goimg to have to have another Klippies-n-Coke. (Equally inspiring.)
 
4257647.jpg
 
2fpower, you've obviously met some Saffers combine drivers. How else would you know about eish with Klippies? You're right, I left out a critical ingredient.

I copied your dolly fron your ol' blue thread and now have my tub sitting on one. Much better and much easier on an old man. Don't know why I didn't do it a month ago.

I'm battling a bit with the filler.

I put it on and sand it off. Knock down the high spots. Put some more on. Sand it down really smooth. Knock down the high spots. Over and over, but I can still feel waveyness with my fingers, and I'm pretty sure it will be visible once sprayed. The back corners of the tub I've got perfect, but the rockers are just not right. The maximum thickness of filler is no more than 2mm at the thickest. Any advice?
 
Mudding is an art. Trick is long boards to sand with and even strokes always across a large area. I think that mine is a 18" board???

Perfection is very hard to attain, so you need to decide how good you want it. If you are going to keep this on a trailer and never wheel and get in the bushes, then go for perfect. otherwise, make it good enough.
 
I'm unfortunately cursed with the perfection gene. Besides, and I have to keep reminding myself, I'm doing this to sell. That said because I have to spend so much on new suspension, transfer case, engine etc, it has to be done to a high standard so that I can recoup that spend. Therefore no shoddy body work, or any other work for that matter.

I have been using an orbital sander which is about 6" long. That seems to be OK on the small corner patches @ about 4" but clearly not on the 30" rockers. The right hand one, where the filler is about 4-5mm deep at deepest is not so bad, but the left where the maximum depth is about 2mm is the problem child. And I'm working across... I'll get a nice long board made up tomorrow and give it another go. Thanks for the lesson. It makes perfect sense now. The little patches, dash and corners are perfect.

Good enough it has to be.

Thanks for the help.

ALL THE FILLER

IMG_3151.JPG

IMG_3152.JPG
 
Bigger is better. I use a large DA for rough work... maybe 10" ?? I forget. Then off to the long board.

After you rough sand, leaving lots of extra material on it, dust the area with some cheap black spray paint lightly, have to play with different brands to find one that does not fill your sandpaper and dries fast....

Then start sanding the area again. you will be able to see high and low spots quickly.

mt1b.jpg
 
Hey 2fpower, I did a supply run today and got a human-powered long board just like the one in your photo. (16") I had a bunch of new filler already on the tub and when I got home I hit it with the long board. Fifteen minutes and a gallon of sweat and it's looking sweet. "Flat as piss on a plate" with just a few little divots to be filled in the morning. I would never have got it right the way I was going. I'm going to redo the other side too. Jeez, that was great advice - but then I believe you Kansas boys know everything about flat. When in doubt ask the experts.

I got very lucky and managed to scrounge a totally rust free transmission cover. All that is wrong with it is that at some point some bright spark cut three lines from the transfer case lever about 3/4 way down the side and bent the two pieces back. I assume he wanted to get to the transmission and was too lazy to unbolt the front seat and then the cover itself.

Also learnt today that a brake booster from a Toyota Dyna truck (Don't know if they're available in your market) fits a 40 series with minor modification. It has a bigger diameter so the 4 bolt holes and the big centre hole have to be lowered about 10mm. No other modifications needed and parts are readily available to repair them. Apparently they also give much better boost than the original. I will find out what the exact Toyota part number is and post it. It is an elegant fix.

Also got the fibreglass matting and resin to make the raised piece on the floor I have been battling with. That said, I'm still going to give it a go making one out of plate. I have already installed a brace underneath to support the seat. Either way I think it will be an improvement. I ended up using 25X6mm flat bar. Nice and stiff, I can put my whole weight on it and it does not deflect.

SuperBuickGuy. Thanks, I am very lucky to live the privileged life I do. I may have an array of critters to contend with, but at least I don't have to worry about Sasquatch like you have to in your neck of the woods. The cherry on top is that I spend a couple of months each year in Portland OR and De Kalb Ill. The best of both worlds.
 
Dagha Boy said:
Hey 2fpower, I did a supply run today and got a human-powered long board just like the one in your photo. (16") I had a bunch of new filler already on the tub and when I got home I hit it with the long board. Fifteen minutes and a gallon of sweat and it's looking sweet. "Flat as piss on a plate" with just a few little divots to be filled in the morning. I would never have got it right the way I was going. I'm going to redo the other side too. Jeez, that was great advice - but then I believe you Kansas boys know everything about flat. When in doubt ask the experts.

I got very lucky and managed to scrounge a totally rust free transmission cover. All that is wrong with it is that at some point some bright spark cut three lines from the transfer case lever about 3/4 way down the side and bent the two pieces back. I assume he wanted to get to the transmission and was too lazy to unbolt the front seat and then the cover itself.

