Builds July 1976 FJ40 rebuilding/modifying/fabricating/cool pic thread

[Robs76fj40]

So this is a cart I made out of horror freight cart to condense all my clamps (initially) to. The lower area is going to receive some heavy drawer slides and house my Porta-power equipment. It most definitely needs a caster upgrade, these are garbage, and some bracing first though. I’m also crunching up a similar idea for all my hammers and dollies.

 

[rickpaw]

Most of the replacement panels came from CoolCruisers, and I’m really happy with appearance and fitment. Initially I pulled the tube from the frame to do the floor sections, I think it would be easier to get the alignment right with the tub still on the frame. Though there are a few areas of spot welds that I couldn’t reach with the tub on the frame so those will need to be addressed once I pull the tub to start body work and paint. Plan on rust easily being 5 times worse than you think or can see. I bought a spot weld cutter bit with replaceable broaches. Blair is US made and far better than the off shore junk floating around, plus you can get different sized broaches for their arbor. Worth it.

Thank you. My tub is so badly rusted at the seam that I doubt I'll have any trouble removing the panels. Although I have that same spot weld cutter, used it quite a bit restoring a couple of old school cars.

 

[Robs76fj40]

So work continues on the driver side quarter. Not sure if I mentioned it or not before but, I made these quarters out of 14ga like 5 years ago. At the time I was thinking this project was just going to be quarters and a few patches and I was moving towards more trail than driver territory. So I was going for more abuse resistance and also was going to do steel fender flares that also had an integral step for roof access. I may still do that as I’m obviously committed to the quarters now, but will most likely tone down the flare to be pleasing to the eye and worry less about toughness.

Anyway, I made the quarters two piece because trying to roll the radius on my old slip rolls and locate the flange at the “B” pillar ACCURATELY wasn’t something I was very confident I could pull off without going through multiple test parts. So at this point in the pictures I’m tacked up pretty well and going to switch to sanding down the tacks and doing some hammer work to keep warpage in check.

Also you can see in the one picture of the wheelhouse, the fit-up wasn’t ideal. In hindsight, I should’ve fit the quarters first, then the wheelhouses, then the floor. I “think” anyway. In reality no one will notice it when the truck is done. Also, if someone does and mentions it to me, well... a few options come to mind.

Anyway enjoy the pictures. I really enjoy the kind words and the questions. Also, if you have been through it or seen it or know of a better way, please say! I will always listen to ideas and try to learn something from other people’s experiences/knowledge/wisdom/research whenever I can. Have a great day.

 

[Robs76fj40]

So happy with how this is turning out. Though 14ga really needs a good away to start moving. Switching back to more welding. Time consuming for sure! But I seem to love doing stuff the hard way...

 

[69LC]

Hey! Another Michigan guy. Have you seen the Michigan “club” page? We try to get together at ocho77’s place at least once a year. I couldn’t make it this year, but I heard it was a good time.

3rd Annual Cruiser Carousal

It's that time again. Similar venue to previous years. This post will show details, as well as those who are planning to attend. I'll try to keep it updated, but if you don't see your name here and plan on attending, let me know and I will add it to the list. Date: Saturday, June 13, 2020...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[-MaTTi-]

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Nice welds!

 

[69LC]

When I get home I plan to get through the major ticket items my wife has been building on my list, get her 80 back up and then get down to working on my 40. It’s getting an LQ4 and custom drivetrain.

My home is just west of GR.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Nice welds!

Thanks!

 

[Robs76fj40]

Hey! Another Michigan guy. Have you seen the Michigan “club” page? We try to get together at ocho77’s place at least once a year. I couldn’t make it this year, but I heard it was a good time.

3rd Annual Cruiser Carousal

It's that time again. Similar venue to previous years. This post will show details, as well as those who are planning to attend. I'll try to keep it updated, but if you don't see your name here and plan on attending, let me know and I will add it to the list. Date: Saturday, June 13, 2020...

forum.ih8mud.com

I may have, a while back. I'll have to give it another look. Thanks.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Well, it’s been a long, hot, dirty afternoon, but wow! Man I’m happy. I think it turned out pretty nice.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Heading around the corner comes a kinda tricky spot I think. It will be all hand formed kinda on the fly/as I go. Will have to find some 18ga or 19ga for this as I will need to replicate the “wrap” portion on top

 

[Robs76fj40]

Well, took a break from the shop this weekend. Needed to cool off, going on almost 2 weeks over 90* here in mid-Michigan, ave humidity been in the low 80 to over 90%, so a touch moist, as it were.
Anyway update time. Still well over 90* here and I’m starting on the tricky rear corner. Picked up some 22ga at Menards, which is a touch lighter than I wanted, but I’ll hack it. The two Sharpie markers the in the pictures work like DieKem, pretty awesome. The blue works better than the orange, but I use both to differentiate between horizontal (orange) and vertical cuts(blue).
That Milwaukee Nibbler is a beast! Awesome tool that is over 25 years old. I saved it from the scrap gon when our old tin shop at work was disbanded and moved. Fresh set of blades and like $1.87 in brushes and it’s brand new. Literally no dressing or clean up of the cut is required. No burrs, no deformation, nothing but a beautiful cut. More pics to follow. Stay hydrated! Drunk plenty of H2O and Bourbon!

 

[Robs76fj40]

Here you can see how well the blue Sharpie works. This is my set up for bending sheet metal, sans the proper tools. Still, it works out good. I have a short video of actually hammering with my high crown hammer, just not sure how to post vids here yet. I hold the hammer kinda in the same fashion as a drummer stick, letting other rebound in my hand. It looks like I’m beating the metal like it owes me money, but really it’s a fairly light impact. That cuts down on hammer marks and distortion.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Just about ready to cut out the old steel. I guess if you don’t have the proper tools, i.e. slip rolls, just use what’s on hand! More pictures to come!

 

[rickpaw]

Interested to see how you fix that area. I have the same issue on my tub.

 

[Robs76fj40]

I’ve had this Dewalt 3/8” drill for ever! I just leave my spot weld cutter in it permanently now. Awesome drill. I’ll have some clean up work to do inside the panel structure. I’ll use some POR-15 for this. Have a great afternoon!

 

[Robs76fj40]

This Dyna-grade cut off wheel is top shelf, none better, period! I bought it 24 years ago as an Apprentice, it cost a LOT, but there is s

till NO vibration that comes through the tool! I use this a lot, both at home and work. These wheels from 3M have no equal and last lifetimes longer than others. Worth every penny, period!

 

[Robs76fj40]

Interested to see how you fix that area. I have the same issue on my tub.

I'm fairly interested also..... just winging it!

 

[Robs76fj40]

Well, took a few days off from the shop to hang in the A/C and chill with the family. I’m back at it this afternoon for a few hours, going to try and get this corner tacked up. Using 16ga that I found stashed in a corner of my shop. Not the 18 ga I intended, but it’s already here and I’ve been trying to make a point out of using up all the little stashes and piles of stuff laying about before I go buy more to add to the piles...

I cleaned away the POR15 I applied last week around the two spot weld locations. I think I’m going to start from the door jam and work around towards the front. I’ll save the wrap on the top for last, I have a sneaking suspicion that will take some work once I get into the radius. Thanks for watching everyone.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Well, it’s been challenging, but I am confident that it will work out pretty nice. There are a few low spots that will be fairly difficult to bring flush, or as close as I can reasonably hope, because that area is actually inside of the upper body channel. Work continues..