rusty rear sill and frame - fixed
- Thread starter alaskafj
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- Thread starter
- #42
I dont know if 2.25" is the best option or not. it might not want to accepy the body mounts. I think you could make 2 1/4 work if you used it.
take all the measurements before you start.. trying to figure out what you were supposed to make after it is all cut apart is MUCh harder.
- Thread starter
- #43
Wow thats beefy!! I like the idea of having adjustablity between the horns and the rear silly support. That will allow for last minute feild adjustments.
How are you intending to extended that sill support to be flush with the rear sill (and in the bed)
alaskafj said:
From my measurements of the old sill, its 2" square. So I used 2x2 tubing. The rubber body mounts should bring it up to OE height and a piece of angle iron as the sill cap should finish it off. I have to replace my bed and rear wheel wells so when I do that I will cut as long as I need it. Debating between a truck bed from the junkyard or flat 12ga sheet as my bed and wheel wells. Not sure how committed I am to the ribbing yet.
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- #45
...
You will want the rear sill and the bed tight against this new support, mine required the additional 1/4" bar to bring the height up the match the bed, if your using angle make sure it is the correct thickness to fit tightly to the support and line up with the bed (and tailgate)
the ribs in the bed are very tough to make by hand. if would require material most likely not thicker that 16 gauge. Even with 16 gauge it would be hard to put the ribbing in by hand. but it has been done. If your not restoring it.. just use a peice of sheet metal. you can put some ribbing it for traction and stiffness but it would not look stock.
I went smooth on my wheel wells, but left the bed stock, I only replaced the last 4-6 inches.
You will want the rear sill and the bed tight against this new support, mine required the additional 1/4" bar to bring the height up the match the bed, if your using angle make sure it is the correct thickness to fit tightly to the support and line up with the bed (and tailgate)
the ribs in the bed are very tough to make by hand. if would require material most likely not thicker that 16 gauge. Even with 16 gauge it would be hard to put the ribbing in by hand. but it has been done. If your not restoring it.. just use a peice of sheet metal. you can put some ribbing it for traction and stiffness but it would not look stock.
I went smooth on my wheel wells, but left the bed stock, I only replaced the last 4-6 inches.
Thanks for the tip... I am restoring it and was thinking of smooth floor pans and body panels. I saw this Resto that had all new floor pans with straight sheet metal and it looked sweet. Especially a hand made trans hump from sheet metal.
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- #47
I would strongly consider trying to save your bed or cut the bed out of another truck. I like diamond plate beds and smooth beds look pretty good, but not in a restoration. Keeping it as close to stock as possible is usually part of the goal in a restoration.
the ribs do help add stiffness. you can get hte same stiffness by using much thicker material, but then your rigs weights a ton more than it should.
the ribs do help add stiffness. you can get hte same stiffness by using much thicker material, but then your rigs weights a ton more than it should.
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I keep going back and forth with what I'm doing. Some days in the build I want all original and some days I want something else. More than likely I will restore the bed, build rear fenders smooth, and build floor pans to OE spec but sheet metal instead of replacement panels.
Jeff
Jeff
I agree, but finding a decent rear section to use will probably be a challange. 20 years ago I would say have at it. Your local junkyard might have been able to accomodate. Today, even the crappiest tubs are being preserved to use as skeletons for re-skinnin'.
As for reinforcing the bed, you can use channel or angle iron or tube and weld sections of it to strengthen the bottom tub while still being able to use 18ga steel. If done right it would be more effective than the stock ribbing.
Botom line (to me anyway) is any person familiar with these rigs are gonna be able to point out sheetmetal work pretty easy. Hell, it's almost as much of a certainty as death and taxes in my neck of the woods. Clean tubs are like unicorns...part of fairytales in DE/PA/MD/NJ. It only gets worse as we go up the coast. I would be more concerned in the quality of work performed putting ribbed or flat steel in over IF they put ribbed or flat steel in. I am not a purist. Please don't hate.
toomanytoyzz said:I agree, but finding a decent rear section to use will probably be a challange. 20 years ago I would say have at it. Your local junkyard might have been able to accomodate. Today, even the crappiest tubs are being preserved to use as skeletons for re-skinnin'.
As for reinforcing the bed, you can use channel or angle iron or tube and weld sections of it to strengthen the bottom tub while still being able to use 18ga steel. If done right it would be more effective than the stock ribbing.
Botom line (to me anyway) is any person familiar with these rigs are gonna be able to point out sheetmetal work pretty easy. Hell, it's almost as much of a certainty as death and taxes in my neck of the woods. Clean tubs are like unicorns...part of fairytales in DE/PA/MD/NJ. It only gets worse as we go up the coast. I would be more concerned in the quality of work performed putting ribbed or flat steel in over IF they put ribbed or flat steel in. I am not a purist. Please don't hate.
