Tornado takes the top off 1964 SWB FJ-45 (1 Viewer)

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Finished up the transmission tunnel. original 3 on the tree, no cutouts however this transmission cover came molested with a big ol hole as seen in the first picture of @2fpower welding something on my truck years ago. Last 2 are the finished modified tunnel. Not perfect but it will be getting heat and sound deadening, and bedliner. Test fit of boots. I did sew another test seat cover over the weekend. Fabric samples arrived, were voted on and will order different fabric today. I have a SST for the sewing machine on it's way. A swing away attachment for the walking foot that folds binding, inserts the piping into the binding and assists in holding the top and bottom fabric on the new binding/piping. Also have some maint parts for the sewing machine, timing belt, some springs and screws. I am not sure the timing belt has ever been changed on it since installed in the 1940's. Perhaps it is over the service interval? I figured, $20 to be proactive can't hurt. I'd really be annoyed if the timing belt went in the middle of a project.

 

[Chef]

that's good. yessir.

 

[2fpower]

what, no integrated cupholder?

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Cup holder is going on the seat frame first, i'll put one in the door later, when i get to doors. In an effort to keep up with @2fpower and his productive weekend. When I was test fitting everything to gain a bit of leg space, I tilted the steering column up and move the steering wheel in a touch. At the same time I raised the drivers seat 2". Since I am using a bit newer bench with the upright lock on the back I had originally just used some 1x2" tubing to raise the seat. It didn't look right. A little cut cut here and a weld weld there and voila.. a modified FJ45 drivers side front seat mount that has been raised 2" and fits a newer FJ40 front bench with both sides that lock the sliders and the back will lock upright.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

I was told there is a care package in the mail from Stockton, California. Prepping for my 38mm split case to floor shift instead of vacuum and was pulling parts from my donor 34mm case and noticed a slight problem. I guess this why we all have spares. The rest of the case is trashed why not the 4wd shift fork shaft!

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Waiting on parts so opened the AC vent in the garage and started fabric welding. New fabric and thread arrived Friday. Drivers and Passenger seat backs i believe done. i need to notch and dress the seam for the forward pivot point. Headrests to test fit to the bench seats are en route from Ebay. I took the tip from someone here on mud and seamed in some paracord to assist in tightening the back fabric up before securing to the seat frame. I cannot finish up this little project until i get the frames cleaned and painted. My original plan was to blast in my driveway Sat morning. My little blaster would just take forever. Scheduled some time with @2fpower for next week. He just picked up a new blasting setup.

 

[Chef]

excellent work

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Xmas in July! Injectors are here from injector specialists. Fuel Injector Specialists - Home - Wheat Ridge, CO
And the beautiful machined case half and sumo gears from @orangefj45 . Also care package from valley hybrids. Let's just say Georg is the man. If my head gets done this week with the @FJ40Jim recommended tweaks it'll be a trifecta week.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Few updates.. Tcase/H55f are together again with 4:1 gears.. First is tapping the 38mm for the 4wd detent spring & Ball. Using parts from a dead FJ60 case and a good 38mm FJ62 case. The tap is a 15mm x 1.5 odd tap. Then the normal order of business of pressing on and off the high/low gears on the output shaft, seals, idler shaft. Watch the Valley Hybrid YouTube video again.

I made 2 rookie mistakes putting this thing together.. Forgot initially to verify the notch in the idler shaft bushing was in the slot as I was tapping the case halfs back together and confused myself that i had the incorrect Idler shaft retainer key. I had accidentally grabbed the key to the Speedo gear assembly and not the Idler shaft assembly and went to the parts pile.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

That left putting the Top back on the H55F and cleaning up the dead cases. Somehow the H55 shift levers got out of alignment.. that was about an hour of frustration getting those back in line before assembly.. Everything is assembled, waiting for installation. Few other steps prior to final install. Mainly the space under the truck is housing the engine/exhaust parts. I'm still waiting on the head from the machine shop.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

I went over to Kelly's @2fpower for dinner and to use his new to him blaster.. It is stupid hot here and my system would take forever to do what I wanted to accomplish this week. We installed a new compressor head on his compressor, ate dinner.. Forecast called for rain in the morning when i planned to blast.. So set up the blaster, blasted until just around midnight Monday night. At that point I had a Prius full of blasted metal and a forecast for rain.. Ok.. Well hate to eat and run but i'm headed to the AC garage at home. I made it 3 blocks from Kelly's before i turned on the wipers.. Seat frames and some wheels now in primer. Then Chassis Black for the wheels and splash guards for the motor.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

