Builds 1978 US Market FJ40 Factory Restoration

[dmaddox]

I purchased them. Sorry!

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Sharp MIG Welding Dallas ,

 

[dmaddox]

Not happy. The driver side quarter is completely toast, with at least two gallons of bondo spread over a crushed soda can.

I’ll have to replace most of the quarter panel.

It’s going to take me much more time and money to correct this than I thought.

 

[dmaddox]

Oh and did I mention the driver seat has progressively gotten loose?

You guessed it! A glued in piece of tin for the seat to mount to. Perfectly normal and safe!

 

[dmaddox]

Trimmed:

 

[dmaddox]

Fitting, then will focus on seat mount and inside before welding in quarter:

To give an idea:

 

[dmaddox]

Working on fixing seat mount location and under channel.

 

[dmaddox]

How are door hinges bolted on? I ask because it is clear to me now why:

1. The vin plate was cut back and tacked in.
2. Why there are patches for bolt access on both lower hinges.
3. Why whoever said the hell with it I’m going to weld the hinge on.

 

[dmaddox]

I’m about to go insane. If you (other than the unhelpful person I bought it from) owned this at one point (it had ih8mud stickers on it from someone on here other than PO)....

No hard feelings....I just need answers man. You can come forward and I will pardon all of this. I just need a few WTF’s answered.

 

[SipLife]

Definitely a true Wolf in sheep's clothing. It’s a shame someone decided to hack a truck and do mediocre repairs like this You’re patch work is looking great! Looking forward to following along. Subscribed.

 

[dmaddox]

Fixing horrible rear frame hack. I have no idea why someone would hack the ends off, but with donor parts from another mud member, I’m fixing it:

Pretty snappy eh? Turned out very nicely!

 

[whitey45]

Dallas, props for your tenacity and not giving up, I would be hunting down the culprits who did such shoddy and unsafe repairs. Hard to believe someone sold this with a clear conscious! Keep at it, your going to end up with a nice 40!

 

[dmaddox]

Thank you Whitey45! Means a lot!

Rear channel welding completed:

 

[middlecalf]

Sharp MIG Welding Dallas , ​

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An understatement, for sure. Having myself been welding in some panel pieces (albeit on a bit more aged metal) I would summarize what I see in Dallas’s pictures as “Kick @ss” welding. It’s not easy getting anywhere near consistent fitment and gaps when doing this, and this is done in situ to boot. Awesome job Dallas!

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Looks like the same person built my rig before they got to yours.

No joke.

Mine found its way from Colorado to Texas (where I think it was hacked) to South Carolina. I bought it in SC.

Paint looked good.

 

[franklin40]

funny (not really) how common a theme this is. i bought mine with a nice clean paint job to find it full of bondo and holes in the floor fibreglassed over. instead of proper body work there’s a square tube welded in where a properly formed rear sill should sit. then because body mounts wouldn’t fit anymore they welded on a metal pad that sat right on the rear crossmember. there were also patched welded over frame rust that trapped oven more moistures and rusted more frame away. at least you’ll k ow what you’ve got and can have pride in what you have when finished knowing it’s done right. well done and don’t give up

 

[tstepp920]

Damn I don't want to be a PO.

 

[dmaddox]

Just a temporary rattle can in flat black to protect the bare metal, and work begins on a new rear sill.

 

[dmaddox]

Does anyone have the part numbers for the four body mounts that go along the rear? Or should I just get one of the aftermarket “kits”?

 

[tstepp920]

52033-90301 need 4 across the rear. NLA as far as I can find.