Exactly my point... I want a classic 40 with good straight body panels. I will pay top dollar for QPs, rockers, and fenders. The inside is where things start getting expensive. I like the fab work and willing to take the time to make my floor pans as clean as possible, but new ones are just crazy money. My next major piece is the main channel. I measured 3x4 but it's made of a "Z" panel and the floor pan behind the front seats. I'm thinking 4x4 square tubing for this. It should be super strong to tie the front and rear tub together.
Alaska, have you gotten to this main support? Curious on what your planning if yours is bad. You have pretty good fab skills and interested in your plans.
Jeff
Main support beam.
- Thread starter
- #51
Mine was in descent shape, I just cleaned it and painted it.
I do like the idea of 4x4 tube. I usually brake up my own body panels because i have to tools to do so. but if you dont then you have to make do. You might draw up a sketch and ask a local welder (with a large sheetmetal brake) what he would charge to bend it. then choose hte cheaper option.
be careful when making the smooth sheetmetal bed, wheel wells, etc. that you dont add TOO much wieght. fj40 already sag in hte rear usually, adding too much wieght will only make that worse.
This is a long ways from "purist" but I did it in my first fj40 I built. It is not a recomendation but an idea that looks pretty awsome, is light wieght, but kinda spendy... but also really easy...(follow all that lol
leave your bed in place unless the edges where the wheel wells meet is rusted out. your looks like it might be...
There are a few ways to get to the final part. but start by cutting out all the rust and weld in 16 gauge patches where ever you can.
then glue (5200 marine caulking works well) 1/8" aluminum diamond plate down in for hte bottom of the bed and the wheel well covers. Urist hate aluminum diamond plate, but un this application is can be a strong, light and IMO attractive solution. you MUST remove hte rust and paint or perseve all the raw steel under hte aluminum. After you glue it down sink some rivets in some strategic locations to anchor it.
I have done this and it does look great. it also covers up all the wleding you do to patch the rust.
Do you have acceess to a sheetmetal brake and if so what thickness and width can it handle?
building a 4' break to handle 16 gauge is not that diffifcult... if you wanted to add a project to your project
I do like the idea of 4x4 tube. I usually brake up my own body panels because i have to tools to do so. but if you dont then you have to make do. You might draw up a sketch and ask a local welder (with a large sheetmetal brake) what he would charge to bend it. then choose hte cheaper option.
be careful when making the smooth sheetmetal bed, wheel wells, etc. that you dont add TOO much wieght. fj40 already sag in hte rear usually, adding too much wieght will only make that worse.
This is a long ways from "purist" but I did it in my first fj40 I built. It is not a recomendation but an idea that looks pretty awsome, is light wieght, but kinda spendy... but also really easy...(follow all that lol
leave your bed in place unless the edges where the wheel wells meet is rusted out. your looks like it might be...
There are a few ways to get to the final part. but start by cutting out all the rust and weld in 16 gauge patches where ever you can.
then glue (5200 marine caulking works well) 1/8" aluminum diamond plate down in for hte bottom of the bed and the wheel well covers. Urist hate aluminum diamond plate, but un this application is can be a strong, light and IMO attractive solution. you MUST remove hte rust and paint or perseve all the raw steel under hte aluminum. After you glue it down sink some rivets in some strategic locations to anchor it.
I have done this and it does look great. it also covers up all the wleding you do to patch the rust.
Do you have acceess to a sheetmetal brake and if so what thickness and width can it handle?
building a 4' break to handle 16 gauge is not that diffifcult... if you wanted to add a project to your project
I'm actually trying to build a brake to bend 10-12ga but it takes a lot of force to brake that gauge. So I'll probably go with 16. I've already built the brake just need to finish up the piece that clamps the work to it. The brake is pretty beefy because it was designed for 10-12, but the clamp is the most important as I've used 1"x4" plate and still have deflection.... What to do what to do.....
Jeff
Jeff
I'd like to see your paln of attack on the main beam. Is it fully square? I've heard it referred to as Z shaped in the past.
Sorry to hijack your thread.
I'm still impressed with your work. Keep the pics coming.
Sorry to hijack your thread.
I'm still impressed with your work. Keep the pics coming.Very nice job. I love the floor pans-reminds me of the ones I put in my '77.-(I'm still beating and banging on the anvil to get the right curves for the piece to fit into that holely mess under the gas pedal) Can't wait to see the rest of the build--good job!!
I also used a 2" tube for the rear sill.
I also used a 2" tube for the rear sill.
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- Thread starter
- #55
Been Busy
SGGOAT, is that wood stiffeners in the bed of your 40? I cant tell for sure, but I like the look.
