Plan on removing fj40 body today to decide to fix or replace. (2 Viewers)

[Awl_TEQ]

I'm not a fan of aluminum or fiberglass. I fixed mine and helped supply @rkymtnflyfisher pieces to do his and they were both worse that that. 90% of what I can see there is the sill. You can see my thread here -> 81 BJ42 - I have to bring it home and pass inspection

You will do what you want of course but if that was mine I would brace the rear opening and cut out the rust one patch at a time and weld in steel. Leave it on the frame at least until you do the sill. Buy yerself a bit of 16ga steel and patch the quarters. Once the rust is gone you could blast it if you like, skim coat bondo where needed to and high fill primer and pick a color.

Patching a bit at a time will break it up into small 2-3 hour jobs and after a few weeks your son will be a welder and you can both stand back and admire the progress.

 

[Morse_FJ40]

When I bought my '78 back in 99... my tub was well... a church going cruiser... very Holy!! It was too far gone, for repair.. the PO had diamond plate everywhere a rear sill made out of pieces of scrap... patches inside of the tub made of RTV and fiberglass matting. i sourced a solid used steel tub from a '71. We swapped door latches, gas doors (dual tanks), deleted rear marker lights, modified the early tub floor hump area by installing late model floor section from a friends spare parts pile, replaced rear sill, modified rear tub to accept ambulance doors, and welded up all of the misc. holes in the tub .. something like 100 bolt holes!! While I learned a bunch.. it was very time consuming. I guess it all depends with what type cruiser you have. Wheeler, stock resto... a steel tub has greater resale value.

 

[copperline]

I'm not a fan of aluminum or fiberglass. I fixed mine and helped supply @rkymtnflyfisher pieces to do his and they were both worse that that. 90% of what I can see there is the sill. You can see my thread here -> 81 BJ42 - I have to bring it home and pass inspection

You will do what you want of course but if that was mine I would brace the rear opening and cut out the rust one patch at a time and weld in steel. Leave it on the frame at least until you do the sill. Buy yerself a bit of 16ga steel and patch the quarters. Once the rust is gone you could blast it if you like, skim coat bondo where needed to and high fill primer and pick a color.

Patching a bit at a time will break it up into small 2-3 hour jobs and after a few weeks your son will be a welder and you can both stand back and admire the progress.

Thanks Kevin, appreciate the help! Ill message you back in a private message.

 

[Varty Yo]

The late model aqualu trans tunnels are very nice

 

[copperline]

Reaching out to the group again as I make a little progress stripping the FJ down. I’ve decided to remove the body to get a Good look at what I’m dealing with before deciding to go aluminum three-quarter tub or try and save what I have. I am at the point where I’m going to brace the rear and across the door pillars but I want to make sure I’m bracing The rear in the right position as the sill is completely gone and obviously not providing any support. I put a ratchet strap through the marker light lenses and tightened up a bit and moved The rear opening a quarter of an inch. My question to the group is what is the factory measurement at the top of the opening? I also noticed when measuring the left at the rear of the top comparing it to the doorpost it tapers in on mine a good 1/4 of an inch. Here’s some photos. If anyone has any measurements of what it’s supposed to be please let me know. Thank you!

 

[tls3601]

I say fix it. What year btw??

 

[copperline]

78.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

I can't tell you how many times I assembled mine and them tore it back apart during my build.


Sometimes that is the best way to make sure everything still lines up like it should, door openings, hardtop, all of it. One bad panel will set you back weeks.

 

[Varty Yo]

If you are going 3/4 tub then none of the measurments you are taking will really matter any longer once taken apart...

 

[copperline]

Gotcha! I’d like to brace it u

If you are going 3/4 tub then none of the measurments you are taking will really matter any longer once taken apart...

Understood, don’t want to brace it in a sagging position though (if it is) if I decide to fix it. Just trying to think ahead. Maybe someone that has an original one can take a couple measurements so I have a baseline. Thanks for the reply.

 

[copperline]

looking for measurements if anyone has them handy-

rear opening- mine is 40 3/4 with a little tension pulling together (rachet strap) and 40 7/8 resting
lip to lip rear quarter is 62 with tension 62 1/8 resting
lip to lip at door catch is 61 7/8 resting

just want to see if these are close to a factory tub measurements or if Im sagging a lot with the rotted out sill.

thanks for all the responses!