Builds My 1965 FJ45 LWB (3 Viewers)

[65swb45]

If you go that route, please document how many hours th graft takes. There are a lot of rusty-bottom frames out there that could be paired up with rollover frames. This would please the cruiser gods.

 

[kunzma]

This week the bed was sand blasted and turned out surprisingly well. Funds are limited and I still had to make some choices that affect my bottom line. I'm not going to pay to have the wheel wells separated from the side panels. This is a spot that rusts badly but mine were much better than I thought they would be. I decided to clean the seams as best as we could, 3M seam seal them, epoxy primer coat and then tinted bed liner to finish the interior of the bed. The front of the box needs some work where the front meets the bed. The lower part of the vertical front panel needs to be cut out and new replacement put in. The rear valance needs some straightening. Appears that at some point in its life the truck was backed into something with the tailgate down. The area around two of the hinges has been pushed in. This explains why two the hinges had shims behind them.

Lower part of the front panel still had bondo and fiberglass showing after sandblasting. This metal will be cut out and replaced.

 

[kunzma]

The graft of the top of my windshield frame to the bottom of the donor FST windshield frame was a success! I literally walked by the windshield 4 times without noticing that the graft had been completed. Tim finally asked if I was going to look at the windshield. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Tim took about 5 hours to carefully measure, cut, and weld the two pieces. He chose the spot to cut after sandblasting mine and seeing how bad the rust was in the bottom of mine. The FST donor was in really good shape but had been molested along the top. The top of the FST also didn't have any of the holes and weld nuts that the removable hardtop has for the roof latches. To measure and add all the necessary holes and install the nuts was going to be a lot of work and we decided to go this route. Key thing to remember in making this cut is to figure in the thickness of your saw blade into your measurements. Everything turned out well after a little bit of grinding and another round of sandblasting.

 

[kunzma]

The top corner still needs to have some work done to fix a rust hole, which wasn't all rust. I had drilled it out a few years ago to fish the wiper wires inside the frame.

 

[Michael B]

That bed is in excellent condition!

 

[kunzma]

Finishing the metal work on the box.

 

[kunzma]

Work on the hood. Two new gussets in the corners. The support for the hinges was removed to get at the rust underneath.

 

[kunzma]

Some more.

 

[kunzma]

Used 1965 roof that I purchased from FJ40Matt. Post sandblasting showed nothing to bad except a PO's attempt at pounding out a dent that ended up looking like a bag of walnuts. Otherwise just a couple of holes where some antennas had been mounted and an area that was oil canning.

 

[cult45]

Amazeballs!

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Quickly coming to the conclusion that this is not a truck that deserves a detailed restoration. Too much is missing for that type of work. I couldn't afford, nor do I have the space in my small garage to undertake that much work.

Wow, glad you changed your mind! LOOKS AWESOME!

 

[kunzma]

That mind set was before the addiction set in. Thanks for calling me out!

 

[kunzma]

This week's visit.

 

[kunzma]

...and the roof. Tim managed to get all of the weak areas removed that were causing the oil canning. Also managed to straighten it so that it sits flat on all four sides of the sill.

 

[kunzma]

Box is looking good.

 

[kunzma]

More pics of the box

 

[cppilot]

Mathew, that thing is coming along very nicely. What's the time frame for driving the Dream Machine?

Mark

 

[Michael B]

It's looking great Mat! Keep up the good work.

 

[kunzma]

Hopefully the next couple of weeks the bodywork should be done. Need to get the tub over to Tim soon.

 

[kunzma]

First round of primer and blocking complete.