Also learnt today that a brake booster from a Toyota Dyna truck (Don't know if they're available in your market) fits a 40 series with minor modification. It has a bigger diameter so the 4 bolt holes and the big centre hole have to be lowered about 10mm. No other modifications needed and parts are readily available to repair them. Apparently they also give much better boost than the original. I will find out what the exact Toyota part number is and post it. It is an elegant fix.

Also got the fibreglass matting and resin to make the raised piece on the floor I have been battling with. That said, I'm still going to give it a go making one out of plate. I have already installed a brace underneath to support the seat. Either way I think it will be an improvement. I ended up using 25X6mm flat bar. Nice and stiff, I can put my whole weight on it and it does not deflect.

SuperBuickGuy. Thanks, I am very lucky to live the privileged life I do. I may have an array of critters to contend with, but at least I don't have to worry about Sasquatch like you have to in your neck of the woods. The cherry on top is that I spend a couple of months each year in Portland OR and De Kalb Ill. The best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

o_O Er...What? o_O, no pics?
 
Dagha Boy said:
sorry Mike. My internet connection so slow tonight I can't attach pictures. Will post tomorrow.
Click to expand...

No problem @Dagha Boy just kidding around, however, I always look forward to your pics and interesting stories!
 
I have it on good authority that Sasquatch is actually Bryan McTaggart - a blog writer over on Bangshift. com. Here's the proof - he came to my place to have some holes welded up in a colander that was masquerading as a roof on a Dodge. When we first met, he admitted (so I wouldn't run away upon first sight) that he is related to Sasquatch. In our discussion of his family tree, he said he was the last, living family member. Further proof is that sightings ended when he moved first to Arizona then Kentucky.

I'm pretty certain, though, that you are the only one who has ever referred to anything in Illinois as a cherry - but having to chase giraffes and zebras out of your yard may have skewed your memory of what "cherry" is. ;)

Funning aside, there is much in support of this notion - never let perfect get in the way of done.
 
More likely the heat that got me. It's been over 100 in the "workshop" for weeks. I had the frame sitting on two roto moulded plastic 40gal oil drums outside in the sun. It got so hot, the drums buckled and the whole bangshoot fell down. That included the starter motor that had just been refurbished at great expense. The "ear" that the solenoid bolts onto is now badly cracked. I did not even look at it properly or photograph it. I'll look today. Damn! I put a meat thermometer inside the frame rails for a while and it registered 170F.

But, back to cherries in Illinois. You know what the old song, California Girls, says about the Mid-west farmers' daughters..? Well, I got me one of those and she loves living in the bush. Perfect match.

To be honest, I have struggled with the perfection thing all my life. Too much time and money spent on trying to achieve perfect without really good reason. Some of these ih8mud threads unfortunately reinforce the desire. For example, I looked at the thread 1964 FJ45 LB RB1 Project. (Miker) for tips on how he did bed floor repair. By the time I was 6 pages in, I was so embarrassed that I wanted to take the angle grinder and cut away everything I have done so far. Man, can that guy work!!! But on this build, I have to keep in mind that I cannot "let perfect get in the way of done." I'm three weeks into the tub, which I thought would take a week, so no time to go back on what's done well but not perfect.
 
The little hump on the RHD side floor remains a PITA.

I made a casting using stuff called rockset - meant for patching concrete floors and for securing anchor bolts in concrete.

ALL READY PREPPED FOR THE POURTHE
IMG_3137.JPG


IN SHE GOES WITH REBAR
IMG_3139.JPG


ALL DONE. NOW TO SET.

IMG_3145.JPG


FRESH OUT AND LUMPY.
IMG_3148.JPG


ALL SMOOTHED OFF AND READY TO WORK.

IMG_3164.JPG


Now that I have the mould made, I can at last cut away the rusty mess and finish off the floor.

With the braces in place, the hump, whether it is fibreglass or steel can go in later. I need to get all this body work done on the tub so I can get some proper paint on it before the rains and with it the humidity and rust come. It looks threatening this morning. I need to move arse.
 
Yes , Illinois has some rather fine Farmer's daughters - corn fed just like our white tail deer . Most can out work any man and are known to howl at the moon on occasion as well . We have two very different and distinct seasons - Unholy Winter and Construction . I work during Construction season trying to fix what the Unholy Winter did to our roads .

Don't have any Petrohead giraffes here , but some of the white tail deer are nearly as big and pretty bold as well . No Sasquatch , but I do work with with some of it's relatives in the industry . We used to feed the planet , now we grow Ethanol to destroy engines .

I'm curious to see how well the casting works at pressing out some metal . If you have access to epoxy primer - go that route as nothing will seal the metal as well or is as tough .

Sarge
 
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