Ol' Blue, my 68' fj40 project

[mwalls54]

Thats some good metal work kelly.

I wish I could have spent some time with my 40 on christmas eve. but no i have to shovel the drive way. I am going to spend some time with her on new years though.

 

[On the Farm]

Good way to spend New Years! Have a happy one. Ol blue is really coming along, your doing a great job. You'll be able to drive it up to our house for Labor Day!
Debie

 

[2fpower]

not a chance

Unfortunatly, my job will not allow me to have this kind of time working on the rig from Mid January through April 15. Take a guess what I do...

k

 

[On the Farm]

Ahhh, I hate that time of year. Good for you though.

 

[2fpower]

more eye candy

Finished the floor pans over the holiday, and at the rollbar reinforcement points, had to repair all four sections. To replace the reinforcement piece, I cut some 1/4 steel rectangles. (I am the king of overkill)

Next on the list was the rear sill. I had not tackled this before, so I had to do lots of research on mud. Jeff Zepp's site had good info.

 

[2fpower]

Found a good writeup by bsilva132 on sill replacement

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/115925-wheel-well-rear-sill-channel-repair.html

He made a rear sill out of 2.5 x 2.5 x .25 box beam and then tapped the bolt holes for tire carrier, tub mount, and latch point. I liked that idea, but did not like the 2.5" diminsion. The original was 2.25, so my fear was that you are raising the back of the tub (as it attaches to the frame) by .25. I don't think he used a sheetmetal cover as original to tie into the floor, so he may have been only off by 1/8, but alas, I used a 2 x 2 x .25. This allowed me to then to have a .25 area under my channel to weld some spacermetal .25 with nuts for the frame attachment. The sides (curved sections) are also .25 metal that I bent to fit.

Now, this is where I have to gloat. A year ago I got $100 of metal and a bunch of scrap metal that had been setting in my shed for years and spent a weekend welding up a rotissarie (car spinner). It has been great, but when I started working on this sill, it was awesome. As everyone knows, don't #uck with Newton. Gravity always wins. Well, the sill comes out from under the tub, and I was having all sorts of problems fitting the new one without a spare set of hands. Then I spun the tub over, and all was solved. It was great. At any rate, as I promised when I made the spinner, I will rent it out to a TAC member to use, with the rent going to TAC. I should be done with it this month, so if anyone needs it, let me know.


After I welded the new sill up, I tapped the bolt holes, cleaned it up and POR15 was applied.

The new sill skin was bent on a brake at metal by the foot, and cut to fit. I had to cut off about 2.5 inches of the old material to get past all the rust. I POR15 this also before I installed the sill behind this skin, so it won't be a haven for water and rust.

The last pic is upside down, well actually the picture is right side up, the car is upside down.... I love that car spinner!

 

[techtafab]

nice

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

I'm gonna need that spinner hopefully in the fall / next winter. I am SOOO dying to work on the 45 with that thing.

 

[2fpower]

It should fit in your basement too! It's yours when you are ready for it. I have two settings on it. The lower holes allow you to work on it upright, and spin it to 90 degrees either way. The upper holes (just jack up the ends and move bolt) allow you to spin it upside down. The lower hole is nice because it is about 6 inches lower so you don't have to work on a milk crate.

 

[2fpower]

sill install

So, here is some eye candy of the outer sill welded in place and por15'd.

Then a comparison from the old sill to the new sill.

 

[2fpower]

pop a beer, the major metalwork on tub is done

Yep, my buddy Rob and I spend Sat afternoon finishing up the rear quarters, and touching up a few things. Stick a fork in it, she is done. All rust repair is done.

Pics of the rear inner sill in with quarters cut off, roughed in and welded up.

Enjoy!

Now off to do the seat box thing and tunnel cover so she is ready for undercoating after final blasting this spring.

k

 

[2fpower]

got the tub done - now on to parts

So, once again all the thanks to the best friend a guy can have... ROB!

We worked hard and got all the rust repairwork done on the tub. Now, I have to admit that we need to finish sandblasting it, so more may be discovered, but I think we have 99% of it done. So, off the rotissarie, and back on the frame.

I also had to rebuild the seat frame as the bottom was rusted and gone.

That was all a couple weeks ago. My son is a cubscout and we had to work on pinewood derby and I had some home projects to work on. I am making some cabinets for the house.

So, fast forward and today I spent time working on the tunnel cover. It too was rusted where it hit the floorboard on the drivers side. I have to say that the secton on the front right was the most difficult piece that I have ever made. Must be 5 bends and all sorts of angles. Spent good 3 hours making and welding it in. Test fitted, and it looks pretty good.

I will post up pics when I finish.. hopefully wake up early and get out there in the morning.

 

[2fpower]

So, started working on the fenders to get ready for the raptor liner with the tub. Found bondo from sea to shining sea! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ground it off. Good 1/2 in places! I can just imagine the conversation.... Dude, my dad has an awesome set of tools!!

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

half inch of bondo? Nice.. bet that was easy to chip away at.

 

[2fpower]

Tunnel fixed up nice

So the Tunnel fought hard, but turned out pretty good. Take a look

 

[2fpower]

back to regularly scheduled work

Catching up, I worked on those fenders. One was covered in bondo and bad body work. I got it straightened up so it just needs a glaze of bondo now. Good news was the bondo saved the rust from coming!

The second fender had no bondo, however when I took the light off, it just crumbled in my hands. Water was able to get under the gasket and ate all the metal there and the bracket under the fender. I replaced both and now I think I am ready for warmer dry weather for some more sandblasting, then primer and undercoating.

 

[2fpower]

I forgot that I need to thank Andrew mofj40 for dropping off a nice rust free windshield frame with hinges that actually work.

I was reading what it took to make the hinges work, and getting really scared.... this saved me hours of work.

Thanks!!

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

thougt you wanted to shave those signals off?
Update on parts located for you.. I have bib, one insert that will swap 2 signal light thus far.. Still digging. Not sure if i have spare bib lights but haven't gotten to that box yet. Please post up a picture of your bib if possible and I'll know what parts off this current bib you will or will not need and what I need to find in da pile..

 

[2fpower]

Erik-

Wrong project car. This is the 68'. It already has the lower markers.

I plan on adding the lower turns on the 75' project that has been sitting for 6 months. Next step on it is to undercoat, which was the reason I started doing the "quick" restore on this 68.' I wanted to spray undercoating on both at the same time. Little did I know that it is impossible for me to do a half a$# job. I kept digging and digging to what I have now a pile of parts. These addictions are hard to kick.

 

[2fpower]

Pinewood

My son and I worked on his first pinewood derby car.