Builds 1972 Camo FJ40 build (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Threads
12
Messages
78
Location
North Alabama
Website
cedarhillsmedia.com
A little history…

I have been a Land Cruiser owner for the past 12 years including: '00 UZJ100, '01 UZJ100, '02 UZJ100, and '97 FZJ80 Collector's Edition. A couple of years ago I restored a '61 Dodge Power Wagon my wife bought for me and it was a blast. I worked on the old beast with my dad and grandad and we gave life to that old iron again and had it running like it did when it rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. It was special and I learned a lot about restoring old trucks. I have the best time working on projects with these two, my dad who is 61 and my granddad who is 81. Some would call them shade tree mechanics, they have seen and done it all and worked on just about everything under the sun. Not to mention they can diagnose and fix just about any problem with a vehicle. I learn a lot and basically try to stay out of the way, but it’s really fun, memories are made.

The day we picked up the Power Wagon
power-wagon-bought-1.jpg

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The day I sold the Power Wagon
power-wagon-sold-1.jpg



So, while I am super excited about FJ40 restore project I am even more excited about the journey it takes to get there and spending quality time with two people who mean the world to me. After we completed the Power Wagon project I started getting a little more serious about a FJ40 build since we are a Land Cruise household including my awesome wife. I have been a MUD member for the past 8 years and have read many posts about the dos, donts and how tos. I had a pretty good feeling on what I wanted to do on the project and what I needed to find to begin the project. However, after several months of looking I was having trouble locating some good FJ40 bones to work with (at a reasonable price that wasn't completely roached out). I search the standard places, MUD, ebay, CL, etc. This is my rough documented journey in search of an FJ40 and the process it takes to rebuild the one I found…


January 2, 2015
So, I took the plunge on what needs a little (read alot) more work than I had originally planned. I found this old “deer camp 40” located down in the panhandle of Florida. The current owner had not done anything to it since he had purchased a couple of weeks earlier. He basically bought it to flip and make a few hundred dollars. From what I could tell by looking at pics on craigslist it looked decent. It was ‘71 (at least that’s what it was advertised) soon I will learn it’s an actual ’72 with mostly all original parts. I have a good friend who lived only 30 mins from where she was located and I asked if he could go take a look for me. T and his wife went and gave it a once over and said yep looks good, not a ton of rust, but yep it has rust and missing a few things and does not drive but the engine runs and fired right up. It has the family roll cage, no jump seats and some old torn up from seats that will require replacing. More knobs on the dash then it needed and wires everywhere…


Ok, so my quick check list...

1) rust? check

2) engine run? check

3) mostly original? check

4) original inline 6 engine

5) original 3spd tranny? check

6) diamond plate corner pieces? check

7) wiring issues? check

8) brake issues? check

9) carb issues? check


Sounds like a winner to me... So, I am buying this camo FJ40 sight unseen. First vehicle I’ve ever purchased where I didn’t actually see it in person, which to me is a little scary. Nevertheless, I took the plunge and hoped for the best and prepared for the worse. Thankfully I have an understanding wife who is supportive all my projects…My buddy helps me arrange for shipping from the panhandle of Florida to North Alabama (Huntsville).

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January 10th
FJ40 d-day (delivery day) arrives and I get to see it in person, the bones to the project I’ve wanted to start for some time. She arrives after dark so I’m not getting a good picture of the truck other than with headlights and a flashlight. No brakes, no clutch, no battery to test if it will turnover although my buddy Tommy had already seen/heard the engine running in person so I knew it would.


