Surprise BJ42 strip down and rebuild!

[Pommy]

Hey Pommy, while your in the bits every where stage check your rag joint. Just did mine & made a great difference for the steering
not nearly as much play as it had. Cheers

What's the rag joint mate? The rubber bushing on the steering shaft or actually adjusting up the steering box itself? Might try and do both if I can get hold of one of those bushes!

 

[Strategic1]

If you can do both all the better as long drive can really suck it out of you having to constantly keep correcting steering to keep on the road

I had a wheel alignment done before this next step, eliminating what the cause of the wandering can be one at a time in order of cost

 

[Pommy]

If you can do both all the better as long drive can really suck it out of you having to constantly keep correcting steering to keep on the road View attachment 1389429
I had a wheel alignment done before this next step, eliminating what the cause of the wandering can be one at a time in order of cost

Good point about the steering tiring you out on those long drives! Have you tried your wheel bearings and kingpin bearings? Also I noticed on my cruiser that the metal plates anchoring the steering wheel under the dash were allowing some movement which could be another factor... Seems like you've tried the other options!

 

[Strategic1]

Have you tried your wheel bearings and kingpin bearings?

Had tie rods, bearings, wheel alignment, etc. all done seems the rag joint is the last bit to replace. Getting it up on the hoist this coming week to get that done & replace seals on diff housing, seem to have sprung a wee leak Taking it out that weekend shooting so have to get fixed! Cheers

 

[Pommy]

It's been a little while since I last posted, had some time off during Christmas and had to move house etc which all put a dampener on progress but I've been busy the past week so decided to put up more progress shots.

The rust in the upper cab panels was worse than I thought and has been a bit of a challenge to cut and shape patches etc. the most challenging sections were around the windows but it's slowly coming together. This is the worst cab side with all my patches tacked in place, trying to go slow as I had a few patches warp from heat buildup on the other cab side

I had to repair a little of the internal frame as it was badly corroded around the seatbelt anchor. Didn't want any fatigue in that area! So cut it back to solid metal and patched it up with generous amounts of weld
Here is one of the sections I cut out. Didn't bother with an after shot of this one as it was pretty ugly haha

This is one of the corner window sections that was a pain. I don't have any means of pressing a nice curved edge so had to improvise and it will look ok after its all grinded and stuff

This cheap little vise and a $50 "panel beater kit" has been my weapon of choice for all my patch shaping and moulding, it's not perfect but it does the job and it's pretty satisfying to see myself getting better quality patches as I've gone on

 

[Pommy]

I've also chosen a colour for my respray and did a test spray on my door bows.

Not a Toyota genuine colour which may not be up everyone's alley but I like it! Gives it a bit of a military look and I've not seen many with this kind of colour.

Keen to hear thoughts on this one just ignore all the other crap in the picture...

 

[Strategic1]

Hey Pommy doing greatLooks like your new place you get to work indoors. Colour looks ok.....But as a signwriter & working with paint for over 35 yrs would suggest a bit darker But hey what ever floats your boat Hey if you need any decals let me know as I have recreated & digitally printed my own, happy to share. Cheers

 

[Pommy]

Hey Pommy doing greatLooks like your new place you get to work indoors. Colour looks ok.....But as a signwriter & working with paint for over 35 yrs would suggest a bit darker But hey what ever floats your boat Hey if you need any decals let me know as I have recreated & digitally printed my own, happy to share. CheersView attachment 1425712

They look great mate, I like the look of the Toyota teq one! And the transfer case shift too! Do you have any pics of them in your rig as I've never seen them so have no idea where they go haha!

Yes I must admit the colour looks quite light there in the picture as its under a flouro light at work. It looks a little darker in the flesh, but I will be painting the front panels soon and fitting them so I'll have a better representation of the final look after that. I'm hoping the offset of flat black hardware will help the look of it.

 

[Strategic1]

Hi Pommy any paint should be viewed in natural light & dry as opposed wet & under fluro or yellow lighting. Best way is to paint up some old metal & leave it to dry then you will get a better idea of finished colour & put your matt black hardware against it to get the overall paint scheme. Here are where I have located the decals but as always do it where it makes you happy not what the sheep think

 

[Pommy]

Hi Pommy any paint should be viewed in natural light & dry as opposed wet & under fluro or yellow lighting. Best way is to paint up some old metal & leave it to dry then you will get a better idea of finished colour & put your matt black hardware against it to get the overall paint scheme. Here are where I have located the decals but as always do it where it makes you happy not what the sheep thinkView attachment 1426344 View attachment 1426345

Mate they look great! Nice job! I'm getting more and more envious of your truck and that's a good idea to spray onto a larger piece and check it with the hardware.
Hopefully it comes out good because my missus loves the colour of the test pieces I did... And so changing it may be more challenging than just buying new paint haha

 

[Strategic1]

Oh your screwed, but if she gets emotionally invested in the project you might have less hassle when it comes to spending bucks on it
Have taken the beast to a mate to get the steering box rebuilt he's also going to install the aircon, which is a good thing as it's out of my mechanical comfort zone & I want this bit done right. So best not to let me near it Your rigs coming along really well, looking forward to more pics Cheers

 

[Pommy]

Few more progress pictures; things have been going pretty well and I'm starting to see a finish line which is promising. It's just been one grim discovery after another with this truck but it's coming together slowly now and I'm starting to enjoy it again!

