77 FJ40 - Slow & Steady Rebuild

[KingAir Driver]

Thanks! Yeah, I fly in the military. Btw, reluctantly sold the 997 and got a Macan GTS

 

[78fj40mg]

Macan GTS wow that's a little power house, congrats! How do you like it so far?
I'm ready to sell my 993 but no rush, maybe in the spring I'll listed on bat .
A lot of high end cars are being sold on this site for big$$.

My X5 is getting pretty old so I'm currently checking out the G wagons, that's a big departure from BMWs which I've driven forever, but who knows I may end up with another X5 or even a Cayenne, we'll see.

 

[KingAir Driver]

Honestly the GTS has as much power as my 997 and I can hardly tell it's an SUV when I'm doing spirited driving on back windy roads. The PDK shifts so fast and smooth, it's all around impressive. G Wagons are nice definitely a change from BMW, we love our X5 as well, but it seems like the resale prices tank on those. I'd take a strong look at the Cayenne for the same money.

Here it is:

 

[78fj40mg]

That's a beauty! Good luck with it.

 

[KingAir Driver]

New rear Bilsteins installed tonight along with OEM washers and castle nuts. Only leads to the next change, the exhaust. The PO fubar'ed it, now I have about 1/8 inch between the shock body and pipe. I thought about cutting it at the muffler, but I'll leave it for an exhaust shop and put the muffler back in the stock position and RR exit.

Thinking of going for this set-up.

 

[Honger]

Not sure how I missed this thread til now... love what you're doing with the truck.
And yeah, great year man!

 

[DSB345]

Nice!

 

[KingAir Driver]

Teaser Pic of Rear Sill Replacement, lucky the rear quarters were still good! Gotta love original paint once you take the hinges off and see white.

 

[White Stripe]

One thing you may consider is having your rear sill pieces galvanized before installing them. Fairly cheap to have done. It's more of a pain to weld them in, but it will fight rust really well.

 

[KingAir Driver]

One thing you may consider is having your rear sill pieces galvanized before installing them. Fairly cheap to have done. It's more of a pain to weld them in, but it will fight rust really well.

Thanks for the heads up, but I'm not doing the work. It's being taken care of by a reputable cruiser shop. At some point the entire tub will be blasted and re-coated, baby steps.

 

[KingAir Driver]

Even though I'm no where near my 40, it's getting some attention to varies rust and dings. Primarily the rear sill has been replaced, the drivers side floor pan rust near the trans-tunnel was repaired, the trans tunnel lip rust repaired, and both front door tops were replaced since they were mangled from the PO's shed collapsing on the roof. Next step will be removing the hideous angle iron bumper and reinforcements. Shout out to Cabinet Cruisers in Sandpoint, ID for the awesome job so far!

 

[KingAir Driver]

Last one of the transmission tunnel repair.

 

[KingAir Driver]

100# of old snow plow front bumper reinforcements removed. Sigh of relief...

 

[KingAir Driver]

The tear down phase has begun! Getting the tub pulled to send out for blasting.

 

[KingAir Driver]

Progress Updates: Tub has been removed from the frame and blasting has begun.

 

[Varty Yo]

Wow that thing was solid to begin with!

Coming along nicely!

 

[cbmontgo]

Not sure how I missed this thread previously. Great 40.

 

[fyton2v]

Sweet.

 

[KingAir Driver]

Blasted Tub to Epoxy primed and then raptor lined. Moving along quickly. No color change, staying factory Freeborn Red.

 

[KingAir Driver]

Frame has been powder coated, OME suspension installed and interior sprayed Freeborn Red with tinted Raptor lining on the floors. It's coming together nicely!