Builds Rescuing a Basket Case '72 FJ40 (3 Viewers)

[Chungas Revenge]

Just catching up on your thread. Nice work on the spare tire catch.

 

[FloridaLife]

View attachment 3909398Have been slowly working away at this front bumper. It’s going to be a real basic design, nothing to write home about. But it should be plenty beefy, and so far my sunk costs are $20 and 5 thin cut-off wheels.

The bumper is based on 5x5 1/4” wall square tubing, which has an internal size of 4 1/2”. Just about right for a 40 series bumper mounts. Here’s another pic of the bumper mocked up with the old Warn 5687 winch I’ll be running.
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Last night I was able to get the mounting holes drilled (all 12 of them!) I marked the holes using a tape template, which worked really well, as it allowed me to mark the hole locations on the top of the bumper, rather than inside.

I also set about fixing up the fairlead that came with the winch. Someone had welded some tabs on it to stand it off from the bumper for some reason. I cut them off and grinded the welds flat so that i could mount the fairlead directly to the bumper.
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I also greased up the rollers and cleaned it up a bit. Still need to cut a hole in the bumper for the cable to pass through, and then build a mounting plate, and we’ll be good to go for the front end stuff! I have the cable controls for this winch that I will install eventually as well.
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Looking good! And you can't beat the price!

 

[diesellibrarian]

It’s actually pretty amazing what you can build with just a drill, grinder, and welder. I was fretting about the slot for the cable, but all it took was two holes cut using a hole saw in a hand drill, with the space between them cut out with a grinder.

At my friend’s suggestion I also capped off the ends of the bumper. Makes it look a little more finished.

The last step is to make the winch plate. My original plan was to farm that out to a fab shop, but since I’ve been having such good luck with the bumper, I think I’ll source some 1/4” plate and make my own. Will probably have it professionally welded, though. My little welder is not designed for heavy gauge steel.

 

[MatthewMcD]

Makes it look a little more finished.

...and doesn't take off as much flesh when you cut the corner in shorts.

 

[FloridaLife]

It’s actually pretty amazing what you can build with just a drill, grinder, and welder. I was fretting about the slot for the cable, but all it took was two holes cut using a hole saw in a hand drill, with the space between them cut out with a grinder.
View attachment 3910694
At my friend’s suggestion I also capped off the ends of the bumper. Makes it look a little more finished.
View attachment 3910695
The last step is to make the winch plate. My original plan was to farm that out to a fab shop, but since I’ve been having such good luck with the bumper, I think I’ll source some 1/4” plate and make my own. Will probably have it professionally welded, though. My little welder is not designed for heavy gauge steel.

My 58 pound $300 bumper doesn't even have capped off ends, so you are doing great! Good suggestion from your friend.

Also, If you do take it to a shop to have them weld the winch plate in place, you could also have them use some half inch steel and weld on some hangers for D hooks on the front, one per side a couple of inches over from your cable opening. Like this: Bumper ~ HFS ~ Shackled w/8274 Winch Plate - https://www.coolcruisers.com/hforst82shtr.html

 

[pb4ugo]

It’s actually pretty amazing what you can build with just a drill, grinder, and welder. I was fretting about the slot for the cable, but all it took was two holes cut using a hole saw in a hand drill, with the space between them cut out with a grinder.
View attachment 3910694
At my friend’s suggestion I also capped off the ends of the bumper. Makes it look a little more finished.
View attachment 3910695
The last step is to make the winch plate. My original plan was to farm that out to a fab shop, but since I’ve been having such good luck with the bumper, I think I’ll source some 1/4” plate and make my own. Will probably have it professionally welded, though. My little welder is not designed for heavy gauge steel.

Great job. Thats how it starts. I did the same thing decades ago, I started with a cheap Lincoln tombstone arch welder. You'll soon get tired of hand drilling, and start looking for a drill press, then some sort of saw, and then......

 

[diesellibrarian]

My 58 pound $300 bumper doesn't even have capped off ends, so you are doing great! Good suggestion from your friend.

Also, If you do take it to a shop to have them weld the winch plate in place, you could also have them use some half inch steel and weld on some hangers for D hooks on the front, one per side a couple of inches over from your cable opening. Like this: Bumper ~ HFS ~ Shackled w/8274 Winch Plate - https://www.coolcruisers.com/hforst82shtr.html

Great idea!

 

[diesellibrarian]

Great job. Thats how it starts. I did the same thing decades ago, I started with a cheap Lincoln tombstone arch welder. You'll soon get tired of hand drilling, and start looking for a drill press, then some sort of saw, and then......

