1966 FJ45 LWB rolling blitz restoration (2 Viewers)

[LDowney]

Barry,
It has been almost a month since your last update where you showed the parts loaded on the trailer ready to drop off at the body shop. What is going on? Where are the pictures?

Thanks

 

[rutbeer]

I was waiting for someone to ask about that. I have been hung up waiting on body panels for the floorboards, so last I checked, the body shop had not begun painting. Not good.

Meanwhile, I have been cleaning and painting the frame in preparation. Progress, but not as fast as I would like. Pics later today.

 

[cruiserloser]

Did you happen to purchase this from some dude in Minnesota? The green paint treatment on the hood looks very familiar and I doubt there is another paint scheme like that in existence on a 1966 FJ45. I am one of the P.O.s. Good luck with the project.

Dave

 

[rutbeer]

That's the one. Dave Ehlen if I remember right.

 

[cruiserloser]

That's me. It's Barry, right? That is a great truck. Of the cruisers that have gone through the stables over the years, your truck is 1 of 2 that I regret selling (the other deserves its own thread). Glad you are fixing-up that horse. Dead-on of course about the West Coast origin. It came from the Grass Valley area, north of Sacramento, CA.

Glad you still have it-wish I could say the same. Cheers!

 

[rutbeer]

paint

Okay, so I got a call from the paint shop today telling me to come get the little stuff. I got over there and they have painted everything except the roof. Interior is done except for the floor panel that I'm waiting on. The exterior has two coats, but not color sanded or cleared yet. He won't finish the outside until the body panel is in. Real bummer that I don't have it yet....Oh well, what are you going to do?

 

[rutbeer]

2 gallons

He's already through 2 gallons of PPG and he hasn't even started the final coats yet. He showed me the invoice from the paint store just for the materials so far.

 

[uzj100]

It looks great.

 

[Mtbcoach]

Wow, yes it does look REALLY good. This will be very nice to see come together...

 

[Flinny]

WOW!! Awesome....Love the 45s

 

[rutbeer]

Dead-on of course about the West Coast origin. It came from the Grass Valley area, north of Sacramento, CA.
Cheers!

Are you sure you didn't mean to say it came WITH the grass valley?
I bet there were hundreds of reeds packed into the frame rails and the entire underside of the axles, etc. were polished smooth and paint free from driving through the fields. Too funny.... love getting a new truck and then finding quirks about it. Like...the lipstick stained cigarette butts in the ash tray.

 

[rutbeer]

final bed pic

Paint shop told me to come get the bed, hood, doors, gate, etc. He's still painting the cab because I have been waiting on a body part for the floor. Unfortunately, the floor came in today but is completely wrong. It's a high quality part, just not what I ordered. At this point, I can't wait another month, so on we go with what I have.

The hood and doors are absolutely flawless. This painter is unreal.

 

[rutbeer]

bad part

Here's the wrong floor rib pattern on the new part. Doh!!!

Second pic is the cab awaiting final coats. The firewall has been color sanded at this point....no kidding. I don't think he has plans to clear the firewall, but he seems to be enjoying his work on this one. He told me repeatedly that he wasn't going to do this or that, and everytime I go over there, he says he went ahead and did it because he felt like he should. I guess the final bill will tell the story, but he has only notified me of 2 extra hours of metal shaping that he's planning on charging based on what I asked for. I'm expecting an additional paint charge though. By the time the final coats are done on the cab, he says he'll have four gallons of color on it and a whole gallon of clear on the bed and doors alone.

 

[merbesfield]

rutbeer, where did you get the metal parts? does the upper part of the floor pan shown in the pic work? it looks very similar to my 45LV floor ribs and I need that part of the floor. Paint looks incredible. You will not want to wheel it once it is back together.

 

[rutbeer]

I think the upper part of the floor is spot on....at least, it appears that way. I think I just got shipped the wrong lower part, or he had a brain fart making it...dunno. I think it's an exact duplicate of an early 40's floor, but not an FJ45. Those are different, despite the year.

This truck won't be wheeled. It sits too low to the ground, and was too nice to begin with. If it had major rot in the body, I might have felt different about it, but it's really rust free with the exception of the driver's floor. I may still go to Cullowhee or similar with it, but only to camp. There's just no point wheeling a truck like this when I have my diesel 40 to do that.

 

[rutbeer]

Everything but the roof and headlight ring is back at the house. I gotta say, I think he got tired of working on it and realized he had underquoted me on it. The parts that he was finishing up have lots of runs. Bummer. They are in places that nobody but me would see, like the tunnel opening, but it still shows that his level of quality changed the more he had to work on it. The parts that really matter are painted very well though. Guess I can't complain.

So...here's a big warning for anyone copying my color scheme. DO NOT USE CYNGUS white with the lily white body. Either paint it all the lily white, or go very white on the roof and headlight ring. I painted the "white" parts cyngus and they look horrible. cyngus has a LOT of green in it compared to the lily white and it looks like sombody f'd up at the paint shop. Very frustrating, and that's $300 out the door. The painted called and asked if I realized it was just a few shades off, but I thought cyngus was three shades whiter....it's not.

 

[rutbeer]

The tub and bed are set, but that's about it. It took me a lot longer to change out the clutch than I thought, but it was easier with good friends helping. In fact, setting the body was MUCH easier and safer with three guys than the way I took them off.

 

[rutbeer]

more blurry photos

Sorry, the battery and the crappy camera went dead and the phone camera is very hard to hold still in low light. It was raining the whole day, so....

 

[rutbeer]

final shot for the day

Rolled everything back in, then got started painting the bare spots way up under the dash. I'll get some photos of that today.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Damn that looks good !!!