keep up the good work, i'll be taking notes...i'm looking to buy my first fj55 tomorrow! 
'72 FJ 55 Buildup (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bryancostanich
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- Thread starter
- #22
are you picking up that one in placerville?
brian, i had to pass on the piggie. too much work for me to take on right now, it hurts to do the responsible thing some times. if anyone is interested it's a blue and white 72 in aptos, ca. it's got alot of rust but is solid, hasnt ran in 3 years, but motor turns. all origional with redone seats asking $400.
Nice build you are doing there. I really like the re-upholstery of the seats. Looks very good. Thanks for all of the info you have shared. I also have tried the electrolysis process on small parts. It is so cool to get science to work for us!
1973Guppie
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so what's the deal with the upholstery shop? was it $300 to get the one seat redone with labor? sounds like they did not come through on the labor end of it though? OR was that price only for the materials? looks good though.....
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Sweet! Only thing I see being a possible issue is your transfercase output seal was leaking on the old parking brake drum...I did not see you replace that seal? Or did ya? Also whats up with the chain hanging off the master cylinder?
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #28
upholstery: yeah, materials and labor, they did most of it, they just couldn't get it on, but they did all the sewing and such.
output transfer case seal: yeah, i replaced it, plus i have a mudrak "double-seal" one that i'm going to put on at some point.
chain on master cylinder: was missing the mount bracket to hook the accelerator return spring on the carb. i got it now and it will now replace the chain.
output transfer case seal: yeah, i replaced it, plus i have a mudrak "double-seal" one that i'm going to put on at some point.
chain on master cylinder: was missing the mount bracket to hook the accelerator return spring on the carb. i got it now and it will now replace the chain.
- Thread starter
- #29
Part 6 - Piggy Gets a Paint Job
So this week i'm going to pick up my re-done roof rack, and i thought, it would be a shame to stick back on the rusty pig. so i decided to do a little body work and give her a paint job. bear in mind, i plan to do a frame-off restoration at some point, so for now, i figured i'd do just some quick work and be done with it.
this is what i was starting with, notice the cancer has plucked a hole all the way through the corner support here:
i had sprayed it down with some primer before, just to try and to a quick seal on some of the mess.
here's another shot showing just general body appearance:
so the first thing was to take my 3m paint and rust stripper and strip away what i could. i did that and here was the result:
another shot, showing the door rust removed:
Here's a shot showing the nasty roof and gutter. The cancer here is pretty bad, and a major reason i want to do a body swap when i do a frame-up restore:
And this shows just how bad the cancer is on the corner support, once i chewed through it with the paint remover:
I picked up some of the metal fill bondo, and went to work, slopping it on and in:
Then i started in with some 80 grit sand paper on a circular disc attached to a drill to shape the bondo:
another shot, showing the shaping:
next, i hit it with some 180 grit, smoothed it up, taped off the windows and sprayed some zinc primer on it. i don't have a garage, just a driveway i borrow on the weekends, so bear in mind, all this was done with cans of primer/paint/hell.
That was pretty much it for day 1. That night, awesomeness happened and it rained! w00t!
so i got up the next morning, and had to re-do a bunch of the taping, blow off the water, etc.
Here's a shot the next day with the first few coats of white on (i did the standard pig blue/white thing) - note, the red you see on top is primer:
Here's a shot of the side i did the day before, just testing out the colors:
here's a shot after i had finished all the white:
So then i taped off the white to begin shooting the blue:
And after the blue:
That's OSHA safety blue.
