Builds 1978 US Market FJ40 Factory Restoration (1 Viewer)

[ToyotaMatt]

looking sharp as always Dallas

happy labor day brother ........

 

[middlecalf]

Criminy, how thick is that bondo? I see the pocking they were covering up, below your cut line. If the bondo above your cut line was removed do you think the waviness could be alleviated?

 

[dmaddox]

Heya, Middlecalf. I was thinking that, I even picked up some sheet metal today.
Problem is when I dug into the door, removing the paint and copious amounts of filler, the entire door will need attention.

Even up around the door handle holes, the hinge recesses and so on….all a disaster.

Really a shame. This entire cruiser is a giant lie, but in the end every tiny detail will be exposed and sorted out/fixed or if not fixed ensure the components are solid and serviceable.

I’ve just stopped thinking something will simply need a touch up or a cleaning. I’ve lost interest in this project so many times because of just getting tired of having to repair every detail.

thanks for allowing me to rant….yet again.

have a good night!

 

[OPMACHINE]

Looking good, can’t wait to see the final product

 

[dmaddox]

A while back...probably a year or go, I purchased one of the City Racer spare tire carrier hinge kits. I recently dug it out and opened it up. Impressive - and while waiting on some panels and other gear to continue the pre-paint work, decided to finish up the spare tire carrier.

The hinges were very boned out and just a giant mess. I tried to pound them out, but even after soaking in PB Blaster for days on end, wouldn't budge.

So, I decided to visit my local angry Armenians to see if they would press them out.

After wading our way through piles of European engines, transmissions and other parts in various stages of disassembly, they began to press out the hinges:

I decided then and there - as often as I have needed a press, it is one of those tools that sucks to have in the way...until you need it. When you don't have one available, it's a hassle.

With the limited space I have in my one-car garage (yes, I am doing a full frame off restoration in a one-car garage), I wanted to search for a press that was effective on bigger parts, but also able to be tucked out of the way.

I found this one, it is a 6-ton, nothing super hefty but perfect for hinges, u-joints, bearings and so on in there. While I had to elevate it, the legs easily come off and the whole thing stashes behind my air compressor quite easily.

It worked perfectly....and while I had to elevate it to get the awkward shape of the spare tire carrier under it to get a prefect press angle, was pretty slick. The whole press is pretty compact, and again...stashes nicely behind my air compressor and out of the way.

City Racer greasable hinges pressed into place, nice and snug and ready for paint prep.

Then, hurricane Ida hit and flooded my neighborhood. I had about 6" flowing through my garage and laundry room. I don't have a basement (house is just on a slab), and luckily the main footprint of my house is about 6" above the grade of the lot. So, while some of my hardwood floors on th emain level are swollen and warped from the moisture, my garage and laundry room (utilities there, too) took a hit.

I was in the process of remodeling my garage, so I lost some time/work there....but some houses further down my block had 4' flowing through their homes, banished to the upstairs and some drowning, very sad.

Over the last week there have been FEMA trucks, and all manner of junk haulers moving furniture, appliance and other personal belongings out to the garbage. A Ford Raptor a block and a half away had a car float into the front of it smashing the grille/hood and the water line was mid-way on the drivers door.

I never thought I'd see this kind of thing here. I feel lucky that all I lost was some power tools, some flooring and drywall/baseboard that needs to be replaced.

Here is my street, as the water was rising:

When I went out to check on the garage, I stepped into about 4" of water...as my wife's flip flop went floating by:

I have an oil burner furnace and was worried the water was going to get up into the motor/bearings.

From floods to bondo filled doors...its been a week. I am looking forward to better days.

Hey, at least the spare tire carrier is ready to rock.

 

[Ackcruisers]

What a bummer among all the setbacks you've encountered in your build. Keep moving forward.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

i pray you still had your new tires on your chassis during the IDa ...........

then at least is ok ?

i hope .......

 

[dmaddox]

A couple of updates as the project moves along at a snails pace.

The body color pieces, I am finding are from a collection of land cruisers based on the layers of paint telling the story. Hinges from and an ambulance door from a freeborn red cruiser....a fuel tank cover from a rustic green cruiser...windshield frame from smurf blue...on and on.

So, I am working on stripping, sanding and prepping all of the parts to bare steel and then epoxy priming them.

A screwdriver worked wonders, albeit very slow in removing some of the paint. In particular, it was effective in removing the undercoating and layers of single stage yellow from the underside of the fenders.

Just a little bit left here. I was amazed at how easily it flaked off. Not durable at all.

