'78 resto using parts from U.S., Can., Aus., and B.C. (1 Viewer)

[Caddisfly]

'78 resto using parts from U.S., Can., and Australia

Most of the restoration threads I have enjoyed on this site start with a back story, so here's mine:
As a result of the gas crisis in the early 70s, my father sold his beloved Chevy and bought a brand new Toyota Corolla wagon in 1979. There was a red Jeep-like vehicle in my neighborhood at the time, and I thought it looked strange -- especially the rounded top and the curved windows in the back. When I discovered it was a Toyota FJ40, I immediately changed my mind about the weird top and windows because my family now owned a Toyota. My father soon added a '78 2-door Corolla to the mix. Eventually those two vehicles became hand-me-downs, but when it came time for me to buy my own vehicles in the late '80s / early '90s, these are what my wife and I bought:

 

[Caddisfly]

In the picture above (left), you can see our 1990 Toyota 4x4 truck, our 1979 FJ40, and our 1989 Toyota Celica (the GT model, of course). Once we had kids, we had to get rid of the truck and the car because we needed vehicles that had roomier interiors. We ended up getting a 1996 Toyota Tacoma extended cab and a 4-door sedan made by another manufacturer.

We would have kept the FJ40, but the rust issues were getting ahead of us and the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. I checked for a replacement converter at all the local car parts places, and I got the same speech: Dealer item only. Both of the dealerships in my area quoted me prices of over $700. (In the early 90s, that was a HUGE amount of money.) My wife and I decided to sell our FJ.

For the next ten or so years, we frequently talked about how much we regretted our decision to get rid of it. Eventually, my wife tried to buy me an '81 FJ40 for Christmas.

 

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The '81, which belonged to my sister's friend, was in good shape, but based on the amout of work it needed, the asking price was too high.

My family and I spent the next half of a year traveling around Maine and New Hampshire looking at Land Cruisers. At the time, complete rust buckets were being offered at $2000, and ready-to-drive vehicles started at three times that amount. We were not quite ready to give up, but we were getting closer to calling it quits. One day an ad appeared for this FJ (below) in Uncle Henry's (a New England sales magazine):

 

[Caddisfly]

As luck would have it, I was the first caller. According to the seller, at least 30 people called after I did.

The seller and his father owned a total of five FJ40s (1969 -1978), three of which were on the road. After taking the one above for a test ride, I paid the seller $1,500 for it, and as an added bonus, I got two extra doors (early 70s style), an extra top, two extra side panels (mint), an extra hood, and four original (but rusty) wheels. I also noticed the current inspection sticker on the window -- another bonus.

I drove it home -- a distance of about 70 or 80 miles -- and I ended up using it as a spring/summer/fall driver for the next two years. Last year, I decided to fix the stuff that needed attention.

 

[Caddisfly]

All of the gauges worked, and the only leak that appeared was one involving the rear main seal. After any long trip, I'd always find a few drops of oil on a piece of cardboard I put underneath.

The odometer was showing 67,000 miles when I bought the Cruiser, but FJ40 owners know that the 67,000 is really 167,000 or 267,000 miles. It now reads 81,000 miles.

 

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Here's a picture of what the FJ looked like the next day at my house:

 

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...and here is what it looked like shortly thereafter:

 

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After looking at one FJ after another -- and finding out that some sellers have a different definition of "great shape" than I do -- I was impressed with the honesty of the man who sold me the 1978 Land Cruiser. When I asked him if there was anything that he thought would need attention soon, he didn't hesitate when he said, "The mounts on the frame are starting to go bad, and the body underneath the passenger seat is terrible. There's a bit of Bondo around the wheel wells, too."

Because I live in Maine, and because I do not know how to weld -- and because my first Cruiser fell victim to rust -- I thought about getting an aluminum tub from Aqualu, which is located in British Columbia (hence the "B.C." in my title) ... and is technically part of Canada. A number of ih8mud members including alumacruiser (Bob), Blue60, and joeX3 answered my questions, and I ended up ordering an Aqualu tub through New England Land Cruisers (Rhode Island).

