i smushed on some seam sealer

 

Nice work.
What about the cooling effects from the old Fred Flintstone floor though?
Not to mention the quick-drain from deep creek crossings.
That was pretty bad.

 

it was worse than i thought, but repairs came out good enough for me
slowly but surely

 

primed




painted

 

moved on to the rocker panels

driver side pretty much done, just need a new mounting tab for the bottom of the fender.










passenger side is mid progress. i ended up peeling back the passenger front corner of the carpet to add some plates in. nowhere near as bad as the driver floor, but the body mount needed some help too.

 

passenger side all finished up too











also made new mounts for the bottom of both fenders




today i will get everything painted up and start on the abs panels for the rear cargo area. real bad bodywork is now limited to quarters.

 

all painted/undercoated and seam sealed

 

i also made a new interior panel for the tailgate and mounted my spare and tool box

 

i drove it to work this morning, and it felt amazing. going over bumps it felt like the springs were doing the work instead of the body flexing. with the speedometer at 55, it was not shaking like crazy anymore. even with the quarters not repaired and no interior panels in the cargo area, it was way quieter. to say i'm happy is an understatement.

 

i made the interior side panels for the cargo area. i got the abs from mcmaster instead of amazon, and it ended up being smooth instead of textured. i hit it with a scotch pad for a surface more forgiving of scratches. i used nutserts in existing holes i opened up to mount them with some m6 stainless screws.





should make it a little quieter on the highway

i still have one more piece of abs left to make panels for the backs of the rear seats.

 

i got some frame crossmembers slash bumper braces slash hitch braces cut, welded in, and painted today






this was the last of the things i wanted to complete before taking it down the shore for vacation in august. anything else i get done is icing on top

 

abigail bought me an oem roll bar padding we found on ebay. to say it is in mint condition would be putting it mildly. its awesome!

 

three days before we were supposed to leave for the shore for vacation (the trip i had been hoping to take the 4tunner on) i found a puddle of brake fluid on thd driveway. finally realized it was between the reservoir and the master. i figured the cap was rubbing on the hood ribbing ever so slightly. i found a new master in stock locally, and got it installed and bled. i clearanced the hood, even though this reservoir was not as tall. another v6 to get 1" bore. what i did find out is you can use an fj80 master to get 1" and it has built in residual valves for front and rear, as it came with factory rear discs. that would mean you don't need an external proportioning valve or external residual valve. i stuck with my original plan, as i have both external already and it seems more tunable. i also finally wired in the connector for low fluid, that last master had no pigtail. i also had to clearance my bracket holding the proportioning valve so it wouldn't hit the bottom of the reservoir. everything clears everything, no leaks.

 

i also need to lower the seat mounts, again. still too high. i fixed the rear transfercase lever hole cover, remounted the boot for the twinstick, and did some work to my ammo console. i added some stiffeners on the bottom and a strap to keep it from opening all the way.

 

the twinsticks were hitting my plate and making an awful racket. figured while i was working on the driver seat mount and it was out was a good time. i am going to cut the front mounts between the seat and the bracket and reweld. in the rear, i am going to cut some vertical out of the feet and reweld.




its clamped and supported, hopefully i can keep it squarish and even enough.

 

but.....
it did make it down the shore! i drove with the speedo at 55 (my wife said it was about 65 in reality, as she followed me in her mini) the whole time, and it felt solid, seemingly got decent mileage, and no leaks or issues or noises of any kind! man it felt awesome.

 

i lowered the front seats. again.
they can't really go any lower, and i think they finally are acceptable. they were always just sitting too high. very comfy and in great shape though.

 

 

What a nicely sorted passenger compartment! Do you happen to know the factory screw size for the metal shift bezel? (Save my lazy self some research).

Is there anywhere at the Jesey shore to drive it in the sand?

 

thank you!
those 6 screws are just like trim screws with coarse threads and they thread into plastic push in "nuts" on my truck.
the only place i know of to drive in the sand on the beach in nj is island beach state park, and you need a fishing license, a shovel, rope, etc. , as you are there for fishing and not getting stuck, not wheeling.