72 FJ 55 Roof Dent Question

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B

Birdfield

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Joined
Jan 30, 2009
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Location
Southold, NY
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Hi All,

first time post here but a Long time member & a long time searcher for a decent pig project. I'll preface this by admitting that I should have bought @UZj40, but I couldn't justify the shipping cost in my mind.....
I have a deposit on this pig, and agreed to 11k purchase price after talking to the seller running through my list of concerns including the rust roof rails and generally the roof. I was told the roof was rust free, body was straight the frame was rust free the tailgate rear sill and quarters where rusted floors solid etc. He also said he had an offer from Cruiser Solutions for 11k but would sell it to me as I wasn't planning on flipping it. . So far everything is good I am stoked planning on taking the 3 hour drive this weekend to pick it up. Then I had alittle itch about the below picture as it looked like the roof was oil canned between the B & C Pillar...So I asked the guy about it and got the following picture with a story about how in 77 he drove it into a parking garage with a roof rack on and dented the roof.... This never came up in our previous discussions.

Two questions 1) Do I walk away from the deal, and keep looking. or 2) try to negotiate the price down realizing its a hard and expensive thing to try and fix. Also money isn't endless for me I am architect with a wife two kids and mortgage so I need something i can wrench on an fix but I am not looking for a 40k rig or an 11k headache that's just never going to be right.

I appreciate the feed back and hope to join the Pig community at some point... .

Thanks
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More pictures, not sure if these help with diagnosing the roof. At the very least I'd be dropping the headliner pushing / hammering out the largest swales and then trying to progressively shrink the ridges. I've done a bit of this on a 66 C10 inner truck bed wheel arch but nothing of this size with at least 3 - 4 large indentations. I would not have committed to the 11k if I'd know about the roof.... and I think the roof is more than I personally want to take on in my barn shop.

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I have a small shop/ old barn I work out of, I have MiG welder and a decent compressor, drove a 78 fj40 for 10 years in before my wife that I wrenched on extensively on the streets of Brooklyn, Currently I am daily driving a rusted but mechanically solid 85 fj60 5 speed ( Just welded in a new rear spring perch crossmember). My dad left me a 66 C10 that is the best thing I have and a 71 Saab 95 wagon, a runner but long term project that I picked up for free.

I think where I am landing on with this 55 is to drive up to meet the seller without a trailer fully inspect it try to negotiate the offer down because of the roof, and walk away if I can't. I'd likely loose $500 as I don't want to jamb him up on something I said I would buy.

I'm alright with a project I just don't want to wind up with something I can't wrench on and fix directly. There a no quality shops near where I live. I'd have to head to the Hamptons an I don't have the kind of cash for that nor do I even want that kind of project. Like you guys I appreciate the hobby and I like the gratification from fixing something myself. I am just not sure I can fix that roof-ugh
 
My 2 cents ,,, That rust on Tailgate and below would have me not wanting it , I have seen better for that price .
Not sure about drive train ? $7500 would be a fair price Good luck & Happy New Year
No Disk brakes ??? not sure what year front axle looks almost like Ball & Claw , Not what you would want for a 4x4
 
scrapdaddy said:
I would be more concerned about the rest of the rust on the body. Rockers, front fender patch, tailgate, etc. At least with the roof, pop it out the best you can and put on a rack to hide the rest. Rust repair can get overwhelming quick.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I had three good-sized creases in the roof of mine from items being stored on top while it was in the yard for about 30 years. Professional body man got them out and had to use only an acceptable amount of skim coat. We did install an extra cross brace that included a second dome light for additional support. The rust worm is a much bigger issue, especially along with sides of the roof around the drip rail. From the pics, your body looks better than most.
 
I agree. It doesn't seem like a $11k PIG to me either. I also would be concerned if he did not disclose the roof, what else is he not disclosing?
 
Wow, good luck!
Working on your 40 on the streets of Brooklyn sounds like a riot! What was parking like???
That body looks pretty straight, and lots of original paint that isn't hiding anything.
As other have said, an additional roof brace can help that out a lot.
Pigs are tricky, if you have the itch, then you find one and pull the trigger. Then you are in!
I like the other ideas of going up to take a look!
Is that a late '73 or '74?
 
On my pig, I dropped the headliner, pushed up the dent and used some round wire rods that I welded in from roof edge to edge (inside - to support the saggy part). I glued the supports to the roof metal so they would not rattle.

I never got the roof to 100% perfect, but the huge sag was gone and the fix was easy.
 
Just closing this tread out. Thank you to the replies. I took a look at it this weekend. It was about what I expected, I offered him 3k less seeing as he didn't disclose the roof damage before my offer. He declined and thought he'd11k from another buyer.... which I am sure he will. We'll there is always another one out there. I'll start posting what I find the in the classifieds. Thanks guys
 
55guy said:
My 2 cents ,,, That rust on Tailgate and below would have me not wanting it , I have seen better for that price .
Not sure about drive train ? $7500 would be a fair price Good luck & Happy New Year
No Disk brakes ??? not sure what year front axle looks almost like Ball & Claw , Not what you would want for a 4x4
Click to expand...
PabloCruise said:
Wow, good luck!
Working on your 40 on the streets of Brooklyn sounds like a riot! What was parking like???
That body looks pretty straight, and lots of original paint that isn't hiding anything.
As other have said, an additional roof brace can help that out a lot.
Pigs are tricky, if you have the itch, then you find one and pull the trigger. Then you are in!
I like the other ideas of going up to take a look!
Is that a late '73 or '74?
Click to expand...
There were a lot of strange things that happened while working on the 40 in Brooklyn, I had some “professional” photographer take pictures of my greasy hands after a front knuckle rebuild, but the best was a film crew pushed the 40 a block away so they could film in a place that I was working forto replacing a radiator. They gave me $300 for that. I was happy as a clam….
 
Birdfield said:
Just closing this tread out. Thank you to the replies. I took a look at it this weekend. It was about what I expected, I offered him 3k less seeing as he didn't disclose the roof damage before my offer. He declined and thought he'd11k from another buyer.... which I am sure he will. We'll there is always another one out there. I'll start posting what I find the in the classifieds. Thanks guys
Click to expand...
When ya got that feeling! You know ya did the right thing 😉. Spend more time here you'll find something within reason 👍
 
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