Green Bean
GOLD Star
That is what I ended up ordering. I believe it has about a 3 week lead time. Looking forward to putting it together.
Builds Rescuing a Basket Case '72 FJ40 (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter diesellibrarian
- Start date
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RevISK
SILVER Star
I forgot to reply to this thread but it’s a great project to build your own.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #43
FINALLY getting around to the sill. This has been quite the project that is really showing my lack of welding skills, haha. I learned a lot, though, and there are things that I would do differently next time. At any rate, it will 100% do the trick, so I'm happy.
I started the project by doing some measuring and making up a cardboard template. It was a little tricky because there was barely anything left to measure, and what was there was twisted out of shape. I ended up cutting off the end of the sill and tracing it directly onto the cardboard:
Since the sill is symmetrical side to side and top to bottom, I made a template for one half of the sill, and cut four matching pieces out of some 14 gauge steel, which is what they used at the factory. This allowed me to minimize wastage. I cut the pieces using an angle grinder and a cut-off wheel. Would love to have a plasma table like my youtube heroes, but that's not in the cards for me, haha.
Here are the pieces laid out, ready to be welded end-to-end:
With the top and bottom of the new sill ready to go, I set about cutting the side. Once cut, I introduced a curve into the end bits using a hammer and the edge of the workbench, and tacked it in place.
Once tacked together, I did a quick test fit on the truck, and also scribed the location of the body mounts. Then I set about welding the thing together:
Although the new sill is far from perfect, it clearly represents a significant improvement over the old one, lol.
I started the project by doing some measuring and making up a cardboard template. It was a little tricky because there was barely anything left to measure, and what was there was twisted out of shape. I ended up cutting off the end of the sill and tracing it directly onto the cardboard:
Since the sill is symmetrical side to side and top to bottom, I made a template for one half of the sill, and cut four matching pieces out of some 14 gauge steel, which is what they used at the factory. This allowed me to minimize wastage. I cut the pieces using an angle grinder and a cut-off wheel. Would love to have a plasma table like my youtube heroes, but that's not in the cards for me, haha.
Here are the pieces laid out, ready to be welded end-to-end:
With the top and bottom of the new sill ready to go, I set about cutting the side. Once cut, I introduced a curve into the end bits using a hammer and the edge of the workbench, and tacked it in place.
Once tacked together, I did a quick test fit on the truck, and also scribed the location of the body mounts. Then I set about welding the thing together:
Although the new sill is far from perfect, it clearly represents a significant improvement over the old one, lol.
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diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #44
With the main part of the sill complete, I set about building the inner structure, which is quite simple, really. I removed one of the body mount braces from the old sill, hammered it flat, and used it as a template to cut and bend four new braces, again using 14 gauge steel.
I plug welded the braces in, and painted the whole thing with a rust-inhibiting primer. I'll put a couple coats of black Rustoleum on it before I install it in the truck, and then I can start to work on making things strong on the back end of the truck, cuz right now, everything is just kind of floating around back there.
I plug welded the braces in, and painted the whole thing with a rust-inhibiting primer. I'll put a couple coats of black Rustoleum on it before I install it in the truck, and then I can start to work on making things strong on the back end of the truck, cuz right now, everything is just kind of floating around back there.
RevISK
SILVER Star
Great job on that.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #46
So, I got the sill all painted up and ready to install. It's not pretty but it'll do the trick for sure.
While I was waiting for the paint to dry on the sill, I started in on the area behind the driver's seat. This is the area I'm talking about:
I started by cutting a piece of steel about 10" x 20", folding the edges where it will be plug welded to the surrounding structure. First test fit:
Then I busted out the bead roller to introduce some shape into the panel to make it meet up with the existing sheet metal:
At this point, it's just about ready to weld in place, but that will be a task for another day.
While I was waiting for the paint to dry on the sill, I started in on the area behind the driver's seat. This is the area I'm talking about:
I started by cutting a piece of steel about 10" x 20", folding the edges where it will be plug welded to the surrounding structure. First test fit:
Then I busted out the bead roller to introduce some shape into the panel to make it meet up with the existing sheet metal:
At this point, it's just about ready to weld in place, but that will be a task for another day.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #47
Over the past few days I also finished welding in the inner piece below the driver's door. I think the driver's side floor repairs are now complete!
