Builds 1978 US Market FJ40 Factory Restoration (1 Viewer)

[DKM]

Good morning, friends. While the project moves along, it is moving along slowly. Quite a bit of change going on in life. However - to provide an update I am working on doors at the moment. I purchased a set of doors from a vendor on here, and they turned out to be in about the exact same shape as my original doors. So, after paying for them and shipping them freight....I'm pretty much right back where I started.

Full of filler and fiberglass, I got started in stripping them down to investigate.

I started by taking apart all of the hardware and what window pieces were intact:

View attachment 2884960

I noticed right away the whole outer skin was a sheet of filler......and the bottom completely stuffed with fiberglass and filler. I mean, look at that bottom left corner. I hope by now, you can all see why my love and dedication to Land Cruisers, specifically FJ40's is fading. Just worn out.

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Here is what the door ACTUALLY looks like, with a sample of the filler in my hand:

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Knowing how susceptible these doors are to warping and moving around, I wanted to only cut out what is/was necessary in having a solid remaining door. I also wanted to cut along the door in such a way that welding in a new piece would be easy to grind/massage into a seamless line. I decided to cut like so:

View attachment 2884966

In the above photo - you can also see how weak the front of the door is....and I tried to poke and dig around on it to expose the rust - but keep in mind the skin is also warped from whatever life the door led anyway. So..../shrug....whats a guy supposed to do? Buy ebay doors? Risk another used set? Press forward I guess.

I had purchased from real steel a bottom door set that I set aside HOPING that these new doors would be as solid as advertised. So, at least I had some good steel to use. So I started to trim and fit the interior bottom of the door:

View attachment 2884967

After an hour or so, I was able to massage it into place:

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It should probably go without saying that there are physics at work here with the front skin and the rear/interior of the door. So, I am using some 1" square tubing to tack weld to the front/exterior of the door so that it forces the exterior panel completely straight.

The reason for this, is that when you disconnect the two panels, the exterior of the door wants to "buck tooth" out (for the lack of a better term) so much so that when I test fitted the door, the bottom edge was about 3/8" flared out. Thus, in employing 1" steel tubing in a vertical fashion, I'll force the exterior flat, so that when I tack those holes in the inside bottom trim pictured above, the door will be flat and then I can remove the 1" square tubing.

While not perfect, I am going to attempt to "run" with a proper seal and fill job on the exterior of the door. However, the more I see it sitting there, the more I don't like it. The weight of the project is a constant nag. What to do....how to fix it. How can I trust people when I am awaiting a part in the mail?

View attachment 2884978

See in this photo the condition. I'll try to fill/weld any hole and keep heat out of it. You can see the layer of bondo on the door skin as well, yes? Direct to steel no less. So, while a bit "johnny raincloud" This is where I am at. If, in a rare occasion I have an hour or three to spare and I have the energy, I'll tinker on the FJ40. Otherwise, it remains a rash on my backside.

Until we meet again!

I finally found some time to get back to the front doors. In all seriousness, I never thought I'd be this 'stuck in the mud' with a car project. Body work, by far, seems to be the crux of any project I get myself into. This portion of the project is, as you all know, just the pits.

As I had mentioned before, I purchased these doors from a mud member which were supposed to be clean and near perfect. The more I dug into them, the more I am finding out they are hiding more than the current administration under the paint. Also frustrating as I am digging into them, is to find out that there are more options on the market today for a set of doors. The ship has sailed on beginning with a fresh or decent set, so I decided to just press on.

Getting back to work while dealing with house projects and the little German car, I needed to seal up the bottom of the driver door - the outside was spottable and given the heat/warping difficulties decided to leave it alone. The inside needed to be patched, however. In finishing the exterior of the driver door, I poked all around with a screwdriver to find any weak areas and filled it in with the welder:

View attachment 2964685

Once that was done it was fairly easy to grind smooth to a point where the exterior of the door will turn out really nice.