I been busy as of late and have had no time to wrench on my land cruisers nor post on this site. I figured I ought to check in and load some pics, just for fun.
since my last post I went on a nice 10 day moose hunt, I built a bumper for my recently purchased Dodge cummins, and I have been dealing with moose meat and putting away hunting gear and cleaning the yard in preparation for winter.
The bumper took longer than it was supposed to, I started it with vertually no plan and just started fabbing and let the project lead me along. I changed the working design three times but I am very pleased with the end product... see pic below.
I have 4 light force lights to install between the crossbars... then it is finished
SGGOAT, is that wood stiffeners in the bed of your 40? I cant tell for sure, but I like the look.
I been busy as of late and have had no time to wrench on my land cruisers nor post on this site. I figured I ought to check in and load some pics, just for fun.
since my last post I went on a nice 10 day moose hunt, I built a bumper for my recently purchased Dodge cummins, and I have been dealing with moose meat and putting away hunting gear and cleaning the yard in preparation for winter.
The bumper took longer than it was supposed to, I started it with vertually no plan and just started fabbing and let the project lead me along. I changed the working design three times but I am very pleased with the end product... see pic below.
I have 4 light force lights to install between the crossbars... then it is finished
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- Thread starter
- #56
continued....
If anyone knows how to add text between and after loading photos I would love to know how...
Since I dont know how I will discribe the next two pics then upload them...
Pic one... evidence of sucess. My bro-in-law and myself went moose hunting - two guys, two moose... great fun!!!
Pic two... This is just a pic to make everyone else jealous. It is fun running rivers that no one else can get into. This irver is 5 miles of shallow water and monsterous sandbars, followed by shallow chute, falls and rapids. in full disclosure the river flooded in the last few days of the season and on the last day one other boat made it up where we were hunting. Mostly i think this pic is awsome so I am sharing it.
If anyone knows how to add text between and after loading photos I would love to know how...
Since I dont know how I will discribe the next two pics then upload them...
Pic one... evidence of sucess. My bro-in-law and myself went moose hunting - two guys, two moose... great fun!!!
Pic two... This is just a pic to make everyone else jealous. It is fun running rivers that no one else can get into. This irver is 5 miles of shallow water and monsterous sandbars, followed by shallow chute, falls and rapids. in full disclosure the river flooded in the last few days of the season and on the last day one other boat made it up where we were hunting. Mostly i think this pic is awsome so I am sharing it.
Look in the body of your post; when you place a picture, the string of text will start with a bracket like this:
[
At the end of that text string, you will see a bracket that looks like this:
]
If you want to insert text between two pictures, simply place the cursor to the right of that second bracket, hit Enter, and start typing away. The same thing for when you want to add text underneath the last picture posted, or above the pictures you posted, just place the in front of, or behind the appropriate bracket. Make sure you don't delete the bracket itself. Good luck!
[
At the end of that text string, you will see a bracket that looks like this:
]
If you want to insert text between two pictures, simply place the cursor to the right of that second bracket, hit Enter, and start typing away. The same thing for when you want to add text underneath the last picture posted, or above the pictures you posted, just place the in front of, or behind the appropriate bracket. Make sure you don't delete the bracket itself. Good luck!
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- #58
jmdaniel,
Thanks for the help. I will try this next time.
Thanks for the help. I will try this next time.
If anyone knows how to add text between and after loading photos I would love to know how...
Since I dont know how I will discribe the next two pics then upload them...
Pic one... evidence of sucess. My bro-in-law and myself went moose hunting - two guys, two moose... great fun!!!
Pic two... This is just a pic to make everyone else jealous. It is fun running rivers that no one else can get into. This irver is 5 miles of shallow water and monsterous sandbars, followed by shallow chute, falls and rapids. in full disclosure the river flooded in the last few days of the season and on the last day one other boat made it up where we were hunting. Mostly i think this pic is awsome so I am sharing it.
My brother has lived in FB most of his life and for over 30 years we have talked about me getting back up there to go moose hunting but as we get older the conversations get fewer and fewer. He still mails me the 60" Club section of the newspaper every year but it hasn't happened yet. Nice shots, his friends run up the river as well but my brother hasn't hunted in 40 years. 
- Thread starter
- #60
You have my sympathies! Hunting Alaska is one of hte best activities a person can persue!!!
I also understnad I am a Dall Sheep hunter myself. I perfer it and have sacrificed some pretty awsome hunting opprotunities because they interfered with a sheep hunting opprotunity. But even with that said i have not been sheep hunting in MAny many years, because I am too busy or out of shape
Well NEXT year for sure!!!
When I finish my fj40 build i have a caribou hunt and a moose hunt planned using it! that will be awsome , combining offroading a cruiser and hunting!