My TLC experience (5 Viewers)

[sogncab]

The bigger problem is how much demand is there to get the price down with a large order.

Agreed. Not a risk I'm willing to take.
5 would be easy to sell.
20, maybe a while.
100, long time.
1000.....

I think it'd be sweet to do out of aluminium. I can cut aluminum on my machine, but I haven't bought any tooling. I'm scared I'd be cutting Form 1 parts....

 

[sogncab]

Got a whole mess of stupid stuff done this weekend.

Swung by auto body shop buddies shop and helped him get the gutter filled. Went reasonably well.

I wish I would've taken a picture of the product he used. It flowed nicely and he said it'll stay flexible. Everything was scuffed well, so hopefully there will be no water issues.

Put a new signal assembly on the passenger side. Again. The driver's side wasn't great before, Bambi's mom finished it off. So two new front signal assemblies.

I was struggling like a mofo to get the caps for the swing outs on, so I made a fixture to hold the caps.

Then I was still struggling so I brought a pipe clamp into the equation to put a little pressure on it while tapping on it with a mallet. That worked really well.

 

[sogncab]

I also got the rear bumper mounted up again so I can mock up the swing outs.

Since the front end got new signal assemblies, I dug out the new set for the rear and put them on. They are real pretty.

 

[rickpaw]

Really like how the rear bumper turns out.

 

[sogncab]

I messed up and didn't take pictures.

Used a fastener this evening I've seen a zillion times, but didn't know the name of, or how it works. A huck bolt. Almost like a backwards rivet. Really freaking cool. I used that to hold the windshield part of the gutter to the fibreglass cap. Not quite as low profile as the factory rivet, and not as flat on the head, but closer than anything else I've seen. Plus no hole to be concered about moisture getting through like a tradition pop rivet without a hat insert.

Check them out.

 

[sogncab]

Not there yet, but a good start.

It needs to be shallower front to back. Currently 2", I'm going to make that 1-3/4". Same with the height out at the end, I'll make that 1-3/4" tall.

I need to offset the arm from the center point of the pivot a lot more than I would've guessed. Right now it is too close to the tub in my opinion. The next one will likely be way too far out, but it'll give me a better plan.

I want to do something with the end where the latch is. Not sure what yet, but it's too square.

I don't know what the fabricator has for dies on his press, but I'd like to punch some holes in there to shave some weight, then flare them out. Might not be worth it. I don't know.

I'm open to critique.

Right now the plan for the latch is to weld in a tab similar to the retrieval point in shape on the top face of the bumper. Something bulky with rounded edges. Then I'll make a washer of some sort so I can source them in the future, and so I can adjust the fitment. When they start getting sloppy, I'll just make new ones. Having a cnc has it's perks! Testing this crap out any other way would be infuriating. There's a notch cut into the back plate, and the bottom so the arm will go over the fixed point in the top of the bumper.

This side won't have to clear the door, there will be a tire in the way, but I want it to do so on the passenger side, and be a mirror image on both sides as much as possible.


The block underneath is about the elevation I'll need to hit. Might need to be a freckle higher, but not much.

Fitment at the pivot is crap. I just started hogging out material on a spindle sander until I figured out other issues, and decided to go back and make more drastic changes.

Just a hair too tall, but pretty close.

 

[sogncab]

You could easily make them out of Acetal.

Whoa. A 12" by 24" chunk, 3/4" thick on McMaster Carr is $271.

I could get 5 for sure out of that, maybe 6.

A piece of 6061 the same size is $136.

 

[sogncab]

I could get 5 for sure out of that, maybe 6.

Correction. I can get three out of a piece that size. I struggle with the maths sum days....

Working up version two of the swing out. The arm is not 1-3/4 x 1-3/4 out at the ends. It doesn't look overly chunky like it did before, and it gave me some needed clearance on the back door.

I think this is actually about where I want it. The face of the swing out facing aft is basically on plane with the face of the cylinder. Might be a little bitchy to weld and make look perfect with good penetration, but should be alright.

Clearance under the door looks pretty mint. It still has to go up a strong 1/16" from where it sits in the picture, but there's room. That seal rubs, but it's not supposed to be hanging like that anyways.

Back door at max open angle. No interference here. I could make this a little tighter, but I don't see any purpose in getting cute with it. I'm thinking for the basket holder on the passenger side, the fasteners are going to be at the top, and the back faces. Just thinking out loud, leaving the bolts covered in antisieze in when the basket isn't on is probably a good idea to keep from misplacing them, and keeping corrosion out of the threads. I was thinking the tire carrier would be welded on. I'm second guessing that plan now. I can't think of a reason I would want to take it off, but there's plenty of things I life I hadn't thought of.

 

[sogncab]

Backside.

Here's what I'm thinking for the latch side.

This is where the cutout will be for the gas strut. I kinda just threw an arbitrary number at it. It is 3/4" tall, 3/4" deep, and 10" long. I picked 10" long because one of the struts I was looking at had a compressed length of 9", and an extended length of 15". I don't know if that one would work as far as the geometry goes. Ideally, in a perfect world, in a fantasyland, when the swing out is fully extended, and the door were all the way open, they would be at the same angle. Not sure that is possible, but it might be. I'll have to order some of those struts and see what I can layout.
I would box out the back side of that cutout as well. It kinda screams "Break Here" to me at the moment. And I need a place to mount the strut peg.

and the whole backside.

I was going to order a new headliner last night. All out where I was looking. Bummer.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Backside.

Here's what I'm thinking for the latch side.

View attachment 2915442

This is where the cutout will be for the gas strut. I kinda just threw an arbitrary number at it. It is 3/4" tall, 3/4" deep, and 10" long. I picked 10" long because one of the struts I was looking at had a compressed length of 9", and an extended length of 15". I don't know if that one would work as far as the geometry goes. Ideally, in a perfect world, in a fantasyland, when the swing out is fully extended, and the door were all the way open, they would be at the same angle. Not sure that is possible, but it might be. I'll have to order some of those struts and see what I can layout.
I would box out the back side of that cutout as well. It kinda screams "Break Here" to me at the moment. And I need a place to mount the strut peg.

View attachment 2915443


and the whole backside.

View attachment 2915444




I was going to order a new headliner last night. All out where I was looking. Bummer.

Are you planning on running a spare tire / cooler / jerry can holder on the back of those? If so, I wouldnt worry about the cutout too much for the doors, it's probably going to be blocked anyways.

 

[sogncab]

Are you planning on running a spare tire / cooler / jerry can holder on the back of those? If so, I wouldnt worry about the cutout too much for the doors, it's probably going to be blocked anyways.

The one side will be tire carrier, the other will be a removable rack for a cooler or fuel cans. That rack won't be on very often. The other side will pretty much always have a tire hanging off of it. I just want the arms to be symmetrical and above that will be what it'll be.

 

[sogncab]

I failed to get a picture of the backside, but this is that huck bolt from the top side. It's way more domed than the original fastener, but I don't think it is an eye sore. The backside is low profile enough I'm not concerned about being able to bury it in the headliner.

 

[sogncab]

Bib and bezel back on. Everything on the driver's side needs to be loosened up and shoved forward. The deer seems to have pushed everything back a bit. It was back to begin with, but it's more now. I'm not doing anything with it for now, I've got two new fenders, and I'll tackle that when I do the fitment of those. Until then, it's probably more hassle than it's worth. I think the tub got a little tweaked too behind the apron, looks pushed into the engine bay a tad. That driver's side fender well is pretty mangled. I hammered it semi straightish, but it's done, and good enough until the body comes off.

I'm just happy she has a face again. Looking at that gaping hole in the front made me sad every day.

Roof is painted. Both it and the bezel are allegedly Cygnus White. Much more beige or cream colored than I anticipated. Apparently that is a common reaction when I Google the color. It seems to look different in different light. The lights in my shop have a pretty good rating for rendering color correctly, so looking at it in my shop, should be relatively accurate. I'm thinking it's going to look really good with orange.

I'll be headed out in a week with this on the flatbed and Colorado bound to pickup up some parts, a M416 trailer, and to drop the 40 off for the engine conversion. Hopefully it's not too late in the summer before I get her back.

