Building My 1st 40 - A 1976 Redhead Named Fancy (1 Viewer)

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a_traut_man

SILVER Star
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Threads
41
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630
Location
Austin, TX
So after lurking around and keeping an eye out for a 40 not ever sure that I would actually do it I finally found one and pulled the trigger on it. Thanks to the classified section on here (thanks @oakweb, I hold you responsible haha) I booked a flight out San Diego and after a long day of travel (out and back) I was the proud new owner of a red 1976 FJ40.

The woman selling it said it her dad bought it used in 1982 and took care of it while getting some good use out of it to which shows, fired right up, everything shifted real smooth, electrical all works, and all parts and pieces are there. Best part of all is the only real rust is on the corners and everything else looks great. The seller was a huge help and patient with getting shipping squared away and also left a bag full of the original service manuals her dad used to take care of the 40 for so long and you can tell they were definitely well used. Appears to be all original paint and I think actual mileage around 87k (odo doesn't look like it rolled over).

She definitely has some issues that need to be worked out and updated, etc but as far as a drivable project it is everything I hoped to find. Not 100% sure what my long term goal is but I do know I want to hold on to it for a long while and I hope it is something that I can do with my daughter, I grew up around my dad having cool cars and it really made a big impact on me so I hope I can do the same. I am wanting to take a patina approach to it a la @wngrog but we will see how long I can keep my wife onboard with that, after a couple weeks of it sitting in the driveway I can tell it has already grown on here, slipping in suggestions and ideas.

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So this is how she sat after being unloaded out of the covered car hauler around 730 on a Sunday night. Was a little too tall so they had to let all of the air out of the tires to make her fit but made it work. With an 80 already in the driveway and a 100 parked on the street that is quite the DD anymore it is safe to say I am now "that neighbor".

I'm not great at keeping up with build threads but I'm going to try to keep record of the progress here. Near term I need to get some minor items addressed so I can pass inspection for registration, swapping out the wheels for a set of stock steelies and 31" Buckshots, and recovering the seats and getting the drivers side shifted back a bit.
 
So after lurking around and keeping an eye out for a 40 not ever sure that I would actually do it I finally found one and pulled the trigger on it. Thanks to the classified section on here (thanks @oakweb, I hold you responsible haha) I booked a flight out San Diego and after a long day of travel (out and back) I was the proud new owner of a red 1976 FJ40.

The woman selling it said it her dad bought it used in 1982 and took care of it while getting some good use out of it to which shows, fired right up, everything shifted real smooth, electrical all works, and all parts and pieces are there. Best part of all is the only real rust is on the corners and everything else looks great. The seller was a huge help and patient with getting shipping squared away and also left a bag full of the original service manuals her dad used to take care of the 40 for so long and you can tell they were definitely well used. Appears to be all original paint and I think actual mileage around 87k (odo doesn't look like it rolled over).

She definitely has some issues that need to be worked out and updated, etc but as far as a drivable project it is everything I hoped to find. Not 100% sure what my long term goal is but I do know I want to hold on to it for a long while and I hope it is something that I can do with my daughter, I grew up around my dad having cool cars and it really made a big impact on me so I hope I can do the same. I am wanting to take a patina approach to it a la @wngrog but we will see how long I can keep my wife onboard with that, after a couple weeks of it sitting in the driveway I can tell it has already grown on here, slipping in suggestions and ideas.

View attachment 2841157

So this is how she sat after being unloaded out of the covered car hauler around 730 on a Sunday night. Was a little too tall so they had to let all of the air out of the tires to make her fit but made it work. With an 80 already in the driveway and a 100 parked on the street that is quite the DD anymore it is safe to say I am now "that neighbor".

I'm not great at keeping up with build threads but I'm going to try to keep record of the progress here. Near term I need to get some minor items addressed so I can pass inspection for registration, swapping out the wheels for a set of stock steelies and 31" Buckshots, and recovering the seats and getting the drivers side shifted back a bit.

Oakweb's classified post popped up a day or two after I committed to buying my '75. I thought it looked great too, nothing missing, etc., was a little surprised it didn't sell faster. Look forward to seeing how yours turns out, I know I have a solid list of things I want to do to mine over the winter.
 
That looks like a great FJ, congratulations! It's always great to see someone find the right FJ for them, it's not an easy task by any means. I just post what looks good enough to record for historical purposes. I know in a few years everyone will be like "wow that was cheap" haha
 
Wrapping up some home renovation stuff is taking up the majority of my free time right now but I did get a little bit of time today to rattle can the new steelies.
Went with RAL 7042 - Traffic Grey and it looks really darn close to the stock spare hanging off the back but man did I way over order. Hope to get the 31" Buckshots mounted in the next few weeks.

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Messed around with some patina paint work last night. Couldn't bring myself to use the green scotchbrite so I took a rushed stab with the blue non-scratch pads and I am already amazed at the difference, from the right angle there is even a bit of shine to already.

Will definitely be going through it again and working on much smaller sections at a time, so good to see there is still some nice life left to this paint!

