fj45 rat rod (ish)

[Heath]

Body mounts finished now (just need to be drilled when final positions are sorted). Ready to lay cab down right side up and finish the floor inside.

[Heath]

Underside now done. Cab floor inner needs finishing and rust around the rear of the cab needs to be sorted too....


Bad pic but its right way up now.

[Heath]

Wheels sorted (well decided what I want - not bought yet). American racing torque thrust 2 black centre, chrome outer and chrome cap.



Sizes still to be determined but will stager width front/back.

Edit - Errr, maybe not sorted...

[tow99]

20x10 on the back.

[Heath]

Nah too much steel.
American Racing Torque Thrust 15×6 or 7-inch front with 215/60R15 tyres, 15x 8-inch (maybe even push out to 15x10) rear with 255/60R15 BF Goodrich tyres (or 265/60). Got to get a tallish rear tyre for the right stance (looking about 28-29 inch high tyre). Might even push the rims up to 16 inch but no bigger or it will look out of proportion.

[Heath]

Maybe these would be better?

[derk]

you going to do a ratrod or hotrod

[Heath]

Rat rod look until it is finished, then it will be a "custom car" (cant call it a hotrod - get told off by hotrod owners - LOL). I know the rims dont look ratty but I'm not buying another set (and these will probably not materialise until quite some time into the build - like right at the end)

I toyed with the idea of using some old 'steelies' but cant find what I wanted without spending stupid money. Figure if I am spending large I may as well get some bling.

[rokhound]

Not so much Rat rod as it is mousey rod

[Heath]

Not so much Rat rod as it is mousey rod

Yeah I shouldve gone Rat big block (I kick myself for not going all out with the 496 chevy/400 trans combo I found), but on the plus side the mounts diff etc are all set up for a BBC&blower/trans so never say never...

I'll be too scared to park it anywhere in case it gets scratched when I am finished

[Dr_PC]

go with the 10's for the rear mate, and with the 28 -29 I think it will look spot on

[Heath]

Maybe something more trad would be better.

Leave off the chrome for ratty look or dress it up for when its finished.

[ChurchurDan]

I vote for the steelies with hub caps and bands especially with the white walls

I was thinking about your stud pattern issue. Would it be easier to get the rear axles and drums redrilled. It used to be a really common thing to do with 9inch diffs.

[tow99]

na mate these will do it.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =722933875
i want them but havent got the coin yet.obviously with different tyres

[Heath]

I vote for the steelies with hub caps and bands especially with the white walls

I was thinking about your stud pattern issue. Would it be easier to get the rear axles and drums redrilled. It used to be a really common thing to do with 9inch diffs.

Front hubs are a bitch to redrill as they have strengthening ribs bewteen the 5 holes so thats no good. Can get a blank undrilled pair but they're still 5 stud because of the ribs (But they are $500 a pair - WTF!! a drilled set is $200 from the same place).
The rears could be redilled but I want the ford pattern (got to pick one so it may as well be a common one (in case I break an axle or whatever).

Those steelies are cool and the white walls look cool too (think they are fake whitewalls). Just have to find some in NZ or offshore that wont cost a fortune to import.

[tomsoffroad]

Why not white spokes (Patina of course ) and ATs?
Bare with me......... im thinking 16x10 rears with a 265x75 dirty old all terrain for the rear and a 15x8 front with 30x9.5, both with white lettering on the outside. The front guards are a big hole to fill and its a truck

[Heath]

Hearing ya about the tyres. Was looking at some old second hand AT's for the rear and some smaller AT's for the front (nice and cheap that way, or maybe HT's) on plain painted steel rims (might airbrush rust etc onto them, but no bling). Then when I get it all shiney I can fit some nice rubber, repaint them and the shiney trim.

[Heath]

Nothing much to see. Making slow progress with finishing seam welds and grinding welds smooth.

Here's a pic for the pic whores though.

[Heath]

Finished grinding the floor welds so they are now tidy (blew some primer over to stop rust etc) - sorry no pics. Started cleaning up the rear of the cab so I can see ho much rust I have to deal with there.



Quite a bit by the looks...

[Heath]

A little grinding and ...



Sorted the surface rust while I was in their too. Rust converter and some paint to seal it up before welding the cavity closed.

[Heath]

Got most of the patch in and ran out of gas .


Still its mostly done and just the corner to do and I'll call the cab 99% done.


Put the back on to see how it looks.


Top of tape is approx height of roof on chassis. Not a good picture, maybe I shouldve measured it instead. Never mind, a pic for the hell of it.

[Heath]

I got my gas bottle back so I figured I'd get the last patch done.


Still have to do the captive nut (old one was shit so I'll have to find a replacement - hence the square hole left in the patch).