On the other side of the firewall, Olive, our new Golden stood watch. At many other various points in this thread, you can see Lola, who we lost last year. I never was a "dog lover", but Lola broke me and when we lost her and I had to carry her away - I knew Olive would be inevitable. So, here she is.

View attachment 2964686

Shown here, I am tacking in the new bottom area. The "ridge" of the Real Steel door bottom is more aggressive than the original door, so as I am spotting those areas in, I used a body hammer to tap/blend that ridge down. I guess the only real good news here, is that these are original Toyota doors.....and will have good steel in them.

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While doing some yard work, I'd let it cool...go rake...come back, tack a few more....lather rinse repeat until it was all filled in. (I used weld through primer generously on the inside of the mating areas and will also fluid film the inside when all done.

View attachment 2964692

Ground smooth, ready for additional paint removal/stripping and then epoxy primer, filler, and more fun.

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Also, I am planning on removing the air injection rail, engine hooks to have them properly zinc coated. The gold rattle can is unbecoming of the level of detail I wanted here, and stick out in all of the wrong ways. I plan on properly addressing this in the weeks to come, when I get a small stack of things to drop off at the shop.

View attachment 2964694

"The more I dug into them, the more I am finding out they are hiding more than the current administration under the paint. Also frustrating as I am digging into them, is to find out that there are more options on the market today for a set of doors. The ship has sailed on beginning with a fresh or decent set, so I decided to just press on."

As a guy who just bought a 78 last week and is starting to research some build threads, what are some of the door options that you wish you'd explored? Also, what a great looking dog you have in Olive!

 

[78Cruzr]

Read your build for the first-time last night... extraordinary, beautiful doesn't even come close to describing/recognizing your effort and the end results. I understand the love/hate slog of the rebuild. Mine is more for tooling around but getting there is tedious at best.

 

[dmaddox]

@DKM cool - I used to live in South Jordan. Anyway - door options are City Racer, if another order comes in. Buying Colombian. . .buying Gozzard fiberglass. Three options right there that several dudes have dug into. I hope that helps! Thank you for the great comments and motivation.

cheers.

 

[dmaddox]

Unable to find a set of doors - even willing to buy Gozzard (no longer making them, back ordered with a giant wait list). I decided to continue working on what I have. Why not, I only have 9000 hours in them! Ha ha ha.

Even ordering "78 doors" - they are 1975 and lacked the side mirror mounts. So, I had to fabricate a mount. I don't think the plastic nut/screw or Taiwanese solutions are worthy, knowing full well they will wobble around on the thin door skin.

This isn't something new - several others have done this, but I wanted to use a thick 3/16" thick plate steel and utilize the door hinge support. This will ensure you have a solid base from which the side mirrors can mount too, and not vibrate all over when driving.

After looking at several online photos as well as taking measurements from a friend, I began by marking and punching the location for the 6.5mm holes:

Naturally, the holes interfere with the hinge support:

I ground an M6 nut to fit in the door support:

Then, onto creating the mounting surface - WHICH, I didn't want to weld to the door skin and cause a metal/metal area for future rust, I wanted the M6 nuts to be in between, and then use the door hinge support to weld to:

I used M6 bolts to mark the location of the nuts to be tacked onto the plate steel:

Then, tacked them into place and used a weld-through primer to protect the steel:

 

[dmaddox]

continued....

I welded the bracket in place, with the mirror mounted to ensure fitment:

Then, more primer to protect bare metal:

Continued onto the other door:

Next, I need to head back to the steel shop for some 1/4" c-channel to reinforce the door skins and then onto more body work to prime/filler/prime again.

Just another "blog" entry. Cheers from NY.

 

[dmaddox]

kicking this idea around....anyone tried this to not only strengthen the outside door skin, but to also ensure it is flat?