The seat frames, seat backs and front bumper were shot with the OEM silver. I ran out during this process. I'll explain my silver issues later once I actually figure it out. The CCOT pewter is dead on for stock. Code 145 Ash Grey Metallic is NOT the same! I'll do a spray out of each and explain later. I'm not entirely sure which one i want to ultimately use, the stock color looks well, stock but it picks up my body color when it is next to it and might be overwhelming. BUT.. the parts are painted and going together for now.. I figure i can always pull a seat or bumper later and repaint. At least they are clean parts and clean painted parts. The parts bumper I picked up with the 8274 now looks like a real bumper! A touch of build primer and sanding before final color helped take the pitting out.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Small stuff, there are SOO many small parts to get into paint! Next few days is blasting, Epoxy, little build on the glove box door and windshield frame hinges, then color. Pretty boring stuff that they NEVER show on any TV restoration show.. Comeon.. Do they ever break a bolt or have to wait on a part! My hands were cramping from hand sanding.. Prep, prep, prep.. few min of paint.. Dry.. Dry, Dry, Dry. Clean booth again..

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Next was an interesting side project.. For those paying attention from the sidelines.. Most bench seats have provision for headrest that were not utilized. Stock FJ40 headrest are most likely unobtanium.. While i seriously doubt the headrest will fit with the top on, it might be a nice to have with the top off.. The thread listed below will assist.

My Quest for Early FJ40 Bench Seat Headrests

I’ve been looking for OEM headrests for the stock front bench seats in my 1972 FJ40 ever since I discovered that the seats are equipped with headrest brackets from the factory. After searching all the usual used parts suppliers for years, I finally decided that Toyota headrests for my model...

forum.ih8mud.com

I'm running a modified FJ40 front bench drivers and passenger seat that locks upright. @Chef grabbed the stock FJ45 bench from @Waggoner5 probably a decade ago in Dallas. He will be using the stock bench. I could not find a stock bench so use what ya got!
It is too hot to go junkyarding so quick ebay search and found 99-02 Mercury Villager/Nissan Quest rear seat headrests. Slight bend and tweak and voila.. they do fit. Not perfect but they do fit.. I can recover the headrest while I finish the upholstery.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

temp was decent over the weekend and should be most of this week. Got the hood cleaned up, blasted and in primer. Primer on the transmission hump and windshield frame as well. HOPE to have windshield frame and hood in build, sealant, color and clear by the end of the week. Calling up SPI for more epoxy today.. Will seam seal the hood and windshield frame tonight. Might try and get some POR inside the windshield frame and the top brace on the bottom of the hood. No way to blast those areas. i have a schutz gun with a nozzle on the end that works GREAT for those areas that one cannot get to. Undercoating Gun with 2 hoses and bottle

 

[Chef]

progress

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Touch of bondo on a couple of small depressions in the hood to sand off.
Damplifier sound deadening on the bottom of the transmission hump to try and kill the sounds that might be coming from the new 4:1 gears in the tcase.

Damplifier™ Deadening Mats

Check out the Damplifier product from Second Skin Audio - the best lightweight option for vibration damping and noise reduction in your vehicle.

www.secondskinaudio.com

and Al's heat and noise reducer on top to assist even further.
Amazon product ASIN B005Y14Q96I'll probably shoot a touch more Heat and noise in the cavities of the shifter areas, then i have a bottle or 2 of left over raptor. I would like to use Al's liner but mixing that stuff up and shooting it is a bigger ordeal that is waiting for the bed floor.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Build primer and wet sanding top of hood, little por15 inside the rib of the hood with a schutz gun extension. Undercoating Gun with 2 hoses and bottle
Chassis black single stage on hood bottom. Raptor under transmission tunnel. Baby steps. I know why it costs so much to pay a shop for a completed truck. So much time.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

One more piece of the puzzle in color and clear. Hardtop, doors, windshield frame still to go. Ill prob finish windshield frame and take my time on the rest. Doesn't need doors or a top to be pretty much done.

 

[Chef]

that looks good, yup