1976 Fj55 Sr project (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Oct 27, 2018
Threads
2
Messages
24
Location
Flathead, Montana
We just started this school year to restore a 1976 FJ55. We found this in a field in western Montana. It had been sitting for several years. We put a battery in it and it started. We put on a trailer then it sat for 3 years next to the barn. Then out to the so 40 for couple years. Still runs on the old gas. The roof caved in from all the snow we had, about 4' from one storm. So we putting on a different roof skin. About 120 spot welds times 2. I’ll post pics later
 
D1FAD3A1-0BED-48D8-BA13-B1C27A95AB63.jpeg
 
I will be watching to see what you do with your roof. I need to figure something out in the future for the rusted roof in my '78 FJ55. Of course, besides the rush in the roof, I have rust in lower fenders, so I will be looking for fender patch panels too.
 
FJ55 roofs are flimsy. I added some supports to mine to prevent oilcanning, and then glued them to the roof with urethane adhesive to prevent rattling. Worked great. I used 1/4" rod, bent slightly to conform to the curvature of the roof and welded at both ends. Congrats on taking on a big job.
 
I'm thinking of glueing supports from the used roof to give support. Before I removed the “new” used roof skin i did some metal shrinking to remove most of the oil canning. I probably will need to do some more after I weld it on. This is a great teaching tool for my son. He’s seeing many different approaches to the challenge of body and mechanical work. With hands on experience that should last him a lifetime.
 
The underside of the roof was painted yesterday. It was 40 outside, and my temp spray both is a shed roof wrapped in 6ml plastic. Got it up to the middle 60s then sprayed it. Hardened up nice over night. Today we placed the roof on the 55. Next comes the final fitting and more than 120 welds. It’s going to be cold this week, arctic blast lows in the single digits.

306FD943-5D8E-4E3D-99BA-1AC34211E50C.jpeg
 
The underside of the roof was painted yesterday. It was 40 outside, and my temp spray both is a shed roof wrapped in 6ml plastic. Got it up to the middle 60s then sprayed it. Hardened up nice over night. Today we placed the roof on the 55. Next comes the final fitting and more than 120 welds. It’s going to be cold this week, arctic blast lows in the single digits.

View attachment 1833457
This is awesome! Looks like you're doing great work on the truck, and being creative with the resources you have. Very cool.
 
Thanks, it’s going to be an adventure. I’m making tools as I need them. I started making a sheetmetal brake today out of some salvage metal. Should be a zero dollar project.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom