merbesfield
SILVER Star
ok, so here goes. i have decided to call this truck "Dakota" as Landpimp pointed out the it has had "big ass" mud flaps on the back that say South Dakota for a long time. so i like the name "Dakota", so there it is. i am sure this will not be as exciting as Matt's LV, but i will try to keep it interesting and more importantly i will be needing lots of help as i have never done a TLC project before. Here is what i plan on doing.
1966 FJ45 LV. from the pics it looks very bad, but actually as we have started to tear it down, we are amazed at how well preserved this truck actually is. the body is excellent, only surface rust. the same can not be said for the pans, but hey we can't all have our cake and eat it too. i think once we finish with all the floor pan work, we will shoot it with some kind of Rhino liner type product. Of course we wll use lots of POR 15 before that. we plan to take all the guts out of the donor, a 1978 FJ55 with 4 spd and factory PS and install it into the LV. i want to keep it stock looking but try to modernize it as much a possible short of going with a V8. i want it to look like Matt's and the one's TLC4x4 does. i debated for a while on the V8 and decided it comes down to the amount of work i want to put into this project vs. the amount of work it will take to do the V8 properly. i also have a 78 55 sitting here that is a very good donor with a very bad body, so it make sense to gut it. i figure if i hate the 2F i can always do the V8 later. now, i would like to clear a few things up right away. i am definitely not a mechanic, i am a car nut. i have a great mechanic who works personally for my company so admittedly, he will be doing most of the wrenching when we do not have company repairs to make, while i will do most of the internet research, problem solving, and design guidance. he is extremely good at what he does and will be doing both the mech. as well as the paint and body. we have a shop, but will be building it up for resto. ie. adding a spray booth, and purchasing equipment such as metal brake, blast cabinet etc. to facilitate a proper restoration. the other thing i would like to clear up at that start is i am a terrible speller so please do not correct me. i also do not like to capitalize very often as you can see. this is all done in the name of speed and necessity. sorry if that offends some English teacher, but i always sucked at English and with the use of computers it has only gotten worse. is there a spell check in the post tools that i do not know of? don't see one. some of the challenge i foresee at this point are the PS setup (not sure what to do) and the sourcing general of parts.
Edited: I thought I should add pics of the two LV's that prompted me to build one for myself.
Build criteria:
1966 FJ45LV stock
Mechanics from donor 78 FJ55:
2F motor
4spd transmission
Factory PS set up
Add:
Vintage A/C
OME suspension
winch
mild lift
stock rims with BFG tires
hidden stereo
1966 FJ45 LV. from the pics it looks very bad, but actually as we have started to tear it down, we are amazed at how well preserved this truck actually is. the body is excellent, only surface rust. the same can not be said for the pans, but hey we can't all have our cake and eat it too. i think once we finish with all the floor pan work, we will shoot it with some kind of Rhino liner type product. Of course we wll use lots of POR 15 before that. we plan to take all the guts out of the donor, a 1978 FJ55 with 4 spd and factory PS and install it into the LV. i want to keep it stock looking but try to modernize it as much a possible short of going with a V8. i want it to look like Matt's and the one's TLC4x4 does. i debated for a while on the V8 and decided it comes down to the amount of work i want to put into this project vs. the amount of work it will take to do the V8 properly. i also have a 78 55 sitting here that is a very good donor with a very bad body, so it make sense to gut it. i figure if i hate the 2F i can always do the V8 later. now, i would like to clear a few things up right away. i am definitely not a mechanic, i am a car nut. i have a great mechanic who works personally for my company so admittedly, he will be doing most of the wrenching when we do not have company repairs to make, while i will do most of the internet research, problem solving, and design guidance. he is extremely good at what he does and will be doing both the mech. as well as the paint and body. we have a shop, but will be building it up for resto. ie. adding a spray booth, and purchasing equipment such as metal brake, blast cabinet etc. to facilitate a proper restoration. the other thing i would like to clear up at that start is i am a terrible speller so please do not correct me. i also do not like to capitalize very often as you can see. this is all done in the name of speed and necessity. sorry if that offends some English teacher, but i always sucked at English and with the use of computers it has only gotten worse. is there a spell check in the post tools that i do not know of? don't see one. some of the challenge i foresee at this point are the PS setup (not sure what to do) and the sourcing general of parts.
Edited: I thought I should add pics of the two LV's that prompted me to build one for myself.
Build criteria:
1966 FJ45LV stock
Mechanics from donor 78 FJ55:
2F motor
4spd transmission
Factory PS set up
Add:
Vintage A/C
OME suspension
winch
mild lift
stock rims with BFG tires
hidden stereo
Last edited: