I've been lurking on MUD for a couple years and finally sold another project, so now I have some cash and decided it's time to get the 40 looking good. It's a '76 FJ40 with the original 2F, transmission and xfer case, gears and all that. Pretty much stock with a 4" OME lift and 33x12.50 tires. A PO added power steering, electronic ignition, and a Weber carb. I don't have any issues mechanically, and that was what was important when I bought it. I've seen 40s so boogered up mechanically I wouldn't trust it to go down the street. I have an aftermarket soft top and doors, so no hard top, and no real hard doors. I have four hard doors, but they're rotted at the bottom and will need rebuilt. I drove the heck out of the thing for two years and figured I could enjoy it now and always do the body work later. I pretty much use it for top off summertime cruising and some light trail running. I'm not building a hardcore crawler or anything, so my goal is to make it look good, make sure it's structurally sound, and still have a capable rig when I need it. The goal here is not 100% factory original, but I did want to start this thread so I have a place to look back at what I did and ask some questions. The folks on MUD have been nothing but helpful in the past, so I bought a silver star and here we go.
I just started the tear down tonight. I pulled the jump seats, roll bar, drivers seat, and the storage tailgate a PO added. Hope to get the passenger seat and tuffy box out soon so I can remove the Herculiner a PO put in. I got the Herculiner removed from the rear of the 40, and from under the drivers seat. It had un-adhered from the metal a while back, so I was a bit nervous at what I was going to find. You really shouldn't be able to remove it in two hours with nothing more than a pocket knife. Metal prep apparently wasn't a consideration when it was put in. I can already tell I have a lot of rust worms, so I've called in some help with the patching and welding. I can do it, but other folks can do it better, so I'm going to take the assistant role. Looks like the rear sill can possibly be saved, but I need a new rear bed and some patching under the driver's seat. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it looks. I've seen 40s in a whole lot worse shape, and after I get this thing patched, get the rust removed, and get it re-rhino lined, I should be good to go for many years to come. I think I'm going to go with 14ga diamond floor plate for the bed. I'll cut out enough to just get rid of the ribs so it all looks the same, and after I get it re-lined it should look good and perform well for me. Not sure what I'm putting under the drivers seat yet.
The rear quarter panels are pretty much all bondo, so I'll order some new ones to re-skin those with. Metal Tech has a pretty decent price on them. The bondo was put on pretty thick and is cracking and falling out. There's also quite a bit of bondo in the front fenders, so I'll order them as well. Probably from SOR.
After the body work comes all the little stuff like getting the speedometer working again. Not that anyone ever got a speeding ticket in a 40, but it is nice to know how fast you're going. LED light upgrades for the dash, re-doing the steering wheel since the PO obviously didn't put on all the parts. I don't have a horn, and the turn signals don't cancel unless you do it manually. I'm planning on cutting the speakers into the side of my tuffy box since I really don't store anything in there anyway. Two 6" rounds on the side and maybe a vertically mounted 6x9 on the back. Depends on how much room I have in there. I'll probably have to save my pennies again for a real paint job, but I can at lest make it all the same color. It's just a rattlecan paint job on it now.
That's where I am now. I'll see how much of the plan I follow and how much changes mid stream. I'm sure I'll get a case of the "while we're here...s", so this should be interesting. I've attached some pics for whoever is interested, and I'm looking forward to getting to work.
I just started the tear down tonight. I pulled the jump seats, roll bar, drivers seat, and the storage tailgate a PO added. Hope to get the passenger seat and tuffy box out soon so I can remove the Herculiner a PO put in. I got the Herculiner removed from the rear of the 40, and from under the drivers seat. It had un-adhered from the metal a while back, so I was a bit nervous at what I was going to find. You really shouldn't be able to remove it in two hours with nothing more than a pocket knife. Metal prep apparently wasn't a consideration when it was put in. I can already tell I have a lot of rust worms, so I've called in some help with the patching and welding. I can do it, but other folks can do it better, so I'm going to take the assistant role. Looks like the rear sill can possibly be saved, but I need a new rear bed and some patching under the driver's seat. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it looks. I've seen 40s in a whole lot worse shape, and after I get this thing patched, get the rust removed, and get it re-rhino lined, I should be good to go for many years to come. I think I'm going to go with 14ga diamond floor plate for the bed. I'll cut out enough to just get rid of the ribs so it all looks the same, and after I get it re-lined it should look good and perform well for me. Not sure what I'm putting under the drivers seat yet.
The rear quarter panels are pretty much all bondo, so I'll order some new ones to re-skin those with. Metal Tech has a pretty decent price on them. The bondo was put on pretty thick and is cracking and falling out. There's also quite a bit of bondo in the front fenders, so I'll order them as well. Probably from SOR.
After the body work comes all the little stuff like getting the speedometer working again. Not that anyone ever got a speeding ticket in a 40, but it is nice to know how fast you're going. LED light upgrades for the dash, re-doing the steering wheel since the PO obviously didn't put on all the parts. I don't have a horn, and the turn signals don't cancel unless you do it manually. I'm planning on cutting the speakers into the side of my tuffy box since I really don't store anything in there anyway. Two 6" rounds on the side and maybe a vertically mounted 6x9 on the back. Depends on how much room I have in there. I'll probably have to save my pennies again for a real paint job, but I can at lest make it all the same color. It's just a rattlecan paint job on it now.
That's where I am now. I'll see how much of the plan I follow and how much changes mid stream. I'm sure I'll get a case of the "while we're here...s", so this should be interesting. I've attached some pics for whoever is interested, and I'm looking forward to getting to work.