January 11th
Daybreak and I am already up and ready to give a full inspection of my new 40 project. Ok, let’s look at the frame, umm, yes there is rust. Not a ton, but there’s enough… Let’s look in the engine bay umm, yes there is sand, lots of sand in every little piece and more rust. There is some rust in the back and mainly between the tub and top and of course around the drip rail. With a fast 5 min inspection and I already know we will need the following. 1) Battery 2) Clutch 3) Brakes 4) Wheels/Tires 5) Side marker signals 6) Front apron side markers 7) Running boards 8) Front seats 9) Rear Jump seats 10) Roll bar. After inspecting the data plates in the driver side door jam, it reads a build date of Oct 1971 but the VIN ends with 72 and the original owners manual in the glove box is showing 1972. In addition, the data plate under the hood and on the frame also read that the ’71 I purchased is actually evolving into a ’72, no biggie to me. One thing that should have given it away to me was the hood was not split like the most ’71 models. Again, the year did not matter to me. Upon further inspection I see more rust than I had originally planned for, but nothing that can’t be fixed. I am a little anxious to look under those rear diamond plate corner pieces to see just how bad those areas might be and what they might be hiding. A couple of other items I noted, the rear jumps were missing, in place of them was a Con Ferr bench seat along with a full family roll cage. I’ll plan on removing both of those items and probably selling on MUD or Craigslist.



January 15th
First day to turn some wrenches on the camo 40. We knew we had to replace the clutch slave cylinder as the clutch was resting on the firewall. Also suspected we needed to rebuild the entire brake system. But I wanted to see if we could fire it up and drive up and down the driveway. We do a compression test and all cylinders have excellent compression. YES! We changed the oil, it was pretty dirty. Listening to her run we could tell we probably need to rebuild the original Aisan carb. It was backfiring and running, but it was running, just rough. A carb rebuild is in our future. We installed the new clutch slave cylinder and we now have a clutch and she will move. I back it down the drive and we have brakes, not much, actually not much at all but she stops, barely. So, I’ll take a SLOW spin around the block and see how she does and see how she runs under a load. Running rough and coughing and brakes seem to work, but only one side and pulls hard to left so I think it might just have one brake cylinder working. Wheel it back to the house and park it. A brake rebuild and carb rebuild is needed before we can move her again. Order the parts from Cruiser Corps to rebuild the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We also take note that none of the lights are working. No brake lights, head lights, blinkers (missing).


January 20th
The alternator that’s installed is no good so we are replacing it today. It appears that the PO had an old GM alt installed. Let me say this about the alternator and all the other wiring in the truck. How do I put it, it’s a HOT mess. If you can envision 100’ of different colored wire just wadded up, spliced together and rotting in different sections, attached to various parts on the truck. Well, that would be a nice job compared to what we are dealing with. It’s just a total mess and we realize that we are going to have to do a rewire job on everything before all is said and done. Of course after we hook up the alternator it has power, but is not charging the battery. Realize we need to add a voltage regulator-another day.


January 27th
I located turn signals from a MUD member who happens to live within an hour or so of Huntsville close to the Shoals area. I buy these from him and we are slowly knocking out some of the missing parts needed for the different areas of the truck.


January 30th
While working on the engine we noticed the fan shroud was missing and your hand can get awful close to a fan when tweaking the engine so I want to find a fan shroud quickly before my dad, granddad or myself loses a finger or worse a hand. So, I locate a fan shroud on CL up around Lynchburg, TN which is only 45 min drive up to meet another Cruiserhead and buy an extra fan shroud he has from one of his ongoing Cruiser projects. He’s got two 40 projects going as well as a FJ60. Super nice fellow and my wife and I visit with him for an hour or two. Interestingly enough his farm borders the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and his particular farm traces back to Jack Daniels farm. Pretty cool and lots of history there…


February 3rd
I found another local MUDDER who had an OEM roll bar and a pair of visors and I gobbled those up to add to our parts list that continues to grow. This 40 did not have the typical roll bar originally, but I wanted to add one and I also wanted to go back with the long rear jump seats. When I bought the truck it had a Con Ferr bench seat that I’ll end up selling since I’m going back with the parallel jumps.


February 6th
The weather has been terribly cold, wet, and icy/snowy here in Huntsville and we have not gotten to spend much time on our project. Hopefully weather will be improving soon. We have all the needed rebuild parts for the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We spend the day rebuilding the wheel cylinders. I’m not sure these wheel cylinders have worked in 20+ years. Most of them are locked up tight but we manage to free them up and everything back in working order. Ready to install when the weather cooperates.

