Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build) (4 Viewers)

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You may just need to make your own linkages to use the column shift but I’m not sure. I used heim joints when I did my new linkages.

The 4 speed is not just a synchro 1st, but also a little lower 1st. 2nd and 3rd are a little more “around town” friendly. I always felt with my 3 speed I was screaming at 40mph in 2nd but was lugging it at 40mph in 3rd.
 
Talk to Chase @red66toy (Cruiser Cult). If you decide to do it, my thread has all the linkage details and trans cover modifications needed. It’s not hard…..

There’s other things needed for the 4 speed swap too but all easily sourced.
Thanks @Skreddy ! that video of you shifting through the 4 gears on the column was all the motivation I needed to put mine back to column shift. I am going to do it if I can make it work with the SBC. If not it will have to wait till a engine swap. Like you just commented though I could make my own linkage. And thats exactly how I feel the three speed is. The only time is super annoying for me is driving over 40mph and on my parents dirt road where 2nd is a little too fast for the bumps. and I lugg it and 1st is too low and slow
 
I honestly would like the column shift more than the floor shifter even with the 3 speed. The reason I have not started pursuing this already is because iI think the SBC is in the way of the linkage for the column shift. I could be wrong though would you mind sending a pic of the linkage under the hood of yours? I know a couple of people have offered me the column shifter and stuff but I am unsure if it would fit. you are right about the three vrs 4 speed. the three speed is not bad right now especially since its been recently rebuilt.

I am excited to move the 4x4 acuation back to the dash. I have been slowly gathering parts for that. I am planning on replacing the sending unit gasket and possibly installing the old factory seats I have coming (they may have to wait for reupholstering they were rough)

I will try and get some pictures of the linkage for you this weekend.
 
Engine discussion asside, Rachael is going to be at work tomorow so I need a project to keep me busy. I am planning on cutting and welding in new corners to my rockers. I have the whole outter rocker patches from CCOT. But I am thinking I am just going to make patches out of them that way I can leave some of the nice patina. Any tips or tricks from those that have done this? Looks like I have a few spot welds to drill out too. Here are some pictures for referen

This side is the worst.
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Other side not as bad.
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Ill need to make a patch here it looks like too.
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Additionally my drivers window is beginning to be really difficult to roll up. I am guessing its the regulator going bad or getting loose or somthing.(handle itself feels loose but its difficult to roll up.) I might buy an new regulator to replace it if I cant fix it.
 
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Heads up - have you looked at the backside of your rockers? Here’s what my ‘63‘s looked like (drivers - passenger was as bad if not worse). There’s substructure in three places that have caused misery for a lot of cruiser owners for years that might need to be replaced as well. I built all my own replacement pieces.
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Yes, that’s John Deere replacement steel, nothing but the best 😂.
 
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Heads up - have you looked at the backside of your rockers? Here’s what my ‘63‘s looked like (drivers - passenger was as bad if not worse). There’s substructure in three places that have caused misery for a lot of cruiser owners for years that might need to be replaced as well. I built all my own replacement pieces.
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Yes, that’s John Deere replacement steel, nothing but the best 😂.
humm.... I have looked under there. I think one of them looked rough but the others looked ok. I may be making new ones as well. the driver side one is pretty toast I think. thanks for the heads up on this. I think I knew these were a thing but didnt think about it. But you are right I may be waiting till I can get some more metal to fab up some of these. Ill check the dump tomorrow for some scrap metal.
 
if it were me....I'd rock the small rust spots and patina and coat it in fluid film. will save so much heartache and headache.

rust has a BAD habit of hiding the worst on the inside.
I gotta fix it. It will drive me nuts if i dont. I can do it. If I can tackle that rear sill I can do this.
 