Once I completed removing all of the paint, I sanded with 80 grit DA sander and then in the nooks and crannies by hand on the fenders, ambulance doors, windshield frame, bezel and fuel tank cover.

Then I mixed up a big batch of 1:1 epoxy primer.

In between coats of epoxy primer, I decided that with the millions of little body color pieces, I didn't have the time or patience to wire wheel each piece or pay to have them sand blasted. You'd be surprised (unless you've been through this), that there are a TON of small body color bits and pieces that need to be prepped for paint.

I decided to toss them all in a five gallon bucket (recycled drywall mud bucket) and then give this a try:

As you can see there are kick vents, hinges, hard top support brackets, wiper cover..on and on.

I was worried this wouldn't be effective as its a "safe, environmentally friendly" solution. Any cleaner/stripper these days has the teeth removed from it, but I had a coupon at Ace and gave it a try.

I was surprised to see it immediately (as advertised, I guess....in two minutes) start to remove the paint.

I let it sit for about four hours and it looks like it was 98% effective.

Very nice to have all of these little pieces clean.

Epoxy primer also turned out nicely as well. This paves the way for me to apply filler to the trouble areas I repaired, sand and then apply a primer and sealer in preparation for mustard.

Because of the humidity here, it took a long time to flash, but this morning it looks like I have a fantastic base from which to work on with these parts. Only a few small areas that I need to apply plastics. For the most part, I won't even need to use any! I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

Lots of labor, lots of time - but making progress. Have a great week everyone, thank you for tuning in. All the best.

 

[Broski]

I know late to the game, but just wanted to say really nice work !!!

 

[firefighterjed]

It’s a great feeling when prices of the puzzle turn that corner from dissassembly and repair toward the finished product. I guess I’m saying that it feels better to be building up than it does to be tearing down. It’s exciting to see good parts in primer.

 

[thecrazygreek]

“Good men are happy with their own seeds, a fool happy to judge with empty pockets.“ ~me


I enjoy it when people take those steps that start to reveal the vision they’ve had from the beginning...

 

[dmaddox]

Great messages from you guys - I really feel that even though many of us haven't met, this forum...and in particular this build, has been a great venue to bring like minded people together. I really appreciate the comments and all of you rooting along. You all know how difficult these jobs are at times.

I finished cleaning up the toxic-goo coated pieces and will degrease/prep them for primer as well. While that goo is expensive, in this case I felt it was a worthy expense.

It doesn't clear 100% of the paint/etc.. especially if there are locations with surface rust, but it does a great job.

I wrestled with some poorly mixed (my fault) filler this morning that I had to quickly shave off (no harm done luckily), and then restart with some "rage" by evercoat.

After two passes, the sander revealed a near laser straight fender. I am excited to clean up the edges and put a finishing glaze on it, hit it with 220 and then prime it in preparation for mustard.

Funny...as I was walking out of my garage, I shut the light off - which reduced the light to a window on the side of my garage I added earlier this year.

Maybe a bit arrogant of me to think of my work as "art" but the light from the window sure made me feel that way...like it was some kind of exhibit! Ha!

Have a good evening

 

[Goldbug]

I'd hang it on a wall!

Great job @dmaddox, really impressive attention to detail

 

[Kschep]

I’ve lost interest in this project so many times because of just getting tired of having to repair every detail.

thanks for allowing me to rant….yet again.

have a good night!

From one perfectionist to another, I hear you on that comment. Hey I spoke to a fellow mudder and he pointed me in this direction as I am doing similar things to my 8/76-8/77 model year mustard FJ so I wanted to make contact and say Hi first, and i'll read through this thread and familiarize myself as much as I can with your build. Currently, Im doing my smog system just so that I can get my boy on the road and driving in CA (Im from San Mateo, literally right on other side of the 92 bridge).
From quick glance it looks like your doing very good work on the FJ (to say the least) and need to just remind yourself and picture what your final product will be like and how great it will finally be in the end. The road to get there is what we will cherish in the end, so from one mudder to another (who himself needs pick me ups) it'll get there and it will be amazing.

 

[dmaddox]

Thank you @Kschep ! I'll have to check out your build as well.

It has been very difficult keeping the interest going on this project. Those that are going through this deep of a restoration know, there are a few major "humps" to get over and I am (in my opinion so far) in the middle of the hardest part. Body and paint.

Land Cruisers (generally) are so abused and "hung up wet" over the years, being used exactly as advertised, that when one goes to restore and work on one, they are misaligned, rusty, bent, broken, duct taped together, have other years' parts on them or a chevrolet part, and have years of hidden repairs and secrets you'd never even know looking at it when purchasing.

