Hello and greetings from Western Australia. Thank you to the MUD community and this website for providing such a valuable resource of information. Many hours have been spent scouring the various threads on how to do things properly, without this resource I doubt I would have started my build.
I thought I'd take the time to share with others the journey of restoring my vehicle which is a 1983 BJ42 LX - I purchased it without a roof and with cut down doors, with a very tired soft top that had poppers that had been drilled into the body to hold it down.
The vehicle was originally purchased in Brisbane Queensland back in 2011 for $7500 AUD, I purchased it blind over the internet, the previous owner said he'd done a 'restoration', then handed me a tupperware container of nuts and bolts saying they were extras and not sure where they went. The steering wheel nut could be loosened by hand, this should give a good idea of the quality of his resto. I went through the whole vehicle checking, tightening and servicing, then drove it for 8 days across Australia towing a boat, the 3B diesel didn't skip a beat, the only challenge being whenever a massive truck came the other way, the opposing wind pressure would cause the soft top sides to pop off !
I've kept it since then as a second vehicle and enjoyed it immensely, over the years I've done a bunch of upgrades and 'basic restoration' stuff, but there's always been rust in the rear quarters, holes in the floor panels and the paint job was starting to flake off revealing how bad the previous attempts at restoring it were.
The body needed to come off the frame in order to repair it properly so during Covid in 2020 in order to keep my mind occupied I decided to dismantle it and restore it to the best of my ability.
This is what it looked like when I bought it in 2011 ..
The below photo this is what it looked like in 2020 just before getting started on the resto. It was originally freeborn red which can be seen under the wheel arches.
Simple upgrades over the years included, new wheels and tyres, original rollbar, replaced seats, bikini top, 2 inch Old Man Emu suspension, front swivel hubs, rebuilt brakes front and rear.
My intention for the project was to remove all the rust, pull everything apart, clean, fix, paint, reassemble - keeping everything original or better than original where possible.
I thought I'd take the time to share with others the journey of restoring my vehicle which is a 1983 BJ42 LX - I purchased it without a roof and with cut down doors, with a very tired soft top that had poppers that had been drilled into the body to hold it down.
The vehicle was originally purchased in Brisbane Queensland back in 2011 for $7500 AUD, I purchased it blind over the internet, the previous owner said he'd done a 'restoration', then handed me a tupperware container of nuts and bolts saying they were extras and not sure where they went. The steering wheel nut could be loosened by hand, this should give a good idea of the quality of his resto. I went through the whole vehicle checking, tightening and servicing, then drove it for 8 days across Australia towing a boat, the 3B diesel didn't skip a beat, the only challenge being whenever a massive truck came the other way, the opposing wind pressure would cause the soft top sides to pop off !
I've kept it since then as a second vehicle and enjoyed it immensely, over the years I've done a bunch of upgrades and 'basic restoration' stuff, but there's always been rust in the rear quarters, holes in the floor panels and the paint job was starting to flake off revealing how bad the previous attempts at restoring it were.
The body needed to come off the frame in order to repair it properly so during Covid in 2020 in order to keep my mind occupied I decided to dismantle it and restore it to the best of my ability.
This is what it looked like when I bought it in 2011 ..
The below photo this is what it looked like in 2020 just before getting started on the resto. It was originally freeborn red which can be seen under the wheel arches.
Simple upgrades over the years included, new wheels and tyres, original rollbar, replaced seats, bikini top, 2 inch Old Man Emu suspension, front swivel hubs, rebuilt brakes front and rear.
My intention for the project was to remove all the rust, pull everything apart, clean, fix, paint, reassemble - keeping everything original or better than original where possible.
