New to me ‘66 40

[Oregon FJ40]

I then went to the factory motor mounts and coerced them to pop off the frame. Their angle was about 30 degrees and I needed 45. Just took a slice out of them, warmed them up and pushed them to 45 and welded them back up. Put the mounts back on the motor and dropped it back into the engine bay and checked measurements again.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Pulled the engine back out of the bay and took the body off the frame. Then I connected the engine to the trans/tc and dropped it into the frame knowing where it was going to sit. I had already done the measurements and knew the crossmember at the back was going to be too close. Decided to cut it out and will reattach further back.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Welded patches into the holes to both clean up the frame and make a surface to weld the perches on for the transfer case mount. Took our measurements for engine angle and made the mounts about as permanent as the could ever be. Then put some gussets into them for strength.

 

[Hayden70FJ40]

Do u still have the soft top? And would you sell?

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Do u still have the soft top? And would you sell?

Sorry, sold that a while back.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Rear crossmember is put back in about 6 inches further back. The frame flexed out when the bar was initially removed, so a large framing clamp was used to pull it back into spec before new welds were done. Mechanic should be coming by this week to sign off on placement of rear transmission mount before they are fully welded.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

8 months of working way too much overtime later and I finally got back to working on my vehicle. My mechanic was worried that the 4bt will vibrate too much with transmission mount cushions being on the outside and not centered. So we fabricated a new mounting system using the “original” cushions, and adding another one into the middle. Also this system can be used to disconnect the transmission from the rear so it can be easily dropped out for service if needed. Today I’m going to clean up all the bare metal and get new primer and paint on it.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Frame is painted, motor and tranny are in, and the body/fenders/bib is back in place. Starting to look like a vehicle again.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

I installed the AC condenser onto the radiator bracket and was able to move the bracket forward about an inch. I had to cut off the screws that hold the screen on the back of the bib. The screen was already cut by a PO so I will make a new one and make a new attachment for it. Going to trailer this thing to a shop in Portland this week to get measured for new drive shafts. After that plan is to get the new steering column and seats in, then it can be take down to the shop to have a radiator and intercooler fabricated for it.

 

[Oregon FJ40]

Made some good progress in the last few weeks. Finally welded a patch over the cowl vent. The underside around the drains was rusted out and I didn’t want to deal with rebuilding it. Plus with AC there is really no reason for it outside of the original look and nostalgia.

I also got the new steering column put through the firewall. Still need to makes some patches to fill up the original hole and put a new permanent mount in.