78 FJ40 Resto Project

[pportmd]

I will attempt to document this project, not because I know what I am doing, but because I don't! It will be an experiment on finding out if it's an owner's determination, talent, or stupidity what makes a succesful project reach completion.

I owned a new mustard 1979 FJ40 my father gave me as a present that year, at the start of my senior year in college. My dad paid ~$8,500 for it at the local dealer. My mother fell in love with it and demanded an A/C for when she would take it out for a spin in my hometown in Puerto Rico. Out went the heater box and in went a nice under-the-dash chiller that would freeze the ya-ya's out of an eskimo. I surfed then so I had the truck treated with Ziebert undercoating injected into every nook and cranny as well as under the carriage.

I drove it through out the island until I moved to Miami in 1980. I added shackles for a 1" lift, with one in the rear passenger side longer than the opposite side to correct the lean for which they were notorious. I had the arc on the factory springs increased at a shop equipped with a huge press to add another 1/2" perhaps. First set of tires were 10.5 x 15 on stock rims, uuugly, but that's all the local gas station had in stock.

On the first major rainfall I headed to the mountains looking for mud trails to test my new rig with no winch, shovel, or jack by myself. I had no prior experience and didn't know any better. ...and yes, I did get stuck, in the middle of no where, scared ...less. Fortunately I worked the rig out of the muddy grass and made it safe back to the road, but not before bending a piece of quarter panel with the oversized tire. My dad wanted to kill me.

I moved to Miami in 1980 to attend graduate school and had the LC shipped with all my stuff in it. I got a job as a research tech that paid me enough $ to save for four black & chrome rims 15 X 8 and 4 nice, real mud tires. Bought a set of fender flares, borrowed a saber saw from my landlord and went to town cutting sheetmetal along the rear quarter panels. By the time I was done, it looked very nice.

In 1987 I moved back to PR and sold the LC in Miami. I had no idea then that 1)they were no longer being manufactured and 2) that they would become collectible icons. Mine had ~ 40K miles and I sold it to a fellow from Venezuela for ~$4000, with no rust. Guy sees me in a parking lot and asks me if I would sell it and I said "sure, $4000" He didn't even try to bargain with me. Within 3 hours it was a done deal. I felt that I had just done and incredibly good deal, or one incredibly bad. Now I know it was the latter, but I needed the money to pay for the move back to the island.

Almost 20 years later, in 2006, I bought my second mustard, FJ40, a 1978 owned briefly by Armond. It had straight panels, stock emission system, stock radio, etc. The dash had one of those aftermarket dash covers and the floor boards were in decent shape--surface rust mostly. Quarter panels, sill, etc had no rust and the odometer said ~80K miles. A prime candidate for resto, I drove it from New Iberia to N.O. at ~60MPH, spending 1-1/2 tanks at least and a new hobby was born...or so I hope! I warn this will be slow and boring coming with updates and I expect the project to take me ~2 years.

Ricardo

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...Body panels are in very good condition

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...more

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...three more

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...last two today

[Volunteer]

Thats a great story, I look forward to following your build. These rigs are very simple and you'll have a good time with it. This site is an excellent tool to have during your restoration. I look forward to seeing more.

[cruiserschwing]

Glad to finally KNOW that one of my former vehicles went to a good home. I can honestly say it is in good hands. It served me well for the short time I had it and I know it is a great base from which to start a restoration. I look forward to watching this thread and seeing your progress. Remember, I'm not the most knowledgable guy on this forum, but I've got a strong back. So, if there is ever anything I can do to give you hand with the heavy lifting required during your project, please let me know.

[PScottBx]

Sweet... can't wait to see it progress.

Scott

[pportmd]

Fenders, aprons, etc. all came off

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The right fender had a ding that I straightened with the hammer and dolly. Good practice, still have all my fingers intact.

[pportmd]

Removing undercoating is a major PITA and will cure you promplty of ever wanting to restore another car. Anyway, a propane torch, a spackling spatula and several hours of elbow grease reveals good, healthy, primed metal underneath. Took a whole day doing both (lots of beer breaks).

[Volunteer]

Originally Posted by pportmd

Removing undercoating is a major PITA and will cure you promplty of ever wanting to restore another car. Anyway, a propane torch, a spackling spatula and several hours of elbow grease reveals good, healthy, primed metal underneath. Took a whole day doing both (lots of beer breaks).

Wow, that is painful but they look good. Get you a good 4' grinder with one of those wire wheels on it and some safty glasses and go to town. It works wonders and will take the 30+ years of grit and paint down to metal in minutes.

[pportmd]

The heater fan was one dirty, faded device. I took it apart and sandblasted the plastic housing and all metal parts, then primed and painted with spray can primer and epoxy paint. It looks much better now, but spray cans have a short coming: they do not last much, costing much $$ if you have many parts, and they do not spray evenly, particularly as the pressure drops below a certain threshold. The advantage is that they give you a quick, clean result if you are aware and paying attention to the prep and painting steps. You also cannot beat the ease of setting up with spray can paint.

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...more

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...looking better

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...and final look

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Originally Posted by Volunteer

Wow, that is painful but they look good. Get you a good 4' grinder with one of those wire wheels on it and some safty glasses and go to town. It works wonders and will take the 30+ years of grit and paint down to metal in minutes.

I used a wire wheel for final cleaning, but thick undercoat is almost impervious to the wire and I think would have taken much longer.
I use a grinder if I can recoat right away and/or if shearing off healthy sheetmetal is not a concern. It will be a long while before I get to stripping and recoating, so I'm glad the primer underneath survived.

The torch heats up the undercoat and it scrapes off easier. Howevever, it's the nook and crannies that eat up your time and patience.

[pportmd]

Here are some shots of the auxilliary tank removal. I cleaned it with a 3M wheel and a wire wheel on a drill, then washed it ith soap and water to remove any grease/oil, then applied Chemprep with lint-free rag, then two fast coats of etch primer, two coats of epoxy primer, and two coats of single stage urethane. I still need to finish the side that abutts agains the flooring, which I will rattle can with primer and black paint since this side is not visible.

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Three more...

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more...

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...and last three

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The air cleaner was disassembled, sandblasted, cleaned, treated with chemtreat, primed with etch and epoxy primers, then top-coated with single-stage urethane.

Close-ups are to remind me how things go on reassembly. There are three gaskets to the assembly, as shown by the pics...

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...more

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more...

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...the previous and the next two shots show the gaskets. I forgot to take pics of the etch and epoxy stages, but they were done, same as with the auxiliary tank...

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...next to last