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I am using the same set up in the picture actually. I think 40 grit instead. Yeah I suck with a disc sander though. I did order some flappy ones though. They should be here soon. I will say it looks like it gouged it pretty bad in the picture but I promise its smoother and flatter than it looks. Not the best work but I can do better. a di grinder sander would be nice. I need to get one of those. Do they make those in electric? My compressor is really too small to run air tools. anyways thanks!
I was in the same boat - compressor too small and didn't want to invest in a larger one due to money and size.
Bought the Milwaukee M12 angle die grinder. It's a bit pricey, but has worked very well for my limited requirements. I get about 20 minutes 'continuous' use out of each battery, but I think you can get larger ones that will last longer. FWIW.

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I was in the same boat - compressor too small and didn't want to invest in a larger one due to money and size.
Bought the Milwaukee M12 angle die grinder. It's a bit pricey, but has worked very well for my limited requirements. I get about 20 minutes 'continuous' use out of each battery, but I think you can get larger ones that will last longer. FWIW.

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Milwaukee has a lot of nice battery powered tools. Seems like every pic in one of Nolan’s threads has a tool I haven’t seen and then think I need.
 
I gotta fix it. It will drive me nuts if i dont. I can do it. If I can tackle that rear sill I can do this.
One product I use a lot is Ospho. It’s a phosphoric acid spray that neutralizes rust. You can spray it on and leave it or paint over it or fluid film over it. I’ve scrubbed with CLR, then sprayed the Ospho on my couple little rust spots and left it, respray Ospho every 4-6 months when I think about it.

Here’s how my Chevelle hood turned out. This is literally just spray Ospho from a spray bottle and rinse off with a hose 7-10 minutes later. Was test spraying just that half of the hood.
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Is that the original paint @Skreddy? Ospho will turn black (actually the converted rust) if left to dry but it looks like your approach of letting it sit for just a bit and then rinsing got rid of most of the rust but left the paint, correct? If so, nifty! Think you could now just wax over the top to seal? Nice chevelle!
 
One product I use a lot is Ospho. It’s a phosphoric acid spray that neutralizes rust. You can spray it on and leave it or paint over it or fluid film over it. I’ve scrubbed with CLR, then sprayed the Ospho on my couple little rust spots and left it, respray Ospho every 4-6 months when I think about it.

Here’s how my Chevelle hood turned out. This is literally just spray Ospho from a spray bottle and rinse off with a hose 7-10 minutes later. Was test spraying just that half of the hood.
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I love ospho! I use it alot for stuff around here. I actually use it some times on bolts and stuff that have lots of surface rust. or small components that have rust. Like the little 9 brackets for my scissor door. I soaked those while I was working on something else and then washed them and painted them. I actually have a spray bottle full of ospho. Gotta be carful with wind direction though haha.
 
I was in the same boat - compressor too small and didn't want to invest in a larger one due to money and size.
Bought the Milwaukee M12 angle die grinder. It's a bit pricey, but has worked very well for my limited requirements. I get about 20 minutes 'continuous' use out of each battery, but I think you can get larger ones that will last longer. FWIW.

View attachment 3231302
Milwaukee has a lot of nice battery powered tools. Seems like every pic in one of Nolan’s threads has a tool I haven’t seen and then think I need.
Yeah I need one of these! I thought I had seen one of these someplace! exactly what I need. I also use a Milwaukee impact wrench. Its fantastic!
 
So I am waiting on some metal sheet to fabricate the structure on the back side of the rockers. Like @middlecalf mentioned above the rocker structure on the underside was iffy. I didnt start cutting into it yet because I dont have the metal to fix. Additionally it looks like it will be raining for the next 4 days here so I am glad I did not start.

However I did scrub the old salt wagon with a sponge and some of this rust converter comit type stuff. The wagon is looking spiffy.

I cleaned the hood arrow and the land cruiser badges and now they look almost new as well.

I also used this stuff called flood Penetrol Oil-Based Paint Additive Conditioner instead of linsead oil. I think I saw this on a video about preserving patina on a volkswagon. It turned out really nice and it drys quicker than linsead.
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So I am waiting on some metal sheet to fabricate the structure on the back side of the rockers. Like @middlecalf mentioned above the rocker structure on the underside was iffy. I didnt start cutting into it yet because I dont have the metal to fix. Additionally it looks like it will be raining for the next 4 days here so I am glad I did not start.

