Even desert trucks can get a little rusty

[Patcactus]

This summer, we picked up a 73 FJ40 north of Phoenix. It has been in the low desert for at least the last 21 years, but I cannot trace it back any further than that. It is a hardtop model, but the roof is long gone, and it's been sitting out in the open for years. It does rain here every once in a while, so there is some rust on the floor boards, the back corners and sill are pretty much trashed, and the back swing out gates are rusted through along the bottom. There's also a little rust along the spot welds, usual FJ40 locations. The frame and everything along the underside looks pretty good. The previous owner was using it on his property to move stuff around, so it was started up and run frequently. We towed it home, about 50 miles,

after purchase. After a couple of trips around the block, it went into the back yard, where I've been working on slowly cleaning up years of grease, layers upon layers of paint, puddles of old dried up caulking and varnish, and whatever else is on it so I can assess the sheet metal itself. It's hard to work outside when it gets to 110+ degrees during the day, and then the monsoon storms rolled through. Now that it has finally dried out and cooled off a little, our project can pick up more speed. We're also trying to work on a budget, but he works in a waterjet shop and I work 3 days a week, so we have the advantage of a little extra time, access to diy parts, and the willingness to get dirty. Plus, my husband had an FJ40 when he was a teenager, and he's pretty familiar with the mechanicals (still kicking himself over selling it all those years ago).

 

[Patcactus]

This was actually the PO's picture from the Craigslist ad (but my husband already sorta knew the guy and knew that he was ready to sell). Nice fuel storage system, eh? Also note the homemade bumper and hitch heavily welded on top of the oem. We still haven't been able to get it off. The entire inside was rattle canned flat black over all the old layers of paint ,rust, wiring, rubber, everything else. The PO stated that he was cleaning it up to make it look nice.

 

[cruiserboy14]

where are you guys located now?

 

[Patcactus]

where are you guys located now?

Mesa

 

[Patcactus]

I have to decide if I'm going to replace the entire passenger's side floor or just the fuel tank area. I don't have a lot of experience welding, but I'm always up for a new challenge (there will be lots of new challenges coming up I'm sure). The fuel tank area is rusted through in several spots and will have to be replaced (I can't find that part for less than $300. $300!!!!). The rest of the passenger floor is pitted but seems to be solid. It looks greasy/dirty from the underside, and I honestly can't tell how bad it is from the bottom but there's no daylight showing through. My end goal with this truck is not a show queen. It'll be a weekend driver, and I'll probably eventually drive it to/from work in the winter (it's only four miles, with covered parking). I know it will never be perfect, and that's what I want. Now that I have most of the crud cleaned off (I used paint stripper for that) I'll probably just finish blasting the rust off of the pitted-but-solid area and seal it up if it still looks structurally sound after blasting. The driver's side still looks pretty dang good. I've been using one of the HF pressurized media blasters. I used a few bags of black diamond media, but now I'll be switching to some rejected garnet that I got for free.

 

[Patcactus]

Speaking of cheap HF media blasters; the one that I bought was a major PITA to get it dialed in, and it's still slow and has a few issues, but it does actually work fairly well for a $60 blaster.

 

[Patcactus]

The tranny cover cleaned up pretty nice, but I found more rust damage, right by the passenger side floor where it starts bending up to the firewall. I'm not sure how I'm going to repair it yet, so I primered it and set it aside for now.

 

[tls3601]

Yep Cruiser parts are spendy. Welcome to the fun!!’

 

[tls3601]

One of the more expensive vehicles to restore properly.

 

[daner]

It doesn't look too bad. My guess is that that rig spent some time up north somewhere, sometime.

 

[bikersmurf]

I’m always a little amused when I see what others call rust.

I replaced my trans hump with a rust free newer one in ‘92. I’ve got 20x more rust in my replacement hump than yours.

On the plus side it’ll be easier to fix.

 

[Patcactus]

It doesn't look too bad. My guess is that that rig spent some time up north somewhere, sometime.

We are assuming that, too. It's hard to say what all has happened to it in 45 years.

 

[greenbeasty]

Your rust issues shown are pretty minimum. I use fiberglass cloth to lay over pin holes (like that on the trans hump edge) in non critical areas, it works very well and is quick and easy. I also did the same in the gas tank recess. Held up for 15 years of heavy fourwheeling, and still good today. I am sure it would not please the purist, but it is an option.

 

[fjdiesel]

Not the cheapest solution, 3M 08115 Panel bond adhesive. But works excellent on pin holes after you have blasted. Can be sanded to shape, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08115-Panel-Bonding-Adhesive/dp/B000PEW4MI

 

[letterman52]

Count your blessings. It can always be worse.

 

[Living in the Past]

What year was the tag on the license plate. Bought a 73 FJ40 in Phoenix myself. It had been sitting for a while. Luckily never open to the elements. Believe it was last registered in 82, think that was the last year for the orange and green license plate.

Think a good part of your interior rust could be explained simply by not having a top on and dirt holding moisture. Was lucky that mind haven't been exposed to the elements. When I bought it had carpeting glued to the floor. Should look into joining Copper State Cruisers. Or two clubs listed in AZ clud house section are no longer active. CSC on the other hand has one of the most active clubs on Mud.

 

[DSRTRDR]

Anyone want a genuine '72 sill kit, some assembly required? Most of it just fell off!
View attachment 775667

from my desert truck: the DSRTRDR is getting some TLC . . .

 

[bikersmurf]

I don’t recognize those parts... what were they? I had to recreate most of my non-existent parts by guessing what used to be there.

 

[Patcactus]

What year was the tag on the license plate. Bought a 73 FJ40 in Phoenix myself. It had been sitting for a while. Luckily never open to the elements. Believe it was last registered in 82, think that was the last year for the orange and green license plate.

Think a good part of your interior rust could be explained simply by not having a top on and dirt holding moisture. Was lucky that mind haven't been exposed to the elements. When I bought it had carpeting glued to the floor. Should look into joining Copper State Cruisers. Or two clubs listed in AZ clud house section are no longer active. CSC on the other hand has one of the most active clubs on Mud.

The last tags were from 2002, and the owner previous to me never registered it, so it's been rambling around an acreage in Cave Creek for the last 15 years since he bought it, from someone else in Cave Creek. I'll look into joining CSC when my Landcruiser is a functioning vehicle again.

 

[Patcactus]

from my desert truck: the DSRTRDR is getting some TLC . . .

View attachment 1806788

I saw your post a while ago. Dang. Mine isn't quite to that point, although it's hard to say just how bad it is with all the junk welded on there.