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1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:54 am
by 66stepside
I've had this truck since 1996 and it was my 3rd FSJ. My first two were wagoneers. When I first started building it, there were no aftermarket lifts, or much of any support in the aftermarket community for FSJ- with the exception of intake manifolds.

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It originally came with a townside bed, 327 vig. engine, T-86 3sp tranny, dana 20 transfer case. After breaking a few exhaust manifolds and waiting weeks for water pumps, and misc parts that broke whenever I trailed it hard, I decided to swap in a better transmission, the T-18 and added a DANA 300 transfer case with an after market coupler.

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Using the same donor rig (1978 j20) that the t-18 came out of, I relocated the front springs to mate up J20 axles (the rear axle was a straight swap). I also added rear disc brakes to the DANA 60 (the 44 in front had the discs already. The pics of the front axle swap did not survive the two computer crashes. The chunk of ice on the last pic rattled so badly, I thought I broke something! 4:09 gears in the front, 4:10 in the rear with a "lunch box locker".

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Next came the 48 gallon gas tank mounted where the spare tire sits. I prepped the underside of the then stock townside bed for epoxy paint I bought off 'fleabay'.

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Next came the 75 401. Mild cam, alum. intake, Barry Grant Speed Demon Carb, MSD ignition system, hi flo air filter, alumn. headers...

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Afterwards, I sold the 8' stock bed to a guy in Florida via fleabay. While I fabb'd up the stepside version, I had to have something...

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This is the only pic of the bed being fabb'd! I'd kick the wife's rig out of the small garage and get to work. Then, when it was close to being done, I leave my rig out side and the bed would sit in my spot. This was before I began building my shop out in the back yard. I used 2" exhaust tubing on the bed rails to match the scale and size of the j truck. I grafted j truck flares onto the rear fenders that I also widened and stretched 2" to fit the large 35 inch tires. It took two stock stepside beds to get usable parts- hinges, stake pockets, bed skirts, etc. to make up a new bed.

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On to the interior. I answered an ad on CL for a 150.00 jeep... 1414X

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I left the jeep, but bought a few parts. I swapped in 2007 grand cherokee leather seats, too. 1200 watt AM/FM 6 CD dics changer, diamond plate door panels that I bought at the hardware store when I worked there while I went to college, I built an A pillar gauge cluster, I installed the tilt column from the J20 I cannibalized for the drive train with a custom bracket I made...

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Here's a random shot of one of my wagoneer's interior:

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The addiction continues... as does the build.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:43 pm
by lindel
Very nice!

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:38 pm
by Stuka
Love the bed. The stretched flares actually look really good too.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:59 pm
by 66stepside
Thanks, guys. It's always a work in progress.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:24 am
by jaber
Beautiful truck. Image

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:43 pm
by 66stepside
Thanks Jaber.

I actually was able to replace the heater control switch today. It was shorting out and blowing fuses. It didn't matter over the summer, but it's starting to matter now. :)

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:06 pm
by 66stepside
Not that I need any more to do... But this has to be addressed!

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I had gone to the Puyallup Swap meet to find a fiberglass replacement front grill support, but nothing turned up.

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I could use one of my spares...
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But there's no time. So I'm going to just patch it for now. If done right, it should last a bit longer and not take the fender with it.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 4:04 pm
by 66stepside
Inbetween sanding the panel, letting the air compressor rest and doing some yard work with the kids, I am going to take care of another problem I noticed- rock chips in the rear fenders. The chips Re starting to rust. Meanwhile...

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So...

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Then...

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And...

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The next step is to graft the peices I cut of the sand blasted pair onto the blue ones the PO cut to fit a trailer he made from a crushed Willys truck ( I bought the trailer for parts awhile back). If I can find the spare time, i'll fix the old fenders... These will work in the meantime. I always scrounge for spare parts just for these reasons.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 4:09 pm
by 66stepside
Here's my blue trailer, hopefully not to be confused with the one being hailed on a different post! Lol

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I sold what was left of the trailer to a guy in Stevens County for his Willys build.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:04 pm
by serehill
Really awsome truck

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 9:39 pm
by 66stepside
Thanks!

I did a bit of spring cleaning today... Put some mud on the sheet rock, I figure if I can get one section done at a time, I can start hanging stuff up where it's supposed to be rather than tripping all over it, or constantly having to move it.

I did manage to hang my LED exit sign!

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Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:44 pm
by 66stepside
In between bouts of marathon of panel delivery sanding, seeng the Croods in 3D, and dodging spring rain, the rear side had a date with the angle grinder with a cut off wheel first:

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Next up, the front:

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Yummmmm, Leftovers:

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It's tacked into place, I do have some trimming to do to make room for leaf spring travel, hammer and dolly the outer lip to perfection, and stitch up the welding. These are meant to be functional, though, not perfect... But we'll see how that goes. Passenger side is tomorrow.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 9:04 pm
by 66stepside
Same process, different side:

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Now in-between rounds of panel sanding, there will be rounds of spot welding. Then is really becomes Same process, different rig.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:30 am
by jaber
66stepside wrote:
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Curious about the little blocks with the wing nuts? What are they?

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:39 am
by 66stepside
Hey Jaber, I don't know what they're called. I got them a A & L Compressed Gas here in Spokane on Trent Ave.

Harbor Freight sometimes carries them, too. At any rate, when the welding magnates don't hold up, or keep the thin stuff where it's supposed to be, these thingy-majig-do-hickeys will hold and space the two pieces with enough distance to butt weld them together.

Any welding supply shop worth their flux wire should have them in stock, or in their supply books.

Here are some close up shots:

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I don't weld for a living, I am clearly a weekend hack, but I am sure there are guys on the forum that can offer up the right name for the actual product.

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:41 am
by 66stepside
After a 3 second Internet search: key word butt weld clamp... Everyone's favorite- harbor freight!

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-bu ... 44751.html

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:36 pm
by jaber
Those are cool. I have not seen those. I could see where they could be useful, thanks. I'll have to build me a set... :-bd

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:06 pm
by 66stepside
Post pics of the build! Lol. Seriously, post pics when you do build them!

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 8:45 am
by wileywillys
Very nice build, Keep up the good work :D

Re: 1966 Thriftside J 3000

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 11:11 am
by 66stepside
Thanks Wileywillys!

Still welding, sanding and now hanging stuff up on the walls.

Here's the first thing I hung back up.

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