I used to roll my eyes at the FJ Co and others that charge 180K for an FJ40. While icon/fjco/etc.. products might not be my thing, I have to respect the sheer volume of hours dumped into making them right.

So, here we are, fighting through these humps without the luxury of giant wide open shops, endless supplies, lifts, extra sets of hands, proper tools and whatever else to get them built as best we can.

I appreciate the update and boost of confidence. I am currently just stuck in that awful, horrible phase of plastic and epoxy primer. It is such a drag working in a one car garage. I have to pull out my other car (so the weather has to be nice), move stuff around to make space, sand on a fender - which generates copious amounts of filler dust of the worst kind, and then spend two hours cleaning it all up to pull the car back in and put everything away.

Now you know why my FJ has been in this phase for over a year. I spend maybe 2-3 hours a week on it on average. My motivation is no longer the finished product, but the space I'll have in getting the giant piles of parts onto the cruiser and out of the way.

I'll say this last - especially for us husbands/dads.....time is becoming increasingly valuable the older I get. I have spent countless weekends on building this thing instead of helping my dad, spending time with my wife or my kids, studying my craft/career to be better for my employer...on and on. It isn't until we have those moments....a birthday, a funeral, an anniversary...do we pause and ask ourselves wow, I have spent 800 hours on an old Toyota that really hasn't moved in three years and took my wife on a vacation for five days once.

So, I'll continue to try to fit in an hour here or an hour there and continue the restoration, but I will say with a heavy amount of confidence. I'll always be a tinkerer and fix and improve the vehicles I am lucky enough to own, but I'll never go down this path ever again.

I should have some more updates soon, as I am about to complete the plastic work!

Enjoy the week and thanks all for following along (even if at a snails pace).

 

[Green Bean]

Thank you @Kschep ! I'll have to check out your build as well.

It has been very difficult keeping the interest going on this project. Those that are going through this deep of a restoration know, there are a few major "humps" to get over and I am (in my opinion so far) in the middle of the hardest part. Body and paint.

Land Cruisers (generally) are so abused and "hung up wet" over the years, being used exactly as advertised, that when one goes to restore and work on one, they are misaligned, rusty, bent, broken, duct taped together, have other years' parts on them or a chevrolet part, and have years of hidden repairs and secrets you'd never even know looking at it when purchasing.

I used to roll my eyes at the FJ Co and others that charge 180K for an FJ40. While icon/fjco/etc.. products might not be my thing, I have to respect the sheer volume of hours dumped into making them right.

So, here we are, fighting through these humps without the luxury of giant wide open shops, endless supplies, lifts, extra sets of hands, proper tools and whatever else to get them built as best we can.

I appreciate the update and boost of confidence. I am currently just stuck in that awful, horrible phase of plastic and epoxy primer. It is such a drag working in a one car garage. I have to pull out my other car (so the weather has to be nice), move stuff around to make space, sand on a fender - which generates copious amounts of filler dust of the worst kind, and then spend two hours cleaning it all up to pull the car back in and put everything away.

Now you know why my FJ has been in this phase for over a year. I spend maybe 2-3 hours a week on it on average. My motivation is no longer the finished product, but the space I'll have in getting the giant piles of parts onto the cruiser and out of the way.

I'll say this last - especially for us husbands/dads.....time is becoming increasingly valuable the older I get. I have spent countless weekends on building this thing instead of helping my dad, spending time with my wife or my kids, studying my craft/career to be better for my employer...on and on. It isn't until we have those moments....a birthday, a funeral, an anniversary...do we pause and ask ourselves wow, I have spent 800 hours on an old Toyota that really hasn't moved in three years and took my wife on a vacation for five days once.

So, I'll continue to try to fit in an hour here or an hour there and continue the restoration, but I will say with a heavy amount of confidence. I'll always be a tinkerer and fix and improve the vehicles I am lucky enough to own, but I'll never go down this path ever again.

I should have some more updates soon, as I am about to complete the plastic work!

Enjoy the week and thanks all for following along (even if at a snails pace).

Very well stated and poignant. Life is a balancing act and it sounds like you're doing a good job with your priorities.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Very well stated and poignant. Life is a balancing act and it sounds like you're doing a good job with your priorities.

Thank you @Kschep ! I'll have to check out your build as well.

It has been very difficult keeping the interest going on this project. Those that are going through this deep of a restoration know, there are a few major "humps" to get over and I am (in my opinion so far) in the middle of the hardest part. Body and paint.

