Another restoration... (1 Viewer)

[poldo]

Here we go... I will dedicate most of my time to fix my cruiser a 78 FJ40
mustard yellow and the spare time to continue the thread but I am lazy so it might take a while.
My first goal is to get it drivable and presentable, doesn't take much it's a cruiser.
I am not trying to do a frame off resto but there was some major rust all around.
I got this FJ for $500 it has 69.000 original miles came with soft top , doors and 5 new 31x10.50 tires mounted on aluminum AR wheels so I figure that alone is worth the price.
Anyway I'll start with the "before"
If you need more detailed pictures please ask I can email them to you

 

[poldo]

That is a sad sight but this is what I have done so far.
Fixed the frame by grafting and also filling the original frame where the grafting is with 2x3 channel steel just to add some mass to the already thin gauge steel , 3/16" I believe from the factory.
the rear part of the floor, rear sill , bumper/crossmember,shackles and custom mounts on the rear (welded to the c channel incased into the frame),new brake lines (ask me about fittings if you need a source), rocker panels (not finished but almost there), wheel wells are done need finishing.
What I have left to do is : middle section of floor , front section both sides, replace a leaking brake line in the front, new gas lines, reroute exhaust and change all the fluids...ah and straighten the damn body.. any tips are welcome

 

[poldo]

and these..
shackles are 1-1/2" longer the custom rear mount is longer and was moved forward a few inches now the shackles angle is 55 deg. Is this Ok??


the springs used to be kind of flat but now they have a nice arch, I am still missing part of the floor and the wheel wells but that shouldn't be more than 100lb so looks like it shouldn't flatten too much with everyting on

 

[poldo]

help

This is where i need some help.

I need some measurements and also ideas , the doors don't line up with the door frame the right door (PS) is off more than the left door (DS)
I have 2 ratcheting straps running from the front bumper to the door frame hooked right above the upper door hinge, they are pulling the cowl and hood forward this helps but it is not enough and by doing this the hood is sticking out about 1", the driver door does close well though it is not perfect I can live with that.. the pins and bushing have some play but they are not the cause at least not 100%.
Now I think the problem is in the rear sill support area since the PO did a poor job in replacing the sill and installing the aluminum quarters and corners .
I had some measurements taken prior to taking it apart but they didn't work
I need to know the distance between the rear sill/bed and the rain gutter on the hard top, (I don't have the rear upper door on or I would use that instead of the rain gutter) and also a measument from the 2 door pillars (left and right) and any other measurement you can think of that can be helpful.

I am planning a 1000 miles trip to test the cruiser

 

[poldo]

BTW The frame, inner aluminum quarter panels ,springs and rear axle are already coated with 2 coats of rust encapsulator from eastwood I plan on using their chassis black as a top coat and also spray the underside with rust encapsulator
the interior is going to be sprayed with either durabak or sema tintable bed liner, durabak comes in 15 colors but no mustards yellow however it is tintable with urethane tints so I can tweak their yellow a bit, sema is 100% tintable if I can get a good match I will do the outside as well.. I love that color I would have a hard time changing it.
I found some kind of soft plastic material similar to lexan at my local scrap yard it looks really good i might line the interior and parts of the floor with that material for sound proofing perhaps even to make some half doors it's very strong and flexible, when I get to it I'll post the pictures..

 

[nuclearlemon]

i congratulate you for taking on the project...hopefully it will bring you much satisfaction. are you going to keep the cool retro stripes?

btw, your shackles are backwards.

 

[74fj40]

WOW! youve takin on an enormously huge project. CONGRATS!!!! Good luck, and enjoy!

 

[poldo]

i congratulate you for taking on the project...hopefully it will bring you much satisfaction. are you going to keep the cool retro stripes?

btw, your shackles are backwards.

Thanks...

Shakle reversal ??


I had such a hard time mounting those shackles I am not touching them until they brake.. any practical reason to put them back the right way?? what is the correct way ??

It took me over one day to get the spring, spring plates, ubolts and shackles to fit .. I did one side than I couldn't do the other side etc. until finally brute force and the hi lift helped me

the shackles are for a FJ45 I believe but they fit and they are slightly wider and longer than the old ones
When I removed the old shackles My springs moved to the inside 2" and I was only able to make them fit by removing the spring plates and literaly spread them apart with the hi lift jack, the extra width of the shackles helped.

I love the stripes they are 'groovy" I am going to keep them.
I am a long way from doing any paint work, fortunately most of the front end is pretty solid including the fenders etc.. I wil go soft for this summer and fall then I have to rebuild the doors, sides, rear hatch and repaint it the same color.. can't wait to drive it

 

[poldo]

WOW! youve takin on an enormously huge project. CONGRATS!!!! Good luck, and enjoy!

Tell me about it...This is the first time I take on anything remotely similar to this.

I started at the end of april it is getting harder every day that goes by but I see the light at the end of the tunnel
And it wasn't too bad so far besides the disassembly and cleaning of the rust that took a lot of energy and time.

