simps80
Rising Sun Member
rocker continued
1969 FJ40 hot mess to minty fresh or..spring green fresh?
- Thread starter simps80
- Start date
simps80
Rising Sun Member
then Mike came over about first week of August 2016
and stacked some dimes on the one joint I didn't love my work on.
then we straightened out the oem fan shield/skid plate that got munched at some point when it threw its metal fan....
banged on that for a bit, straightened, welded tears/seams, sprayed it.
we eventually replaced the metal fan with an original toyota plastic fan and shroud, had to space it out from the water pump, but its a good upgrade even at the sacrifice of SOME originality...i'll find that and place it in here for documentation eventually.
and stacked some dimes on the one joint I didn't love my work on.
then we straightened out the oem fan shield/skid plate that got munched at some point when it threw its metal fan....
banged on that for a bit, straightened, welded tears/seams, sprayed it.
we eventually replaced the metal fan with an original toyota plastic fan and shroud, had to space it out from the water pump, but its a good upgrade even at the sacrifice of SOME originality...i'll find that and place it in here for documentation eventually.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
barn doors 1
that same day,
Mike D. walked through the process of patching the DS rear barn door.
I used what I learned to fix up the PS barn door over the next week or so.
approximately 2nd week of August 2016
the rounded inners were particulary challenging. lots of cut and try and figuring to find the right shi* laying around to get those shapes right.
when it was apart, coated the whole inside of the doors with eastwood rust converter/preventer
that same day,
Mike D. walked through the process of patching the DS rear barn door.
I used what I learned to fix up the PS barn door over the next week or so.
approximately 2nd week of August 2016
the rounded inners were particulary challenging. lots of cut and try and figuring to find the right shi* laying around to get those shapes right.
when it was apart, coated the whole inside of the doors with eastwood rust converter/preventer
simps80
Rising Sun Member
I needed an easy win after the first door Mike D showed me the how-to before attempting the 2nd and the latches/screws for both...
so I fixed the latches for the seat hold down on top of the tool box
made new hooks and welded on. then the seat hold downs worked.
this all was taken apart later, but wanted to fix this while it was in my mind.
so I fixed the latches for the seat hold down on top of the tool box
made new hooks and welded on. then the seat hold downs worked.
this all was taken apart later, but wanted to fix this while it was in my mind.
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simps80
Rising Sun Member
so then I tackled the PS rear barn door, and the sections that included the hinges on both doors, cause they were toast, and the screws weren't cooperating.
patching required the section that included two of the captured nuts for the lower hinge. so after marking location of hinge on door, I cut out a patch, marked the hole location using the hinge and it's proper location within the door
patching required the section that included two of the captured nuts for the lower hinge. so after marking location of hinge on door, I cut out a patch, marked the hole location using the hinge and it's proper location within the door
simps80
Rising Sun Member
I was glad to finish it up up after hard part of the hinge work was done
a useful tip...using copper on the back of some of these welds when the back is accessible will help with warping and blow through.
a useful tip...using copper on the back of some of these welds when the back is accessible will help with warping and blow through.
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simps80
Rising Sun Member
rear jump seats
at some point my A.D.D. got a hold of me and I decided to fix the jump seats each had 1 leg that had rusted all the way through from water being thrown up through the wheel wells into a hole in the bottom of the jump seat leg that I assume was there to drain any water that got into the frame of the jump seat, but instead allowed an ingress for said water...
I got some tubing and fixed the legs, then made the feet from some 10ga. it looks kind of fine. but, its way more functional and strong than a rusted out chunk of thin ass tubing.
This is a functional preservation, not a nutso restoration, so this is a good solid fix imo
This is around 1st week september of 2016 by now
more retro-active posting tomorrow
at some point my A.D.D. got a hold of me and I decided to fix the jump seats each had 1 leg that had rusted all the way through from water being thrown up through the wheel wells into a hole in the bottom of the jump seat leg that I assume was there to drain any water that got into the frame of the jump seat, but instead allowed an ingress for said water...
I got some tubing and fixed the legs, then made the feet from some 10ga. it looks kind of fine. but, its way more functional and strong than a rusted out chunk of thin ass tubing.
This is a functional preservation, not a nutso restoration, so this is a good solid fix imo
This is around 1st week september of 2016 by now
more retro-active posting tomorrow
White Stripe
Hard Core 4+
Looks like you gotta lot of time in it so far. Looks good.
