Project 40 "restorative buildup" (1 Viewer)

[Cothran]

Ok, I think this buildup thread is pretty long overdue. I bought my 40 in October 2002 for $2,500. It had a fiberglass body and fenders, but everything else was pretty much total crap. At this point, I really only knew how to change my oil and install shocks, but it got my foot in the door with my wife. Two weeks later I started disassembling it, just because I wanted to get the rust off and find out all the weird things the PO did, and there were tons of them. I figured I would have it done and back together by summer, cause I wouldn't have to do that much. Obviously we're coming up on October 2006 and its not done yet. Here are some pictures from shortly after I bought it - some disassembly had already begun.

I quickly discovered that the frame was shot around the rear spring hangers. Coincidentally, Shreg had a frame frame he was going to take to the junkyard, so I took it off his hands. It was already set up for a springover with thru-the-frame shackle reversal and rear hangers moved for 55 springs. And it is at this point that the blame rests entirely with him for what happened after that. At most, this was supposed to be a stock 40 with a 4" spring lift and 33-35's. Once I got this frame, things changed.

 

[Cothran]

First thing I did was sandblast his frame and buy some 35" MTRs, because I knew once I had the tires, there would be no going back. And I could just tell my wife that these tires won't fit a stock truck - I "had" to do the springover. What she doesn't know, right?

So I slowly started transferring stuff over to the new frame from the old, cleaning things up as I went. Except for the engine - I don't know jack about engines so I just left it all disgusting for the time being.
I also put in an sm420 with adapters from Extreme Bends.

After a couple years, we decided to sell our house, so I had to temporarily put the body back together to move it. It was extremely motivating to see it like that and, of course, heartbreaking when I had to disassemble it again.

In the new garage:

 

[Cothran]

Once I had it disassembled, I installed front discs and birfields, bought a power steering plate, saginaw box and pump and got to work. I also got the front housing cut and turned by Cruiser Outfitters.

However, that was around the time the housing market started to go downhill around here. We bought our house before selling our other house, so we were paying two mortgages for about 15 months. That puts a damper on all kinds of projects - probably the main reason this turned into a 3 year project. So during the tie that I couldn't afford to buy any of the parts I needed, I decided to beautify the engine. I also learned how to weld, and do all kinds of stuff I never thought I'd know. No one that knows me can believe I'm doing something like this, but I feel pretty confident in it now. Tons and tons and tons of research on Mud helped immeasurably. So here are some pictures of the engine cleanup. It ran fine before I took it apart, so I didn't disassemble too much, but I did replace timing cover seals and gaskets, side cover gasket, rear main, waterpump, etc.

 

[Cothran]

And there it sat for about a year. Mocking me. BUT...our house sold this April and I have slowly been catching up on bills, etc., and have started buying parts. In the past couple of months I have installed a rear traction bar, rear discs (with Poser's brackets), 4x4 Labs hysteer and a few other things.

 

[Cothran]

 

[Cothran]

I forgot to mention that I really wanted a steel tub, so I sold my glass tub and bought a fairly rust-free tub. It just had a dented rear quarter panel and one small rust spot on each rocker. Lately I've gotten sooooo tired of waiting for this thing to be done, I decided to forgo sandblasting the tub and just sand it myself and rattlecan it. I know it seems wierd after all the work and time I put into the rest of the truck, but I do plan on taking it out and doing hard stuff. Stuff I could never do before, and I don't want to worry about a new paint job. I also left the quarter panel - that way it won't traumatize me nearly as bad when I get that first dent myself.
I personally think the paint job looks pretty good. I used the Krylon paint that dries in 12 minutes, so it avoids a lot of runs. So that's where it is right now. The body is back on with new poly mounts, and I'm slowly putting all the firewall stuff back on. I'm picking up a new oil pan tomorrow and I'll probably start wiring it soon. I think I can have it done by the end of September. A friend of mine came over last weekend and helped me cut the wheelwells and then roll the lip. I think it looks damn good.

