FJ40 - Baby Found a New Home (1 Viewer)

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Took off all the algae, moss, and corrosion today. Yesterday was tiring - chisel, electric scraper, wire brush, and finally palm sander. I should mention that the original owner on the ranch decided to use PL400 construction adhesive to attach 1 inch Styrofoam insulation EVERYWHERE in the entire cab, and then glue carpet over that. . Plugged a lot of the holes in the top for racks and light bars. Top and bottom of the lid are now back to solid material, and resin'd all the rough spots. Today I wire brushed and sanded all the metal, touched up with Regal Red. Tomorrow is white paint day, for the inside and top!!! Hope it turns out good. Then we will put back together, and see how it looks. :)

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Great work on a unique 40 to say the lease, noticed you are in IF. I'm up the road at my fish camp in Island Park for the week before heading back to the heat on Sunday, may need to reach out next time I'm up to see this thing. Keep up the effort, she's gonna be a lot of fun once you are past this heavy elbow grease.
 
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Great work on a unique 40 to say the lease, noticed you are in IF. I'm up the road at me fish camp in Island Park for the week before heading back to the heat on Sunday, may need to reach out next time I'm up to see this thing. Keep up the effort, she's gonna be a lot of fun once you are past this heavy elbow grease.
Thanks, so far has been fun, but a lot of progress made so far. It sounds like you are the reverse of me. I spend a lot of time down in Matagorda TX, then come home to the cool weather. :)
 
Thanks, so far has been fun, but a lot of progress made so far. It sounds like you are the reverse of me. I spend a lot of time down in Matagorda TX, then come home to the cool weather. :)
@blank142. We also spend a lot of our time in 'Gorda. Hope to see you down there.
 
PO: "Babe. You know what I'm going to do this weekend? Gonna install square headlights in our 40."

Babe: "What time did you start drinking today? This idea is worse than your spinner wheel phase."

PO: "You never support me and you don't understand cars. It's going to be amazing."
 
Removed all the broken hold down bolts, by drill, tap, easy out, or sheer determination. It fit just like OJ's glove when I started, but at the end it was level, plumb, and square and had all brand new hardware.

There were no rear fold down seats included with the vehicle, but a rear fold down seat from a Jeep JK looks like a comfortable alternative for now!!!

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Taking down to good factory paint, or bare metal as much as possible. Then Rustoleum metal etching primer or rust encapsulating primer as needed. Using the Rustoleum Professional series of enamel. Can be had in gallons and sprayed, in my little make shift booth with exhaust fan, or the same is available in rattle can for touch-up. This color is Regal Red. Quality paint for durable industrial application and I have done several old LC's, CJ's, or hunting rigs with success
 
Rehung the doors, got hinges adjusted and doors gapped properly. Latches didn't work before, and are now operable and smooth. Welded up a new brace and mount for rear seat. Little things are the most time consuming and frustrating. Task for this next week before vacation are running and driving!!
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Some fittings, gas plumbing, wiring, finished the tune up parts, pre-flight check, and NOT in gear. Four gallons of premium, ethanol free juice in the tank and we were ready (I think)

Dr. Frankenstein: Shout out from the bell tower Igor. The monster LIVES!!!! First drink tonight is gonna be a stiff one. :)
 
Looks good! You’ve done a lot already. Is it all going to be red eventually?
 
That's the plan, unless someone buys it first. This would be one worth cutting all the ugly off, and restoring. They look awesome in bright red, with the white top and chrome/white spoke wheels
 
Had a reason to celebrate. The old 1970 Toyota Land Cruiser that I got is coming together. Got it to fire and run yesterday; Actually did a road check, transfer case operation, shifting, etc today. I'm in Heaven right now!!! Decided the girls needed steak, corn on the cob, and drinks!!! You're ahead of the game , when you start doing small stuff light tail ;lights and seat belts!!!

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Took it out on the country roads this afternoon. Ran strong, accelerated up to 60 mph, since it was only a 50 mph limit. Held myself back!!! Ran good, and shifted fine. A little wander like usual, and a candidate for a steering stabilizer with big tires.
 
Trading yard and garden time one-for-one with the wife, for work time on the FJ40. Cut the grass, sprinklers running, weed/feed the dandelions, sprayed weeds and did the grocery shopping. Heck with it, noon to 4:00 PM was my time!!!

Hit the old silver paint on the top and doors with the palm sander, rather than pressure wash again. It looked so much better than the first blue, that I did the entire vehicle with 200 grit. What a difference a little elbow grease makes. Cut out full mats for front and back out of 1/4" industrial sheet and looks good!!!

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Found a pic of someone else's square headlights. Not everyone hates them. !!

We are back from vacation, and time to start working on the ole girl again. Putting in a rear window glass tomorrow, and then I will look at exterior paint options. Gonna take it back to Factory-Red, I guess. Need to build a paint booth in my back shop, and look for colors.

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My buddy's at the local glass shop cut a new back window for the LC. Now I have it closed in, I'll get to work on the exterior. Body is actually in really sound shape. Probably 90% sound, minimal rust in the usual spots. Underneath is good still. The "EMBER RED" in PPG single stage poly enamel is as close as we could get to the original Freedom Red for this year. Planning on two coats of sealer, and then two coats of paint tomorrow. I hope it looks as good on it, as the test patches!!!
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