The new floor pan doesn't exactly look stock, but it will be mostly covered by the seat and the storage box, which I'm planning to repair and reinstall.
The new floor pan doesn't exactly look stock, but it will be mostly covered by the seat and the storage box, which I'm planning to repair and reinstall.
RevISK
SILVER Star
Mmmmmm bro…
If looks could kill I’d be in a coffin.
I’m pretty sure that means great job!
If looks could kill I’d be in a coffin.
I’m pretty sure that means great job!
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #49
Cheers! I have so much to learn, but the encouragement of this community is really inspiring.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #50
Also it can be helpful to see how far you've come, haha.
There is a place in Land Cruiser heaven for you.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #52
That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, haha.
Great thread! Nice to see another guy out there willing to give their time for free making all the patches instead of buying everything. I am also time rich and cash poor!
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #54
Been sidelined for a bit by a nasty flu, but I spent some of my downtime strategizing my approach to the driver's side rear corner. Once I was finally feeling up to it, I headed back to the shop, and things came together pretty much exactly as I'd imagined it.
I don't really have a "before" photo, but basically the corner was toast: it was bent, rusted, and torn. The metal behind the left lower door hinge had rotted away, along with the bottom flange of the panel. I used what was left of the panel to make a cardboard template, which I test fit to the truck before transferring it to some 18ga steel. I cut the shape out of the steel, and manipulated the new panel so that it mostly fit. Here I'm using a variety of clamps and some sheet metal screws to hold the thing in place while I evaluate the fit:
With the panel still clamped in place, I tack-welded a second piece along the bottom, perpendicular to the panel; this forms the flange at the bottom of the panel. For more complex panels like this, I usually end up welding the flange on instead of folding it over. I don't have the necessary tools (i.e. tipping die, shrinker/stretcher, etc.) to make curved flanges out of a single piece of steel), so I find it works well to weld the flange instead. With the flange full welded and ground down, this is what I'm left with:
With the flange in place, I was able to work on the final fitment of the new panel, which entailed drilling the panel for plug welds, and folding it over where it wraps around the door post:
The sheet metal screws allow me to remove the panel and re-install in the same location again and again.
At this point, the panel is ready for welding:
I don't really have a "before" photo, but basically the corner was toast: it was bent, rusted, and torn. The metal behind the left lower door hinge had rotted away, along with the bottom flange of the panel. I used what was left of the panel to make a cardboard template, which I test fit to the truck before transferring it to some 18ga steel. I cut the shape out of the steel, and manipulated the new panel so that it mostly fit. Here I'm using a variety of clamps and some sheet metal screws to hold the thing in place while I evaluate the fit:
With the panel still clamped in place, I tack-welded a second piece along the bottom, perpendicular to the panel; this forms the flange at the bottom of the panel. For more complex panels like this, I usually end up welding the flange on instead of folding it over. I don't have the necessary tools (i.e. tipping die, shrinker/stretcher, etc.) to make curved flanges out of a single piece of steel), so I find it works well to weld the flange instead. With the flange full welded and ground down, this is what I'm left with:
With the flange in place, I was able to work on the final fitment of the new panel, which entailed drilling the panel for plug welds, and folding it over where it wraps around the door post:
The sheet metal screws allow me to remove the panel and re-install in the same location again and again.
At this point, the panel is ready for welding:
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #55
Oh yeah, I also made a satisfying improvement to the floor patch panel I'd made earlier. I didn't like how the beads just faded away, so I made a small wooden buck to support the panel while I smashed it from the other side with an appropriately-sized socket. The result is a nice bead that looks much closer to stock. Here's a quick before/after:
After:
After:
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Looking good man
RevISK
SILVER Star
great job on those ribs.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #58
Couple more updates to report. I think the floor patch is about ready to be installed. First I cut away most of the rusty crap that was interfering with my test fit:
The area I'm repairing holds a seat belt mount, so I had to fab that up. The support plate is made from 1/8" plate, bent 90 degrees at two ends to increase rigidity. Then I welded on the captive nut:
Drilled out a bunch of holes for plug welding the panel to the box section. Pretty happy with how this is looking.
At this point, the panel is ready to be welded in. I'm going to have to perform the same operation on the passenger side, but that's a project for another day.