And the other side, pre-shooting:
So this week i'm going to pick up my re-done roof rack, and i thought, it would be a shame to stick back on the rusty pig. so i decided to do a little body work and give her a paint job. bear in mind, i plan to do a frame-off restoration at some point, so for now, i figured i'd do just some quick work and be done with it.
this is what i was starting with, notice the cancer has plucked a hole all the way through the corner support here:
i had sprayed it down with some primer before, just to try and to a quick seal on some of the mess.
here's another shot showing just general body appearance:
so the first thing was to take my 3m paint and rust stripper and strip away what i could. i did that and here was the result:
another shot, showing the door rust removed:
Here's a shot showing the nasty roof and gutter. The cancer here is pretty bad, and a major reason i want to do a body swap when i do a frame-up restore:
And this shows just how bad the cancer is on the corner support, once i chewed through it with the paint remover:
I picked up some of the metal fill bondo, and went to work, slopping it on and in:
Then i started in with some 80 grit sand paper on a circular disc attached to a drill to shape the bondo:
another shot, showing the shaping:
next, i hit it with some 180 grit, smoothed it up, taped off the windows and sprayed some zinc primer on it. i don't have a garage, just a driveway i borrow on the weekends, so bear in mind, all this was done with cans of primer/paint/hell.
That was pretty much it for day 1. That night, awesomeness happened and it rained! w00t!
so i got up the next morning, and had to re-do a bunch of the taping, blow off the water, etc.
Here's a shot the next day with the first few coats of white on (i did the standard pig blue/white thing) - note, the red you see on top is primer:
Here's a shot of the side i did the day before, just testing out the colors:
here's a shot after i had finished all the white:
So then i taped off the white to begin shooting the blue:
And after the blue:
That's OSHA safety blue.
And the other side, pre-shooting:
- Thread starter
- #30
And after:
and the front:
And the back:
and the roof:
I rad out of the blue paint (i bought all four cans the store had) so i didn't get to finish the roof, but i got all the edges, so i won't have to re-tape (i'll just shoot the center).
another shot:
And the reveal:
The blue at the top of the windshield is just tape.
and the grill goes back on:
The side:
other side:
there's a little red primer overspray that i have to re-shoot with white on that side, but other than that, it looks really good for can paint.
The back:
a full body shot:
the back:
and now for comparison, before:
and after:
pretty sweet.
and the front:
And the back:
and the roof:
I rad out of the blue paint (i bought all four cans the store had) so i didn't get to finish the roof, but i got all the edges, so i won't have to re-tape (i'll just shoot the center).
another shot:
And the reveal:
The blue at the top of the windshield is just tape.
and the grill goes back on:
The side:
other side:
there's a little red primer overspray that i have to re-shoot with white on that side, but other than that, it looks really good for can paint.
The back:
a full body shot:
the back:
and now for comparison, before:
and after:
pretty sweet.
1973Guppie
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looks nice, good job.....
- Thread starter
- #32
Thanks. it's coming along pretty quickly. I'm going to take it wheeling this weekend.
Truck is looking good. Your paint job proves that the key is in the prep work. Very nice for do-it yourself!
Man, what a difference the paint makes! I really want to paint my rig but I have been holding off because of the time and money required. Perhaps I should consider the rattle can approach...
. Keep up the good work!
. Keep up the good work!
i guess i'm just a rookie...
That is really nice work. not to mention the photo documentation. I am seriously impressed. thanks for sharing.
That is really nice work. not to mention the photo documentation. I am seriously impressed. thanks for sharing.
hey Bryan, just gotta ask one more thing 'bout the e-brake. did you replace the Rear t-case output seal? i know you mentioned the leaky issue and wanting to use mudraks double seal later on. but if you had to/or did, was it just pull off and replace type of job? (36132-A on the diag. Transfer Case Housing and Related ) thanks!
but yeah! +1 on the photo documentation. nice colour combo! you goin for white steelies next to match?
but yeah! +1 on the photo documentation. nice colour combo! you goin for white steelies next to match?
- Thread starter
- #37
yeah, i replaced it. it just pops out. it's like all the other oil seals really (check out my axle rebuild to see one pulled on the axle). if it's hard to pop out, just stick a pry-bar behind it and give it a good pry. it'll pop right out. make sure you drain the transfer case first.
i hadn't thought about white steel rims actually. i was just going to give them another black paint job, but they're white right now, some paint thinner would take off the black spray paint. maybe not a bad idea. i'll test it out on one of the wheels.
i hadn't thought about white steel rims actually. i was just going to give them another black paint job, but they're white right now, some paint thinner would take off the black spray paint. maybe not a bad idea. i'll test it out on one of the wheels.