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February 8th
Carb has been rebuilt, although it seems like we are missing a few items from the carb it’s back together at this point and rebuilt. We’ll see how she runs… again wx is holding us back. When we have some weather above freezing temps and not snowing we’ll be able to get more accomplished.

carb-1.jpg


February 13th
I located some original front bench seats just outside of ATL. They appear to be a good fit for the project so I head over to GA and pick them up and also meet a fellow Cruiserhead who has also restored a ‘72 Fj40 that is beautiful. The places we go and people we meet for parts is a story by itself. It’s part of the journey and part of what I enjoy about these projects is the adventure and what it takes to get all the pieces of the puzzle brought together.


February 20th
Found a great deal on some BFG 33x10.5x15 tires on craigslist that were for sale down in Orange Breach, AL. Great find, I just happened to be going down to OBA for my oldest daughter’s soccer tourney next week so I contacted the owner and wouldn't you know they were sold. A couple of days pass and the owner emails to say the deal with his buyer fell through and asked if I still wanted them, heck yeah! Dad and I pickup the tires from the seller while we were down in OBA enjoying some high school soccer.


February 22nd
I ended up buying some steel wheels from Summit Racing that I like, they look good and had a similar design to the original wheels. They are not exact, which is fine with me. I want to give this old 40 life again and not as worried about everything being back to 100% stock. If I can get it relatively close then I’ll be happy.


February 27th
I remove the diamond plate corners and the fender flares to see what might be hiding from us. Surprisingly, there is rust, but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. We do have a couple of areas that will need our attention but for the most part it’s solid and we have something to work with. Along with filling a good number of holes left from where they attached the diamond plate corners. Another surprise we notice is that the PO added an extra fuel tank to the back of the 40 and they decided to use nice rubber garden-type hose (instead of steel lines) for the gas line. So, another must do is to change out the rubber fuel hose for steel fuel lines. I also should mention, for now I have decided to keep the fuel tank located in the back as I like the location a little better than under the seat of the passenger. I’m still toying with the idea of keeping both tanks but at this moment I’m leaning to keeping only the tank in the rear but that could change.


March 1st
My original goal was to get the 40 running smoothly and stopping safely and then work on the cosmetics down the road. I wanted to drive it around some and be safe to do so. But, I guess, goals are set and then plans change. So, now I decide to go ahead and restore (not a complete frame off) but have a nice truck that runs well and looks pretty good for what I want. This leads me to thinking about what color I want to paint her. The current color is a nice Army camo job. Original color is Red. I am considering Tan or Sand Dune Beige. Still tossing around color ideas, I have plenty of time to decide.


March 8th
Finally have had a few decent days of weather and we have been able to get the newly rebuilt brake cylinders installed, new master cylinder installed, new brake shoes installed, and brakes bled. Brakes are MUCH better, not 100% but they are really pretty good. They are a little soft so we think there might still be some air in the lines and will plan on bleeding again. Also, we notice the brake booster has some hissing sounds when depressing the brake pedal. Not sure if it needs rebuilding but need to keep an eye on it to be certain.


March 15th
The Aisan is another story altogether. As mentioned previously, we rebuilt the carb last month, but there seems to be a couple of parts missing based on some exploded views we have reviewed online. We are not exactly sure what the PO might have done or not done but something is not quite right. It never wants to run with the choke all the way in, backfires like crazy and idles pretty rough. Even when making the adjustments nothing seems to help. Scratching our head on the carb, nothing seems to help or change no matter how much we adjust.


March 20th
I found a pair of jump seats on CL located in St. Louis and I struck a deal with the seller. Fortunately, he works some in Nashville and we will be flying out of Nashville next week and we can easily make the exchange. Score!


March 22nd-28th
We are taking a break from work, the rat race and our FJ40 project. This week we are taking our family to Steamboat Springs, CO for spring break. We had a great trip to Steamboat, the week consisted of snow skiing and fly fishing on the Yampa River. It was a fantastic trip and fun memories made. I even saw two FJ40s in Steamboat (blue one without doors and a brown one) driving around town.