Land Cruisers (generally) are so abused and "hung up wet" over the years, being used exactly as advertised, that when one goes to restore and work on one, they are misaligned, rusty, bent, broken, duct taped together, have other years' parts on them or a chevrolet part, and have years of hidden repairs and secrets you'd never even know looking at it when purchasing.

I used to roll my eyes at the FJ Co and others that charge 180K for an FJ40. While icon/fjco/etc.. products might not be my thing, I have to respect the sheer volume of hours dumped into making them right.

So, here we are, fighting through these humps without the luxury of giant wide open shops, endless supplies, lifts, extra sets of hands, proper tools and whatever else to get them built as best we can.

I appreciate the update and boost of confidence. I am currently just stuck in that awful, horrible phase of plastic and epoxy primer. It is such a drag working in a one car garage. I have to pull out my other car (so the weather has to be nice), move stuff around to make space, sand on a fender - which generates copious amounts of filler dust of the worst kind, and then spend two hours cleaning it all up to pull the car back in and put everything away.

Now you know why my FJ has been in this phase for over a year. I spend maybe 2-3 hours a week on it on average. My motivation is no longer the finished product, but the space I'll have in getting the giant piles of parts onto the cruiser and out of the way.

I'll say this last - especially for us husbands/dads.....time is becoming increasingly valuable the older I get. I have spent countless weekends on building this thing instead of helping my dad, spending time with my wife or my kids, studying my craft/career to be better for my employer...on and on. It isn't until we have those moments....a birthday, a funeral, an anniversary...do we pause and ask ourselves wow, I have spent 800 hours on an old Toyota that really hasn't moved in three years and took my wife on a vacation for five days once.

So, I'll continue to try to fit in an hour here or an hour there and continue the restoration, but I will say with a heavy amount of confidence. I'll always be a tinkerer and fix and improve the vehicles I am lucky enough to own, but I'll never go down this path ever again.

I should have some more updates soon, as I am about to complete the plastic work!

Enjoy the week and thanks all for following along (even if at a snails pace).

From one perfectionist to another, I hear you on that comment. Hey I spoke to a fellow mudder and he pointed me in this direction as I am doing similar things to my 8/76-8/77 model year mustard FJ so I wanted to make contact and say Hi first, and i'll read through this thread and familiarize myself as much as I can with your build. Currently, Im doing my smog system just so that I can get my boy on the road and driving in CA (Im from San Mateo, literally right on other side of the 92 bridge).
From quick glance it looks like your doing very good work on the FJ (to say the least) and need to just remind yourself and picture what your final product will be like and how great it will finally be in the end. The road to get there is what we will cherish in the end, so from one mudder to another (who himself needs pick me ups) it'll get there and it will be amazing.

i WATCH both Dallas's Build Thread here and Kyles Various TECH threads and his build thread with Great Interest and well i indeed get something unique personal out of Both your endeavors to say the least ..........


you both are so darn detail oriented and subscribe to my " FACTORY FOCUS POINT PURIST BASED MIND SET APROACH " tech slogan i dreamed up many years ago now it seams in my opinion , or at least well are doing exactly it's intended and same Definition and Mission statement goal ........

i am always here to support both of you and the SOLID Ideas and Paths Forward , u have Chosen Wisely , and help you both in any way i can , exactly how i have done in the past on occasion ........


keep up the positive VIBES !


Kindly matt .....

Dallas :

KYLE :

​

 

[dmaddox]

Happy Friday mudders!

Finally have the tub and fender body work completed and epoxy primed. Next will be a 2k primer and guide coat once I get all of the pieces completed and assembled to verify fit and panel gaps.

Body work is no doubt the crux of any project - due to the giant time sink it requires to get it right.

I think the "feather in my cap" with this project is that nothing has been farmed out, other than buying new parts, or plated parts, I have completed all of this work in a 1-car garage by myself. I am sure that goes for a lot of us - and one of the things that brings us all together on these forums, we are all figuring this out and working through/solving problems and restoring these in some say, all on our own. That makes it so fun, in the end (but it sucks right now).

I am trying to be as detailed as I can - but I'll note that other than quarters and a rear sill, the tub is original steel. So the rear fender wells, and other pieces were incredibly difficult to try to pound flat; especially in areas where steel supports are located.

I also had a difficult time with the driver rear quarter, as much as I appreciate and enjoy the Real Steel parts, the tolerances are...well...you're on your own.

So, as I like to point out all of the blemishes - you can see the "used" character of the bed here, even if laser straight.

A tiny wobble in the front fender lip where I welded in new steel. I'll have to address this when blocking.

Now that the steel is sealed, I can use the 3M heavy bodied seam sealer to seal all of the factory seams. There are also a few areas where I need to address, noting the blemishes in the hinge center pivot area.

