Call of the 40" tires... almost. (1 Viewer)

[MMaxim]

Hi everyone. Want to share my experience and give others that are thinking about this kind of modifications some idea of what might be involved.
I mostly do winter camping and snow wheeling with my LX so when a good set of lightly used 39.5 IROCKS on Rock Monster beadlocks became available at a great price, I knew I am getting in a serious project!
I already had Ironman 4”-5” lift and suspension pretty much sorted out, so it was a matter of cutting out wheel arches. But, here is where it started snowballing on me. To cut arches I needed to remove flares. If flares are removed, then door moldings must go as well. If flares and door moldings are removed then holes need to be welded up and sheet metal sharped/filled, painted, etc.

Here is the project from start to finish in pictures!
Front before I started:

This seemed to be the maximum I could cut without drastic modifications to inner fenders.

Rear is a bit more complicated because I didn't want to get in the door.

Testing before I start finishing the fender lips.

To be continued!

 

[MMaxim]

Everything seemed to be ok and I proceeded to sheet metal work.

Applied some short strand body filler.

 

[MMaxim]

Next was the front.

Now looks a bit funny with 37s!

 

[MMaxim]

Now for the biggest challenge - holes!

Still puzzled why Toyota did this. Overall over 150 holes needed to be filled on doors, quarter panels and rear tailgate.

 

[MMaxim]

After the welds are sanded down and punched in a little I went in with the body filler.

 

[MMaxim]

When I was happy with filler I added a coat of Polyester Primer filler and sanded that down to nice smooth finish.

Paint is next!

 

[MMaxim]

The paint day!
I rented a paint booth and planned the day out to finish everything in one long day.

Finished disassembly. All lights, trim, mirrors are gone.

1 coat of epoxy primer, thinned out and used as a sealer.

First coat of color. Ended up doing 3.

Weather gods were not gentle that day!!!

 

[MMaxim]

After letting it sit for 3 hours I asseble it enough to be able to drive home.

This is pretty much how it is sitting right now.

In the process of refinishing my bumpers and should hit the trails soon!

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Looks good dude, love the color. I wish I had the skill set to do body work like that. Super impressive!!!

 

[MMaxim]

Looks good dude, love the color. I wish I had the skill set to do body work like that. Super impressive!!!

Thank you! Was my first time doing serious bodywork and paint. Loved it!

 

[Augustiron]

Nice. Did you have previous professional body/paint experience?
Seem slime.lots of steps and.procedures to have to know how to get right for an inexperienced layman like me.

 

[Saito]

Wadda ya got in this for a motor ? Thought I saw an exhaust pipe in the DS fender well in one pic ? . . . love it though ! Looks great !

 

[MMaxim]

Nice. Did you have previous professional body/paint experience?
Seem slime.lots of steps and.procedures to have to know how to get right for an inexperienced layman like me.

No previous experience in paint and bodywork, but I am good at fabricating stuff. There is tons of information online on pretty much anything related to restoring cars.

 

[MMaxim]

Wadda ya got in this for a motor ? Thought I saw an exhaust pipe in the DS fender well in one pic ? . . . love it though ! Looks great !

Still stock 1FZ-FE, rebuilt about 2 years ago. Picture that you referenced is flipped (selfie mode).

 

[COYS]

I'm as excited as the next guy when I run into threads about going bigger than 37s, but always feel let down when people neuter the body. The 80 looks flaccid sans widebody fenders. It's what makes the 80 series an 80 series imho. It's the piece de resistance of LC design all time.

This is my fav 80 aesthetic hands down. 38x15s with Arctic truck fends. It actually inspired me to start searching for FZJ80s 4+ years ago.



Drive safe and enjoy!

 

[MMaxim]

I'm as excited as the next guy when I run into threads about going bigger than 37s, but always feel let down when people neuter the body. The 80 looks flaccid sans widebody fenders. It's what makes the 80 series an 80 series imho. It's the piece de resistance of LC design all time.

This is my fav 80 aesthetic hands down. 38x15s with Arctic truck fends. It actually inspired me to start searching for FZJ80s 4+ years ago.



Drive safe and enjoy!

I agree it is a great feature of the 80 series. I already have rubber flares that I will be installing a little later.
They are not those arctic flares, but will add some width to the body.

 

[LandCruiser65]

Impressive work! Love that color. Pretty cool you were able to rent a paint booth.

 

[MMaxim]

Impressive work! Love that color. Pretty cool you were able to rent a paint booth.

Thank you. Apparently some body shops rent their booths out on weekends.

 

[GW Nugget]

Just saw this... very nice work.
This thread needs to be updated; I saw other pics with an addition to the bumper.

 

[MMaxim]

Here it is! Not done yet, but very close!