Reed 78 FJ40 Rebuild

[reaper71]

Yes Sir! This turned out to be alot more work than we had thought it was going to be. When it showed up it had bed liner covering the floor and wheel tubs so you couldn't see all the rot..

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The drivers side front section of the floor needed the same repairs as the passenger side.

Pic #2. All repairs done in this section and flanges all done.

Pic #3. Drivers tub side was then cut out for repairs. Parts of the floor would also have to be repaired.

Pic #4. Small section of floor removed.

Pic #5. New piece made and ready to be mocked up.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Haha, you make it look like a minutes work here and so simple to do

But we know better....don't we??

keep up this great work!

[Advanced Design]

Nice work Mark. This is almost a "How to build a body from scratch" tutorial. Very cool save!

[reaper71]

Thank's Kees and Doug!
You guys are right, this thing was a basket case when it showed up it's the worst body Iv'e Ever had to rebuild!!
It has been a real learning experience for me.
A ton of pre planning on what to do next if you cut one thing loose what will happen kinda thing.

As for time we all know these thing's suck up time like Hoover Vacuum!!

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. Fitting the new panel for the tub. I also had the floor pieces tacked in place for fitting.

Pic #2. After getting it tacked in, and ready for final welding.

Pic #3. Iv'e jumped forward to the quarter panel rather than just showing the same thing over again. (If you look close I had the doors set in place to make sure the side were square before welding)

Pic #4. After welding and metal finish.

Pic #5. Fitting the rear doors. (The extra holes are for the Large rear doors when the top is being used )

Mark...

[reaper71]

Moving on....

Pic #1. Here are the floor plates for the roll cage that will be built.
It is going to be a rockcrawler style of cage, very tough looking!

Pic #2. This was the starting point, after I got it plum,level etc. it was time to get the rear hoop mocked up.

Pic #3. Using the overhead hoist and Dad we were able to get it set at an angle we felt looked pretty good and tacked it in place.

Pic #4. Both uprights tacked in..

Mark...

[reaper71]

In these next shots Iv'e jumped a few steps to save some time.

Pic #1. All bars mocked up and tacked in.

Pic #2. Front view shows how the center section is raised some.

Pic #3. A better view from top.

Pic #4. All welded.

Pic #5. We ran into a problem when we tried to remove the cage it would not come out! (rear plates hung up on sides of tub) Come to find out, this was a weld in cage and stays put!!
Sooo, I cut the rear tubes, sleeved,drilled and Viola!! all fixed.

[reaper71]

Now since the roll cage was finished I then moved on to getting the body shot in rust encapsulator on the underside of body and out side.

Pic #1. The body after spraying.

Pic #2. Shot of inside.

Pic #3. In this pic it is showing the new LED turn signals. On these FJ's they came from the factory with these Gigantic blinkers that mount on top of the front fenders 6" x 4" so they went away and I put these custom ones in the grill housing.

[Advanced Design]

It looks like a body again! Nice work Mark. And a good choice on the custom blinkers.

[RockinKees]

Looking great Mark!!
And I agree with Doug, the blinkers are way better than factory!

[reaper71]

YES they are, the stock one's resembled something off of a school bus!!

Thank's again guys..

Mark...

[reaper71]

In this post I have got started on the chassis finally.
The rear section of the chassis has 2 cross braces that were rotted and the upper shackle perches were rotted badly as well so I first cut the heads of the rivets (all 24 of them ) followed by the air hammer to remove them.
Then was able to install the new upper mounts and braces.

Pic #1. After pieces were removed.

Pic #2. New braces and perches installed.

Pic #3. I went ahead and installed the rear disk conversion before I moved on to the springs.

Pic #4. The new springs and shackles. (it will be a 4" lift on the leaf and 2" on shackles for a total of 6") Way too much in my opinion on a short wheelbase truck but it's not mine.

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. In this shot it shows several things...
1. The tube coming through the cross member is for the snout of the new steering box (GM) it will be trimmed to fit and welded in.
2. The plate sitting on the floor is the new mounting plate that gets welded to the frame.
3. If you notice on the front shackle It's a snotted up mess and will need fixing!

Pic #2.New plate after it was welded in and the shackle was repaired as well.

Pic #3. Passenger side boxing plate and shackle was repaired.

Pic #4. The new box in place. (GM style box or Saginaw from a tornado)

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Nice repairs on the frame Mark. Does the GM box give better ratio or more strength?
You know I'm really liking a GM part on this build.

[reaper71]

Thank's Doug.

To answer that question it does both!
The steering on these things is really goofy and sloppy! The customer wanted something more reliable and safer! (Kit was ava. through advanced adapters minus the box)

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. After the front springs and greasable shackles were installed.

Pic #2. The suspension all done. I didn't have a before shot but it sits 4" taller than it did when it showed up.
When it rolled in it had a 2" lift, and by changing the new springs and shackles make it a total of 6" lift

Pic #3. This is the start of mocking up the engine. IT'S A Chevy!!
383 small block rather than the wimpy straight 6!

Pic #4. Mounts all welded in and now ready to shoot the chassis with encapsulator to keep from flash rusting.
(customer is waiting on parts etc. so I can mock up the rest of the drive train)

Pic #5. Chassis all sprayed for now, will get back on the chassis later as we get parts to finish it up.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Nice work!!
Good to see a Chevy in there!!

[reaper71]

Thanks Kees!
Yeah the customer chose the engine, A bit much for this short wheelbase truck in my opinion.

Mark...

[reaper71]

So, After the customer thought about it for awhile He decided that the original coating would be to heavy and will be going with something a bit thinner. (camoliner.com) it is a liner infused with Kevlar and will show bad bodywork like paint therefor the body was brought back to be smoothed out.

Pic #1. After the HB primer was shot.

Pic #2. Cowl.

Pic #3. All the low spots will need to be addressed.

Pic #4. Another view.

Pic #5. Rocker needs TLC as well

Mark...

[RockinKees]

You know you're making it better than factory new, don't you?
Looks really good Mark!

[reaper71]

Thank's Kees!
Yeah probably so but thats part of being a Car Guy Right!

[reaper71]

Pic #1. Bad spot on the upper cowl, the O.E. antenna
was here.

Pic #2. Drivers side rocker panel

Pic #3. Drivers quarter panel

Pic #4. Back section.

Will get the filler applied and start blocking to get her nice and slick

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Love the SBC! This body is going to be very straight. Nice. Mark, I looked up the camoliner to learn more about it. What I couldn't really find in their website is exactly what it is....lots of info on why they are better. I am curious...is it a spray on protective liner that is more durable because of the kevlar? Probably really obvious to the off road guys. Thanks!

[reaper71]

Thank's again Doug..
Yes it is a spray on material, They have just about any color you can think of they can do graphics,logo's,lettering 2 tone whatever you want. From what I gather it is a sort of bed liner material just better quality.
The tech person did tell me that it will show body flaws through the material so it would need to be pretty straight. (They do NOT do very much body work it's up to you..) They also charge $85 per hr so it will get super expensive real quick!! The turn around time is 2-3 weeks (masking scuffing etc) in our case it will be Alot faster since we are just taking body and pieces already prepped.