- Thread starter
- #39
Part 7 - Roof Rack!
When i got the pig, the roof rack was a rusty, nasty mess:
as was my gutter (but i fixed that in the last post). soooooo... i took it off:
loaded it up into the back of a truck and off to Azusa Sandblasting it went! for $80, they sandblasted it and powder coated it, flat black. I also ordered new mounts, since the old ones were a rusty mess. they did a great job:
and:
now the pig has a sexy new(ish) rack:
oof! what a terrible picture! but you get the idea.
this weekend i'm going to be taking it on a road trip through death valley.
When i got the pig, the roof rack was a rusty, nasty mess:
as was my gutter (but i fixed that in the last post). soooooo... i took it off:
loaded it up into the back of a truck and off to Azusa Sandblasting it went! for $80, they sandblasted it and powder coated it, flat black. I also ordered new mounts, since the old ones were a rusty mess. they did a great job:
and:
now the pig has a sexy new(ish) rack:
oof! what a terrible picture! but you get the idea.
this weekend i'm going to be taking it on a road trip through death valley.
- Thread starter
- #40
Part 8 - Vacuum Advance
I was over at spector off road last week buying some misc. parts for the land cruiser, and while it was parked out back, marf started digging through it and informed me that i had a vacuum retard distributor and a non-ported carburetor.
..
..
..
i stared at him for a bit and blinked.
..
..
finally, he explained to me what all that meant, and why it was so bad (and that it was the reason my engine was running rough). as the engine turns at faster RPMs, in order for the spark to ignite the gasoline in the piston chamber and get the most efficiency at it, it has to spark a little earlier in the compression cycle (since the rate of combustion is static, but the speed of the piston, and therefore compression is dynamic). as the engine goes faster, it creates more vacuum (as it draws air into it to combine with fuel and combust). a ported carburetor is a carburetor that has a port on it that passes some of that vacuum from the engine out of the carburetor (and through a little hose) over to the distributor, so that when there is more vacuum, the distributor adjust accordingly.
well, long story short, whoever installed my carburetor and distributor put a mismatch set in there, so it was running poorly. there was a vacuum retard distributor in there but there was just a constant vacuum line hooked up to it (not ported - or variable vacuum). so it would bog down whenever i hit the gas pedal.
so i took it over to mark's off road to have mark port the carburetor (since he's mr. land cruiser carburetor man) and install a vacuum advance distributor.
he got in there and it turns out my timing was 41 degrees off. to give you an idea of how crazy that is, the distributor is a circle of points around a rotating center piece. as the engine turns, it turns that center piece and touches each one of those points (in my case, 6 of them, for 6 cylinders) in order, which forms a circuit for a brief moment and sends electricity to the spark plug attached to that point so that the cylinder fires. so if there is 360 degrees in a circle, and there are 6 cylinders, that means each point is 60 degrees away from each other. if the piston is at it's highest in the chamber (and the fuel/air mixture is compressed to it's max), and that spark plug fires at that exact moment, the timing is said to be 'top-dead-center'. the factory timing set for my engine is 7 degrees advanced, which means that little center piece should hit the point and cause a spark in the chamber, and then go another 7 degrees past the point (and towards the next point) when the piston hits the top of it's compression. well........ mark got in there, and mine was 41 degrees off. which is a little like being 9 months early for someone's birthday. (as opposed to being 3 months late - hahhahaa). the only reason it worked, is because they also had the wires switched on the distributor, so they were going to the wrong spark plugs.
also, it turned out that my carburetor was ported after all (at the factory - not a homespun job), but for some reason they hooked up the vacuum to the unported part. no idea why. perhaps they had no clue what they were doing.