The area I'm repairing holds a seat belt mount, so I had to fab that up. The support plate is made from 1/8" plate, bent 90 degrees at two ends to increase rigidity. Then I welded on the captive nut:
Drilled out a bunch of holes for plug welding the panel to the box section. Pretty happy with how this is looking.
At this point, the panel is ready to be welded in. I'm going to have to perform the same operation on the passenger side, but that's a project for another day.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #59
Also finished welding in the rear corner. This was a super tricky process, as the original steel along the weld seam is dented and far from uniform. I did my best to straighten things out with a hammer and dolly, and that helped quite a bit, but it was still very challenging to get the panels to line up. Nevertheless, it's in and it's strong.
I actually ended up re-cutting one of the weld joins and re-welding it, as it was clear that I had not had adequate penetration in that one area. I ground off as much of the weld as I dared, and slopped on a thin layer of filler to smooth the transition between the old steel and new.
With that, the driver's side corner repair is mostly complete. I still need to add a support plate behind the lower door hinge, and weld the new sheet metal to the sill - but that won't happen until the passenger side corner is fully repaired as well. Once I'm satisfied that both corners are solid, I'll weld the body to the sill, and that should lend enough strength to the rear of the car to allow me to completely remove the cargo floor.
I actually ended up re-cutting one of the weld joins and re-welding it, as it was clear that I had not had adequate penetration in that one area. I ground off as much of the weld as I dared, and slopped on a thin layer of filler to smooth the transition between the old steel and new.
With that, the driver's side corner repair is mostly complete. I still need to add a support plate behind the lower door hinge, and weld the new sheet metal to the sill - but that won't happen until the passenger side corner is fully repaired as well. Once I'm satisfied that both corners are solid, I'll weld the body to the sill, and that should lend enough strength to the rear of the car to allow me to completely remove the cargo floor.
diesellibrarian
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #60
Work progresses on the rear of the 40. It's been quite the process, but I've made some pretty big steps in getting this thing solid again. Part of the challenge with this rig is that not only is it extremely rusty, it's also bent out of shape in several areas: especially the rear fender wells. Not sure what happened here, but something hit this hard enough to break all of the spot welds holding the inner fender to the quarter panel:
Because of this damage, I had to bring everything into alignment before starting on the rust repair on the passenger side rear corner. To push the fender back into place, I used a poor man's porta-power (a scissor jack and a block of wood) to push the fender into plumb (or as close to plumb as I can get it, anyway):
This also gave me a chance to measure the rear door opening to make sure that it's consistent and that the door jambs are more or less perpendicular to the cargo floor. I had to move the passenger fender almost 3/4" to bring things back into shape.
I was then able to set about making the new panel for the right rear corner, using the same pattern and process I used on the driver's side. The whole process of making the panel and welding it in took less than 4 hours: probably half the time of the first one. I guess that's called learning? or something. Again I experienced the same challenges with panel alignment, since the original metal is all dented up. At any rate, I made it work. Here's the new panel tacked in place:
...and after welding and some filler to smooth the weld seams. To my mind, there's no shame in using a skim of filler in a situation like this, when it's almost impossible to get the panels perfectly aligned and the pieces you're welding together are not the same thickness (16g for the stock metal, 18g for the new panel).
Because of this damage, I had to bring everything into alignment before starting on the rust repair on the passenger side rear corner. To push the fender back into place, I used a poor man's porta-power (a scissor jack and a block of wood) to push the fender into plumb (or as close to plumb as I can get it, anyway):
This also gave me a chance to measure the rear door opening to make sure that it's consistent and that the door jambs are more or less perpendicular to the cargo floor. I had to move the passenger fender almost 3/4" to bring things back into shape.
I was then able to set about making the new panel for the right rear corner, using the same pattern and process I used on the driver's side. The whole process of making the panel and welding it in took less than 4 hours: probably half the time of the first one. I guess that's called learning? or something. Again I experienced the same challenges with panel alignment, since the original metal is all dented up. At any rate, I made it work. Here's the new panel tacked in place:
...and after welding and some filler to smooth the weld seams. To my mind, there's no shame in using a skim of filler in a situation like this, when it's almost impossible to get the panels perfectly aligned and the pieces you're welding together are not the same thickness (16g for the stock metal, 18g for the new panel).
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