Reed 78 FJ40 Rebuild

[reaper71]

Pic #1. The first coat of filler.

Pic #2. Drivers side applied.

Pic #3. The passenger side after it was blocked and spot primed again.

Pic #4. The cowl after it was blocked and primed again.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

That's looking real good!

Is it going to be a showcar?

[reaper71]

Nope..
The owner is going to be taking it to Florida and leaving it at his Vacation home. He wanted something real nice to drive when he goes and stays for extended time.
He's owned it for a long time and finally wanted to make it nice again it will live most of it's life with the top removed at the beach..

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. Drivers side after spot primer.

Pic #2. Guide coat on and ready for blocking.

Pic #3. Body all blocked and ready for final primer.

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Thanks for the explanation on the coating Mark. Wow, lotta blocking and priming! Hours and hours...

[reaper71]

Actually it only took a total of 4 days.
with it having so much flat surfaces it moved along pretty fast. plus since the panels were pretty damn straight helped out!
It spent more time drying than actual sanding!!

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. This was taken after the final primer was shot.

Pic #2. Back in final. (If anyone is wondering Why so many holes on the door openings?) One set is for the short doors (top off) and 2nd set for tall doors (top on)

Pic #3. In this shot I'm building a cart from 1x1 tube that the tub is bolted to. This thing is a pain in the neck to move and transfer to a trailer so I made this. It will also aid in spraying the tub with the coating.
unbolt and lift,spray underside,bolt back down spray inside and out and ship!

Pic #4. Another shot of cart and also side view of final primer.

Mark...

[Low Elco]

Great lookin' work! Gonna look sweet at the beach.

[RockinKees]

Originally Posted by reaper71

Nope..
The owner is going to be taking it to Florida and leaving it at his Vacation home. He wanted something real nice to drive when he goes and stays for extended time.
He's owned it for a long time and finally wanted to make it nice again it will live most of it's life with the top removed at the beach..

Mark...

Well, it's going to be a very nice beachcruiser then
Masterpiece Mark!

[reaper71]

Thank's guy's for the compliments!

Mark...

[BlueJeep]

Looking good! I see the plastic hanging in the background, care to share how you've set up your "booth"?

[reaper71]

Sure!!
Went to the local Walmart and picked up several rolls of 7mil plastic 10' by 25' and then me and Dad used the air stapler and fastened it to the ceiling and let hang. It's a bit crude by does a great job keeping outside debris from getting into the spray area. After the plastic was up I sealed off any open spots with masking tape. Then I used the shop vac and vacuumed the lights,rails etc. to get them clean followed by moping the floors.
On another build of mine (Blakes GMC) It shows us putting up the plastic.

Hope this helps.
Mark...

[reaper71]

On to the next project on the list...

Pic #1. These are the short rear doors that need some TLC. I had a small amount of patch work and several dents to deal with.

Pic #2. Front of doors, the tire carrier was removed (will have a bumper mounted swing mount) and more dents.

Pic #3. The large rear door (when top is on)

Pic #4. The backside of door after Epoxy,High build and blocking.

Pic #5. Front side. As you can see they were pretty beat up..

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. 1st round of filler.

Pic #2. After blocking was done.

Pic #3. Front side all done ready for more primer.



Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. After blocking.

Pic #2. The final primer was shot.

Pic #3. Final primer and ready to pick up.

These will be the last pics for awhile till the customer gets the chassis back over to me so I can do final mock up and paint. Then start on assembly.

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Looks good!

[RockinKees]

Looks nice!
Looking forward to assembly

[reaper71]

Thank's me too..

[reaper71]

So, I finally got the chassis back in the shop so I could get in final paint.

Pic #1. This is where I left off in Eastwood rust encapsulator.

Pic #2. Getting the frame prepped (wiped down with wax & grease remover)

Pic #3. After it was shot in Satin Black Enamel.

Pic #4. Another view, also showing the new shackles after unmasking.

Pic #5. And finally the rear calipers and steering box in the background.
Time to start assembly on most of the chassis.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Let the build begin!

[reaper71]

And here we go!!

Pic #1.After getting the rear disk brakes on I then installed the braided lines. ( a bit longer than I would prefer but they work)

Pic #2. This was after the Shocks, braided lines,steering box,tie rod ends and stabilizer were installed.

Pic #3. A quick look at the rear setup.

Pic #4. The full roller ready for drivetrain.
Waiting on the transmission and transfer case to show up.
The customer is taking the body etc to Texas to have it coated on Monday so I will keep you posted on the progress.
This was all finished up this afternoon so we are real time..

Mark...

[Advanced Design]

Always nice to see them coming together.

[reaper71]

Yes I agree Doug!
Just wish it was mine that was finishing up!!

Mark...

[reaper71]

So as we left off the chassis was all set for the drive train to be installed....

Pic #1. The engine ready to have the flywheel and clutch installed.
For those of you that has ever or will deal with a Company (Advance Adapters )
be advised to do alot of home work prior to using their products!! Nice pieces great quality (Hand's down the WORST instructions EVER produced!!) they do not explain things in detail...(give you a 500 word back story on the 5 speed trans being used) but not how or what needs to be modified.

Pic #2. Example 1. The output shaft pictured here is supposed to go into the (spud shaft in the new transfer case) New transfer case is 4 1/2" in depth
The O.E. shaft is 8" (they DO NOT tell you to remove the O.E back section to reveal the shaft pictured here. (had to call tech support #1)

Pic #3. Example #2. This is the spud shaft it measures 2 1/2" across I.D The O.E. measures 2" O.D. (Do Not tell you to cut anything) Call tech #2 to find this out

Pic #4. Here it is showing the O.E set up that needs to be cut at 4 1/2" the long sleeve reveals the larger splined shaft underneath (again does not explain this in the instructions) Black collar is the new 5th gear lock to be installed and does not explain this either call tech #3 to find this out.

Pic #5. This was after it was cut and new lock collar installed ready to be bolted to the trans.
What should have taken 1 hr or so took around 6 hrs do to lack of explanation.

OK Off my soap box...This may sound simple to others who have done this before but this was my first 5 speed mated to a transfer case setup.

Mark...

[reaper71]

Pic #1. motor/trans and new transfer case all set in place for mock up.

Pic #2. Another view showing the new units and brackets.

Mark...