I purchase the smallest 1/2" so its not any higher than the door handle or other pieces....as to not interfere with any mechanics or glass. I know I'm creating a spot for rust to now form, but I'd seal it all up and even smudge that area with grease?

Just thinking out loud...a way to reduce any filler needed to make it flat and also strengthen the door. Input appreciated.

 

[SteveH]

• If your door suffers from oil-canning, and is 'pushed in' (from the outside) when just sitting there, then a reinforcement like that could support the door skin and help force the door skin to lay flat.
• If your outer door skin is proud of the door (sticks out), then you might be able to glue it down to your shallow c-channel and pull it in. You'd have to weight the door skin with wood blocks to force it flat as the glue cured.

After welding in this new support channel to the door structure (not skin), I would bond the outer door skin to the channel with a premium urethane construction adhesive (PL series stuff). This is how I glue FJ55 and FJ60/2 hoods back together, which chronically separate between the inner and outer hood panels, resulting in a floppy hood. Once glued, the hood is quieter and much less flexy. So, exactly how you do this gluing and blocking depends on what problem you have with the doors.

 

[Homey15]

kicking this idea around....anyone tried this to not only strengthen the outside door skin, but to also ensure it is flat?

I purchase the smallest 1/2" so its not any higher than the door handle or other pieces....as to not interfere with any mechanics or glass. I know I'm creating a spot for rust to now form, but I'd seal it all up and even smudge that area with grease?

Just thinking out loud...a way to reduce any filler needed to make it flat and also strengthen the door. Input appreciated.

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Supports like that are commonplace on nearly all post 2000ish doors -"impact bars", they are generally mounted (welded) structurally to the door frame with a small gap between them and the skin and this material (or equivalent)between.
Amazon product ASIN B000PEZ1FK
If your skins have excessive tin canning going on you could panel bond the beam to the skin, a solid layer between the two would leave nowhere for rust to live.

Amazon product ASIN B000PEW4MI
Edit: if tin canning exists then a clamping system like mentioned by @SteveH will need to be employed in conjunction with your adhesive of choice while things set up.

 

[dmaddox]

Why not drill 1/4" holes in the door along the beam and while ensuring the skin is flat, weld the skin to the bar and hinge support? Is glue necessary?

edit: I guess my question is, why can't I weld the support beam to the door hinge support (similar to how I did with the mirror support above) so that the beam is with the structure of the door on both ends - and then drill a series of holes through the skin on the outside horizontally along the support beam and then while pushing the skin flat against the support beam, fill-in/weld the 1/4" holes so that the skin and support beam are solid.

At least that would be my plan..... and then use a body sealant on the top of the support beam on the inside to discourage water from settling in there and causing any rust.

 

[SteveH]

weld the skin to the bar and hinge support

Oh, No, Mr. Bill!.............. I would avoid welding to the skin in any way (beyond the mirror support). I'm afraid that the welds or filler may show, and that repeated door slamming could open up the welds or pop off the filler. You don't have to continuously glue the bar to the door skin - several big blobs would do it. That way, you won't be creating a water trough and catching water against the skin.

I think welding the skin is opening a big can of worms with lots of danger. And speaking of danger - Mr. Bill! :

 

[dmaddox]

I see what you're saying. Man....I could handle about 4 seconds of Mr. Bill's voice before wanting to play with matches around my computer.

I would have welded the support beam to both ends of the structure (hinge support and the curve of the inner panel on the other end), essentially making a bridge for the skin to lay flat on. If bonding it with panel adhesive is the better choice, that makes it even easier for me to not have to weld and grind the spot welds flat and fill the spots.

 

[PabloCruise]

weld the skin to the bar and hinge support

Oh, No, Mr. Bill!.............. I would avoid welding to the skin in any way (beyond the mirror support). I'm afraid that the welds or filler may show, and that repeated door slamming could open up the welds or pop off the filler. You don't have to continuously glue the bar to the door skin - several big blobs would do it. That way, you won't be creating a water trough and catching water against the skin.

