Builds 75’ Rust O’mod to Restomod

[letterman52]

Well long and short of it is I was actively looking for a project to work on. Birthday came around and my wife bought me this little guy. The journey has begun...

Original sale ad:

1975 Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 with the 2F. 4 speed and drum brakes all the way around (Feb build). It has headers, Holley carb, electric fuel pump, and a new poly gas tank. New starter, battery, alternator, voltage regulator. Has some rust in all the normal places around the rear of the vehicle that can be seen in the pictures. Comes with new steel rear quarter panels and a new rear sill and sill cover. I have a 78 FJ40 tire mount for it and got the sill that fits it. I have a bunch of parts for it that come with it. Front drive shaft will need to be fixed, but it comes with the original shaft and a FJ60 shaft to be shortened. The tail lights and front markers are new. New mirrors for it as well. The seats are less than a year old. Seat brackets, roll cage, fuel tank cover, wiper cover, and most little pieces in the interior have been sandblasted and powder coated.

 

[letterman52]

Started with something small. Replaced all the tie rod ends and added a new steering stabilizer. It had the original stabilizer. Plus the seller included the tie rod kit.

 

[letterman52]

Then started the process of cutting out the rear panels by first adding the bracing as i read about. Seller included new panels and rear sill.

 

[letterman52]

Then started the process of cutting spot welds and removing the panels.

 

[White Stripe]

Make a x or 2 across the rear tub as well so it can't diamond when you weld it up.

 

[letterman52]

Then test fit them to make sure I was going the right way with this process. They are just loosely sitting on the body in the pics.

 

[letterman52]

Make a x or 2 across the rear tub as well so it can't diamond when you weld it up.

I hadn’t thought of that. Damn.

 

[letterman52]

It was about here that I realized the upper sill pieces were rotted against the support bracket. As i already have the tools I didn’t see a point in buying new ones if I could patch the olds ones.

 

[letterman52]

Left side.

 

[letterman52]

Passenger side finished

 

[letterman52]

Then I started busting the surface rust scaling in preparation for some chassis saver. Goal is to just stop the rust until way down the road I can do a proper frame off. Also ordered new shocks for the front and rear and a Weber 38.

 

[letterman52]

Then feeling like I needed to make the most of the chassis saver I pulled the front fenders and bib. All the hardware broke of course. So I found the excel sheet on here and ordered up $140 of what I envisioned needing this year. Going to coat the engine bay and inside fenders with chassis saver. Also started tracking down all these phantom wires inside the loom that went nowhere.

 

[White Stripe]

Nice job man. Looks like a lot of work

 

[letterman52]

Coated some of the front

 

[letterman52]

Nice job man. Looks like a lot of work

Thanks man. It’s been a learning process that’s for sure. Feel a bit more confident. With this forum as a reference though.

 

[brian]

As a fellow 2/75 owner of what was also a white one....interested seeing how close the two are.....fj40193877

 

[letterman52]

As a fellow 2/75 owner of what was also a white one....interested seeing how close the two are.....fj40193877

 

[letterman52]

Really loving the coilovers in the front.....

 

[letterman52]

Took a page from roadstr6 with “Cooking with the crockpot” and procured some refrigerator epoxy paint. A whole bunch of primer and sanding and here is what i had.

 

[S4Cruiser]

I used the appliance epoxy last weekend for the first time (black). Was very happy with the results.