Australian FJ40 - A possible rebuild thread! (1 Viewer)

[phils40]

Hey everyone,

I have recently acquired a 1978 FJ40, which was bought brand new by my old man, and sold to my uncle in the late 1980s. It originally was dune beige and upon acquiring the 40, my uncle cut a lot of rust out, painted it blue and then a few years later the maroon colour it is today.

The body work aint too bad, the plan for the next few months will be to strip it back, prime and re-spray.
The interior is pretty good, all the seats have been re-upholstered and the plan is to keep it original, so they'll definitely stay.

I'm fed up of getting as high as a kite from the smell of petrol whilst I drive, so ill be ripping the seats out to install a poly tank i got in from cruisercorps and then replace all the lines.

After that it's re-paint, all new seals to the doors (currently none on the drivers) and roof, some sound/heat proofing, adding A/C (35c or 95f today) which I have an original dash mount on its way and some nice wheels rims, nothing too flash.

I'd like to do some smaller upgrades too - better lights and LEDs at the rear... and get rid of the huge gate on the front!

Mechanically, the 40 seems to be pretty good. I've been looking at dizzy/plug upgrades, but at the moment, its going fine, so theres no need to fix or replace!

I'm a fan of keeping things original and practical, so there'll be no major lifts or engine replacements, just something stock and cool to drive around in. I plan to take my time, try not to spend too much (insert evil laughs) and have a beer or two along the way.

Cheers fellas.. I look forward to getting this 40 that i sat in as a kid, back to a decent (not showroom!) condition.

Phil

 

[78fj40mg]

Welcome to MUD!
Very nice rig!

 

[Poser]

Welcome.

Nice Land Cruiser.


I would get a factory new metal tank, or, an aftermarket metal unit from CCOT.

I would not put a poly tank into a 40 and expect it to not smell like fuel.

But, hey, perhaps you will be the first user out here to have good luck with a poly tanks.

 

[dancar]

Cool history on that cruiser.

Your approach is great - address only what's needed, and enjoy.

Look forward to progress.

Dan

 

[west aussie]

welcome. good to see another west aussie!

 

[phils40]

Welcome.

Nice Land Cruiser.


I would get a factory new metal tank, or, an aftermarket metal unit from CCOT.

I would not put a poly tank into a 40 and expect it to not smell like fuel.

But, hey, perhaps you will be the first user out here to have good luck with a poly tanks.

Cheers Poser. Next time should search first, but later. It was the same price as second hand ones in Australia, so i'll see how i go with it. Perhaps a two stage approach, I'll inspect the tank and hoses first before replacing.

welcome. good to see another west aussie!

Cheers west aussie!

So i ordered a fibreglass gutter today and can expect to get it delivered from the eastern states sometime next week. I start a few weeks leave off work today (wife is due with our first) so hopefully Ill get a bit of work done paint wise on the 40. Hopefully.

As and when i start, the pics will arrive and be posted.

Cheers
Phil

 

[lostmarbles]

Another "welcome" here ... this time from a kiwi neighbour...

 

[phils40]

The stripping begins..

 

[phils40]

The worst of the rust so far.. hidden behind the seats in the back.

 

[phils40]

Roof and the rest to hopefully come off tomorrow.

 

[Indestructible 47]

nice truck. what colour are you going?

 

[phils40]

Ill be going back to the original beige.

 

[phils40]

The more i pull this apart, the more rust i find. Roof off, windscreen down and side removed up from the tub. A lot of rust between the roof towards the back doors. Not sure what to do. Some advice I am getting is to get someone in to do some TIG welding to cut out the rust underneath the door panels. The windscreen and tub at the front hows quite a bit of rust as well. Again, not sure as to source another 2nd hand windscreen from a wreckers, get mine fixed or go fibreglass.

Im going to try to take some parts down to some local welding shops next week, and see what they say.

 

[lostmarbles]

Hi Phil

For me, much of the enjoyment of owning these old cruisers is the DIY work. I've bought a little MIG welder that I use for sheetmetal work with flux-cored wire. (A lot of people apparently don't like the flux-cored wire, preferring instead to use ordinary wire + gas, but flux-cored works well-enough for me.)

Admittedly the only place I've had to tackle serious rust like you've got there was in my windscreen.

It looks like your FJ40 has been in a coastal (salt) environment.

Getting someone to repair that sort of rust properly costs a lot of $$$ and first you've got to find someone whose even capable of doing a proper job (ie. an all-steel job without using bog). Those people aren't present in most panel&paint shops.

Of course here I'm assuming you want a job that's going to last more than just a few years and allow you treat it normally (rather than storing it in a garage and bringing it out only in fine weather).

 

[cult45]

Don't get disheartened by the rust. When I get a repair done I stipulate that once all the repairs are done, before they fill with bog, I come down and take pics 'for resale' should I ever sell the truck. That way I know it's been repaired properly. Plus, you can always do the filler work yourself. It's easy. Mix it up, use a spatula to put it on, let it dry, sand. Repeat.

 

[Ken White]

Welcome and great to see another Aussie on the site. Will be following the rebuild.

 

[DTSkyCop]

Great looking cruiser and excellent story behind it. Nice to know the history of your vehicle. Where did you source the dash mounted A/C? Is it new? What color you planning on repainting your cruiser? Good luck with your new/old 40!

 

[alberta mac]

Some people get their tank re-glassed. A fibre glass resign is poured in. The other option is to put in a reserve tank in the rear and turn your gas tank area into a mini tool crib !
Oh and get some anti-seize ! If you pull a bolt don't put it back without anti-seize ! you'll thank your self years later !
Nice work and welcome !

 

[phils40]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments.

Hi Phil

For me, much of the enjoyment of owning these old cruisers is the DIY work. I've bought a little MIG welder that I use for sheetmetal work with flux-cored wire. (A lot of people apparently don't like the flux-cored wire, preferring instead to use ordinary wire + gas, but flux-cored works well-enough for me.)

Admittedly the only place I've had to tackle serious rust like you've got there was in my windscreen.

It looks like your FJ40 has been in a coastal (salt) environment.

Getting someone to repair that sort of rust properly costs a lot of $$$ and first you've got to find someone whose even capable of doing a proper job (ie. an all-steel job without using bog). Those people aren't present in most panel&paint shops.

Of course here I'm assuming you want a job that's going to last more than just a few years and allow you treat it normally (rather than storing it in a garage and bringing it out only in fine weather).

Cheers Tom. Im a home brewer and picked up the welder to do a bit of work - stands etc. Then i promptly put it back down! The FJ40 has definitely lived most of its life up and down the West Australian coast. My old man was a keen fisherman so its definitely seen a lot of salt.

Hopefully this weekend I can get an idea on the work thats required. Yeah i want it to last a good while.

Great looking cruiser and excellent story behind it. Nice to know the history of your vehicle. Where did you source the dash mounted A/C? Is it new? What color you planning on repainting your cruiser? Good luck with your new/old 40!

I got the AC from a wreckers here in Australia. Im going original for the paint - beige.

Im trying to post up a few more pics... having a few technical issues!

 

[phils40]

Windscreen off, windows out and most parts are now off to get prepped and primed.

Scored another windscreen as when i took mine off, had huge holes on the top left and right hand sides, as well as on the bottom where the vents are. I got it for $200 off gumtree, and it was perfect, just a small bit of surface rust.

The only other big parts of rust where I removed the window. Nothing major.

One thing I'm not sure of - I have a 78, the new windscreen i got I think was off an 82. When i order new seals, are they the same? Ive read somewhere that they are different.