Reed 78 FJ40 Rebuild

[reaper71]

Thank's Kees...
The orange would look better in a diff. application. The Customer absolutely loves the new look..

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Quick update...

Pic #1. The mount all welded in and final.

Pic #2. We felt the orange was a bit much for this rig...

Pic #3. After some wrinkle black and masking.

Pic #4. The final product.
What you Guy's think?

Mark...

That looks good and was some pretty impressive tape work. Razor blades and Exacto knives?

[reaper71]

Yes....Kind of

The valve covers came with the stickers on them...So I kinda cheated

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The steering was finalized and installed.

Pic #2. Another view (if your curious the angle is 20 degrees) specs are 30

Pic #3. I also started on getting the new seats and mounts mocked up.

Pic #4. Will need to make a riser for Drivers side seat (sits lower than passenger side A factory thing I guess)

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Reminds me of the Jeep M38, when I was in the army a little while ago
The drivers seat was also on the fueltank.
As if there's no place else to put them

It's going to be a very nice car! Something to be proud of

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Reminds me of the Jeep M38, when I was in the army a little while ago
The drivers seat was also on the fueltank.
As if there's no place else to put them

I have a couple of flatfenders waiting to be worked on, so I've done a bit of research. The design philosophy on the military jeeps having the fuel tank under the driver's seat was to minimize the "kill zone". Use that piece of trivia in a game sometime!

FJ looks great!

[roushinator]

Awesome Work! I wish i would have kept my FJ40

[reaper71]

Thanks Kees, it's a bit spooky sitting on top of a bomb!
I was going to put a fuel cell under the body in the rear but he decided on the extra muffler instead.

Bluejeep thank's for the "tidbit" And thank's for checking out the build.

Roushinator thank's, it's been alot of work getting it to this point, but well worth the effort.

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. I had to make a 1" spacer for the Drivers seat (it sits lower than the passenger do to the tank)

Pic #2. Setting up the twin stick blocks and linkage for the 4wd

Pic #3. The sticks after getting them bent to fit through the floor.

Pic #4.

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The new sticks installed and ready to make the new rings for the boot etc.

Pic #2. New rings made and installed and hump modified to accommodate shifter.

Pic #3. Roll cage back in to mockup pull handles,rear seats and seat belts.

Pic #4. Cage getting welded up.

Pic #5. Getting more comfortable with the new TIG unit.

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Nice Tig welds Mark. Mine don't look like that....yet.

[reaper71]

Thank's Doug, It's all seat time...practice,practice my friend!
It will come I have no doubt

Mark

[reaper71]

So, The FJ came back in for another round of fabrication.
This time it is (rock sliders) to protect the rocker panels.

Pic #1. After alot of figuring on how and where I needed to mount the first plate I marked out the 4 holes and drilled.

Pic #2. In this pick It shows the 2nd plate installed.
How I figured all this was having the slider set in place for measuring (Not Pictured) I had it set on 2 high tech lifting units (milk crates )

Pic #3. After the tubes were cut and fit I then tacked them to the slider and then did my final weld pictured here.

Pic #4. Next, was making some gussets for the tubes that were welded to the plates.

Pic #5. The Gussets all welded in place.

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The finished product...Now the passenger side.
After I finished the passenger side I moved to the back.

Pic #2. In this shot it is the new rear bumper, The 3 plates that are sticking up are for mounting it the the rear chassis plate. They all have to be drilled out for mounting. (No template comes with the kit, so I made my own)

Pic #3. I used my trusty poster board and cut 4" pieces to fit the full length across the plates and marked out the holes.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Those rocker protectors look quit sturdy!
Are they from stainless steel so you can polish them?
Or are they going to be painted?

[reaper71]

They are pretty heavy pieces (50 lbs or so)
No made from carbon steel. They will be powder coated wrinkle black to match the rest of the components.

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The bumper all mounted up.

Pic #2. The spindle looking pieces are for swing out arms mounted on bearings. These will have the spare tire mounted to the drivers side and a cooler mount on the passenger side.

Mark...

[dug224]

Beautiful work. Really enjoying the build. dug

[reaper71]

Thank's again Dug..

[Low Elco]

Super nice stuff!

[reaper71]

Thank's, The quality of the components the customer has been getting is really nice stuff and Really heavy duty.

Mark...

[reaper71]

It's been awhile since I posted on the FJ....
It came back a few weeks ago and I have been getting a few things done.
Now that the GMC is finished I can get to work on this one..

Pic #1. The morning it came back to the shop.

Pic #2. The new Radiator/shroud and fan from Champion.

Pic #3. The expansion tank added as well.

Will have more to show later.

Mark..

[RockinKees]

All looks nice Mark!

The FJ looks very big in front of your shop!

[Advanced Design]

Continued nice work Mark, looking forward to the updates.

What is the vehicle with yellow and black stripes in the first pic next to shop?

[reaper71]

Thanks Kees!
Yes it is a bigger vehicle for how small it really is...
When the rollcage is bolted on it takes on a whole new look!!


Doug....That beast in the background is a 89 ford e350 conversion bus..
it is (Grishams ) Tailgate/party bus for Missouri football games.
it was at the shop for a few repairs.
It's not something I would normally work on but foe John I will

Mark...