Looked like a while since the cooling system has had any love... Plus I noticed a few puddles of coolant so decided to take a break from panel work and overhaul it. As usual there were a few inconveniences

Nice looking coolant...

Found the reason for the leak... Water temp resistor had been over tightened and snapped the housing, held on with silicone! Also one of the thermostat bolt threads had been stripped and a larger bolt forced in.
I blasted the housing, welded up all damaged areas, drilled and re tapped the threads and finally faced all mating surfaces. Good as new
I made the choice to leave the temp sensor out and welded in the gap. The factory gauge no longer worked and I have an aftermarket gauge set up anyway. Better than another leak.

Next I wanted to replace the water pump whilst I had the coolant drained and housing out of the way. Que the next drama

One of the bolts was seized inside the housing and snapped the head clean off. Managed to free up the housing eventually with heat, some homemade lubricating stuff and a small drift. The bolt threads turned in the engine block but the shaft had seized in the housing.

Since I had come so far I put in new hoses, clamps, coolant, flushed the radiator which is in relatively good condition and even blasted/repainted the frame, fan spacer, pulley and fan shroud. The crap picture doesn't really do it justice, it has completely changed the look of my engine bay which is great! (I will get a better picture at a later date. It's covered in body filler dust right now

 

[Pommy]

Most of my time has been consumed with body work recently. Now wishing I had bought a clean body 40 series and just fixed up mechanicals... Oh wait that's right there's no such thing as one of those

As I've mentioned before I'm making this up as I go and learning with each attempt, I'm sure there are better and more efficient ways to do these things but I'm enjoying learning as I go

Another cab panel all patched up and rust cut out/treated. I wish I had a donor vehicle to get cut out larger sections and less patches but I'm lucky enough that my missus doesn't mind me hogging our garage and helps me out so I don't want to push my luck any further haha.

After more welding then grinding and body filler sanding for hours... My garage floor and walls have looked like this for months now, I clean it and within 5 minutes it's like this again!
I now have massive respect for panel beaters who do this for a living and actually do a perfect finish.

An example of one that's been mostly filled, sanded and primed and with one last attack of knifing putty to fill the grinding marks etc. ready for painting after that. It's not a factory finish, but it is now all metal (not bog and newspaper) it closely resembles the shape of what it was supposed to look like.

Here are some painted pieces I have finished. They aren't perfect enough to cry about scratching/scuffing it down the line but good enough to look great from a distance so that's good enough for me!

I have done all doors, cab side panels, widescreen frame, bonnet and door bows and it's taken a LONG time! Just tinkering away after work and whenever I can. Below is a pic of my garage mid carnage

Having not planned to do this level of refurbishment it can get overwhelming some times coming home exhausted from work and seeing this view and always being asked "how's the car going?" But as I keep reminding myself the feeling of reviving this old beast and taking it for that 1st drive as a fully registered and licensed car will be worth it! I will soldier on

 

[Pommy]

Re assembled the grille section just as a reference for my colours.

Looks a little different here under the light than it does in person. This is the colour scheme I am going for below, it's close to this so I'm happy. No idea who owns this rig or where it is from I just liked the different look than the usual. I will need to paint my roof again now though

However I'm not over the finish line yet.i still have one more section of the body to fix up before finishing the body work and paint...

There was an old floor pan repair that has since returned to this mess. I cut out the rocker panel to get better access to it and this will take a bit of wizardry to fix up...
To be continued

 

[Strategic1]

Pommy I stand back in awe Excellent job!! my own beastie is still at mates having steering box rebuilt having to wait is killing me. Keep looking at that empty spot in the drive. You have maybe gone further than you thought but will know every inch of her Look forward to when you start trying to line up all the panels & get the doors to hang straight & close properly Bwhahahahaha spent hours fiddling with those bastards after spray job re assembly, it will do you head in let me know how it goes. Again great job mate

 

[Pommy]

Cheers mate! Can't say I'm looking forward to that part
Definitely feel like the project is turning a corner now hopefully!

 

[airon23]

Pommy I read through this build and the work you're doing is great. Inspiring really. Makes me think I have a chance of doing a lot of fixes myself. What are you using to spray the paint? As you can see in my avatar I have a top and doors from a mustard yellow 40 that it came with but I would someday like to fix and paint it properly.

 

[A10Driver]

Nice work, keep it up. I definitely know that feeling of "what did I get myself into" and also the "when can I park in the garage again" questions from the old wife.

 

[Strategic1]

Aaaaaaurrrrgh still in limbo no progress with the steering box, this is the problem when you have to outsource repairs on the cheap but will save about $800 bucks which I can put into the bits & bobs fund still Aaaaauuuuurgh

 

[Vossie]

nice looking rig! and nice to see a fellow mudder on the younger side with a getting involved! mine has been instrumental in alot of the work thats gone into mine