Builds 1977 FJ40 - USA Spec Restoration - Father & Son Project - AKA "Belle" (3 Viewers)

[DirtDauberGarage]

Great progress today. I'm looking forward to reading the updates as the week progresses!

Thanks for the encouragement!!!!!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I haven't gotten the other quarter panel done yet... I've been working on the "honey do" list , I painted my second daughters room, and help my boy work on something pretty important to him . We also went up and spent the day walking around "Old Car City USA" IT WAS AMAZING!! Hundreds of old cars. It kind of made me sad to see all these cars wasting away. Some of them are too far gone, but some of them could still be saved. Check it out...

Car Museum | United States | Old Car City U.S.A.

I hope to get some more work done on the 40 tomorrow.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

OK... Things always take longer than expected. Why do I keep forgetting that??

I have spent two days welding and grinding trying to clean up my bad welding skills , but at least I am learning. I keep telling myself, "The way to get better is to keep practicing. It is hard to watch all these TV shows and see the awesome skill, but I have got to remember that those guys are professionals and have hours and hours of welding and fabricating, so I will just keep working on it.

Here is a pic... not the prettiest but getting the job done

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

My son pulled the calipers off to put them on the correct side (bleeder value up) and noticed the rotor surfaces have rusted. It has been a couple months since I have installed them and my shop is not temp controlled. We have a lot of humility here in Atlanta and it gets cold and night and hot during the day, so we often have condensation on metal. I know they come with a protective coating, but I cleaned it off when I installed them. The surface rust comes right off, so I will clean them up, coat them with a coat of oil and wait to install the calipers and pads until I am close to driving it.

 

[airon23]

OK... Things always take longer than expected. Why do I keep forgetting that??

I have spent two days welding and grinding trying to clean up my bad welding skills , but at least I am learning. I keep telling myself, "The way to get better is to keep practicing. It is hard to watch all these TV shows and see the awesome skill, but I have got to remember that those guys are professionals and have hours and hours of welding and fabricating, so I will just keep working on it.

Here is a pic... not the prettiest but getting the job done

View attachment 2250836

Nice job. Not bad at all, just keep it up and like you said, before you know it you'll be a pro. I wish I could get me a welder and start doing the same, but I definitely need a bigger shop space, then again don't we always need more space.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I spent some more time grinding and took a file and used in like a sanding block. Things cleaned up a little bit. I'm going to keep working on it.

I'm going to really take my time when I weld on the other quarter panel and see if I can get a much better looking weld.

Thanks for the encouragement! I'll keep you guys posted!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

At some point the PO of this tub drilled about a dozen tiny holes all around the top edge. I think it must have been some sort of soft top or a bikini top and he used all these little holes to tie it down. I welded the holes closed and smoothed them out.

You can't even see them any more. Here is a pic of a couple that I need to finish welding up.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I started cleaning up the plug welds on the inside of the tub. Here is what I plan to do...

1. Start with a grinder to take about 80% off
2. Moveto a small angle grinder with 80 grit
3. Finish with 120 grit

I will clean all these up a little more when I get ready to paint, but I want to have 95% of it done so it doesn't take me as long once I get ready to paint. I will probably put a thin layer of filler over the welds before I paint to smooth them out even more. I am not looking for a glassy ultra smooth paint job, but I do want it to look good

 

[thecrazygreek]

Putting some ospho on flash rust helps.
Or fluid film works as well.
Ospho turns it black, a quick wipe then fluid film seals it up.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Putting some ospho on flash rust helps.
Or fluid film works as well.
Ospho turns it black, a quick wipe then fluid film seals it up.

Awesome! Thank you!

MM

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

I would avoid fluid film on brake rotors and anything you want to paint later. Good to see the boys getting mechanical.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I would avoid fluid film on brake rotors and anything you want to paint later. Good to see the boys getting mechanical.

Thanks!

I just coated them really good with SEA 30 oil. I'll put a coat on it every couple weeks. I'll clean them really good before I reinstall the pads.


This is just more motivation to get this thing on the road ASAP!! I would love to have this thing moving on it's own sometime this summer.

MM

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

My son and I started a YouTube channel to document our FJ40 build. We will continue to post here on MUD, but gonna video document it as well.

Check it out!!!

Dirt Dauber Garage

 

[airon23]

I'll check it out. If there's one thing YouTube needs more of it's fresh cool landcruiser channels.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I'll check it out. If there's one thing YouTube needs more of it's fresh cool landcruiser channels.

Thanks. We have already posted 4 vids and I am uploading another right now. It is a learning experience, but I am loving spending the time with my boy!

Wow knows... we might eventually get 1000 subscribers and start making money to support our build

MM

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

We got a lot done today. If you want to see videos check out our YouTube channel

Dirt Dauber Garage

Restoring a 1977 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser and Fixing up things in our home shop.

www.youtube.com

Finished cleaning up the welds on the driver side quarter panel. Pulled off the passenger side panel. Cleaned up the back brace, straightened it out and primed it. I think this tub took a hit to the passenger side at some point. The back brace was bent and the top rail of the tub has some damage as well.

I forgot to take lot of pic because I was doing so much video. I will remember to take more pics next time

Here are a few...

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Here are a few more...

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

And a few more...

Straightened out this back brace, cleaned in up really good (inside and out) then panted it with the Rust Reformer. Trying to get the places that will be harder to get later. I will paint the entire tub with epoxy primer eventual. I may also put some "seam sealer" in all the seam on the under side as well.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Got some more work done today on the passenger side quarter panel.

Watch the video here...

Cleaned the last of the undercoating off. This wheel well was the thickest and the hardest to get off. Cleaned up the quarter panel on both sides (still have a little more clean up to do).

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Cleaned up the tub to prepare for reinstalling the qrt panel.

Need to finish cleaning up the quarter panel and finish taking off the remnants of the old panel, but Judson got a good start on it.