Builds My 45PU has an LV for a friend...
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c2dfj45
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- #182
Door sills done today along with the tailgate and rear sill area.....maybe I'll crawl inside tomorrow and finish the sides.
Took a break from sanding, masking, taping, cleaning, etc....working on air cleaner mounting. Finalized the battery mount. AC parts arrive tomorrow so we can start mapping out all that stuff.
Took a break from sanding, masking, taping, cleaning, etc....working on air cleaner mounting. Finalized the battery mount. AC parts arrive tomorrow so we can start mapping out all that stuff.
c2dfj45
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- #183
It's been a while since I've updated this post....thanks to a giant hurricane that didn't do anything major to us, customer builds and the usual work load in the shop....it's been hard to find time for the LV....but we've been working on the truck, most of it has been kind of boring stuff. Bracket fab, repairs of factory things, etc. We're done with most of the fab work...now we are in reassembly mode. Kind of. Still finding things that need addressing...today it's the cowl vent.
Finished out the bedliner....going to do the floor in clear bedliner next. Nice to have this phase over with.
Finished out the bedliner....going to do the floor in clear bedliner next. Nice to have this phase over with.
c2dfj45
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- #184
Engine compartment was pretty well mapped out...brackets made, etc. AC lines will get crimped once we have everything ready for final install. I am trying to hide lines wherever I can to keep the clutter in the engine compartment down. The harness will be run out of sight. Should look pretty cool.
c2dfj45
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- #185
Fully sealed cowl....that's one way to not have any leaks... but I want this thing to work and flow air(and not leak) so we will have to get creative. I just realized my Vader light is in this pic too. Have a surprise for where that will mount and it won't be on the top of the cowl.
A rusty mess....amazingly enough the cowl vent flap/plate still moves really easily.
Inner cowl vent area getting smoothed out so we can install our new support/channel/flange/whatever it's called down there. It's pretty interesting how this all worked together....cowl vent flap or top would seal against the flanged lip on the bottom( being removed in this pic)...so water would be diverted off the opening and into the channel which leads to drain tubes in the forward corners...then thru the firewall and out under the hood. Not sure how any of the tubes looked or were routed under the hood but we will figure it out. Our solution will do the same thing as OEM but hopefully hold up longer. Can't imagine this thing not rotting out very quickly on these trucks. Wonder how the trucks fared that had the flap door vs. the open vent like mine. Seems like the door would have done a way better job at letting air in and keeping water out. Wonder why Toyota changed it.
A rusty mess....amazingly enough the cowl vent flap/plate still moves really easily.
Inner cowl vent area getting smoothed out so we can install our new support/channel/flange/whatever it's called down there. It's pretty interesting how this all worked together....cowl vent flap or top would seal against the flanged lip on the bottom( being removed in this pic)...so water would be diverted off the opening and into the channel which leads to drain tubes in the forward corners...then thru the firewall and out under the hood. Not sure how any of the tubes looked or were routed under the hood but we will figure it out. Our solution will do the same thing as OEM but hopefully hold up longer. Can't imagine this thing not rotting out very quickly on these trucks. Wonder how the trucks fared that had the flap door vs. the open vent like mine. Seems like the door would have done a way better job at letting air in and keeping water out. Wonder why Toyota changed it.
c2dfj45
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- #186
After we ground it all down, we coated it with the silver stuff we've been using for our rust coating.
Built this cool aluminum piece out of some 90 degree angle(only one weld!) for our new flange/lip/base...
Tomorrow we bond it in to the bottom of the cowl vent area, seal it up good and make a top for it. Hard to see in the pics but those 45 degree angles give us enough clearance for the factory drain holes to still be clear. Might make a nice mesh screen for our vent top to keep that vent clear of debris.
Built this cool aluminum piece out of some 90 degree angle(only one weld!) for our new flange/lip/base...
Tomorrow we bond it in to the bottom of the cowl vent area, seal it up good and make a top for it. Hard to see in the pics but those 45 degree angles give us enough clearance for the factory drain holes to still be clear. Might make a nice mesh screen for our vent top to keep that vent clear of debris.
c2dfj45
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- #187
This 40 is in the shop......super nice looking 77 but quite a few things wrong with it...probably has a really interesting history. Customer is going with a 3FE, OEM disc brakes(truck had a drum brake converted front end with a Man-a-fre front Wilwood kit). Getting AC, full interior coatings(Lizard Skin, Upol Ratpor) and a bunch of other goodies. He was pretty disappointed when the truck came in....very very misrepresented. Fortunately he knows it will get sorted out. Just takes time and $. At least he doesn't have to paint it!
Looks like a proper Cruiser shop. We have about 12 rigs in the shop now...90% might be "company" vehicles but it's nice to see a sea of cool cruisers all around.
Looks like a proper Cruiser shop. We have about 12 rigs in the shop now...90% might be "company" vehicles but it's nice to see a sea of cool cruisers all around.
c2dfj45
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- #188
The best news of the summer was that I was able to buy back my first FJ40. Bought this dude in 1992.....traded it away for a boat in 2011 with the agreement of me being able to buy it back if and when the boat guy didn't want it. He sold it without me knowing. Kind of a tool but he builds nice boats. Saw it on ebay this summer, totally misrepresented in the listing of course(I built this truck I know the good and the bad...and it has bad) but I didn't care....negotiated a deal(based on some false advertising)and it came back. It's a cool old truck and it hasn't been really changed too much since I sold it. It will be around for the duration now. The boat is still around too. Pretty sure I won on both deals....or so I like to think I did.
1971 FJ40 with about 10% of those 1971 parts remaining. I think the ARB bullbar was one of the first ones sold in the US...snorkel too. A great friend of mine was one of ARBs first dealers....I remember walking into his shop, seeing the bullbar and opening my wallet. Which was repeated every time ARB sent him something cool.
1971 FJ40 with about 10% of those 1971 parts remaining. I think the ARB bullbar was one of the first ones sold in the US...snorkel too. A great friend of mine was one of ARBs first dealers....I remember walking into his shop, seeing the bullbar and opening my wallet. Which was repeated every time ARB sent him something cool.
Awesome
Awesome job !!!!
Your front floor will be bullet proof .
You are keeping the patina or you will paint it ?
Your front floor will be bullet proof .
You are keeping the patina or you will paint it ?
Great work and thanks for all the pics. FYI - CityRacer sells a repro of the cowl vent drain tubes. www.cityracerllc.com.
c2dfj45
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Messed around with this stuff too. Got all my knobs and switches in the dash.....had to take it out to get the wiper motor out for a cleaning so no pics until Monday. Wiper motor looks like it's toast so we will have to come up with a solution....maybe there is a used one out there.
c2dfj45
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Back at the truck today...wiper assembly removed from my truck....motor was fried and the wiper arm shafts were seized...grabbed the unit out of the other LV. We'll rebuild and install a good one in the LV before I sell it. I'm not really worried about wipers but it's nice for them to function.
Dash layout complete....I tried to use all the existing holes without drilling new. Probably should have just welded the dash but that didn't appeal to me. This is kind of cool I think. Lots of stuff to play with....
Dash layout complete....I tried to use all the existing holes without drilling new. Probably should have just welded the dash but that didn't appeal to me. This is kind of cool I think. Lots of stuff to play with....
