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

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Kelly, I would be happy to help if possible, but I'm old and a bit confused by your request "if you have a photo of that or something I could print from". Let me know. I'll speak for the forty crowd and say we all would love to order these body panels from the Toyota dealers. It sure would make life easier and get a few more rust buckets on the road.
Timmy, I don't want to speak for Kelly but I think he is asking if you can get the microfiche printed or converted into a printable format. I did a little google research and it appears that many public libraries have microfiche readers connected to printers. If you put this question into Google "is there a library in st louis mo that can print microfiche" it comes up with several possibilities.

Ultimately for convenience, it would be nice to have those body panel related microfiche film sheets converted to electronic PDF files. Not sure if the library microfiche readers can do that directly or if you would have to first print the sheets onto paper and then scan the pages into PDF.

Now, having said all that, I have access to the same files electronically. So Kelly I can email you the same files electronically and you can print all you want. Or I can just give you access to the files and you can look and/or print at whatever you want.

For example, here is that same body side panel file:

1778928421515.webp
 
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Kelly - I restored my Pig years ago, but I didn't run into the pure evil you are finding in the hardest-to-fabricate rusted parts. Incredible work on those doglegs - there's no way that didn't take many hours and much mental stress.

Thanks for sharing your story so well in photos, so that folks know what real metalworking looks like. You go so far beyond the average resto work that it's hard to quantify the difference.
Do you have any pictures from your restoration?
 
The pillars are made with two layers sandwiched together. The spot weld pattern looks like it was some kids first day on the job at the Toyota factory.

Interesting observation here though. This has obviously been dipped with a coating but it did not reach inside this pillar due to the parts being pinched together so tightly. There is actually bare metal on both sides, with a line where the coating couldn't reach. There is a fair amount of the bare metal had been preserved without rust. Im kinda geeking out here. This would also explain why the rust happens so badly on these 55's. I haven't noticed this at all on 60's, anywhere.

View attachment 4104293View attachment 4104294View attachment 4104295
It has been a long time since that metal has seen the light of day!
 
Looks like more bare metal in here. There is coating but its thin and may have not covered everything, specifically where the rust is at, looks bare.

This body is now getting wiggly and jiggly. Nothing left to hold it together.

View attachment 4114558View attachment 4114560
It looks like they just welded up bare steel at the factory.
What did they think was going to happen?
Not Toyota's best work...
 
Wow!
I have never seen a 55 disassembled this far!
This thread is a real treasure for the 55 community.
Maybe I should start a crowdfund? 😂
 
It looks like they just welded up bare steel at the factory.
What did they think was going to happen?
Not Toyota's best work...

Designed obsolescence.
 
Why do you think the driver side was more rusty?
Most Pigs have the exhaust dump on the DS, but I would not think that would affect things up high...
That would be a guess for me. It could have been so many things that we wouldn't even think of. These strange things spark my mind to imagine the history of the vehicle though, and that makes it fun.
 
Timmy, I don't want to speak for Kelly but I think he is asking if you can get the microfiche printed or converted into a printable format. I did a little google research and it appears that many public libraries have microfiche readers connected to printers. If you put this question into Google "is there a library in st louis mo that can print microfiche" it comes up with several possibilities.

Ultimately for convenience, it would be nice to have those body panel related microfiche film sheets converted to electronic PDF files. Not sure if the library microfiche readers can do that directly or if you would have to first print the sheets onto paper and then scan the pages into PDF.

Now, having said all that, I have access to the same files electronically. So Kelly I can email you the same files electronically and you can print all you want. Or I can just give you access to the files and you can look and/or print at whatever you want.

For example, here is that same body side panel file:

View attachment 4141318
Woohoo! Yes! I was so worried about how to reassemble everything. :p

I do want to make a poster of some sort with this. Super cool!
 
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