FINALLY - '67 FJ45 LPB Resoration Begins

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A lot of times going thru your regular insurance company can work, usually if you have had a long relationship with them. I build very high end custom cars for clients...a lot of time they will go thru their regular insurance company and set their value(invoices from me back it up). In some cases, $100k in extras will be on there. You obviously pay for that but it seems to work. No restrictions that way. The collector car insurance really banks on the fact that you don't drive the car although I think a few clients have insured their newer cars thru Hagerty(not collectibles). It will be interesting to see what they say.

I'm doing a 3FE in my wagon as well. I'll put a 4 speed behind it and some 3.73s. It's a great setup. The 3FE is a bit hard to dial in....at least mine has been....but it's been great. I like things that fit without major mods and just, as you said, it's right in that truck. It's nice to keep it all Land Cruiser too. I really need to go thru mine and rebuild/freshen it up but I drive the truck almost everyday...hard to part with it. Maybe when the wagon is on the road...I'll give it up then.
 
scrapdaddy said:
A question on your headlight buckets. Are they new or just replated. I've got old rusty ones and looking for options.

Thanks, Ron
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The buckets are new, however the original ones for '67 aren't available anymore, so they had to go with later years FJ40 buckets, which required a bit of modification to the bib.
 
She's nearly done. A few items remain:
  • Bezel needs installed
  • Mirrors need installed
  • Headache rack (plus spare tire and jack mount) need installed
  • Door windows need to be cut and installed, along with gaskets and weatherstripping
  • Running boards need installed (this will be done very last, so I am the one that will scratch them...)
  • Horn button needs installed on the steering wheel
  • Air conditioning unit needs a few finishing touches
  • Shifter boots need installed
  • Diffs need broken in
  • Needs about 500miles put on it for a shakedown.
I am extremely happy with everything. It looks great. I did get to start the engine up, sounds great.

A few pictures of the nearly finished product, next time I see it, everything will be done.

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Simply Beautiful! You must be very proud, going to be fun driving that around.

If you don't mind, what brand of seat are you useing.

I'm going to miss reading about your build, when it's done.

Good Job, Ron
 
Awesome build. I love the balance that you have achieved between functional and staying connected with the land cruiser "roots". Beautiful truck.

It's quite sad to see a company doing this caliber of work go out of buisiness. You do not reach a quality product like that without a lot of caring.

Great truck! more pics!
 
scrapdaddy said:
Simply Beautiful! You must be very proud, going to be fun driving that around.

If you don't mind, what brand of seat are you useing.

I'm going to miss reading about your build, when it's done.

Good Job, Ron
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47coeman said:
YA me too on the seats they look delicious.
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The seats are Corbeau Sport Seats. They don't look nearly as fluffy and comfy on the website, but they definitely are nice in person. Also, it just so happens that without the headrest, the top of the seat is just about the same height as the bottom of the window, so it doesn't look too obnoxious.

It'll be a lot of fun to drive around, I might have to keep posting a bit with feedback on how she runs...
 
Ambrew said:
Awesome build. I love the balance that you have achieved between functional and staying connected with the land cruiser "roots". Beautiful truck.

It's quite sad to see a company doing this caliber of work go out of buisiness. You do not reach a quality product like that without a lot of caring.

Great truck! more pics!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I obsessed over what I wanted for the build since 2010. What I wanted evolved up until the build had actually started. The Proffits guys took it even further than my imagination could, and did a lot of great stuff that I hadn't even thought of, and in some cases, advising me (kindly) when I had an idea or wanted something that didn't make sense for the direction the build was going.

The quality of the build is amazing, these guys have a lot of pride in what they do, everything has to be right before they move on to the next thing. If nothing else, I'm glad for this build thread to be a tribute to what these guys can do.
 
While I'm patiently (not really) waiting for the build to get complete, I figured I would post a few more pictures to keep my mind occupied....:p She'll look much better with a bezel and running boards!

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c2dfj45 said:
A lot of times going thru your regular insurance company can work, usually if you have had a long relationship with them. I build very high end custom cars for clients...a lot of time they will go thru their regular insurance company and set their value(invoices from me back it up). In some cases, $100k in extras will be on there. You obviously pay for that but it seems to work. No restrictions that way. The collector car insurance really banks on the fact that you don't drive the car although I think a few clients have insured their newer cars thru Hagerty(not collectibles). It will be interesting to see what they say.

