'40 front fenders

[GB SISSON]

This one is going slower than the last couple of projects... Winter's coming on and every year the unheated shop looks less inviting. I finally got my jailbars and other front end pieces straightened out, well they aren't actually 'straight' , but they ARE on there. Now I am in the decision process and those tough decisions often slow me down. "What if it doesn't work and I cut up a good part for nothing?". Well today I have made a decision. Look at the firewall of the ford cowl. You will see a boxed in rectangle 36" wide and 17 3/4" high. I will cut that out of the ford cowl and replace it with a 36" 17 3/4" piece from the toyota firewall. This gives me a 3 1/2" deep doghouse, ready mounts for parking brake (Toyota landcruisers use an internal expanding drum brake aft of the transfer case), the correct steering coulmn support, and the gas pedal. Instead of welding this patch in I'm thinking of welding a 3/4" angle to the perimeter and bolting it to the existing ford firewall flange. This way if I later want to mount a pickup cab on it (I have 3), I just cut out that same area and the frame mounts are the same, and bolt my flanged sub-firewall in. Another benefit is the tranny/transfer cover you see in the first photo bolts right on. Still thinking of breaking the bank and buying a pedal assembly from wilwood which solves so many clearance problems. I am about ready to remove the front clip now that I have solved the clearance and mounting issues there, and get the steering hooked up and all the mechancal stuff that is SOOO accessible with those big fenders off. I think this is going to work. I painted the front bib with some international tractor blue from ace hardware with a bit of green splashed in, some black and gray primer, flatting past and about a 1/2 cup of cornstarch to further remove the gloss. Applied with a foam brush. Trim is called 'straw' in a satin finish rattle can. Edit: I have also decided to use the toyota radiator. Trimming 1/4" off each side of the mounting flange and redrilling it mounts it in the stock support with both hose connections on the correct side and I know it is engineered correctly to cool this particular engine, and the ford radiator support does a great job of holding the front clip together.

[cas3]

lookin good GB! get some heat in that shop! should be some wood scraps around a woodworkers house

[GB SISSON]

I built it to breathe... We dry lumber in the upstairs and it's all wide open and uninsulated. We heat the house and the cabinet shop entirely with wood and there just ain't enough logs or scrap left over to heat a big drafty building.....Here in the Pacific NW, the winters are rainy, but relatively short. The crocuses bloom in February.

[Newc]

Some fellows replace the firewall cutout with a wheel barrow tub. Newc

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Newc

Some fellows replace the firewall cutout with a wheel barrow tub. Newc

I always loved that wheelbarrow use!. But the old toyota firewall is just setting there outside and free for the taking and has all those captive bolt mountings for the accessories I'm gonna need to mount. Perhaps next time. I do like the way you think! Edit: Radio flyer wagon tubs make a good firewall doghouse too. If you play your cards right you could get two out of one wagon tub if you bought the 'long box' radio flyer......

[51504bat]

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GB: Found this photo in my files. Thought it might give you some inspiration even though its not a Ford.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

GB: Found this photo in my files. Thought it might give you some inspiration even though its not a Ford.

Thanks, that is a really cool power wagon, but if there is any wood in this vehicle It would be most likely be in the form of a plywood floor, or perhaps a wood flatbed. A varnished wood body leads to worrying about it. For instance yesterday we burned about 200 board feet of alder boards stored in the same building as the woodie because we found them to be infested with powder post beetles!!

[GB SISSON]

Did some sketching this morning. I printed a photo of my project vehicle, taped it to the kitchen window and traced the outline onto a blank sheet of paper. Then I took the partial sketch and filled in the blanks. Expect some wood in the body and please don't ever compare it with Kube's work. Toyota landcruisers have always been designated 'FJ' as in FJ 40 for the swb 'jeep'type and my 4 door wagon was an FJ 55. '47 is of course the front clip. Rear fenders are International 3/4 ton PU.

[Zeke3]

That will make a cute looking island cruiser.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Zeke3

That will make a cute looking island cruiser.

And being a '79 it's the only year that had 3.73 gears instead of 4.11s. We drove this cruiser to Boston once with 3 kids in the back seat and another trip camping in the Southwest for a month towing a 1966 Aloha travel trailer which included our trip to Disneyland!

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

Did some sketching this morning. I printed a photo of my project vehicle, taped it to the kitchen window and traced the outline onto a blank sheet of paper. Then I took the partial sketch and filled in the blanks. Expect some wood in the body and please don't ever compare it with Kube's work. Toyota landcruisers have always been designated 'FJ' as in FJ 40 for the swb 'jeep'type and my 4 door wagon was an FJ 55. '47 is of course the front clip. Rear fenders are International 3/4 ton PU.