Obviously the tub is just sitting on the frame and not center, but I am very happy with how the body work has turned out so far. Bib curing in the background and will be next on the operating table, sanding the plastic level and adding another coat of epoxy.

I need to drill the plastic from the passenger side, unfortunately that turn signal bracket makes it incredibly difficult to clear out the filler (as you can see on the driver side). Lesson learned here is to perhaps affix a piece of painters tape to the backside of those holes, so that you don't have to clean out so much excess plastic. However, I am again happy to see the fenders straight, rust free and sealed on the cruiser. This shot gives me motivation to keep up the work.

Side shot

Here, you can see more "character" (makes me feel better to call it character vs. dents) in the original floor and fender wells.

That's it for now. Next up is the other body pieces...as mentioned the bib and other parts (hood, hard top sides, doors, blah blah it will never end.)
It has been incredibly difficult to keep up the motivation - especially with "life". But, it feels good to have some forward progress and update the thread!

Also over the last couple of months, upgraded from 901 to 964 . She screams. This is ketchup....for obvious reasons.

 

[Robs76fj40]

Happy Friday mudders!

Finally have the tub and fender body work completed and epoxy primed. Next will be a 2k primer and guide coat once I get all of the pieces completed and assembled to verify fit and panel gaps.

Body work is no doubt the crux of any project - due to the giant time sink it requires to get it right.

I think the "feather in my cap" with this project is that nothing has been farmed out, other than buying new parts, or plated parts, I have completed all of this work in a 1-car garage by myself. I am sure that goes for a lot of us - and one of the things that brings us all together on these forums, we are all figuring this out and working through/solving problems and restoring these in some say, all on our own. That makes it so fun, in the end (but it sucks right now).

I am trying to be as detailed as I can - but I'll note that other than quarters and a rear sill, the tub is original steel. So the rear fender wells, and other pieces were incredibly difficult to try to pound flat; especially in areas where steel supports are located.

I also had a difficult time with the driver rear quarter, as much as I appreciate and enjoy the Real Steel parts, the tolerances are...well...you're on your own.

So, as I like to point out all of the blemishes - you can see the "used" character of the bed here, even if laser straight.

View attachment 2818369

A tiny wobble in the front fender lip where I welded in new steel. I'll have to address this when blocking.

View attachment 2818370

Now that the steel is sealed, I can use the 3M heavy bodied seam sealer to seal all of the factory seams. There are also a few areas where I need to address, noting the blemishes in the hinge center pivot area.

View attachment 2818372

Obviously the tub is just sitting on the frame and not center, but I am very happy with how the body work has turned out so far. Bib curing in the background and will be next on the operating table, sanding the plastic level and adding another coat of epoxy.

View attachment 2818375

I need to drill the plastic from the passenger side, unfortunately that turn signal bracket makes it incredibly difficult to clear out the filler (as you can see on the driver side). Lesson learned here is to perhaps affix a piece of painters tape to the backside of those holes, so that you don't have to clean out so much excess plastic. However, I am again happy to see the fenders straight, rust free and sealed on the cruiser. This shot gives me motivation to keep up the work.

View attachment 2818379

Side shot

View attachment 2818381

Here, you can see more "character" (makes me feel better to call it character vs. dents) in the original floor and fender wells.

View attachment 2818382

That's it for now. Next up is the other body pieces...as mentioned the bib and other parts (hood, hard top sides, doors, blah blah it will never end.)
It has been incredibly difficult to keep up the motivation - especially with "life". But, it feels good to have some forward progress and update the thread!

Also over the last couple of months, upgraded from 901 to 964 . She screams. This is ketchup....for obvious reasons.

View attachment 2818384

I also am getting very close to this point of body work. It's been very hard to stay motivated and positive over the very long life of my project as well. I was ready to quit and part/scrap my truck out more times than I want to think about. I had my tub fold in half on the rotisserie I built, that was crushing and brutal. I walked away totally for over a year. I have a pretty good feel for what you're going through and you're doing much better than you think you are, trust me! I keep thinking to myself that these trucks were very, VERY far from perfect when new and we, as builders, see so much more than most anyone else. You're making great strides on a daunting task. Keep positive, keep moving forward. Excellent, perfect -imperfect work! Be proud! Also that is a killer piece of German engineering!

 

[SWCruiser]

Looking good. Glad it’s getting closer. Dallas you deserve to finally drive this cruiser even though the cruiser gods keep making you suffer. They might show you more love if you bought another cruiser or two instead of those nice sports cars… keep us inspired!