I'm doing a 3FE in my wagon as well. I'll put a 4 speed behind it and some 3.73s. It's a great setup. The 3FE is a bit hard to dial in....at least mine has been....but it's been great. I like things that fit without major mods and just, as you said, it's right in that truck. It's nice to keep it all Land Cruiser too. I really need to go thru mine and rebuild/freshen it up but I drive the truck almost everyday...hard to part with it. Maybe when the wagon is on the road...I'll give it up then.
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I didn't have any luck from Haggerty or Grundy, both declined to give me a quote when they found out that I actually wanted to drive my Cruiser (I think if I promised to only drive it in parades I would have been OK). No worries, obviously there is a market for the coverage they provide, but not really geared to a Cruiser. Not much luck with the Farmers, Nationwide's etc... either. I ended up getting good insurance from an independent agent. I was able to get a policy that insures for "agreed value", which is pretty well substantiated by the invoice for the restoration. There are no restrictions to the policy as far as mileage, use etc... The agent is a Mud member who has a 40, so he was pretty familiar with what some of the issues and requirements were, and had figured out who had the best policy for a Cruiser owner.

I am anxious to get some seat time behind the 3FE, I'm sure I'll be pretty happy with it. The engine was completely rebuilt, the head slightly shaved down for a bit more compression, and Chevy valves and valve springs installed for a bit better performance. I did start it up, it sounded good (just like an inline six should sound). I'll definitely post up some feedback on how it performs.
 
scrapdaddy said:
I look forward to your assessment of the seats on a long ride. Heck, I just want to see more pictures and have you talk about it. :)
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I did get about a 45minute test drive in. The seats were comfortable, but remains to be seen how they feel after a long ride.



All in all, I was very happy with the way she handles:
  • Bezel, mirrors, headache rack, spare tire are now on.
  • Suspension and steering is great, she felt stable on the highway, got her up to 70mph, steady as she goes. The springs are heavy duty OME Dakar, so she's stiff, but not bone jarring.
  • Engine power and transmission is very well matched. First is a bit granny, and a bit of a gap between 2nd and 3rd, however the low range of the 3FE makes it a non-issue. No issues getting up to highway speed in a timely manner.
  • Great low range torque, really no need to get the rpm's above 3,000 before shifting.
  • 5th gear is matched well with the engine, at least on the flat, I was able to accellerate at will (didn't take it past 70, not really what she's intended for, plus, the wind noise was pretty much deafening). At least I know on long road trips, I'll be able to use 5th gear to keep the revs down and fuel economy up.
  • Brakes work well, no lack of stopping power, but not twitchy either.
  • Engine is fairly noisy. Part of it is because it has a metal 2F timing gear, which make a bit of a growl. I'm ok with that, realiability is the name of the game.
  • Drove in the rain. Got to experince the windshield wiper action a bit. Pretty cool. The randomness of it all keeps me guessing when they'll swipe next!
  • I like the setup of the instrument panel, easy to keep track of everything.
  • Still need to test off road, which is the whole point of the build, but at least I have an idea of her road manners, which I am extremely satisfied with.
  • A few tweaks yet to do, so not quite ready to go home.
I took a few crappy iphone pictures...you can see she's completely put together (except for the running boards, again, that will wait for final delivery, so I am the one who will put the first scratch on them). Also still some tape on a few parts to protect the paint.
I'll take a few high res-pictures when she's delivered. Will probably be only time she'll look that good, after which, she will be wearing mud, bugs and other such cruiser makeup.

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scrapdaddy said:
Very nice. That color changes in the different lighting. I've been looking at all the different greens. You made a good choice.
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The shade of green is definitely very dependent on lighting. In cooler florescent light, it looks like a darker green, in sunlight, it looks closer to spring green. Of course, the camera makes a difference too. Phone cameras wash everything out and make it look flat. I would say, in real life, it pretty much looks like a sage green, if not a tad darker.

The :princess: got to pick the color, and made a good pick! (I wanted olive green, I'm glad now I listened to the better half!)
 
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