Rezarf
Hard Core 4+
Awesome Mike.
What tools did find yourself using most and what would you have bought if you needed to do it again?
What tools did find yourself using most and what would you have bought if you needed to do it again?
LARGEONE
Rising Sun Member
Wow...so thankful for this thread! Great job! I hope you won’t mind me asking lots of questions.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
I'm very excited to see the documentation of the restoration of the rig, thanks for posting it up Mike. I don't have facebook so I haven't seen any of it so far! Can't wait to see what it looks like now but I guess i'll have to!
simps80
Rising Sun Member
cooling and engine misc
the brakes, clutch, fuel system all got some attention,
wanted the cooling system to be done as well.
so the 69 got new oem hoses, clamps, tstat. cleaned it up a bit.
added a toyota plastic fan in place of the random non-toyota metal fan.
added the shroud at that time as well. I built a half-assed vibratory tumblr out of a cake pan and old sander to clean up the oem clamps and hardware, but then bought new toyota clamps anyway.
The t-stat housing leaked, had a broken bolt, took it apart, used a time-sert (think expensive version of a helicoil) to fix. Put together with a new 3-core radiator. I have 2 oem radiators as well, but this is good and reliable.
the brakes, clutch, fuel system all got some attention,
wanted the cooling system to be done as well.
so the 69 got new oem hoses, clamps, tstat. cleaned it up a bit.
added a toyota plastic fan in place of the random non-toyota metal fan.
added the shroud at that time as well. I built a half-assed vibratory tumblr out of a cake pan and old sander to clean up the oem clamps and hardware, but then bought new toyota clamps anyway.
The t-stat housing leaked, had a broken bolt, took it apart, used a time-sert (think expensive version of a helicoil) to fix. Put together with a new 3-core radiator. I have 2 oem radiators as well, but this is good and reliable.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
it all turned out pretty nice, and leak free
simps80
Rising Sun Member
cleaned up the engine some.
replaced valve cover gasket with new oem, dressed up the valve cover and the coil
again, preservation is the goal. only functional things here other than since the valve cover was coming off to replace the leaking gasket, I thought I'd remove the dent in the front of the valve cover and make it look a little nicer.
also replaced the air filter housing with a correct one for the year.
replaced valve cover gasket with new oem, dressed up the valve cover and the coil
again, preservation is the goal. only functional things here other than since the valve cover was coming off to replace the leaking gasket, I thought I'd remove the dent in the front of the valve cover and make it look a little nicer.
also replaced the air filter housing with a correct one for the year.
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simps80
Rising Sun Member
some skipping around was done.
welded up 2 holes in the firewall that shouldn't be there.
at some point we removed all hte bondo on all the doors and fenders, those pictures I will find. but this fender john and I took it off and chipped/ground/wirewheeled all the bondo out of, and surprisingly found no reason for it really.
the metal was all very straight.
the DS front fender was the only part that needed fixing, there were some holes that needed patched, and then at some point Mike D. took a hammer and dolly to this fender and got it straight after I welded up the holes and removed all the bondo
also deconstructed the steps and then put those aside for another month to fix later. the mounts were a mess, and several things needed done to fix these.
funny enough, we spent all this time taking bondo out of these panels, then later had them all sandblasted anyway. but I guess we just made it easier on the blaster....
pretty obvious what is good/bad/other when it all gets blasted.
welded up 2 holes in the firewall that shouldn't be there.
at some point we removed all hte bondo on all the doors and fenders, those pictures I will find. but this fender john and I took it off and chipped/ground/wirewheeled all the bondo out of, and surprisingly found no reason for it really.
the metal was all very straight.
the DS front fender was the only part that needed fixing, there were some holes that needed patched, and then at some point Mike D. took a hammer and dolly to this fender and got it straight after I welded up the holes and removed all the bondo
also deconstructed the steps and then put those aside for another month to fix later. the mounts were a mess, and several things needed done to fix these.
funny enough, we spent all this time taking bondo out of these panels, then later had them all sandblasted anyway. but I guess we just made it easier on the blaster....
pretty obvious what is good/bad/other when it all gets blasted.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
back on the rear doors.