Driver's Side - Untouched
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Passenger Side - Rushed Through (about 45 min)
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Messed around with some patina paint work last night. Couldn't bring myself to use the green scotchbrite so I took a rushed stab with the blue non-scratch pads and I am already amazed at the difference, from the right angle there is even a bit of shine to already.

Will definitely be going through it again and working on much smaller sections at a time, so good to see there is still some nice life left to this paint!
No scotchbrite pads needed for that paint. Meguiars ultimate compound and a DA orbital polisher with a cutting foam pad will shine it up nice. Polish and wax after that.
 
No scotchbrite pads needed for that paint. Meguiars ultimate compound and a DA orbital polisher with a cutting foam pad will shine it up nice. Polish and wax after that.
Absolutely agree except I’m a Griots compete compound homer
 
So after lurking around and keeping an eye out for a 40 not ever sure that I would actually do it I finally found one and pulled the trigger on it. Thanks to the classified section on here (thanks @oakweb, I hold you responsible haha) I booked a flight out San Diego and after a long day of travel (out and back) I was the proud new owner of a red 1976 FJ40.

The woman selling it said it her dad bought it used in 1982 and took care of it while getting some good use out of it to which shows, fired right up, everything shifted real smooth, electrical all works, and all parts and pieces are there. Best part of all is the only real rust is on the corners and everything else looks great. The seller was a huge help and patient with getting shipping squared away and also left a bag full of the original service manuals her dad used to take care of the 40 for so long and you can tell they were definitely well used. Appears to be all original paint and I think actual mileage around 87k (odo doesn't look like it rolled over).

She definitely has some issues that need to be worked out and updated, etc but as far as a drivable project it is everything I hoped to find. Not 100% sure what my long term goal is but I do know I want to hold on to it for a long while and I hope it is something that I can do with my daughter, I grew up around my dad having cool cars and it really made a big impact on me so I hope I can do the same. I am wanting to take a patina approach to it a la @wngrog but we will see how long I can keep my wife onboard with that, after a couple weeks of it sitting in the driveway I can tell it has already grown on here, slipping in suggestions and ideas.

View attachment 2841157

So this is how she sat after being unloaded out of the covered car hauler around 730 on a Sunday night. Was a little too tall so they had to let all of the air out of the tires to make her fit but made it work. With an 80 already in the driveway and a 100 parked on the street that is quite the DD anymore it is safe to say I am now "that neighbor".

I'm not great at keeping up with build threads but I'm going to try to keep record of the progress here. Near term I need to get some minor items addressed so I can pass inspection for registration, swapping out the wheels for a set of stock steelies and 31" Buckshots, and recovering the seats and getting the drivers side shifted back a bit.
I want to help, let me know......
 
Finally got around to getting tires mounted and swapped on with OEM hub caps. Planned on doing a good washing and working on (edit correction, working on patina not paint) this weekend but mothernature had other plans. Next steps are also pulling out the seats and recovering them, radiator hose replacement, running some new cable in the engine bay, and getting the bent rear bumper straightened out so I can hopefully get a replacement taillight in there. Thinking to do that there will be some heating, beating, & pulling.

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please don't paint it
 
@oakweb @NCFarmboy 100% not painting it, needs a good washing and then hitting it with the orbital buffer to bring the shine back to that paint.
The one spot of paint behind the spare tire looks awesome and fresh, can’t wait to see what the rest looks like after some love.
 
The warm weather is finally here so i figured I need to get this puppy cleaned up. Got around to trying out the orbital buffer and correction compound, made it about a 1/3 (pretty much hit the passenger side). I am blown away at how much pop this put back in the original paint, enough that a couple of neighbors stopped by to say something about it. Can't wait to get the rest done and the top off.

Whole lot of red came off with the correction pad and still need to do an actual top coat of wax but for 40 min of work it was a huge change.

Before
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Most of passenger side
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Having a toddler definitely makes things a bit more broken up and take a whole lot longer, needing to figure out what I can manage to complete during a nap time. Today I started the seat recovering process, getting the passenger side back done. Took probably twice as long as it should have since I was making channel locks work in place of hog ring pliers. I see things in it I'm not happy with but for the first try not too shabby, can't wait to get them all done.

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Front seat recovering is finished and it was one of the least enjoyable car things I think I have done (maybe minus the last-bolt-to-go-in-gets-sheared type situation). Did the passenger side back first and thought this is easy-breezy, the bottoms not so much. Both sides are done though. Went with CCOT covers and SOR bottom cushions.

About like everywhere I look in this thing I am surprised by how solid everything original is, I think the protective layer of grime and dog hair did it's job.

Wanted to put them back in today but decided not to, too much cleaning that needs to happen and will be a whole lot easier without the seats installed. Still on the fence about swapping out the center console for something bigger/locking, think I need to though. Also ordered a set of seat extensions from Classic Cruisers a while back, know they came in, know I looked at them, don't know where the heck they are now.

With the seats done the space in my mobile storage unit (1995 80) is freeing up which is good. Those seats need to be recovered but I'm thinking that may be a job for someone else with more patience.

How the seats started.

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Now

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Looking great Adam, I need to swing by for beer with you and Pete to take a closer look.
 

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