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- #41
Look what Santa dropped off...
Family FJ Build : '76 40 Resto/Frame Off (a.k.a. the Japanese Baby Buggy) (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter zerotreedelta
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- #42
One ambulance door done, one to go. I mainly was interested in the inner patches for those rounded corners, but I did find it funny that the outer skins from RealSteel were both bent for the passenger side door style, (pinch seam on three sides), but the drivers door only has two, with a contured/stepped third side where the doors meet. I didn't use either outer skin and made my own, but did give me a 
on why they'd produce it that way. (There's definitely a left and a right side version as the cutout is shifted.)
Crunched through the footage of the hardtop...the ambulance doors will be a couple weeks out ( guessing you'll find some tidbits when that comes out @Aloha Jen , as asked in that other thread re: heights).
on why they'd produce it that way. (There's definitely a left and a right side version as the cutout is shifted.)Crunched through the footage of the hardtop...the ambulance doors will be a couple weeks out ( guessing you'll find some tidbits when that comes out @Aloha Jen , as asked in that other thread re: heights).
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- #43
Manged to knock out the drivers door...that center two-step-flange is a bit of a pain, but managed to get that shaped up to match.
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- #44
And also a pretty good milestone - day 192 since I pulled it into the shop, and it's actually now a fully rust free rig. Looking forward to getting some paint on it and catching the last few parts that need blasting...it's a pretty short list. I didn't keep track, but my best guess is about 750 hours in so far, but that includes the refurb of the interior, frame, and engine bay bits too.
Day 1:
Day 15:
Day 192:
Day 1:
Day 15:
Day 192:
You are moving right along! Great work.
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- #47
It was originally the T012 Cygnus White. I like some of the other colors better, but leaning toward putting it back to original, albeit likely base/clear vs single stage. We did rust repair once before in 1988, and that's when it was changed to the metallic gray.
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- #48
Hood stripped, last big piece that needed cleaning up other than the glass hardtop. If only it went this fast in real life... 
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- #49
Still chipping away - catching up on some small odds and ends like the hood latches while I wait for the rain to pass. Anyone ever replace the rubber bumpers on these? Seems like they're glued on?
And from two weeks back or so, video footage of patching the windshield. Pilfering from a rear door thankfully did the deed.
And from two weeks back or so, video footage of patching the windshield. Pilfering from a rear door thankfully did the deed.
macdaddy59
SILVER Star
I bought some rubber equivelants off of Amazon that popped right in to the existing hole.
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- #51
The good old 40-aisle on Amazon....
Any chance you have the P/N / item still? Otherwise, I'll go searching for a suitable guess - no worries.
macdaddy59
SILVER Star
Here ya go Amazon product ASIN B0734NKW9G
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- #53
Thanks - saves me a trip to the shop with some calipers. 
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- #54
Rubber nubs showed up, it'll be nice to swap in some fresh ones for those hood latches. Had a couple rainy-day projects waiting for my paint supplies...the JDM-flares, and messed with the 3d printer to make some dies...you might guess what the first test is going to be. 
If I can find a hydraulic press, I'm going to try some of the oddball parts like the rear hardtop inner supports, etc, to see if those could be made reasonably. I might try recreating the ambulance door inner lower corners too - they're really all you need for patching, and they're all I used from the patch panels.
Cranked through some video as well for the ambulance doors - I think they were almost more fiddly than rebuilding the hardtop corners at times since they're boxed in on the bottom and there's no place for your mitts. Very glad to have a rust-free rig, though...hasn't been like that since about '90.
If I can find a hydraulic press, I'm going to try some of the oddball parts like the rear hardtop inner supports, etc, to see if those could be made reasonably. I might try recreating the ambulance door inner lower corners too - they're really all you need for patching, and they're all I used from the patch panels.
Cranked through some video as well for the ambulance doors - I think they were almost more fiddly than rebuilding the hardtop corners at times since they're boxed in on the bottom and there's no place for your mitts. Very glad to have a rust-free rig, though...hasn't been like that since about '90.
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- #55
Switching from welding and grinding to sanding and painting...started with the silver/pewter parts. Most turned out good, but a few will need some touchup tomorrow after they dry...there's a few spots where there's a sag or two in the flake. This silver metallic is very finicky to get dialed in, but did get there in the end. *Technically* the front license plate bracket is black from the factory, but I've got a non-OEM black bumper, so thought I'd try the pewter...worst case, it's easy to flip it to black.
Color was a Mitsubishi gray (L83, Palermo), and when I sprayed the back of the seatback panels where there was still OEM paint, it's a very close match.
Color was a Mitsubishi gray (L83, Palermo), and when I sprayed the back of the seatback panels where there was still OEM paint, it's a very close match.
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- #56
Getting a sun-bake today...got a bit of dust trapped in the top of the rear heater, but the rest are looking good. Either need to sand and reshoot the heater, or just shoot some clear over the top and then wetsand if needed to smooth it out. The color/flake is ok, but you can't work the single-stage metallics after the fact much.
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- #57
Hit the top of the rear heater (gently) with some water and 2500 grit, then a whiff with rubbing compound and the wool pad on the buffer...cleaned it up and manged to not get down to the flake, so I think that'll do. I might throw some clear 3M vinyl chip-guard on top as well, if I can find where my roll of it is from the LAST project...
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- #58
Still waiting on paint supplies - somehow PPG shipped out the primer, but got lost in UPS...so lost two weeks there. Hopefully should have all in hand by EOW...granted, it's been a bit moasty-toasty here anyway, not the greatest weather to be in the garage doing paintwork.
Gathered up the footage from the flare build project at least - will play with the mounting bolts for them once the tub is off and on the rotisserie.
Gathered up the footage from the flare build project at least - will play with the mounting bolts for them once the tub is off and on the rotisserie.
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- #59
Starting to fling some paint - epoxy primer first. Doing in batches based on shop space...this group, then the hardtop sides and part of the front clip, then the rest of the clip, then the tub. Each batch will be end-to-end though to meet topcoat time windows, but that's good by me. It'll be nice to get some parts all sealed up and curing in the sun before reassembly.
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- #60
Body filler all blocksanded, and a quick touchup of the primer where it got some sandthru before surfacer going on...all in all, shaping up decently.
Oh, and caught this little friend stuck by the window from having the garage doors open...just a youngin', got a wee bit confused.
Oh, and caught this little friend stuck by the window from having the garage doors open...just a youngin', got a wee bit confused.
