Rebuilt 2005 GX470 Project - From CO to TX and Back (soon)

Went back and got bigger eye bolts to pull with.

 

The last picture shows it the best. (For me)? DANG! You are gettin er done!

 

Getting there slowly. Went and marked all the oem spit welds onto the new qp support. Most of it will line up correctly with little more needed to straighten out the tub.

 

Considerably straighter! Not perfect but it looks like I'll be able to do all of the spot welds I need so that the qp support is welded on straight enough, and the qp itself can be welded in straight, and the door shuts with no leaking...we'll see...

 

I started with the

I started with the 5/16, then 3/8 in different holes to pull but they both started to stretch. Didn't want to drill too many large holes so only used the 1/2" eye bolt in a couple or places but it's noticeably stronger than the others

 

Gonna start learning how to weld now!

 

I know nothing about welding, but I do know to rent a manual if I want to teach driving a stick.

lol

 

Not exactly shouting 'great' but life's curve balls are hard enough for anyone. Just get the Lexus done here in Texas before you move it back up to CO again, taking advantage of the weather.
Oh, and this summer has been mild, to say the least. Last year was brutal, almost two months straight of 100+....

 

Grateful for that at least. Back in 2011(?) before I left Dallas for CO, we had 62 days in a row over 100*. I'm just not suited for the heat, even growing up here I hated it lol

 

Can't say I love this weather, kids are sad they can't be outside because it is just too hot and all that UV....
This year was much more manageable, so at least they enjoyed the outdoor swimming much more.
So you are back to Denver?

 

Hopefully I'll be back to Denver next June-ish. Depends on how work goes over the next few months.

Luckily my house has had a couple of showings this week, and I think one of them is putting in an application. Will take a lot of the money-stress off my plate.

 

Sounds like you are moving in the right direction, I'm happy for you!

Hope the house rents to good people.

I'd love to gtfo Phoenix, it has been 100+++ all summer, no clue if it's a record but I bet it is. It hasn't been 120+ for days on end like last year but it has been humid as fuck so more uncomfortable.

 

Wait, if you have showing then where are you gonna move back to?
I mean, the old house might not be the best, but it does have a good garage for you to work on.....

 

So my cousin, who stayed with me for a few years when she moved to CO, has her own house there now, with a 2 bed/1 bath finished basement apartment she rents out. Would be staying there on the cheap. Plan is to pay off bills for a while. At some point take equity out of my rental house, and then buy my own to live in. While continuing to rent out the first.

 

Eh, ok..... not sure why but the first house is there?
Anyway, hope this job treats you well.
My has been pretty much painful, but insurance is damn good.
I have a knee surgery coming Monday and I think the total is over $7K, I just paid (pre-paid) $269, might have some leftover I need to cover, but yea, $300-ish vs $7k+? I will take it.
Need to start looking for something else now....

 

Damn good luck with the surgery! That is pretty good insurance though

I have such a low interest rate on the house that I'll be making a profit every month by renting it out. And rent at my cousin's place will be lower than my mortgage, and like almost half as much as anywhere else I could rent. It should work in my benefit in the long term, fingers crossed. She has a decent sized 1 car work shop I can still use, and enough backyard parking to accommodate.

 

Oh.....right. That makes sense in that case.
I have a super low mortgage rate as well that it would be stupid to give up if I would need a new house..... I current sit at 2.05% for 20 years...

 

bejeebus! that's low...mine is 2.85%. Want to let the house pay itself off, and sell it when I retire, or just live in it mortgage free.

 

I got the house early 2020 right before the whole COVID hell broke loose, house price didn't go high yet, I sat at 3.025% for 30 years and later refinance to the above rate and year. Could have done a lower rate for 1.5% for 15 years but that would mean no cash at all, so that was a no. But yea, good old days of the super low rates are long gone....

 

Well shit, this is no bueno....the rear upper control arm mount on the JK completely f'd. The Evo long arm just kinda sitting there not doing much anymore. Have been hearing a little clanking noise occasionally and I guess that's it.

It was supposed to be optional with the Evo lift kit, to use oem axle mounts, or cut them off and weld the provided ones on. *Evo has a good product, but the worst instructions I've ever had the displeasure of reading. So I skipped that step.

 

Good luck with the knee, hope it goes well & heals fast.

Sorry about the J/K, guess that's a good place to practice welding.

 

unfortunately I really need a lift to work on this. It's either drop the axle, or let it droop enough to work on it without dropping it. And I certainly don't have jack stands tall enough to accommodate the down travel of this rear axle! Spoke with an offroad shop nearby and they quoted over the phone $4-500 to weld in the EVO mounts. Sounded like a good dude, and it's a small shop. I'm going to see if I can't watch or something to try and learn.

 

Two things. I got a 2 day subscription to TIS and the Lexus collision repair manual. I should have not been so ambitious to remove the full qp and support. OEM procedure is to cut the support about 6 inches from the upper most part. And i spent a lot of time removing it all. Not too big a deal, I just created more work for myself than necessary.

And I also didn't realize I needed shielding gas to weld with. So that's another expense.

+ $25 for 2 day TIS subscription
+ $250 for 75/25 gas and tank from Primeweld

https://primeweld.com/products/75-argon-25-co2-bottle-125cf

 

Sorry.

 

This is even worse....on the M3, I finally confirmed hidden damage under bondo...had the vehicle over 9 years, and this is damage prior to that. For a long time now I've seen these two cracks on the rear quarter panels. They really just looked like a scratch. But it's gotten worse over time. And I finally checked. It's obvious now it's bondo but wasn't before. I confirmed with a weak magnet and it doesn't stick as well to the bondo areas. The entire car needs a respray anyways. So all that work will start after I practice painting on the GX.

 

Not necessarily. You could use flux core wire to weld with.

 

I looked it up on other forums, everyone was saying not to do flux core on auto body sheet metal. Said it was possible but harder.

 

It’s not as pretty of a weld for sure. But if it’s for the inside structure that no one would see I wouldn’t sweat it. Now exterior panels, I’ll agree it’s a pain to make it look good without some work.

 

Your list is growing instead of shrinking?? HA! Just things!!


Pretty dang shiny for needing a repaint?

 

Sorry about the M, is there an accident on the carfax?