The Machinist's "Project" Thread: 86' FJ60 [Lots Of Pics] (1 Viewer)

[The Machinist]

I've decided to move the documentation of my "project build" from my intro thread to its own dedicated thread. This is my truck the morning after we brought it home:

Side by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

As of now I am working on cleaning the interior, and trying to see how close to "like new!" I can get it. Picking up where my previous thread left off, I had removed the two front seats and the center console and was ready to start the clean up process. Here are the pics of when I first got the seats and the center console out.

Front Seats Out by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

Look At What Surprises Were Under the Center Console! by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

So after school today I took out the rear bench (seat bottom only) and gave the back section a good once over with the shop-vac. After that I went and found some degreaser and cleaned up the sticky mess left by someone spilling a lot of coffee under the center console, then dirt and debris sticking to it over the years. I managed to get most of it off the metal in a short amount of time.

much cleaner2 by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr


I also started to try to remove some of the coffee stains from the carpet, I'll find out how well it worked tomorrow when its dry. From the looks of things, I may be spending more time on stain removal than I previously thought. ... At least it keeps me busy.

Here are the seats sitting on my back porch, ready to be cleaned.

seats out, ready to be cleaned by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

This is what the driver's seat looks like now:

drivers seat stain by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

This is what the passenger seat looks like now, I started cleaning it a little last night:

passenger part clean by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

Both seats were equally nasty when I started, so I am making progress, just got a long way to go still. The back seat is not as bad, but it still needs work. What I want to know is what the hell happened that made them spill this much coffee!

seats out, ready to be cleaned by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

And last but not least, this is the interior as it sits tonight, seats out, carpet cleaning beginning, progress being made.

A work in progress by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

I know this is a damn long post, but I'm using this thread to document my work, step by step, like a digital record book.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned if your interested, I've got plenty of work to do!

 

[srogers]

Looking good - did you save the mouthpiece? Never know when you might need one!

 

[The Machinist]

Thanks! And no, but that did catch me off guard when I found it. It was pretty nasty under that center console!

 

[gregnash]

I would go to your local Lowe's/Home Depot/where-ever and rent one of the carpet cleaners with the upholstery attachment. Should get you deeper than just scrubbing with a rag and cleaning solution. Do that over the entire seats and vehicle as it will probably cost you almost as much as it would in the rattle cans of cleaner.

Looks good and will be watching this as I plan to pick one up within the next 6 months and will use these threads as my "idea" starters.

 

[The Machinist]

Yeah, I was thinking about doing that for the carpets. My Dad's friend has an industrial sized carpet cleaning machine, so I may see if he can get that. As for the seats I already had a gallon of Folex, and its working well so im going to stick with that.
Good luck on getting the truck! I've had mine for 4 days and I'm already lovin it.

 

[saucebox]

Since the seats are already out, just remove the carpets entirely and take them to the quarter carwash place. A few minutes of high pressure water will clean all of that nonsense out. Same for the seats, if you have time to let them dry (though that would take quite a while).

I had similar stains all over mine, and they're all clean now.

 

[The Machinist]

So instead of using waaaay too many paper towels, I remembered that one of the carpet cleaners that I am using is meant to be vaccumed up after it soaks in. So I took the filter out of my shop-vac and it worked awesome. Now the driver's side of the car has MUCH cleaner floors; passenger side and seats to come in the next few days. I need to have them back in for a smog test on Friday, or atleast thats the plan.

 

[klinetime574]

Dang dude those are some rank looking seats haha.

Looking forward to the cleaner interior!

 

[The Machinist]

Yeah they are! When I took the pics I was surprised at how much worse they looked than in person.
Here's a pic of the driver's side floor after spending the evening removing stains, you might be able tell the difference in the darkness of the stains and the overall color and texture of the carpet.

 

[wengejor]

Yeah, mine's grungy like that as well. I was thinking about just taking it all out and blasting it at the car wash. Good to see that those FORD floor mats are gone....that has to be a sin to the view of the cruiser gods.

Welcome to Mud and congrats on the new 60.

 

[klinetime574]

You could always cover up those stains once they don't smell anymore.

Dupli-Color :: Vinyl & Fabric Coating

Medium Gray looks promising. Although it doesn't necessarily say it's for carpet... haha

 

[The Machinist]

Lol, looks a little sketchy, like it would rub off after a week.

 

[klinetime574]

Duplicolor makes good products. Probably just not the right application is all. Haha

 

[Heckraiser]

I've seen people completely refurbish the interior of hondas with that duplicolor stuff. Comes out looking pretty good and lasts at least a year (last time I caught up with the guy)

 

[The Machinist]

Interior Is Done!

So I finished cleaning up the interior last weekend, but I havent been able to get and pics of it until now. I also had my friend pick up some rubber mats at costco, I wasn't going to pass up $15 for a set. At this point, I still need to get a new e-brake boot, and replace the dome light lens.
Unfortunatly the weather hasn't been very good, so I still havn't been able to wash the truck, but the plan is to take it out on Saturday, which also happens to be my 18th birthday, and get some proper pics.
Oh yeah, and it passed smog, and is now registered and insured.

FJ Drivers Dash by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

FJ back seat by Darrell Vaughn, on Flickr

 

[SNLC]

Good looking Cruiser....nice job on the interior re-fresh! That stuff under the console was pretty damn nasty! I had some gum and few other things under mine but not some persons mouth piece.

 

[anp856]

I really like the style of wheels with the silver paint on the truck and the interior looks alot better. I also had some nasty stains on the carpet along with piles of dog hair I power washed mine and looked decent after but my carpets brown so the stains were kinda hidden.

 

[jfwhite]

Nice job on the cleaning so far! Might be worth renting a Rug Doctor from a local grocery store. Only about $40 with all the supplies, and definitely a lot easier than lugging around an industrial cleaner. You'll be amazed how much dirt and grease will come out.

 

[The Machinist]

I'm happy to finally have the interior cleaned up and feeling new, but I just found out that my Dad needs to use the Suburban I've been driving to school recently for work on Monday and Tuesday, so I have to learn how to drive a stick by the end of tomorrow, or I'm taking the bus again. If I can get it down tomorrow, I'll have a chance to get more practice following my Dad to my Aunt's house in Morgan Hill on Sunday.

But I guess learning to drive a stick isn't the worst way to spend your 18th birthday...

 

[Texas993]

you will do fine learning the stick. Think through the mechanics of it - keeping the rpm's high enough to engage the gears, the purpose of the clutch, etc. Definitely a lot of technique to learn, but when you break it down the to mechanical functions, it's pretty simple. Stay calm, deep breaths, and happy birthday!