I do have a drill press, but it’s at my house which unfortunately does not have a garage. Most of my car-related tools are at a garage that I rent from a friend. My dream is to one day build myself a nice shop in my own back yard…

 

[FloridaLife]

Great idea!

I said 1/2" but as you probably saw in that item description in the link, I meant 1 inch steel D ring hangers.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Update on the winch plate: I sourced a chunk of 1/4” plate from a local steel purveyor. It took me a few stops to find a suitable piece of scrap, but in the end it ended up costing me $20 for a 20” x 24” chunk, bringing my total investment in this bumper to $40.

My first step was to roughly lay out the pattern and then cut it down to size. I think it ended up being about 6.5” x 15”. I had to keep reminding myself that it’s the spool that needs to be centred. If I centre the winch as a whole, the spool will be offset to the left.

With all measurements double-checked, the next challenge was locating and drilling the holes. I remembered seeing a trick on the Fab Rats YouTube channel where they used grease to help mark the location of holes, and damn if it didn’t work like a charm. I simply smeared some grease around the mounting holes and pushed the plate against the winch. This clearly showed the spots where I needed to drill.

I marked the centres with a punch and drilled out the 6 mounting holes. Looks like it’ll work! I need to re-tap some of the threads in the winch and source some 7/16 NC hardware to mount the winch. All that’s left to do is to cut the slot for the cable (going to use my drill press this time) and tack the plate in place and take the whole thing somewhere to get it welded up.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Well, I've got the bumper tacked together and ready for final welding. One evening I took the winch plate home so that I could use my drill press to cut the cable opening. It was a slow process, but the results were good. I'm trying to avoid creating stress risers by avoiding sharp corners when cutting these holes in the plate.

I had also acquired a 7/16 NC tap to re-thread a couple of the bolt holes that were damaged when I drilled out a couple of bolts that had broken off in the winch. After that, I was able to test that everything lined up and that all 6 bolts would thread into the winch.

Finally I cut out the cable slot and tack welded the plate to the bumper. Once it's fully welded, I just need to throw some paint on it and I can get the bumper and winch mounted once and for all! This has been a fun and satisfying project, but I'm ready to move on to something else haha.

 

[RevISK]

Looks awesome man!
Great work

 

[diesellibrarian]

Basically have the bumper situation handled. Had it welded up yesterday. They did a great job. Threw some paint on it - a Toyota colour, for what it's worth. The winch mounting bolts I bought were a little too short, but essentially the winch and bumper are installed. I'm really happy with how this turned out.

This weekend I'm back on trying to get it to run properly! Might also start on painting/undercoating the underside of the tub.

 

[FloridaLife]

Basically have the bumper situation handled. Had it welded up yesterday. They did a great job. Threw some paint on it - a Toyota colour, for what it's worth. The winch mounting bolts I bought were a little too short, but essentially the winch and bumper are installed. I'm really happy with how this turned out.

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This weekend I'm back on trying to get it to run properly! Might also start on painting/undercoating the underside of the tub.

Great job! And like I said before, a WAY better price than I paid! Weld a 1 inch triangle piece on each side of the opening with the corner sticking out ground rounded, slap on a D ring to each one, then on the underside make a 3/4 inch notch for a chain, 1 on each side, and it would be just like what I paid about $350 for, but yours is better with the end caps on there. AND, shipping was awful due to it being 58 pounds and an awkward size box, and you don't have to deal with that either. I'm jealous! With the knowledge you've gained, and your skills, you could make yourself some good money making and selling some of the things you have done for yourself.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Great job! And like I said before, a WAY better price than I paid! Weld a 1 inch triangle piece on each side of the opening with the corner sticking out ground rounded, slap on a D ring to each one, then on the underside make a 3/4 inch notch for a chain, 1 on each side, and it would be just like what I paid about $350 for, but yours is better with the end caps on there. AND, shipping was awful due to it being 58 pounds and an awkward size box, and you don't have to deal with that either. I'm jealous! With the knowledge you've gained, and your skills, you could make yourself some good money making and selling some of the things you have done for yourself.

Yeah, in terms of actual cash outlay, I did okay on this project. I'm into it for about $120 CDN, so maybe $80 USD, including paint and paying someone to do the welding, But if you count the number of hours I put into it, the cost goes up substantially, haha. Definitely learned a lot, but I've no interest in making another one - for a little while at least! My FJ55 will need a front bumper, too, but that's a ways off thankfully.