March 29th
We picked up the jump seats in Nashville after our return flight from Denver. Both seats appear to be in great shape, the frames and upholstery look really nice. These are one of items that my younger daughters are most excited about. They love the old parallel jump seats and so it was a must to include in the project.


April 4th
We removed hard top, which was quite a job with two men and no lift. We’re already talking about an easier way to do this and not be so cumbersome to remove the top. But we were able to get it setup on a stand and now I can get to it a little easier and have better access when I start working on stripping the top down to repair and repaint.

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April 11th
I removed the old seats, original gas tank under the passenger side and began cleaning the tub. There was so much sand in this truck it’s like it live on a sand dune for 20+ years. There are some additional rust areas we need addressing, some small areas in the tub and a small area on the tranny hump. I’ve also got to start thinking about tackling that mess of a wiring harness.


April 15-16th
Inspiration read: Read Roma’s build and Roma and Tucker’s build. Man, they have done it right. I really enjoyed reading those buildups and it has given me some great encouragement on my project. They set a high bar and have done some beautiful work. You should read it if you need some extra motivation about your 40 project.
Read it here: Roma's 78 fj40 gets a refurb
Roma/ Tucker’s 40: Tucker and Roma's 75 FJ40 Restore

April 17th
Even after the Aisan carb rebuild the old girl still does not want to run smoothly. I have read numerous posts from several folks who swear by the Aisan stock carbs, Trollholes and Webers. We have fought and fought with this carb and have not had much luck tuning it. I’ve just about given up on the Aisan rebuild. I ran across a fellow MUDDER selling a Weber from one of his 40s. Interestingly enough he lives in Steamboat Springs where we just visited a few weeks earlier. I decided to buy the Weber and we hope to see if we can get her to run a little better without coughing and backfiring.

April 18th
I’ve decided to start working on the doors until the Weber arrives. They have some rust we need to address. In addition, they have a couple of broken areas that need welding and repairing. Thankfully my dad and granddad are both excellent welders. My task for the day is to remove the top halves of the doors so we can get to the areas that need welding and I can focus on cleaning up the top halves of each door.

April 20th
The Weber I purchased from a fellow Mudder arrives today and it looks like it’s in good shape. We look forward to installing it this weekend if the weather will cooperate.

April 21-22nd
Inspiration read:
Just read @SeaKnight Commander’s story and his journey across the country in the Turtle and his Old Rustbucket – to be continued journal. What a fantastic story, I feel like I know the man like he were a family member and I’ve never met him and probably never will but would love to. If you have not read his trek, it’s worth your time…You will laugh and cry. I hope we get to read the rest of his story some day… RIP Army
Read it here: Saving The Old Rustbucket--My 1982 FJ40 Tale



more to come...if anyone is interested.
 
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Wow, interesting story. I just read the pictures, cuz there were too many words. :hillbilly: I love those old Power Wagons. It looked like you did a good job on it. Good luck with your build! It sounds like you have the perfect reason to spend time and money on a project - getting to spend time with your elders. I wish my grandpa was still around to see his 40 that I rebuilt. Oh, and post more pics! We all love pictures!

:cheers:
 
:cheers:
 
Looks like you got a great start and since your already on mud you have everything else you need. Just spent the better half of the day working on cruisers. My 40, tuckers 40 and my 60. Put some new parts on and did some maintenance. Great way to spend a Saturday!
 
Looks like you got a great start and since your already on mud you have everything else you need. Just spent the better half of the day working on cruisers. My 40, tuckers 40 and my 60. Put some new parts on and did some maintenance. Great way to spend a Saturday!

Roma, absolutely great way to spend a Saturday.

