Break It Down!

The Dreaded Day Has Arrived... Body work!

I loaded up the 40 tub the cage, and all the patch panels and hauled it down to my buddies shop so we could start cutting and welding. Talk about nerve wracking! Up to this point there is nothing that has been done in this project I couldn't undo myself in a pinch.






My buddy repairing the passenger side upper cowl. Notice the massive creases below the heater vent?


My other friend doing magic with straightening the same cowl. 

All that remains of the creases are the hammer marks! Amazing

Yikes!


The laundry list is pretty big for this phase.
  1. Replace both rear quarters.
  2. Add a second fuel filler in the back of the panel.
  3. Move the wheel openings back about 2.5-inches.
  4. Replace the rear sill and sill cover.
  5. Patch the outer rocker corner piece on the passenger side.
  6. Plug about 100 holes in the fire wall and floor pans.
  7. Set a custom switch panel in the dash and add holes for 3.5-inch speakers.
  8. Test fit the fuel tanks.
  9. Weld the cage and setup the frame tie-ins.
  10. Fine tuning the body work, filler to even out the panels, and prep for paint.

  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home!

Image
 The Tub & Body Panels Made it Home It has been a long time coming, but the tub and most of the panels are home! I'm still waiting on the tailgate and doors to be completed, and I might do late-style doors instead of my early-style ones. This is because the vent windows won't be usable with the cage and the window frames are pretty bad. We'll see. I had to bolt something on, so I installed the fuel filler and cap. LOTS more to come!
Read more

Lots of Mockup!

Image
Build it up, test, tear it down, rinse and repeat a million times! I am in that phase of test-fitting all things I want to fit together, tearing it back down to make adjustments, and then doing it all over again. It is time-consuming but necessary. I got the interior mostly together just to find out that the transfer case linkage designed for a later model FJ40 doesn't play nice with the earlier model transmission tunnel cover. So I had to cut a hole in the freshly painted floor! The seats, column, wheel, and shifters all work well together though. I do have to bend the transmission shifter a bit toward the passenger side so I can get it into reverse without displacing my leg in the seat. The pieces of floorboard removed to clearance the shift linkage I'll be refurbishing my wheel to match the brown vinyl on the seats and have new brown clamshells for the column. I plan to use black marine carpet to cover the floorboards and transmission tunnel and the massive fuel tank will co...
Read more

The Absentee Builder

Image
 Some Updates On The Build Well, I am still plugging away at the 40, but life has been getting in the way since 2020. COVID slowed me down considerably when it came to supply chain issues. I started a new job (out of the blue) and have been nose to the grindstone since 2021. I have also been dealing with a cancer diagnosis (two actually), but I am happy to report that it isn't life-threatening... Just zaps the energy from me. Alright, enough excuses! I have most of the body put together and am FINALLY plumbing fuel and brake lines and prepping for the wiring harness buildout. I got the saddle tank blasted and powder coated. It is now installed! I will try to get more consistent with my updates now that I am feeling better and settling into the new normal.
Read more