Builds 02/75 fj40 restoration

[LSUfj]

Got the bottom of the tub pretty well wrapped up. I applied primer and a coat of upol raptor. I went with black for the bottom and will be doing a color match on the interior floor. The upol application is really easy. Results look great. I got the underside of one fender done. I will be touching up the spots I missed and getting the other fender (still needs metal work) done this weekend.

 

[Funkytown 40]

Looking great! I think i want to spray the undersides of my wheel wells in the near future.

 

[Pork-n-Bean]

Your work is both impressive and inspirational! Great attention to detail; I am sure it takes a lot of patience to slow down and do it right. Keep it up and keep those pics coming!!

 

[softdrinkviking]

canvas top color

Soft top color samples

What do you think?

i would go for the last one, that's a khaki-green color.

i think that would look really nice with the stock trim colors (pewter silver grill and bumpers, grey wheels).

if you are just leaving all the trim black, then a black top would be the only one that makes sense.
myself, i like the "rustic" look of the old pewter trim, so i would match for that.

my 2cents.

 

[LSUfj]

Quick update. I have been block sanding the body for the last two months. Its really tough to finally decide that its good enough. It will by no means be perfect, but I really wanted to do everything myself on this project.

I have everything in primer now and will be doing the sealer, base and clear in the coming days. I practiced a bit on an extra fender and kept getting debris in the paint. I am pretty certain its not from the gun, so I built a cheap enclosure with some fans/filters to try to keep the area dust free. I plan to try wetting the floor next time and filtering for a while before painting. Hopefully it works. Here is a quick shot of the "booth", the front wall will be closed and taped shut.

 

[LSUfj]

Paint is on the tub. Still need to paint the fenders, doors, hood, windshield, steps, etc. Spraying was pretty simple. I ended up using a milton inline dessicant filter which was a huge improvement. Everything went well. I was nervous about runs in the clear and ended up not applying it "wet" enough. I had to deal with some orange peel, but was able to wet sand and polish it. Its far from perfect, but it looks good. The bright green tape is just there to keep from burning through the clear during polishing.

 

[broth9640]

Any updates? The paint job looks great! Did the enclosure help? I bet wetting the floor and the plastic walls has the biggest impact. I am getting close to this phase of my project, any advice or tips with the painting? Things you would have done differently? keep up the great work!

 

[LSUfj]

Yes. Be sure to practice. I used omni base and clear. The base is easy, clear not so easy. I struggled to get between too much orange peel and runs. I think my pressure was set a little too high and resulted in orange peel. It went on fine and after a bit of wet sanding and polish it looks great.

Another tip, be sure you have a enough space. My enclosure was 18x10 with a small table for mixing paint. It wasn't wide enough. And when I went to paint all of the small parts (fenders, doors, hood. Etc.) I had a hard time maneuvering. I would suggest 20x12 if possible with plenty of light and fans to get the air/paint out. It gets hard to see when you spray clear with a lack of ventilation

Overall, the enclosure helped in keeping the space clean and containing the overspray. I would recommend picking up some good inline dessicant dryers. I tried a couple different ones, but the best by far was the Milton brand from northern tool. I used one for each step, base and clear. I will post some pics soon. I am bolting it back together this weekend.

 

[LSUfj]

Well, after a couple years of moving around and adding members to the family, I'm finally back to work on the 40. I had to rush the paint in order to get the cruiser back together for a move. Unfortunately, there are some spots that will need to be redone. It is back together and looks decent. I got a new real steel bolt on tailgate for use with the soft top. I fitted it all up yesterday to get the footman loops located. Everything fit pretty well, but the real steel bows required some modification since they are made for a pre-75 model with straight doors. I ended up cutting the b-pillar and bending to match the doors. It worked out very well.

Mostly covered here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/soft-top-b-pillar.840632/#post-9606593


I hope to get some paint on the tailgate and the rest of the small body parts that need to go on. I will move on to laying down some color match raptor liner on the inside of the tub.

 

[LSUfj]

Finally got the inside prepped and painted. I think it came out great and seems to match very well with the regular paint. I decided to pull the body off again to do this and work on some of the chassis stuff while the tub is off. I am stuck on what to do with the carb'd 3f manifold. I can get the gaskets, but the flange and exhaust pipe connection will be tough to find. I could fabricate it, but the size is odd, like two 44mm pipes.....

 

[LSUfj]

Switched gears a bit and am working on rebuilding the transfer case. I got the kit from cruiser outfitters and everything seems to be going smooth. I must have scraped 10lbs of grease and dirt of the exterior of this thing! I got it blasted and cleaned up for reassembly.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[LSUfj]

Got back to painting. I'm using SPI clear and primer and couldn't be happier with the results and the customer service. Paint and body work is a ton of work and I now understand why folks charge so much for it. I've got some dust nibs to clean up, followed by some polishing, but overall I'm happy and ready to just start getting this thing back together. 7+ years have gone by in a hurry.

 

[White Stripe]

Just a quick tip. When you go to bolt those painted pieces together mainly pieces that are metal to metal. Spray some Plasti Dip on the joining surfaces which will produce a type of gasket. You can always pull it off in the future.

 

[LSUfj]

great idea. I had planned to put some tape on there during the install, but the plastidip could stay in place. Thanks.

 

[LSUfj]

Regarding the suggestion to use plastidip between panels, has anyone done this instead of the pieces of rubber under hinges?

 

[LSUfj]

Not much progress. I got the aprons cut and buffed and bolted them to the fenders. I reinstalled the soft top to measure for footman loop holes. Just have the doors and main body to paint. Just dreading all the sanding ahead of me.

 

[LSUfj]

Got the doors repainted. Tub is next. Doing this twice has been a tough, but good learning experience. Outside of the tub is up next.

 

[LSUfj]

Had to touch up the bottom of the doors since I didnt seem to get enough base on the edge. Sanded them with 800 and shot another two coats of clear. Also took a few days off of work to tackle the main body. I spent about 70 hours sanding, priming and painting. It took me 3 hours just to mask and I had to do that twice; once before primer and again before base/clear. Hope to be done with painting. I'll have to cut and buff next weekend.

 

[LSUfj]

On to wiring

 

[LSUfj]

While i’ve got the harness stripped, should I add any planned wiring? Such as sub-fuse panel, wiring for vintage air, others? What have others done?