Today we worked on cutting out the rear sill after finding more rust. We will be replacing the rear sill and both corner panels.
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April 26th
Spent the day working on cleaning up the upper portions of the doors. They are needing some major cleaning up, rust killing and painting. I got the old weatherstripping off with Goo Gone. It did an ok job after I let them soak in the Goo Gone awhile. The doors have some rust damage in the bottom half and will need to get that corrected soon. Top portions or in pretty decent shape.
upper-windows.jpg



May 1
Spent the afternoon installing the Weber carb and it worked beautifully. Very little adjustment was needed after we installed the Holley fuel pressure regulator, it was good to go and idling just as it should. The only thing we need to check is a slight (very slight) smoke and that appears to be fuel (carb) and not engine smoke. We will plan on tweaking the Weber a little more. But for now it's running really well and honestly it's ahead of where I thought we might be. We also checked the timing and advanced it slightly, now are good there and everything is right on the money.
weber-carb-install.jpg


May 2
Began removing pieces from the dash including the dash pads, ashtray, glove box, wiper motor/system, and windshield. Dash pad was a mess but little to no rust under the pad. We made an attempt to fold the wind down but it didn't budge. Will hit it with PB blaster the next couple of week and maybe it will free up. Also removed the rear doors to clean, prime and paint those.

As I removed the dash pad I noticed a tiny magnet under the rust. The Sea Knight would love to know a tiny Green Turtle was hiding under the dash pad cover in this old rig. I laughed when I saw it and immediately thought of the Green Turtle and it's journey from TX to Seattle and then to Hawaii.
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The Green Turtle magnet found under the dash.
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Windshield removed and wiper system removed.
windshield.jpg


May 3rd
I began cleaning several of the items that were removed the previous day in preparation for priming and painting. Prepared the ashtray, the taillights, original windshield wipers, dash grab bar. Sanded and they are now ready for primer.
 
Looks like your on your way to fixing her up well !

Welcome to Mud :)

I was able to finish 18oz of coffee with the first post .... That left some for the rest of the thread lol

I didn't see which weber you got ... Was it the 38?

They love to run rich ... Been running mine for 20+ years :)
 
We have fought and fought with this carb and have not had much luck tuning it. I’ve just about given up on the Aisan rebuild.

Don't chuck the Aisin just yet...Couple of no $hit carb savants residing here on MUD...FJ40Jim (no affiliation) at TLC performance in Lancaster Ohio is a good'en, taking my 76 carb up sometime in the near future...Rebuilding an Aisan Carburator Part 1 through? by Pin Head over on YouTube is good if your inclined to lick it yer' self...Good luck with your project!!!
 
Awesome! Good luck with the build! I appreciate the cruiser being a family project. My 40 was my Dads and I bought it from him before he passed away last year... so glad that I did! I am excited to build it up and keep it in the family.

I hope you enjoy your build!!!
 
Wow, interesting story. I just read the pictures, cuz there were too many words. :hillbilly: I love those old Power Wagons. It looked like you did a good job on it. Good luck with your build! It sounds like you have the perfect reason to spend time and money on a project - getting to spend time with your elders. I wish my grandpa was still around to see his 40 that I rebuilt. Oh, and post more pics! We all love pictures!

:cheers:
Thanks LC FREAK! I am going to try to do better about more pics...after I typed that first post I had hoped it would be the only one that long. ha


wasn't as bad under the diamond plate as I expected ... nice project ... good luck ...
Indeed, I have about decided to go ahead and replace the qtr panels although the rust was not too bad as you can tell I'll spend a ton of time creating that rounded patch and filling a ton of holes. So, going to get a pair of Real Steel quarter panels. I am also going to use the aux gas tank the PO installed as the primary tank and do away with the use of the tan under the passenger seat. I may add it back later, still chewing on that.


Looks like your on your way to fixing her up well !

Welcome to Mud :)

I was able to finish 18oz of coffee with the first post .... That left some for the rest of the thread lol

I didn't see which weber you got ... Was it the 38?