I think welding the skin is opening a big can of worms with lots of danger. And speaking of danger - Mr. Bill! :

I know people around here have the welding skillz, but I would be afraid of warping the door skin.

 

[waiting for time]

I know people around here have the welding skillz, but I would be afraid of warping the door skin.

2 minutes of welding and 2 days of making it presentable again. These doors are very flat which makes it extremely difficult to keep them like that, especially when adding an obstruction to make them flat again.

 

[Ackcruisers]

At least in the end, your restoration will be worth $100k. That would pay you back at least a minimum wage.

1977 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

Bid for the chance to own a 1977 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #72,548.

bringatrailer.com

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

At least in the end, your restoration will be worth $100k. That would pay you back at least a minimum wage.

1977 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

Bid for the chance to own a 1977 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #72,548.

bringatrailer.com

These things just keep going up. There was a red one on BAT last week that was just over 70k. Beautiful rig, but it had a few odd things about it.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Everything is much more expensive. I don’t know that the cruiser is worth more....just the dollar worth less.

Hell I stopped driving my fj cruiser as much when one with the same package with more miles than mine sold for almost twice what I paid for mine 10 years ago sold on bat in the last few months.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Hi Dallas ,

you pipe / tube is shipped my friend ,


check these puppies out , there the BOMB !

4th Generation OEM KOITO's

perfect for your 1978 in every way .........

 

[sogncab]

just the dollar worth less.

Exactly

 

[dmaddox]

I've finally had a weekend to do nothing but cruiser work. Aren't those great weekends? Now I know how Kevin felt when he has a large cheese pizza all to himself. Well, in putting in some honest work, I finished prepping the tub for paint. I used epoxy primer as mentioned, I scuffed and then used Featherfill G2, which...I can't say enough good about as a high-build filler primer. Great stuff.
I blocked with 600 grit. All of this in my 1-car garage or driveway. Then, I sprayed base and clear. I did have some issues I had to block out....including a few gnats. But, I ensured they were taken care of before proceeding. I had to re-clear a few areas, and is by no means perfect, but you'd never know it was a driveway job. At least I wouldn't!
First update, I had my asphalt driveway removed...tired of the cracking. Also, on hot days, you know how well it holds up to a jack stand. Further, I had two trees removed as well....which has roots pushing the driveway up. I fixed a few studs in the garage, and had new concrete poured:

I will be sealing it (outside) and using epoxy floor covering (inside) soon.

Feather fill G2 application. I lifted the entire body, rolled plastic over it, elevated with wood:

A couple of important notes. Earlier in my thread I'd mentioned sealing the heater blower mount with a 3M tacky strips sealant. I painstakingly removed it all and opted for the two-part epoxy heavy bodied 3M seam sealer. I sealed that area, which meant I had to respray the fire-wall, along with seam sealing the tub, cowl and other parts.

The 964 needed to make an appearance before continuing to block. I parked a block away to avoid any dust or overspray.

Mid-morning the temperature and humidity was just right....bugs were not out, either. So, I drenched the driveway with water and sprayed mustard! 75 degrees, 50 percent humidity, bugs were 2ppm, 1.4 tip at 35psi.

I tried to shoot extra onto my neighbors minivan.

Yours, truly..in full OSHA certified auto-paint gear.

Controversial to some, I wet sanded the base coat with 600 grit as well.

 

[dmaddox]

I forgot to show pictures of the heavy-bodied seam sealer.

I dug out that non-curing gum-like product. This stuff is superior. Here is FACTORY goo:

Here is the 3M heavy bodied goo:

Keep in mind this cures very hard, you can barely get a fingernail in it, as opposed to the factory goo that is a bit more spongy.

Ok, after letting first coat of clear set:

Undercarriage was done prior:

After FOUR clear coats. I blocked with 1000, 1200 and 1500 respectively before buffing with compound and polishing. This....took the whole of Saturday.