Builds Patches - My '76 40. B3.3 Swap and some general fixin' up

[Kleatus]

And the final position of drivetrain. The transfer case is 1 1/2" forward of is original location, and the engine aligned (offset) with where the original was.

One benefit of putting lots of pictures up is you can go back and look at things easily, I have found myself referring to my own thread for photos on a few occasion - they are easier to find than photos I had 5 cell phones and 3 years ago!

 

[NookShneer]

And the final position of drivetrain. The transfer case is 1 1/2" forward of is original location, and the engine aligned (offset) with where the original was.
View attachment 1555773 View attachment 1555774 View attachment 1555775 View attachment 1555776 View attachment 1555777

One benefit of putting lots of pictures up is you can go back and look at things easily, I have found myself referring to my own thread for photos on a few occasion - they are easier to find than photos I had 5 cell phones and 3 years ago!

Any clearance issues with the shifter in the forward positions? Hard to tell from the top down photos. Looks good!

 

[Kleatus]

Any clearance issues with the shifter in the forward positions? Hard to tell from the top down photos. Looks good!

It's in 3rd gear 2-Hi in the photo, so both sticks are all the way forward. No issues.

 

[Kleatus]

One reason I needed to move the engine forward a bit was to minimize modifications to the transmission tunnel. Tonight I did the old "cut and turn" on the shifter hole, and extended the t-case linkage and everything fits pretty good! I am really happy I was able to minimize the disruptions to the shifters and their locations, and will be able use OEM boots.

 

[Kleatus]

No real work to report, but I did pick this up off a co-worker. I've heard they look good on FJ40's, and that they can still be useful for pulling yourself out.

(OK, there was never a question of what was going to go up front, just a matter of getting around to finding one).

 

[NookShneer]

No real work to report, but I did pick this up off a co-worker. I've heard they look good on FJ40's, and that they can still be useful for pulling yourself out.
View attachment 1578305 View attachment 1578306 View attachment 1578307
(OK, there was never a question of what was going to go up front, just a matter of getting around to finding one).

That looks unused!

 

[Kleatus]

Hmm... all of the sudden my 235/85R16's on 16x6 wheels look fat. Got new rubber for my F100 and had to compare. The tires on the '40 are on the narrow side for 235's too; only about 6" across the tread. I know there are some other skinny tire fans out there, thought I'd post up for kicks. Now I really want a set of these in 7.50-16 for Patches..

Went back East for Thanksgiving and a friend gave me a nice '76 plate for her too! Just in case I want to dream that she'll ever be nice enough to park in a car show or something .

 

[Nader]

If those tall skinnies don't work out for you, I might be able to make them work on one my motorcycles!

 

[Kleatus]

If those tall skinnies don't work out for you, I might be able to make them work on one my motorcycles!

Those go on this:

 

[Nader]

Lucky dog!

 

[NookShneer]

Those go on this:View attachment 1584002

White walls and the white side mirrors look great!

 

[Kleatus]

I can’t promise to lose weight, or drink less beer, or.... but I will drive this Cruiser in 2018!!

Got some time today to work on the FJ60 steering box mount. I’ve poked around at all the conversion threads and tried to take all the ideas I liked. I didn’t just want to bolt through the outside frame rail, and I didn’t want huge plates hanging out on either side. I wanted it to look similar to how it was mounted originally on a 60 series.

First mock up location and trim inner fender. I have a 1/4” plate on the frame to keep the box off the radiator support.

Used some transfer punches to mark out the plate and frame using the box as the template.

I decided to fill in the rear hole in the frame rail with a piece of 3/16” plate cut to size as there wasn’t going to be much support for the bolt sleeves otherwise.

I transferred the holes to the inner frame rail and enlarged them to 11/16 for the sleeves. I used 3/8” pipe nipples (which fit an M12 bolt perfectly) for the sleeve material. The outer holes were chamfered and the sleeves beveled to make for a nice weld joint on the outside, and I left the inner side protruding about 1/8” to get a bead around them. The top front sleeve is encircled by the frame hole, while the lower one has about 50% contact. Should be plenty good.

The spacer plate was cut down to size to match up with the box. Originally I was going to weld it to the frame but I think I will just leave it float as all the holes are very well fitted and there is no movement even prior to tightening bolts.

I used M12-1.25x100 (fine thread) bolts.

One more thing off the list!

 

[waiting for time]

I would mount a plate over the inside of the frame, just to be sure the rear bolts stay in place.

 

[Kleatus]

Cut down and re-welded Ford shock tower (next to new one). I’ve had these for close to 10 years, bought them for a K5 I used to have and never used them. I sectioned it to mimick stock location of upper mount, but without the steering box interference.

Close, but it all fits. This is a 60 series steering column I’m using for the steering shaft.

Now to do something about all this...the rest of the frame is in great shape, but the last foot took a real beating from rust. I have another rear bumper/crossmember including the rearmost 1 foot of frame that isn’t rotted, but the spring hangers and triangle shaped braces have been cut off of my spare one. Repairing this should be the last thing I need to do prior to getting the frame galvanized.

 

[NookShneer]

Cut down and re-welded Ford shock tower (next to new one). I’ve had these for close to 10 years, bought them for a K5 I used to have and never used them. I sectioned it to mimick stock location of upper mount, but without the steering box interference.
View attachment 1601389

Close, but it all fits. This is a 60 series steering column I’m using for the steering shaft.
View attachment 1601390

Now to do something about all this...the rest of the frame is in great shape, but the last foot took a real beating from rust. I have another rear bumper/crossmember including the rearmost 1 foot of frame that isn’t rotted, but the spring hangers and triangle shaped braces have been cut off of my spare one. Repairing this should be the last thing I need to do prior to getting the frame galvanized. View attachment 1601386
View attachment 1601387
View attachment 1601388

Getting after it! We need to plan a work day! I'll help you flip the tub if you give me a hand with the 80 axle spring perches.

 

[Kleatus]

Getting after it! We need to plan a work day! I'll help you flip the tub if you give me a hand with the 80 axle spring perches.

What are you up to next year? (Tomorrow!) tub needs to come off and get flipped over! We can cut/bash/weld on your axle as necessary.

 

[NookShneer]

Holidays... = work. I'm off next Saturday and can see if Steph would let me do a car day. Still waiting on parts (bearings & seals) so my project can wait a little bit.

 

[Kleatus]

Holidays... = work. I'm off next Saturday and can see if Steph would let me do a car day. Still waiting on parts (bearings & seals) so my project can wait a little bit.

Bummer. I’m in AZ then. I think car “days” are a thing of the past now with the little one, it’s “hours” now and they are fleeting!

 

[Kleatus]

Pulled tub off and flipped it over onto the “cart” for more clean-up and prep for paint underneath.

Ahh-ha, that’s where she got her name .

This will allow me to get at the rockers a lot easier too - I had started to do a little filler on them but it was close to 1/8” thick in places, no good. Now I can hammer and dolly them to much nicer shape. I welded them too fast and they warped a bit - and I wasn’t using pre-bought rockers, just pieces of 16 ga sheet with an angle attached to the bottom. Lesson learned..

 

[Kleatus]

Gotta give a shout out to some neighbors to the North for some recent help. My greatest delimna to date was solved with the help of @jim land, and @Awl_TEQ is on deck to help with situation in the last couple pictures of post #116.

I’d really love to get this thing going in time for the Solid Axle Summit, gonna need some serious dedication and prodding..