They love to run rich ... Been running mine for 20+ years :)
Thanks JohnnyC, I spent the better part of a day and drank a pot of coffee reading through your one week (10 days) restore. haha I'm very impressed with how fast you were able to move through the project and knock it out so quickly. Great job, really enjoyed reading about it. In regards to the Carb it's the Weber 32/36. I must say, I'm a fan as easy as it was to setup and as good as it's running no complaints from me. :)


Grab bar BTW is an old school conferr aftermarket
Thanks, I was curious if that was a factory grab bar. I think they were factory or at least offered in the later 70's, maybe? I'm not sure I will add it back, but it will leave some nice holes if I dont want to patch. More than likely add it back and if I ride without the top at least give the passenger somewhere to hang on ;)


Don't chuck the Aisin just yet...Couple of no $hit carb savants residing here on MUD...FJ40Jim (no affiliation) at TLC performance in Lancaster Ohio is a good'en, taking my 76 carb up sometime in the near future...Rebuilding an Aisan Carburator Part 1 through? by Pin Head over on YouTube is good if your inclined to lick it yer' self...Good luck with your project!!!
Yeah, I think I will hold onto the original. We tried a quick rebuild and after we broke it down noticed or at least it seemed there might be a few of the internal guts might have been missing. I am sure FJ40Jim and the others could spot it immediately and eventually I may do that just to get back to stock.

Awesome! Good luck with the build! I appreciate the cruiser being a family project. My 40 was my Dads and I bought it from him before he passed away last year... so glad that I did! I am excited to build it up and keep it in the family. I hope you enjoy your build!!!
Thanks Gotta be Geared, I really appreciate that. I'm sorry for your loss. I spent most of the day Friday and Saturday with my dad and grandad turning wrenches and just talking. They have so much knowledge and I really learn a ton by watching and asking questions. They are fantastic mechanics. Actually my dad is an engineer and grandad a retired police officer but they are pretty good mechanics if you ask me. You can probably see another car in the shop in one of those pics above. That's my little brothers '67 Mustang Fastback. They have been working on that with him for the past 3 years and are just about completed. My goal is to have the FJ40 finished before he finishes that Fastback. haha
 
Haha ya that is my goal as well! I am hoping to start a build thread of my own pretty soon!
 
Indeed, I have about decided to go ahead and replace the qtr panels although the rust was not too bad as you can tell I'll spend a ton of time creating that rounded patch and filling a ton of holes. So, going to get a pair of Real Steel quarter panels. I am also going to use the aux gas tank the PO installed as the primary tank and do away with the use of the tan under the passenger seat. I may add it back later, still chewing on that.

Everyone has their opinion on body panels ... can't go far wrong with Real Steel or CCOT ... CCOT is closer to you I would think so at least the shipping would be less ... I took out the auxiliary fuel tank that was in my truck and am just running with the OEM tank which is small ... I don't go anywhere without making sure I can buy gas along the way ... sometimes I have second thoughts about pulling the auxiliary tank ... following your build ... good luck and above all else have fun ...
 
Everyone has their opinion on body panels ... can't go far wrong with Real Steel or CCOT ... CCOT is closer to you I would think so at least the shipping would be less ... I took out the auxiliary fuel tank that was in my truck and am just running with the OEM tank which is small ... I don't go anywhere without making sure I can buy gas along the way ... sometimes I have second thoughts about pulling the auxiliary tank ... following your build ... good luck and above all else have fun ...

Thanks Winnie, I ordered the qtr panels and real sill from CCOT and they will be here next week. I am leaning toward repairing the original gas tank and holding on to it. I really would like to take this old girls out west and would much prefer two tanks if the trip happens. Thanks for your comments and you are right we are absolutely having a blast...
 
Sorry, I am not good about updating so I will try to do better about creating updates in batches. Things have been moving along with the project, but have had some weather to work around on the weekends so it slows me down a little. Also, apologize for the poor quality of pics.

May 4th

Primed several pieces for painting that were previously cleaned. Including the bezel, mirrors, rear turn signal brackets, grab bar, ashtray and inspection plates.
painted-parts-may-2015.jpg


May 8th
Primed door uppers, ready for paint.

