Hood repaint

[lostmarbles]

Because most of the tiny securing pins broke off during disassembly - i glued the rejuvenated emblems back on (which I think is a better method of attachment anyways):





The blinker mountings were starting to rust. That metal baseplate has all been POR15-ed and topcoated now:

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The blinkers have drain/ventilation holes to allow moisture that gets inside to escape again.



I decided to modify the way the wires run underneath. I hate those little twisty bits of sheetmetal that Toyota uses to hold wiring. You can see my old underseal in this photo too:



That underseal even got into the cavity above the guard. - No wonder I found no rust there:

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Here's the underseal removed:



And the "twisty bit" removed:



And the rerouted wiring prior to undersealing. (Note that I fitted a rubber grommet to that existing hole before running the wiring through it.)

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By the way, the old plastic sheathing had become brittle and actually "shattered" when I bent the wires so I had to cover it with "heat shrink sleeving" in order to keep the wires protected from flying rocks.

The fenders cleaned up well too:

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There were 20 surplus holes in the RH fender alone that required filling with weld:

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Just as I did with the hood, I "laddered" the fender bracing/support to allow access for painting/rust-prevention:

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I found some edges of the fender sheetmetal had been left to vibrate - So I added extra spotwelds to prevent this:

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Here's a fender in wet POR15 primer:

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LH side of chassis prior to bolting the fender to it:



And here's me tweaking the LH fender into the best position before tightening the securing bolts: (RH guard needed no such encouragement.)



Here's the RH guard fitted:

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Wish I had more room in my garage!

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And some more pictures prior to undersealing:

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And now the undersealing:

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[brooklyn]

I really like your approach to disassemble the truck part-by-part and then really get into the rust prior to painting. I am following your approach and have started with the hardtop doors. Completely took them apart, removed all the rubber and felts. Took care of the rust inside the doors with POR and now I am completing the outside of the door.

The nice thing about your approach is that the truck stays drive-able, you start small and learn from your mistakes, and you can really fix all the small stuff, and you don't go broke - at least I think so.

My next step is to follow your hood instructions and then fenders - keep it up as I am stealing all your good ideas. I am figuring it will take about a year for me to do the complete truck.

Heck it might be like the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, they start at one end and paint the complete bridge, when they finish it is time to start at the beginning again. Start at the front of the FJ40 and then when you reach the back it is time to start at the front again. I hate rust.

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See the multitude of cracks here?





They had me puzzled at first. I thought they may have been caused by poor manufacturing techniques because I couldn't see how that area could be under stress.

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Still puzzled, I welded the cracks and ground/sanded it all smooth:

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Ooopps. Damn. Did I show you my "burn though" welding holes?

Anyway it was only after painting was finished and during final assembly that i realised that bolt-hole held the coolant reservoir support. So the cracks were actually from metal-fatigue due to the reservoir dancing to the beat of my 4-banger diesel:







Too late to strengthen the area now........ Damn Damn Damn

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What's next?

Well here's the washer reservoir bracket after receiving POR15 primer and a topcoat. Both were "silver" because I always like to use the same colour primer as topcoat wherever possible. It stops scratches and chips from becoming instantly ugly.




Of course the pump got stainless screws and the paint treatment too:





That's the original pump - Still going well after almost 30 years!

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And here's a photo of the reservoir as it appears right now:



What else?

Here's a photo of the grille. The mesh is not so coarse (probably the wrong word - I mean the diamond-shaped holes are smaller) to stop radiator damage because I've found the original larger holes can let stones through that are capable of puncturing the radiator tubes. This mesh is also "expanded and flattened" rather than simply "expanded". It looks better and is more easily painted in my view.



You can also see how I have modified the way the mesh is held in place------- Stainless bolts of course - but more of them too:

Oh yeah - I welded all around that "strengthening angle" that Toyota had spotwelded to the base of the bib panel. Water had been able to get inbetween to make this area one of the most "rust-prone" on our cruisers. --- But not anymore on mine! Also to prevent rust there, I relocated the wiring off the bottom lip (where it held water against the panel to promote rust) and onto brackets that I had welded onto the front crossmember.

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Oh yes..... I wasn't happy with the way my hood hooks sat. (Having multiple sleepless nights worrying about it in fact. ....And the possibity of more birds sh#tting on my lovely new paintwork .... Andddd..... oh never mind)



So, out came the wad punches to cut some thick plastic disks and out with the hacksaw etc to cut some stainless disks too:

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Now that's better. Don't you reckon?





Ya don't? ......... Oh well. Too late cos I've gone and dunnit

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And here's where the breather for the front diff ended up. - Attached to my LH guard --- Errrr FENDER. Sorry .... I'm getting tired. The computer is on a go-slow. (Or perhaps the MUD computer is objecting to me posting so many photos in such a short timeframe.)

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And tidy electrical wiring = reliable electrical wiring.

So here's some stuff related to that.......

Stainless brackets are easy to make yourself. Grab a drill bit slightly smaller than the diameter you want, use a vice and soft hammer etc to bend a piece of precut sheetmetal around it. Drill a hole in it. Tidy it up...... and hey presto ----- You have a better-than-bought stainless bracket:



Here's a couple of photos of the fender-sitting wiring:

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I spray lanolin into plug-in electrical connections to prevent corrosion:



And let's finsih with some random shots:

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[79fj40moneypit]

You could free up some space in your garage by sending those Triumphs to me. I'd be more than happy to help you out.He He! Nice job on the cruiser looks great!

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[lostmarbles]

Originally Posted by brooklyn

I really like your approach to disassemble the truck part-by-part and then really get into the rust prior to painting. I am following your approach and have started with the hardtop doors. Completely took them apart, removed all the rubber and felts. Took care of the rust inside the doors with POR and now I am completing the outside of the door.

The nice thing about your approach is that the truck stays drive-able, you start small and learn from your mistakes, and you can really fix all the small stuf