Builds New Alaskan FJ40 intro thread (2 Viewers)

[Aussie Alaskan]

Paint!

A few runs and spots that will need some touchups, but overall it went well. 1st time I've ever used a paint gun.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Paint!

A few runs and spots that will need some touchups, but overall it went well. 1st time I've ever used a paint gun.

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[Aussie Alaskan]

Stripped down my extra fuel carrier as well as the spare tire rack. Had to hammer the pins out of the spare tire rack. I'm considering replacing those pins with some SS hardware. They were rusted in there pretty good and I'd like to prevent that from happening again.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Some pretty fun reassembly of the front bib/grill. Almost all new SS fasteners and fresh paint on everything. Really looking good. My TOYOTA front badge is showing it's age, and so I may be looking to get a new one. I kinda like how it's still rustic looking however so who knows. I may just roll with it. Temps are back down to the -20s and -30s so my garage is back on car duty and so no more painting for a bit.

I ordered some of the matching vinyl that Cruiser Corps sells for their seat covers. I've got their coral seat covers and so my plan is to wrap my old door cards with matching vinyl. Fingers crossed that goes as well as I'm envisioning.

 

[Admiral Snackbar]

I sort of dig the look of the worn front emblem, adds a bit of character

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Vinyl upholstery of my beat up aftermarket ABS plastic door cards complete and I think they turned out great!

Got matching vinyl to my seat covers from Cruisercorp.

Can't wait to throw these on the freshly painted doors.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Put the ambulance doors back together after paint. One window has a new seal, while the other one I reused the old seal since it wasn't cracked.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Painted a bunch of the hinges and accessory parts this week.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Put the front doors back together today.

What do you guys think of the tan door cards with the Rustic Green paint? I personally love it.

I also put some vibration and sound dampening material in the doors. You could immediately hear a difference when tapping on the doors. Take all the TING and vibrations out of the doors and they sounds like high quality. Very cool!

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

I used white nylon washers wherever there was metal in metal contact. Hopefully this will keep the rust at bay for another 50 years by giving the water room to drain.

Also put my spare fuel can carrier back together. I know it's not OEM, but I like the SS look vs the original yellow zinc fasteners. It's a few bucks to use all SS. But again, rust is the big enemy of FJ40s and I'm building this rig to last. Fingers crossed.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Rebuilt the spare tire holder hinges.

Bronze bushings 16mm id and 20mm od.
16mm SS bolts, washers and locking nuts. Polished up the inner bushing races with a Dremel sanding disc.

Had to order the bolts special since not many places stock 200mm long SS bolts.

Total cost for the hardware: $37 plus shipping.

Result: Rock solid hinge swing with practically zero play. Rust proof. Adjustable swing tension.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

SS hardware for the spare tire latch as well.
This subassembly is done and ready to be bolted back to the body after the body is painted.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Stripped everything out of the tub over the past two days. Removed all the anchor bolts and everything on the firewall and the tub is loose. I'll have to invite some guys over to lift it off the frame and flip it over. Next item of business will be to prep the underside for primer, seam sealer and paint.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Tub removed, flipped, and placed on a flatbed trailer. Ill be transporting it to a heated shop for paint hopefully this weekend.

Probably 9 hrs into scraping the old asphalt undercoating off, wire wheeling, scrubbing with WD-40, and sanding the underside of the tub. Coming along nicely so far.

 

[cbmontgo]

Results were pretty good. Compared them to the 52" X Vision light bar on my brother's truck and they weren't quite as good as distance, but had a lot more flood light capacity vs his light bar.

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Not to distract from this solid thread, but had a question...is it true that they don't salt the roads in Alaska?

 

[FJ907Warrior]

Not to distract from this solid thread, but had a question...is it true that they don't salt the roads in Alaska?

I don't know about @Aussie Alaskan s area further north, but the Kenai Peninsula is a heavy Brine w/rust inhibitors (rust inhibitors don't to squat on my opinion)

Matter of great debate locally, but I prefer regular salt and sand over brine.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Not to distract from this solid thread, but had a question...is it true that they don't salt the roads in Alaska?

As far as I'm aware, thats true. They may salt the roads down along the coastal areas, but they don't in the interior.

Why you may ask?
Well it's because the interior of Alaska experiences temperatures in the -40F to -60F range pretty regularly during the winter and at those extreme negative temps, the salt has little to no effect. Salt simply lowers the melting temp of water, but for much of the winter, the temps are still too low for salt to be effective.

The cold is annoying, but the vehicles don't rust out as quickly.

 

[Chilkoot]

Not to distract from this solid thread, but had a question...is it true that they don't salt the roads in Alaska?

The small town I grew up in along the coast in Southeast Alaska didn’t use salt either. Just sand.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Seam sealer and rust encapsulating paint done on the body. Ready for final cleaning and then primer this weekend.

Frame has been fully painted with POR15. Did most of it from the underside last year, and just had to clean and sand down the tops of the frame rails and it was good to go.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Tentatively looking for a front bumper in good condition for my 40. Can be OEM or not. My OEM bumper is pretty beat up and twisted. Shipping to AK will be a big cost. If anybody local or otherwise to Alaska has a bumper thats just sitting around let me know. A bit of rust and small dings are fine. As long as it can be restored with elbow grease.

Thanks guys!