May 10th

Cleaned up front apron emblems, turned out pretty well but will probably replace eventually as there is some pitting and the dot on the "i" in cruiser is broken off on one as well. But ok to use for now.
IMG_6392.jpg


May 13th
Began working on doors. There was some pretty heavy rust on the inside of the driver side door so we had to create a patch and added some filler work. Also some work need around the top where the door opening broke a weld.
doors-work-1.jpg
doors-work-2.jpg


May 22nd
Finished removing rear sill. Now we are ready to build and install a new sill. Will begin the work on the sill next week. Removed front shocks so I can begin working on cleaning, priming and painting the front wheel wells.
rear-sill-removed-1.jpg


May 23rd-24th
Next step was to take the grinder and a wire brush to all 4 wheel wells. Since this is not a frame off restoration at this point I want to clean everything I can reach with relative ease. And by clean I mean with a grinder/wire wheel method.

Front right during wire brush (left before and right side during):
wheel-well-right-front-2.jpg


Front right after primer:
wheel-well-right-front-primed-1.jpg


Front right after paint:
wheel-well-right-front-painted-2.jpg



Front left before wire brush:
wheel-well-left-front-1.jpg


Front left after primer:
wheel-well-left-front-primed-1.jpg


Front left after paint:
wheel-well-left-front-painted-1.jpg



Finished the rear wheel wells also, but I've got to get pics.

Ordered the adapter that will allow me to use the original air cleaner and mount it up to the Weber we installed. In addition to the adapter I ordered a converter that will change the Weber from electric to manual choke. Even when it's warm outside it seems to need some choke and I figure when it get's cool it will really need it. So we decided we will change from electric to manual, plus I like the manual method anyway. I also ordered new KYB shocks for all four corners. Hope to have those parts in place this weekend.

May 25th-26th
Began sanding and painting the roll bar.

Paint Choices
I am really struggling with the paint selection. I have all but decided not to go back with original red color. I know this, I want to use a matte/flat finish. I have three colors I really like light tan (not quite dune beige), matte black or matte tanish/green. I know that's just about as wide of a selection as you can possible have, thus my struggle with a decision. I created a Pinterest page and every time I feel like I am close to a decision I look at the different colors and change my mind.
 
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It's been awhile since I gave an update and thought I would document our progress.

June 1st-2nd
My grandad fabricated the rear sill using 1/4" flat bar and it turned out really nice. I ordered the rear sill channel from CCOT but the rear sill with the horns was all fabricated by my grandad.

rear-sill-being-built.jpg


June 20th
Installed rear sill and rear sill channel
rear-sill-in-place.jpg



June 22nd
Cleaned and painted under hood
under_hood_before.jpg
under_hood_after.jpg


July 10th-15th
Began working on the cutting out and install of new qtr panels. I purchased the qtr panels from CCOT and they really turned out very nice and fit like a glove. One of the things I wanted to do was move the gas tank filler because I am using an aux tank rather than the tank under the seat.
rear-qtr-panel-1c.jpg
rear-qtr-panel-1-grinding.jpg
rear-qtr-panel-1b.jpg
rear-qtr-panel-1.jpg


July 18th
Cleaned up, primed and painted the engine bay. (Pics coming tomorrow.)


July 20th

relocation of gas tank filler turned out really nice.
rear-qtr-panel-2.jpg


July 22nd
Cleaned up the dash cluster. PO had dented it up in a few areas but otherwise looks pretty good.
dash-cluster-redo.jpg


July 23rd-August 20th
Cutting out and repairing cancerous rust spots in random areas that seem like they continue to grow. Sorry, unfortunately, I didn't take pics of those small projects. We also reinstalled the doors (front and rear) after some repairs were made to them.


Next up, we will begin chasing the wiring gremlins, cleaning the tub and dash and will begin working on prepping body inside and out for primer and paint. I hope to have the everything painted in the next 4 weeks at least where we can drive it. Will need to do some work on the top and sides so that's after I get to start driving.
 

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