Quick specs on the truck:

1972 body
1978 frame
'72 F engine
Holley carb w/edelbrock intake
sm420 mated to 3 spd. t-case
Spring over - reversed stock springs in front, fj60 springs in rear - 100" wheelbase
saginaw power steering

Aussie locker in the front
35" Goodyear MTRs on 2.5" BS wagon wheels
Front disc brakes from a '76
Rear disks w/monte carlo calipers
Longfields
4x4 Labs hysteer
traction bar
metaltech profile cage w/frame tie ins (needs to be welded)

 

[Cothran]

I can't check this board at my new job, so I might not respond to posts right away. Hope you enjoy the build. I'll update it as things progress.

 

[my64fj40]

So your just going to leave the mangled rear quarter panel the way it is??

Maybe it's just not as bad as it looks in the pics




Real nice cruiser by the way

 

[Poser]

Looks great Tim man!


See you tomorrow...



End of September eh?



Going on a kruze again this year, or you going to be at Gilbert?

 

[Cothran]

Actually, I was SUPPOSED to be in Europe that weekend, but that fell through. So now I get to go to Oktoberfest AND Gilbert. I will definitely be there - I heard too much about it when I missed it last year. I would love to take the 40 up there, even if it stays on the mild trails until I work out the kinks. I think the only thing that's really going to hold me up is the wiring - I already have all the funds I need for the rest of my parts.

64FJ40 - Yep, I'm leaving the quarter panel. I think it gives it character. Also, I can't afford a body shop, and I already tried pounding it out. Shreg tried too. That's some thick steel on those early tubs! I'll get a pic of it in a little bit. I really don't mind it though - I can always fix it later. Right now I'm just concerned with getting it running.

 

[Cothran]

Boy, did I say end of September? I can't give any more dates or it will just get pushed back even more. It's "very" close now though. As of this weekend, it's alive.

 

[awp_cruiser]

Looks good. Keep it coming!

I did see something in the close-up of the front end pics...

I think the TRE on the drag link is supposed to go on the tie rod and the TRE on the tie rod is supposed to go on the drag link. The ones you have on the tie rod are the later year TRE that have a greater working angle. At droop you might get some binding at the drag link ends if you don't swap those.

I know a lot of guys on here don't like corners, but I don't mind them. Might be an easy fix for that rear. Just cover it up.

 

[Cuerno Largo]

Nice pics. Lets me realize that mine might be finished one day. Engine went from looks like crap to looks good. What specifics did you do. My engine has 60K original miles, but is covered in crap. How did you get yours so clean?

 

[Cothran]

Awp_cruiser - thanks for noticing the tre's. I actually switched them this weekend because the rear ones didn't fit in the tapered arms and I couldn't figure out why.

Burling, I basically used that Gunk orange citrus engine degreaser to get the initial grime off, then I went to town with a bottle of Simple Green and a nylon brush. The simple green works wonders. It really only took half a day to thoroughly clean it. The rest of the stuff like the manifolds and pulleys were wirewheeled.

 

[Man Jerk]

How come all it ever seems that I do is stand around and drink your beer and smoke cigerettes?

 

[laguna80]

Boy, did I say end of September? I can't give any more dates or it will just get pushed back even more. It's "very" close now though. As of this weekend, it's alive.

That video was great.

 

[lavarunner]

SWEET.. I am going to copy your traction bar. Very simple but works.. did you use any bushing on the axle end? thnks

 

[Cothran]

Yep, there are a couple of bushings in there. Someone has more pictures of it somewhere - I'll see if I can find them.

Here they are:
traction bar 1
traction bar 2

 

[Cothran]

How come all it ever seems that I do is stand around and drink your beer and smoke cigerettes?

Cause back then people actually came to tech days and we didn't have to do as much. Every other time it was just you and me and there was no time to take pictures. If there's more than two people there I hardly do anything, but that hasn't happened in over a year.

 

[mudpig]

wow

dude!!!!!!!!!! awesome job on that engine, looks like a new one mate!!!!! nice rig, im jealous lol