the top hinges bolt through the tub
the bottom hinges mount to scab plates that are welded to the tub with captured nuts.
those plates were toast and got cut out when the rear sheet metal was patched.
made new ones of those, hung the doors square then welded the scab plates to the tub in position.
about then I started building a fairly sizable collection of OEM parts.
the receipts. oh the receipts.
the top hinges bolt through the tub
the bottom hinges mount to scab plates that are welded to the tub with captured nuts.
those plates were toast and got cut out when the rear sheet metal was patched.
made new ones of those, hung the doors square then welded the scab plates to the tub in position.
about then I started building a fairly sizable collection of OEM parts.
the receipts. oh the receipts.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
simps80
Rising Sun Member
then I started the drivers floor.
this was the worst of the rust. The P.O. had actually cut up the side cover to a welder and used that as a floor patch, pop riveting it into place over the hole in the driver's floor.
I drilled that out, then sectioned off the piece that forms the border of the floor for the tranny cover hole.
I made that piece in 3 separate pieces first.
the floor patches came from real steel. they are nice. but they are incorrect for the tubs with the built in tool boxes. two of the ribs shouldn't be there.
so I used the portion of the floor that was good, then removed (accidentally and with haste) too many of the 'new' ribs. I eventually bought ANOTHER new panel to use removing only the two short ribs that were wrong.
This is where I also learned how this floor goes together, and the fact that I had patched the outer rocker too early, because to get this out, you have to go through the rocker.
so all the DS rocker patches got redone as one long sheet eventually.
when I got the 2nd new floor positioned and tacked, Mike D and jake came over to verify before burning it all in permanent. 2 replacement panels was expensive, I didn't want to buy a 3rd.
You can see below, I mistakenly removed the two that needed it, but also the 2 longer ones on the far left side of the panel that should have stayed.
This is the next new one where only the two short ribs that interfere with the toolbox I removed.
this was the worst of the rust. The P.O. had actually cut up the side cover to a welder and used that as a floor patch, pop riveting it into place over the hole in the driver's floor.
I drilled that out, then sectioned off the piece that forms the border of the floor for the tranny cover hole.
I made that piece in 3 separate pieces first.
the floor patches came from real steel. they are nice. but they are incorrect for the tubs with the built in tool boxes. two of the ribs shouldn't be there.
so I used the portion of the floor that was good, then removed (accidentally and with haste) too many of the 'new' ribs. I eventually bought ANOTHER new panel to use removing only the two short ribs that were wrong.
This is where I also learned how this floor goes together, and the fact that I had patched the outer rocker too early, because to get this out, you have to go through the rocker.
so all the DS rocker patches got redone as one long sheet eventually.
when I got the 2nd new floor positioned and tacked, Mike D and jake came over to verify before burning it all in permanent. 2 replacement panels was expensive, I didn't want to buy a 3rd.
You can see below, I mistakenly removed the two that needed it, but also the 2 longer ones on the far left side of the panel that should have stayed.
This is the next new one where only the two short ribs that interfere with the toolbox I removed.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
here is some better shots showing the 2 that were correctly cut out.
now that I had 2 floor panels
I used that metal for patching the portions of the tool box that were rotted. Also, used the flat parts to make the replacement pieces for where the ribs got removed. if someone stamped out correct floor panels for the earlier trucks with the toolbox they'd probably make a lot of money, cause the only ones that exist are the later floors. anyway, also welded up like the 24 holes they drilled in both doors to screw the trucker vinyl pads too.
the blue welder door was the old floor. nice. ironic. lame.
the floor was to date by far the hardest part, especially doing it twice. the compound bends and heavier metal for the 3 part patch with the captured nuts for the tunnel took a long long time.
now we're in early January 2017
now that I had 2 floor panels
I used that metal for patching the portions of the tool box that were rotted. Also, used the flat parts to make the replacement pieces for where the ribs got removed. if someone stamped out correct floor panels for the earlier trucks with the toolbox they'd probably make a lot of money, cause the only ones that exist are the later floors. anyway, also welded up like the 24 holes they drilled in both doors to screw the trucker vinyl pads too. the blue welder door was the old floor. nice. ironic. lame.
the floor was to date by far the hardest part, especially doing it twice. the compound bends and heavier metal for the 3 part patch with the captured nuts for the tunnel took a long long time.
now we're in early January 2017