1970 FJ40 restoration

[zags]

Ready for yet another round of block sanding. I made a smaller version of my plastic paint booth using a 10x10 easy-up for when I need to shoot smaller individual parts. It goes up and tears down much faster than the big one.

 

[crushers]

$8K?
that is cheap ... seriously.
I would have expected closer to $20K

 

[zags]

$8K?
that is cheap ... seriously.
I would have expected closer to $20K

It may get close to that by the time I am done. I have quite a bit to buy yet, including a dash pad, seat upholstery and foam, all of the weatherstrips, body gaskets and window seals, brake and clutch master cylinders, and a bunch of small trim items. I also have to restore the wire harness yet. I was able to reuse all of the original sheet metal except for the rear sill and the running boards, so that helped a lot. Also, I rebuilt the axles, engine, trans, alternator, starter, steering gear and carb. myself, saving a good deal of money over buying remanufactured or new parts.

 

[AATLAS1X]

Very good job! Re plating hardware moves you to the top 1%.

If you need anything for this project, I have some decals and data plates you may have on your wish list.

here http://shop.metrictlc.com/1970_c22.htm?page=all

Again, Great job!

Shane

 

[zags]

Very good job! Re plating hardware moves you to the top 1%.

If you need anything for this project, I have some decals and data plates you may have on your wish list.

here http://shop.metrictlc.com/1970_c22.htm?page=all

Again, Great job!

Shane

Thanks! I love your website. You can count on getting quite a bit of business from me in the near future!

 

[zags]

I haven't posted an update in a while, mainly because I have just been doing body work and the amount of time I have had to work on it has been limited to weekends lately. The rotisserie has worked out great, I cannot imagine working without it. You can position the body exactly how you want it to work the most comfortably, especially on the interior and inside the wheel wells. It also helps with storage, as space is limited in a two car garage when it is full of body parts being worked on. I have several pieces ready for paint, and I think I am getting down to the last coat of high build primer on most everything else.

 

[My wife said no FJ!]

 

[bibn8r]

Wow, what a journey! Did you ever think when you started that you would have been so in depth with this project? Great job. Were you able to salvage the rubber/plastic "drip rail" under the metal drip rail?

 

[zags]

Wow, what a journey! Did you ever think when you started that you would have been so in depth with this project? Great job. Were you able to salvage the rubber/plastic "drip rail" under the metal drip rail?

At some point during the tear down to work on the engine, I had decided to do a full-on restoration and just kept tearing it down. Having had many, many old car projects over the last 25 years or so, and knowing how I insist on doing things, I knew that I wasn't going to do it half assed. All of the rubber parts are being replaced, including the big roof gasket. The desert is great for preserving metal, but absolutely destroys rubber parts. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[corleykj]

Thanks for sharing your build. This is so amazing. Some day I would like to have the time, money and expertise to do the job you are doing. I will definitely keep following.

 

[zags]

Finally! It is ready to paint. I chose Fashion Green for the body and Shell Ivory for the roof and headlight bezel. A friend of mine, a body shop manager and painter extraordinaire, has volunteered to help me shoot it this coming weekend. I did some spray-outs yesterday. At first the Shell Ivory looks really tan, like it has too much red, but out under a blue sky it lightens up quite a bit and I think it will look almost white up on the roof.

 

[thecrazygreek]

That is gonna be one sweet looking cruiser!

 

[crushers]

those are a nice match, agreed.
but
with all the work you have done to make it original, you sure you don't want to use original colors?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Zags,

I really like your color selection and I'm trying to pick some for my 55. What brand of paint are your test chips.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

 

[zags]

those are a nice match, agreed.
but
with all the work you have done to make it original, you sure you don't want to use original colors?

From all of the research I have done, I believe these are original colors. Although mine came Capri Blue originally, Fashion Green was available from 1968 to 1971. Since 1970 models did not have a color code stamped anywhere on them, the fact that it is in not the color it left the factory in doesn't bother me.

The chart attached below is shows that the proper roof color is Shell Ivory. My sprayout of that color matches my original roof color well. Like many, mine had been repainted, but I found the original color when I was repairing it.

A few other things to note:

I think the bezel was more white than the roof originally, but that color is nowhere to be found. I am painting it Shell Ivory for now because I think it will look good that way, but I can change it easily in the future if I choose.

I also think that Fashion green was either not available in the US or not very popular, which is understandable given the bright popular colors of the late sixties and early seventies. This may be why it was short lived. I have yet to see an example of a Land Cruiser documented to be this color.

 

[zags]

Zags,

I really like your color selection and I'm trying to pick some for my 55. What brand of paint are your test chips.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the compliment.

The paint is PPG Deltron Concept (DCC) Single stage acrylic urethane. I got samples from the paint store and shot the paint onto card stock made for that purpose.

 

[crushers]

interesting, learned something new today.
ever 40 i have seen has had cygnus white for roof
and:
http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/colorcodes.html
but the proof is in black and white ...
thanks for sharing, going to be a real nice ride when completed.

 

[zags]

I started painting parts. I really like the fashion green color.

 

[daniel.watters]

Great build. You definitely have a talent in restoration.

 

[crushers]

that color reminds me of the HZJ40 color ... real nice.
congrats