 

[sogncab]

Top is on! Mostly went alright getting it on. I ran a tap through all of the holes, but a couple were crabby. The seal fits well, but you kinda gotta slip it around a bit for some of the holes to line up well. I've got two open holes across the back yet. I just couldn't get those to play nicely.

It's a temporary solution to not puking coolant everywhere while getting it on and off the trailer. Plus I thought some coolant in the system would be a good idea.

I did drill some holes in the cap so it won't build up pressure and become a bomb. BTW, pvc is only rated to 145°F according to my plumber buddy.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Top is on! Mostly went alright getting it on. I ran a tap through all of the holes, but a couple were crabby. The seal fits well, but you kinda gotta slip it around a bit for some of the holes to line up well. I've got two open holes across the back yet. I just couldn't get those to play nicely.

View attachment 2924443


It's a temporary solution to not puking coolant everywhere while getting it on and off the trailer. Plus I thought some coolant in the system would be a good idea.

View attachment 2924444

View attachment 2924445

I did drill some holes in the cap so it won't build up pressure and become a bomb. BTW, pvc is only rated to 145°F according to my plumber buddy.

View attachment 2924446

I'll be there on Sat!

 

[sogncab]

Oh man. Long week. Drove 2700 miles in a day cab pickup. Stopped at Classic Cruisers to pick up some parts. Dropped the Landcruiser off at Proffits for the R2.8 swap. Then headed north to the Bighorn Mountains to go snowmobiling for four days.


Getting gas in Asspatch Nebraska. At this point we were averaging 6.6mpg. Nasty headwind, and a brick shaped load weren't getting the best outta the Ford 7.3

Breakfast Saturday morning in Salida Colorado. I didn't realize we were crossing any passes on the way there, but we capped out a little over 10,000' during the drive up the night before. Dirt worshipping farm kids from the prairie scare easily in the mountains. I was going plenty slow and probably made some natives upset with my unwillingness to die in darkness with a white Ford coffin.

Found Classic Cruisers, and Brandon gave me a little tour of his operation and got a chance to chat for a bit. He's a super nice dude. I'm glad we have him. Also picked up some new fenders, a M416 trailer, a refurbished steering wheel, and a circuit board for the cluster so I can make a proper A-dapter kit to connect my Dakota Digital cluster to the factory wiring.

Pictures never do hills justice. There were some steep grades. 8% on one of them!

Stopped at an overlook to stretch the legs, take a pee, and get the siren of a DNR or Forestry vehicle turned on as they drove by with my pecker out. Made me laugh, glad I didn't get a ticket.

That Ford gasser passed everything but the pump handle. I'm pretty impressed with how well it did. It only had 11k miles on it when we left. Not much weight there, but everything rode well, towed well, and nothing unexpected happened.

 

[sogncab]

Last stop in Colorado. Met with Jeremiah Proffitt and his wife Chandra. (I really hope I'm not butchering the spelling of her name) Super nice guy. Got to walk around the shop, ask a zillion questions, and left hoping I could figure out how to scrape together the funds to have his company do the rest of the work restoring my rig. The work looks good online. It looks stunning in person. Truly.

I left the mountains at 06:15 MT, got home at 22:00 CT, basically 17 hours today.
I did take a little side step. I parked the pickup and trailer in the cabinet shop.
1. My buddy who came with lives 3 miles away.
2. It's 63ºF in there
3. 2 of the three boxes of Evo Corsa wheels, (3/5 wheels), were sitting outside waiting for me there.

They are pretty. Like REAL pretty. I'm still on the fence whether I like the color or not, but they are an extremely well crafted wheel. I had to get one out of the box and see it. I ordered these back in October of last year. So basically a 4-5 month lead time. Which whatever. I don't care, cause I am ridiculously patient..... up until I make a decision. Then I turn into a three year old and I want my toy NOW!!!

 

[-MaTTi-]

Evo Corsa -wheels for FJ40?

 

[sogncab]

Evo Corsa -wheels for FJ40?

You no likey?

FJ Company uses that wheel, that's where I first saw them and really liked the look.

 

[-MaTTi-]

You no likey?

Maybe ok for some newish vehicle, but not (for me) in these 40-50 years old ones.