However I did scrub the old salt wagon with a sponge and some of this rust converter comit type stuff. The wagon is looking spiffy.

I cleaned the hood arrow and the land cruiser badges and now they look almost new as well.

I also used this stuff called flood Penetrol Oil-Based Paint Additive Conditioner instead of linsead oil. I think I saw this on a video about preserving patina on a volkswagon. It turned out really nice and it drys quicker than linsead.
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Ohh I forgot to mention I also bought the rest of the parts from SORto hopfully make the vaccume 4x4 to work. along with correct for the year hood bump stops and hooks. I also need to figure out a solution to the hook rest points on the hood but for now at least I have some of the parts coming!

Additionally the heater core sprung a leak in my very old worn out dealer installed (i assumed) heater. I pulled the heater and I am planning on putting one in. any reccomendations. I dont want to go vintage air.

somthing like this looked promising for under the glove box. JEGS 70609: Auxiliary Heater with Dual Louvered Vents [80 CFM, 8,500 BTU] - JEGS High Performance - https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/70609/10002/-1 let me know if you have recommendations. I might just be cold for the rest of the winter.
 
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I also found a reproduction sill sticker on SOR that I bought. I thought this would be cool on mine. I found this picture on a for sale thread on mud from @navydivedoc
. (I wish I had seen it before I saw the one on spector.)

I keep forgetting things that I did this weekend haha.
 
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Can‘t tell what you have heater brand wise from earlier pics but definitely a dealer install. It’s possible you could have the core rebuilt/sealed if that’s where it’s leaking. I did that to an old Hupp using solder and a propane torch. The heated area created a vacuum which then sucked in melted solder, works so far but was/is a complete guess as to validity. The reason I tried this is that I didn’t want to create new holes in the firewall and the existing holes (under glovebox) from a previously installed (and removed) heater were unique to a particular Hupp heater unit and I was able to finally find a used - and leaking - one ftom a Mud member. Hupp brand is search option, also Maradyne which Amazon has as well as these guys that I’ve picked up a few related items from Auxiliary Heater Assemblies | Mill Supply, Inc. - https://www.millsupply.com/stepvan-parts/heater-ac-parts/auxiliary-heaters/auxiliary-heater-assemblies/.
 
Can‘t tell what you have heater brand wise from earlier pics but definitely a dealer install. It’s possible you could have the core rebuilt/sealed if that’s where it’s leaking. I did that to an old Hupp using solder and a propane torch. The heated area created a vacuum which then sucked in melted solder, works so far but was/is a complete guess as to validity. The reason I tried this is that I didn’t want to create new holes in the firewall and the existing holes (under glovebox) from a previously installed (and removed) heater were unique to a particular Hupp heater unit and I was able to finally find a used - and leaking - one ftom a Mud member. Hupp brand is search option, also Maradyne which Amazon has as well as these guys that I’ve picked up a few related items from Auxiliary Heater Assemblies | Mill Supply, Inc. - https://www.millsupply.com/stepvan-parts/heater-ac-parts/auxiliary-heaters/auxiliary-heater-assemblies/.
I am pretty sure this Jegs one is also a Maradyn JEGS 70603: Auxiliary Heater [172 CFM, 12,000 BTU] - JEGS High Performance - https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/70603/10002/-1 this one looks to be the same size as the one I pulled. I have contemplated putting this in but if I am going to change it I think I would like to give my passenger aka future wife more foot room. I am pretty sure my old one is some sort of hupp heater. Mine is pretty far gone. I am surprised it didnt start leaking sooner. I could smell the coolant for a while before it started dripping though. Also the fan motor is not long for this world so I think rebuilding is more work than its worth. and not to complain about the vintage LOUD fan. But it was loud enough for me to struggle to hear people talking to me. as for the holes in the fire wall I agree. I think I will weld in some of these disk plugs from east wood or other brands.
 

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