Will fill a hole in the front of the cab where someone had put an aerial for the stereo (rusty and leaks water judging from the marks on the inside). I'll have to figure out a different aerial to use that is hidden.

[oldyella]

So you have cut 3" out of the bottom of the rear window.

How were ya going to make it up for the front? Can you cut it off the bottom of the windscreen, or from the middle of the windscreen and get new glass?

My vote for wheels would be AT's with staggered rim depth and tyre diameter. Just to tie it back to what it is in a way... Then mega deep dish powder coated steelies or duals on the back. It's a truck after all

[tomsoffroad]

This is turning into a good build thread.

Then mega deep dish powder coated steelies or duals on the back. It's a truck after all

And another 6" out of the pillars

[Heath]

So you have cut 3" out of the bottom of the rear window.

How were ya going to make it up for the front? Can you cut it off the bottom of the windscreen, or from the middle of the windscreen and get new glass?

My vote for wheels would be AT's with staggered rim depth and tyre diameter. Just to tie it back to what it is in a way... Then mega deep dish powder coated steelies or duals on the back. It's a truck after all

I took 3 inches out of the rear of the cab (the grey bit) but didnt want to mess with the windows so I had to Z cut it. I will take a corresponding amount out of the middle of the screen (but will get the roof etc on before I measure the height difference and cut what needs to come out - not 75mm as its on a slant). Also may have to relief cut the bottom of the screen (cut along the bottom) to allow it to lay back a little more without putting the hinges into tension. I hope to find another buggered screen with the wiper mechanism in it so I can make this a 3 wiper screen too (like was available on some models)

Hopefully only the windscreen and the 1/4 door glass will need to be cut to fit. Well that's the plan.

As for wheels etc I have decided to go with 275/60/15s on the rear (about 28 inch diameter) on 9 inch rims and 225/60/15 (about 25inch dia) on 7 inch rims. Smoothie rims painted same colour as the body and chrome moon caps and chrome rings to dress em up (when the wagon is finished and in its shiney guise), but I am thinking of initially air brushing the rims with some oil/rust streaks in the interim. Going with smaller tyres than I was initially aiming for as this is lowered so should look okay (not going to have massive gaps in the guards) and any gap in the front guards will be filled with the exhaust headers/dump pipe behind the wheel (gasser style - maybe). Tyres are road tyres as this is just for road work (BFG's though).

I did go though a period of time where I considered going all Ratty but figure that a rodded cruiser deserves to be a bit shiney (as opposed to their usual battered and preloved appearance)

I will remove the LandCruiser badge, take the 'Land' bit off before refitting/christening it as just 'Cruiser'.

[Heath]

This is turning into a good build thread.

Then mega deep dish powder coated steelies or duals on the back. It's a truck after all

And another 6" out of the pillars

Cheers Tom. Coming from you that is a quite a compliment.

9 inch roof chop? , only hobbits would be able to drive it then, although it would be cool, but only on a radically chopped chassis (Z that baby front and rear - or whole new frame) with crazy airbags, blower out the bonnet, 33" TSLs on the front and 35" Swamper boggers on the rear.

[Heath]

Had a bit of a bad back this week and finally gave in to the pain. Popped into a chairopractor to get it sorted so not much happening in the garage for a while.

But I was able to find and buy some 275/60/15 donuts for the rear end.

[Heath]

These latches look cool, but not sure if the Jeep crowd would allow it on my cruiser (or the yota dudes either)



Bit pricey though. Might just go with the usual ones (boring)...

[Heath]

welded in a patch for the bodged aerial hole up front (wasnt even a round hole)


Finished the back, ground it almost smooth, put on some rust converter/primer and then when dry I put a skim of bog over the weld marks to fill the imperfections. Unfortunately the bog isnt going off and isnt sticking. It seems the stuff I bought isnt compatible with the primer of the same company (although it says it is), so I will have to clean it all off and start again with the stuff I usually use (or use a pile more hardener- like double the measure). It started to tac off but then stopped?
And as a plus you can see some of the rust I have to deal with in the back piece. It is top and bottom on both ends - yay!! Might be easier to bin it and redo the back piece. Anyone got one for free they want to give away?

[Heath]

Well the bog went off during the day (was expecting to have to remove it all tonight so I was happy) and I was able to get a coat of primer on it to seal it all up (will still need some more tickling but that is later on in the project when I get into polishing this turd after it is built).


I threw some top coat matt black on (really roughly) to seal it all up and just to see how it would look. Might need a bigger panel to get a good impression. And will have to sand most of this off as the surface underneath wasn't preped (just got carried away ).

Not looking forwards to the cab back upper. Seriously thinking of finding another one with less rust. Might be quicker to start again than try to repair this one. It's a real mess - wish I had it blasted before I started as I may have saved myself some time - its just more work, but not like I'm loosing a limb or anything (call it welding practice).