anyhow, he set the timing, rebuilt the carburetor, and dropped in a new distributor. and now she purrs. here's a shot of the cleanned up carburetor:
and, the accelerator return spring was missing the brack to attach to, so it used to be hooked to a wire hanging off the master cylinder, as shown here (i had thrown a chain on there to replace the wire, temporarily):
i picked up a bracket at spector off road, sanded it, primed it, painted it, and mark installed it when he put the carburetor back on (seen a the bottom of the photo):
and here's my vacuum advance distributor:
i also picked up one of those nice optima yellow batteries and dropped it in. now when i turn the key over, that, in conjunction with the carb rebuild causes her to fire right up (don't even need the choke):
and, mark gave me a couple of extra lugnuts to use as spacers on the battery hold-down. now i'll always have some extra lugnuts handy.
now she's almost ready for this weekend's death valley trip.
I was over at spector off road last week buying some misc. parts for the land cruiser, and while it was parked out back, marf started digging through it and informed me that i had a vacuum retard distributor and a non-ported carburetor.
..
..
..
i stared at him for a bit and blinked.
..
..
finally, he explained to me what all that meant, and why it was so bad (and that it was the reason my engine was running rough). as the engine turns at faster RPMs, in order for the spark to ignite the gasoline in the piston chamber and get the most efficiency at it, it has to spark a little earlier in the compression cycle (since the rate of combustion is static, but the speed of the piston, and therefore compression is dynamic). as the engine goes faster, it creates more vacuum (as it draws air into it to combine with fuel and combust). a ported carburetor is a carburetor that has a port on it that passes some of that vacuum from the engine out of the carburetor (and through a little hose) over to the distributor, so that when there is more vacuum, the distributor adjust accordingly.
well, long story short, whoever installed my carburetor and distributor put a mismatch set in there, so it was running poorly. there was a vacuum retard distributor in there but there was just a constant vacuum line hooked up to it (not ported - or variable vacuum). so it would bog down whenever i hit the gas pedal.
so i took it over to mark's off road to have mark port the carburetor (since he's mr. land cruiser carburetor man) and install a vacuum advance distributor.
he got in there and it turns out my timing was 41 degrees off. to give you an idea of how crazy that is, the distributor is a circle of points around a rotating center piece. as the engine turns, it turns that center piece and touches each one of those points (in my case, 6 of them, for 6 cylinders) in order, which forms a circuit for a brief moment and sends electricity to the spark plug attached to that point so that the cylinder fires. so if there is 360 degrees in a circle, and there are 6 cylinders, that means each point is 60 degrees away from each other. if the piston is at it's highest in the chamber (and the fuel/air mixture is compressed to it's max), and that spark plug fires at that exact moment, the timing is said to be 'top-dead-center'. the factory timing set for my engine is 7 degrees advanced, which means that little center piece should hit the point and cause a spark in the chamber, and then go another 7 degrees past the point (and towards the next point) when the piston hits the top of it's compression. well........ mark got in there, and mine was 41 degrees off. which is a little like being 9 months early for someone's birthday.
(as opposed to being 3 months late - hahhahaa). the only reason it worked, is because they also had the wires switched on the distributor, so they were going to the wrong spark plugs.also, it turned out that my carburetor was ported after all (at the factory - not a homespun job), but for some reason they hooked up the vacuum to the unported part. no idea why. perhaps they had no clue what they were doing.
anyhow, he set the timing, rebuilt the carburetor, and dropped in a new distributor. and now she purrs. here's a shot of the cleanned up carburetor:
and, the accelerator return spring was missing the brack to attach to, so it used to be hooked to a wire hanging off the master cylinder, as shown here (i had thrown a chain on there to replace the wire, temporarily):
i picked up a bracket at spector off road, sanded it, primed it, painted it, and mark installed it when he put the carburetor back on (seen a the bottom of the photo):
and here's my vacuum advance distributor:
i also picked up one of those nice optima yellow batteries and dropped it in. now when i turn the key over, that, in conjunction with the carb rebuild causes her to fire right up (don't even need the choke):
and, mark gave me a couple of extra lugnuts to use as spacers on the battery hold-down. now i'll always have some extra lugnuts handy.
now she's almost ready for this weekend's death valley trip.