Thanks

 

[orangefj45]

hey luca!
that looks like a lot of work but the initial investment should more than justify it.

to answer one of your questions: i think the rear shackles should be ok. only way to really find out is to fully compress the suspension on one side in the rear so the spring will flatten out completely. as long as the shackle does not go completely horizontal, it'll work just fine.

keep up the great work, everybody lover build-up threads and lots of pics!!!!

 

[poldo]

hey luca!
that looks like a lot of work but the initial investment should more than justify it.

to answer one of your questions: i think the rear shackles should be ok. only way to really find out is to fully compress the suspension on one side in the rear so the spring will flatten out completely. as long as the shackle does not go completely horizontal, it'll work just fine.

keep up the great work, everybody lover build-up threads and lots of pics!!!!

Thanks Georg.. nothing like a nice home made ride

wouldn't the shackle go horizontal no matter how it's mounted if the spring flatten ? I had this dilemma but I don't see the direction of the shackles making a difference unless you are talking about the angle being too much
but I can be wrong.... plenty
If this makes the cruiser softer I will do the same to my explorer which rides (on road) like I have cement tires... off road however it is geat I like a stiff ride on sand and soft terrain.

This was my inspiration to do it this way...
http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/woody/shackle.html

thanks again

 

[poldo]

I am getting ready to install the middle and front sections of the floor , hopefully I can have done this weekend . today I finished the floor support for the middle section. 4"x4" - 3/16" square tubing
and custom made hard rubber (or soft plastic depends on the point of view

how do I know ? I know because I am sitting on this material right now
I made this bar stool kind of thing and this rubber stuff is on top, it's yellow and it is kind of hard to sit on it for a long period of time but it is flexible and feels like poly bushings come to think of it could be polyurethane and not plastic...
The stool is 1/4" steel , some 1" square tubing and 2 strips of 1" mild steel twisted around each other for the legs, I know it has nothing to do with the cruiser

 

[poldo]

update

today was a good day.. I got up and finished the wheel wells, the middle section of the floor and straightened the doors/body and just for fun I wanted to start it up after 1 month and 1/2 (no exhaust yet just headers) runs like a charm it even idled well.. I need to paint the under side of the floor , after using rust encapsulator for the frame I am using zero rust for the floor and interior looks like their cat yellow matches the original mustard yellow and it can be top coated with their glossy top coating ..


here's some pictures

 

[poldo]

the top picture is of the body mounts I am using 1 is the hockey puck 1" the yellow one is the other thing which is 1/2"....

 

[poldo]

Today was front floor/gas thank fitting day I wll post some pictures as soon as I clean it up a bit so I don't look like a slacker with sloppy welds, I realized the panels where way too thin for a floor I used 22ga. galvanized easy to work with but I had to put extra supports which made for extra work , but all is very solid.
I am thinking of eliminating the gas thank lower "protection" the protuberance where the thank sits in .
I think it is a moisture collector I 'd rather fabricate a 3/16" rock shield but open on the sides to let water in and out without sitting in it...... again I will come up with pics ASAP

 

[poldo]

here's the gas thank "hump" this is before I cleaned up the welds .
I already cleaned the welds and sealed all the imperfections, I was using a rubber sealant from eastwood but I decided to go with plain black silicon because it is very flexible and by over doing it I have a few nice spots where the thank is touching it.. this way I dont have to worry about using shims since it is nice and thight . Sorry about the bad picture

 

[poldo]

By the way I used the left over from the piece of floor I cut out to fit the thank protuberance and welded 3 strips of steel around it and then beat the heck out of it with a body hammer to shape it
unfotunately I am working in the driveway and it is all asphalt so there are a lot of little nicks from the little stones on the ground.... who cares no one is going to see the bottom after it is undercoated

 

[poldo]

I can't believe it I am almost finished.. I am waiting for the calipers and 2 wheel cylinder since I stripped all the bleeders :-(
anyway the interior is painted tomorrow the roll cage,seats, gas thank etc..
wil be installed
the interior is coated with gator guard bedliner a 2 part product from Eastwood one quart was enough to coat the whole floor , rear bed , wheel well and sides one quart actually turns out to be 2 because it's a 2 part 1qt part A and 1 qt part B
I brushed it in ...it is a PITA and very messy but it looks indistructible
and very easy to brush or roll I tried both but I preferred the brush look.
this is a very rough textured beliner you can see it from the pictures
I love it it covers a lot of imperfections in the sheet metal.
The roll cage and seat breakets are sprayed with zero rust 2 coats and top coated with chassis black I used a cheapo $10 spray gun from Grizzly but the results are very nice. I will move on to the rest of the body to paint it after I enjoy driving it around for a while after that it will be painted with "old caterpillar yellow" very close to the original Mustard yellow paint
the paint is the Alkyd industrial series from Martin seymour for tractors and heavy duty equipment cheap and appropriate for my cruiser

 

[poldo]

And

 

[nuclearlemon]

after that it will be painted with "old caterpillar yellow"

the outside yellow, or the engine yellow (4c4200)?