Build 1978 FJ40. Waking up the ol’ girl!

[aztoyman]

Looks AWESOME! Great job! I know a lot of the forum members like to "preserve patina" but I like what you did better. (I might think otherwise in some totally original survivor cases).

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Epic…

Went back and read through the thread in its entirety. Well done.

 

[EStein]

Looks AWESOME! Great job! I know a lot of the forum members like to "preserve patina" but I like what you did better. (I might think otherwise in some totally original survivor cases).

I definitely like a good patina, but there was no way on this rig. Totally rotten and second paint anyway.

I will say to anyone… If you can use a paint sprayer on your house or even good with a rattle can… You can get really nice results painting in your garage. If you don’t need a showcase paint, save yourself 5 to 10 grand.

 

[EStein]

Epic…

Went back and read through the thread in its entirety. Well done.

I did too this morning! Lots of great memories. Kind of made me sad since my oldest is gone away at school now…Life..

 

[EStein]

Merry Christmas to an amazing group!

 

[EStein]

My wife got me a console for Christmas. CCOT. I’ve been wanting one mainly so I can get my stereo in. Doesn’t fit in the dash. I’ve never seen the Tuffy in person but the Cool Cruisers seems really nice quality and finish. Will report back on the install. Might be a couple weeks.

 

[majdomo]

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Great build, just read through your thread! Looks like you've touched just about every part of the rig! The console looks great, just was wondering where you got the hydrogen bomb??

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Etsy….

just was wondering where you got the hydrogen bomb??

 

[EStein]

Great build, just read through your thread! Looks like you've touched just about every part of the rig! The console looks great, just was wondering where you got the hydrogen bomb??

Haha. That’s so funny my wife pointed that out last night! I think it’s a fireworks box, but I never had the contents so who knows where it came from. Still in bed drinking coffee recovering from yesterday. Going to have to go out and investigate that in a little bit.

 

[RRblue40]

WOW, read through your whole thread. Just top notch sir! I am now order panels and study your photos on the mid section very close, that’s where my biggest issues are. Then side panels and all four door lowers. Any like you, leaving the body on the frame.

 

[EStein]

WOW, read through your whole thread. Just top notch sir! I am now order panels and study your photos on the mid section very close, that’s where my biggest issues are. Then side panels and all four door lowers. Any like you, leaving the body on the frame.

Excellent! Document and take lots of photos. I look forward to following.

 

[EStein]

Finally got my new CCOT console installed. Super easy and fit well. Mounting plate lines up with the stock holes perfect. Front along the horizontal bar between the seats and rear to the seat brackets. A little tight between the seats but didn’t have to modify. The one problem is if you use the stock holes where the box mounts to the mounting plate, the shifter hits the front of the box in 2nd and 4th gear. . I slid the console back a few inches and drilled new holes. No big deal.

The good: well built and finish is good. Have a place for my stereo. Cup holder. Arm rest is nice.
The bad: Shifting is awkward and knob still hits the box a bit. (I could probably bend the shifter to fix). I miss the lines of the simple stock center console…but I’ve got tunes!

 

[EStein]

So tunes…did a lot of thinking about where to mount speakers. Nothing ideal but settled on the back corners. I’m not the best woodworker but whittled some boxes out of MDF and happy with how they turned out. Zip tied to the roll bar.
No back to them and filled the hole with some thinsulate insulation that I had left from a different project. 6” speakers…lacking bass but they work ok.

 

[RevISK]

So tunes…did a lot of thinking about where to mount speakers. Nothing ideal but settled on the back corners. I’m not the best woodworker but whittled some boxes out of MDF and happy with how they turned out. Zip tied to the roll bar.
No back to them and filled the hole with some thinsulate insulation that I had left from a different project. 6” speakers…lacking bass but they work ok.

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A few tips when working with mdf…
If you spray shellac on the surface and saturate the edges (sand edges between coats), the paint will then hold and hide very well. Another thing I like to is use cold galvanizing compound spray as a topcoat and kind of polish it with a scotch brite pad. You can get it to look like oiled iron with some experimentation.

These steps will seal the mdf really well as it’s basically a sponge and loves moisture.

Looks great Eric.

 

[EStein]

Yeah that’s a good idea. Getting it to look like iron would be cool. It’s been so cold here I just wanted to get something on it that didn’t look like bare mdf. I might tinker with them in the spring.

 

[EStein]

Visited the Land Cruiser Museum in Salt Lake today. What an amazing place. There is an audio for each individual vehicle talking about the history. So cool. Some of my favorites…

1st LC imported into US. The actual #1! 1958 FJ25

Mary Spector of Spector Off Road owned this 45

This was pull out of the big California fire devastation

 

[EStein]

And some not so common….

 

[RevISK]

I might sell my children for this baby

 

[RevISK]

And some not so common….


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Are you making your way to Ouray by any chance?

 

[EStein]

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I might sell my children for this baby

Agreed. That rig was bad ass. Started as a 63 FJ45 if I remember correctly.
Photo from the back.