Build #27 red and white 55, full body restoration.

[kelly saad]

I have been working on this part time for a little while now and decided to start a thread on it. This 55 looked pretty clean, and maybe it is compared to some others, but there is still a lot of rust! Many parts I will fabricate myself.

The project:
1. Disassemble vehicle.
2. Strip paint to bare metal.
3. Mount on rotisserie.
4. Remove floors where rust is obvious and replace with new steel.
5. Fabricate new lower fender skins and replace.
6. Fabricate new lower door skin replacement panels.
7. Repair all the cracked steel, mainly underneath where the hinges mount.
8. Repair tailgate, cracked hinge mount and rusted lower skin.
9. Remove roof and gutters, repair roof and fabricate new gutters.
10. Remove lower half of quarter panels, repair rust and reinstall.
11. Repair all the other surprises found when removing parts.

Here it is after arrival.

 

[charliemeyer007]

There is an Iron Pig forum too.

 

[Pighead]

There is an Iron Pig forum too.

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded

 

[kelly saad]

The rear doors were cracked at the top, next to the glass channel. The small tab that was used to spot weld each side of the door together underneath the window channel is only about 1" wide. My theory is this: due to the sagging doors from worn hinge pins/bushings, the slamming of the doors over time has cracked these areas. I will repair this area and make a wider tab to keep it stronger.

 

[kelly saad]

This is the repair piece I made. You can see that the distance is wider where it will attach both sides together. It's about 5" now, so that will help strengthen the door in this location. Where the overlapping metal is shown here, I use a weld-through zinc primer before I weld the pieces together.

 

[Living in the Past]

@kelly saad you know the history on this 55? Years ago there were two in a small junk yard in Winslow. Kicked around buying them. When I went back one had been sold to someone in Flagstaff. Was suppose to get the other one but hadn't show up. Believe the one sold was red and white. One there was orange and white. The red one may had been older than this one know the one there still have vent window in the front doors. Spotted another one parked in the Happy Jack area.few years back. It was Red and white.

 

[kelly saad]

@kelly saad you know the history on this 55? Years ago there were two in a small junk yard in Winslow. Kicked around buying them. When I went back one had been sold to someone in Flagstaff. Was suppose to get the other one but hadn't show up. Believe the one sold was red and white. One there was orange and white. The red one may had been older than this one know the one there still have vent window in the front doors. Spotted another one parked in the Happy Jack area.few years back. It was Red and

Don't think it's this one. It was delivered from Alabama.

 

[Living in the Past]

Don't think it's this one. It was delivered from Alabama.

Think I remember you posted that before.
Probably explains all the rust. The two in the junk yard I do not remember any rust.

 

[kelly saad]

Think I remember you posted that before.
Probably explains all the rust. The two in the junk yard I do not remember any rust.

This didn't show much rust either till I opened it up.

 

[kelly saad]

All the hinge mount locations were cracked. Also, some pillars have cracks where the hinges mount. The owner did a fantastic job installing new bushings and pins, so this should solve the issue. Again, I think these cracks happened from sagging doors needing to be slammed because of worn hinge pins and bushings. The attached pictures show an example of how I repaired this issue. I did repair almost all 8 locations. I used a weld-through zinc primer in between the metal parts.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

@kelly saad you know the history on this 55? Years ago there were two in a small junk yard in Winslow. Kicked around buying them. When I went back one had been sold to someone in Flagstaff. Was suppose to get the other one but hadn't show up. Believe the one sold was red and white. One there was orange and white. The red one may had been older than this one know the one there still have vent window in the front doors. Spotted another one parked in the Happy Jack area.few years back. It was Red and white.

The Cliff Notes: Advertised as "20 years in a Colorado barn find" 55 by Redline Land Cruisers; sold to a mud member in South Carolina around 2015; sold to another mud member a couple of years later; and finally sold to me in 2019.

Build Thread 'A pig for Father's Day'

Jun 16, 2019

Well this has taken a bit of time but my BIL just flew to Charlotte to drive my "new to me" 1977 pig back to his house near Atlanta. Unfortunately I'm not in the country but will be back to see it first hand in early July. Brace yourselves as I will have a hundred questions.......

• WarDamnEagle
• Replies: 1,533
• Forum: FJ55 Iron Pig Preservation Society

• 
• 

For Sale Post in thread '1977 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55'

Mar 30, 2015

Good speaking with you earlier. I left you a voicemail and text.

Michael Bessinger

• BBQ BOY

 

[kelly saad]

In these pictures, I am rebuilding the inner door structure where the door skin is attached. It's a common area of rust on doors with extensive rust.

 

[kelly saad]

While fabricating the lower door repair piece, I replicated the drain hole openings along the center.

 

[kelly saad]

When I started working on the tailgate, there was another cracked hinge mount, just like the doors. The photos attached show the repair.

 

[In Wonderland]

When I started working on the tailgate, there was another cracked hinge mount, just like the doors. The photos attached show the repair.

View attachment 4024608View attachment 4024609View attachment 4024610View attachment 4024611View attachment 4024612

Such awesome detail work!!!!

 

[kelly saad]

This is the lower tailgate rust. I had to rebuild the inner section and replicate the drain holes.

 

[kelly saad]

 

[onemanarmy]

In for this!

 

[kelly saad]

Removal of the roof skin to access the underneath structure and repair the roof skin. It's a mess!

 

[kelly saad]

I just moved into my new shop and almost everything is finally setup, so now I can work. Digging back into this, I removed the drivers quarter today. I will remove the passenger side tomorrow. Opening up a vehicle like this is the only way to address the hidden rust.