Note: Because the replacement body is not steel, the title of this thread probably should have said "build," not "restoration." The original body looks good in the pictures above, but a closer look would reveal the rust issues.

 

[Caddisfly]

I refinished the spare top and installed it. I also replaced the 33 x 12.5 tires with 31.5 x 10. That decision probably won't go over too well on this forum, but my FJ spends most of its time on roads. (That revelation probably won't go over too well, either.)

 

[Caddisfly]

My sons grew tired of crawling in and out of the back via the hatch that came with the vehicle, so I told one of my sons to find a set of '78 ambulance doors. Jodtan, a member of ih8mud who lives in Canada, sold me a set for a good price. The bottoms were completely rusted away, but a young man I know offered to make them look like new. If you want to see before and after pictures, I have another thread called "ambulance door -- before and after."

After:

 

[Caddisfly]

It was about this time that my father-in-law told me about a guy who'd been working with him. That person turned out to be "Jacoby FJ40," another ih8mud member ... and an owner of a 1973 FJ40. (He's got a great resto thread on here.) Years ago, my wife and I used to see a nice red FJ at our local high school football games. As it turned out, it belongs to Jacoby.

It was also at about this time that "VicM" (mud member) and I began orchestrating a trade. I needed seat brackets, a tire carrier, and sun visors. Vic needed a tub and a cowl.

I didn't have a spare cowl, but Jacoby did, and he needed a hatch. It took the better part of a year to find the right day, but eventually Vic drove to Maine (from Canada), and we exchanged parts. Vic turned out to be as wonderful a guy in person as he is on here. (He did say that people in the United States were driving too slow that afternoon. Oddly enough, I've been on the road he was talking about, and the only place you'll find faster drivers is on a Daytona racetrack.)

Vic and I strapped the '78 tub to his homemade trailer, and off he went. I'm not sure how he made it all the way back home without the tub falling off, but he did.

 

[Caddisfly]

Removing that old tub turned out to be a bigger chore than what I was expecting. Just about everything you can think of was welded to the body. I had to use an air chisel and a sawz-all to remove the "custom" seat frame and the roll bars. The rear of the body was also welded to the bumper.

The seat frame was actually welded to the gas tank cover.

 

[Caddisfly]

The floor pan underneath the passenger seat looked exactly like the seller said it did:

 

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The frame also came as advertised:

 

[Caddisfly]

Check out this custom spring perch:

 

[Caddisfly]

These are pictures of what the frame looks like after a neighbor fabricated new frame mounts and also replaced the spring perches on both sides:

 

[Caddisfly]

One of my sons is almost ready to get his driver's license. (Update: He got his license in June of 2009.) He's invested countless hours sanding and priming and doing whatever else he can to get the FJ back on the road. His goal is to drive the FJ to school -- the same school my wife and I graduated from, and the same one where we used to see Jacoby's FJ. Getting the rust off the frame took hours, but a couple of coats of Rust Bullet should help keep the rust away.

 

[Caddisfly]

I should have put these next pictures in front of the repaired frame pictures. The man who fabricated the frame mounts for me lives a mile or two down the road. I had already removed the gas tank, so I decided to coast downhill over to his house. My son convinced me to start a "coasting" thread last year, and even though viewers of that thread laughed at me, not with me, I've decided to add a couple more photos:

 

[Caddisfly]

I knew my FJ would be out of commission for a while, but at my house we have lots of toys and pictures to keep us motivated. Some of you have the same posters in your build threads.

(A good friend of mine moved to Japan, and he has provided probably a fourth of the models in the top picture.)

 

[Caddisfly]

Even though aluminum bodies are less prone to corrosion, I wanted to coat the bottom and interior of the tub with a spray-in bedliner. The two big companies each wanted more than $1000 to do the job, so I posted a question on this forum and got the answer I was hoping to get. I bought a 4-quart kit of Raptor (by U-Pol) for $109, and I used a roller on the bottom and a sprayer on the top to do the job. So far I am more than pleased with the results. (Raptor is made in England -- I should have added that to the title of this thread.)

edit -- I don't have a picture of the spray-gun session, but I do have a picture of the acid etching stuff.