OG2 (1967 FJ40 – Refurb’ Thread - Help Gladly Accepted)

[LARGEONE]

I posted another bodywork post, but I'll document here as well that I had a little trouble with the spray can primer. I wanted to make sure I had primer on if I left bare metal on the panel overnight, because the metal flashes really fast. So, when I sanded the primer back down and did some putty on a few spots, I re-sprayed primer and it went on really rough.

I am using can primer for now, because I am really only putting a cheap cover on this for now. The inside is what I am more concerned about, since it will need to last forever. I am seam sealing everything around the repairs and along the rear sill, so hopefully it will be the last rear sill this 40 ever sees.

 

[LARGEONE]

The rear sill removal required also removing the 4 rear-most body mounts. So, "while I was in there"....I also replaced all of the other body mounts on the truck. It just seemed like the time to do it since all of them needed to be loosened to make room to work on the sill in the back.

My wife was nice enough to buy me these Energy Suspension mounts for Christmas this past year, so I'm finally getting around to installing them. I'm looking forward to feeling the ride difference! I've heard many people say the body mounts made quite a bit of ride difference. We shall see!

 

[LARGEONE]

Along with the FJ40, Dan gave me a set of jump seats from a later model 40. I kept hoping someone would want to trade and I finally found a RS member out of Steamboat who had an early (long) set that he was wanting to trade for later model. They were in GREAT shape! So really excited to have period correct seats. No time to do the swap now, but hopefully at some point it will be back to ‘67 glory.

 

[nuclearlemon]

my thoughts. sorry, my ass is still whipped from the morrison trail, so i'm gonna keep it to bullet points
your taillights are standard port installed rust. your brackets turned out great! so much better than buying rusty stuff from mark. coolermans harnesses are awesome! kudos on the bodywork! nothing makes anyone happier than hearing "minimal bondo"! a good body only takes a skim layer, so congrats!!!! enjoy a cold one and imagine me there cheering you on cause i'm jealous of the great work you've gotten done!

 

[ccslider]

Nice body work!

Paul my buddy has a plasma table for the next time you need brackets or something. He's up Frederick.

 

[LARGEONE]

I’m having an issue with the tire carrier hinge alignment. I’ve also posted on MUD, hoping someone has seen this before. Suggestions?

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/early-1967-tire-carrier-alignment.1221055/

Looks like a PO tried to rectify this by cutting and welding (lengthening) the lower hing pin on the carrier (see weld). Obviously this takes the pins out of alignment and makes the carrier nonfunctional...or at least very hard to open which also damages the body as the hinge binds.

 

[nuclearlemon]

does flipping the brackets make a difference?

 

[LARGEONE]

Unfortunately no. I checked the brackets and they are identical.

I do think that the AWL_TEQ sill had the holes even more to the right than my original...these two pics are from slightly different angles but I think they show that the new sill is off even more than the original.

I think I’m going to have to drill the top where it needs to be....modifying the bottom would be really tough now that the sill is in since Kevin uses the weld nuts.

 

[LARGEONE]

I think I have figured out what happened...the hinge broke and a PO booger welded it back together. Then, moved the bottom bracket to align with his new hinge pin position due to the weld. That makes more sense. Either way, though, I have to get the pins aligned and the hinge bases on the body aligned as well.

 

[simps80]

On that 69 I had a lot of trouble getting the carrier to line up...
I think I put it in that thread in a lot of detail
But got it good by moving the top around, welding in new nuts and plugging the old holes
Basically get the bottom and latch right then make the top line up with welded holes and new nut locations

 

[LARGEONE]

Thanks Mike really appreciate! I will look at the thread. What you suggested is pretty much my plan. Would be really hard to mess with the bottom mount now.

 

[simps80]

Found it
https://risingsun4x4club.org/xf/thr...fresh-or-spring-green-fresh.26357/post-310664

Yea had to move the bottoms too
Hopefully you don’t have to

 

[LARGEONE]

Damn...I do not want to get back into the lower. I will mock it up and see where I sit by moving the top. It definitely has to be sturdy, as these early carriers are HEAVY. Maybe I can modify the hinges on the carrier slightly?

How do I get your pictures to show back up?

 

[kurtnkegger]

It might be just an optical dillusion...but it looks like the bottom bracket is bent...have you tried inverting the bottom bracket to see if it will purchase back some space?

 

[LARGEONE]

I took the bottom bracket on the carrier (the one that was welded) off this morning and made sure it aligns with the upper pin. Obviously they are different due to the weld fix.L which will have to be repaired.

I mocked up my idea to move the top bracket to align with the bottom and that is not going to work. The bottom HAS TO BE MOVED! Suck!

Using the alignment with the bottom base pushes the carrier too far around the bend of the quarter panel which then makes the carrier not able to get parallel with the rear door.
I wish Awl_Teq Kevin had just left the sill plain and allowed drilling where it needs to sit. At first I thought the weld nuts captured on the back were sweet. I don’t think so any more.

Im going to put my fab skills back to work and report back in a bit. But one way or another I have to get the bottom to align with the top. Not the other way around.

 

[LARGEONE]

After mocking everything up, I quickly realized that the only way to get this right was to start over. I drilled out all of the weld nuts and welded all of the holes closed...both on the bottom tire carrier hinge and the center latch. Both of these were in the wrong spots. Then, I hung the door where it originally hung from the top hinge, and got everything straight. You can see how far off the latch was....the lower hinge was about 1/2" off as originally suspected. After this work the hinges lined up like they are supposed to be.

Then, I set out to make the hinges and pins on the carrier line up. First, I cut the booger weld, and re-welded the hinge so it was exactly the same dimensions as the original uncut hinge. Then I cleaned it up.

I'm not sure which hinges are supposed to have rubber pads under them, but I started making the little rubber pieces for between the metal connections.

Everything lines up now, but I'll have to adjust the latch to pull it tight so I can eliminate any rattles.

 

[LARGEONE]

Ok. So at least my initial issue (tail lights) are fixed now!!! But something is missing here

Wrong color but at least body work is done on sill and qtrs. Working slowly on doors. Deciding how much to do now and how much to do later?

 

[MountainGoat]

Holy cow Paul, that looks phenomenal! I wouldn't sweat the color. The only right color is probably the original (I think) white.

 

[LARGEONE]

Thanks Dan. I don’t really care about the color for now. I just needed a top coat to protect the primer and body work until such time where it is ready for full paint. (Either by me or by the next owner.)

Here is the before of the sill.

 

[simps80]

I dig it so much
Amazing how it breathes new life into this old iron
Lemme know when to come pick it up