An Orcas Island version of a CAD system?

[GB SISSON]

I have been enjoying some trucks on FTE and I posted a couple of pics of the for'yota. Can't remember his name on FTE, but he has a pristine MH merc woodie. He suggested a body something like this, and I was smitten! I love the '38 -'39 in this pic (note factory cowl). But how about a command car since I want a back seat for the grandkids? I found some pics of the one that was auctioned off as General Patton's command car. Spare on the side. I can't for the life of me bring a pic of that one up. I'm sure someone here can. Easy windshield, flat plate body work, AND no doors to build. Probably some hinged bars of 1 x 2 1/2 square tube, like on the ferris wheel. I have been convinced to start the thread on FTE. Work continues slowly, but this photo may speed me up. Pete, you gotta blow this pic up. It's so cool!

[KGS]

VFMA 1940_ford_durham_body5_f9d92e8d6de0f601235988b10c809bfe3a97b6f0.jpg

GB, Here's a line up that you may like.
Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa.
from the early fifties.
The third unit in line still exists and is owned
by a local VFW post. The whereabouts of the rest
is unknown.
Ken

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by KGS

Attachment 450751

GB, Here's a line up that you may like.
Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa.
from the early fifties.
The third unit in line still exists and is owned
by a local VFW post. The whereabouts of the rest
is unknown.
Ken

Grew up in Strafford, PA just out side of Wayne. Used to ride my bike past VFMA on the way to Wayne. The cadets used to get Saturday passes and go into town in their dress uniforms. On a side note they filmed the movie Taps there with George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton.

[GB SISSON]

Last week I printed another photo, this time of a beat up, untitled 1/2 ton panel I have.. Then I cut what I scaled as 8" out of the panel photo to match the 106" WB of the Toyota, and taped the photo back together as a shortened panel. If I went this route I would cut the roof (it's been rolled) off and use the shortened sides and belt line to build a sort of command car with two bench seats. Maybe I'd be in over my head, but the funny thing is how much it looks like the Aussie open cab pickups we've been seeing on the barn. I would fill in the spare tire well with flat steel and maybe the rear door recess. It would most surely look more like a quick government job for utility or military purposes, but would fit the bill for a 5 or six person summer hauler, sittin' way up firm and high.

[MikeinMass]

"If you build it ,They wlll come"
I like your vision !

Sent from my SM-A215U using Tapatalk

[GB SISSON]

And I got my 214.00 Champion rad installed and temporarily plumbed. The Radiator support has a flange to bolt the rad to and in stock form it tilts the rad back about an inch at the top. My engine sits almost level and I needed some more clearance so I cut the vertical flanges away from the support, leaving 1/2" at the bottom still attached. I then bent the flanges forward so the radiator would sit plumb, or parallel to the support and rewelded them. This necessitated moving the spreader bar ahead 1/2" . I was very careful with extra support at that point because of the heavy wide fenders hung on the support. I know I will have to alter the upper radiator shroud/hood latch holder. And just so you know, this rad support came to me in the stash of 5 jailbar trucks with about 7" missing from the bottom of the 'U'. I filled it in with some scrap channel and angle. All in all I bet the support weighs about 5 lbs more than stock.

['36 5W]

I'm diggin' it; should be a fun low speed cruiser for your neck of
the woods!
(Keep forgetting to ask, is the old o.e.m. green combo. on your projects Dartmouth Green and Tacoma Cream?)

[GB SISSON]

I steer away from gloss paint so the green is pretty much a mixture of flat black rustoleum, flat white rustoleum (flat gray) and whatever gloss green at ace or rustoleum, like hunter green. I have also used rustoleum spray such as 'satin italian olive', 'satin camp green'... Stuff like that. The 'tacoma cream' is most often a 'satin straw' or other satin color I could look for tomorrow in the shop. I like the satin colors because I'm not much of a body man, and besides, log chain or big branch swipes the side, bust out the spray can. Good to go.

[GB SISSON]

It's been really cold for our area and snow the last 3 days. Sometimes I just have to brave the cold so I can do some wrenching. Weekends don't come around every day. Did a front brake job with new rotors. calipers, and pads today along with the usual wheel bearing service, seals etc. Also been working on floors, firewall etc. It's a funny place I'm in. The landcruiser site doesn't know what to make of me because I cut up one of their 'beloved' and the ford guys don't know what to make of me because of the Japanese chassis/running gear. Sometimes I feel like a man without a country. For me the bottom line is having some fun building something with what I have here on the property. The toyota axle shafts are actually larger in diameter than those on my '92 F350 4wd. I miss looking at my ford sheet metal but at my age kneeling on the concrete, the brakes/axle work is so much easier without all that tin in the way.