Aluminum VS Steel Body

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Joined
Nov 27, 2008
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Happy Holidays,
Still researching my FJ40 restoration job and am still planning on powder coating the whole body and frame. (We have an 8x8x30 oven). What are the pros and cons of aluminum vs steel other than the obvious of rust. Thanks
 
i hope you have deep pockets powderkoting is not cheap. that being said alumium is not real fj40, steel is. and them you could get electrolysis. also i heard that things dont line up at times i was going to go that route but found a steel body and it was less to fix it right then to buy alumium. i was glad in the long run. i even had to replace the quarter panels. i did powderkote all the bumpers and frame and everything else including the differentals
fj40 14.webp
fj40 49.webp
 
Another issue is that the aluminum tubs are missing some of the details of the OE steel tubs. They tend to have flat floors, square trans humps - everything seams squared off and vague IMHO.

That depends what manufacturer you choose, this one in the 40 section from Teseven/France has everything you got on the OEM tub.

tlc-s4-2008-042.jpg


tlc-s4-2008-049.jpg



tlc-s4-2008-t71.jpg


He does make any J4 floorpan you need.
 
Very nice .Whats the web site for the tub? Price? Thanks , Mike
 
Maybe where you live might affect your choice.

My wife and I had a '79 FJ40, but at some point in the early '90s, we could no longer keep up with the rust, so we had to sell it. I opted to install an Aqualu aluminum body on my '78 FJ, which I've had for three or four years now. I live in Maine, so it came down to spending $2000 on a body that would stand a chance against road salt, or spending at least that much to keep on top of the steel body that had already succumbed to a lot of rust.

I was a purist with my first FJ, but I'd like my second one to last longer. I've coated the underside and interior of the aluminum body with Raptor body liner, and I've made sure that there are no steel pieces touching any aluminum ... so I'm not worried about electrolysis. Everything but the body on my FJ is original. It's still a Land Cruiser, in my opinion.
 
(Off topic)

FJ40-GARAGE, I have a small collection of Land Cruiser toys, including Johnny Lightnings, Majorettes, Aoshimas, and Tomicas. My son has been trying to find a Joustra to add to the collection. We checked out your website. Where did you get your Joustras?
 
hello

I propose a very close replica of the original

the price for a body and 3000 eur
finishing my body is now higher than the current photo finish.
I work a lot in Europe but I want to sell internationally.

I can quote from your address

thank you and good luck for your project



 
Ireland

hello

I propose a very close replica of the original

the price for a body and 3000 eur
finishing my body is now higher than the current photo finish.
I work a lot in Europe but I want to sell internationally.

I can quote from your address

thank you and good luck for your project



Bonjour, i was wondering how much it would cost to ship a BJ40 1981 body tub to Dublin (Ireland). Could you give me a price for this.
Do you make these tubs in a RHD version ?
Do you make door pannels ?

Cheers
 
That late model floor with rear storage is absolutely the coolest thing I've seen. Very nice!
 
Yep, time to move the cat out back!
 
is there not a vendor that offers a complete body? it seems like every place i have looked they never offer EVERY body part you would need. or they offer some steel parts and the rest can be had in aluminum. a kit would be ideal.
 
Pacolonline was at the Southern Cruiser Crawl. The owner's wife (the boss :grinpimp: ) was really nice and the prices they had seem super reasonable. The owner wasn't there...

bk
 
is there not a vendor that offers a complete body? it seems like every place i have looked they never offer EVERY body part you would need. or they offer some steel parts and the rest can be had in aluminum. a kit would be ideal.

I do. I sell complete, all steel FJ40, FJ43 and 45/47 tubs. I also ship internationally. Big items like this can be shipped by sea (long time) or as Air cargo (quick delivery)

I'll be putting our web site pacolonline.com up soon and then you would be able to see more pictures and details of our products. For now please email us at parts@pacolonline.com or call us at 770 403 8026.
 

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