First FZJ80, 97 40th Anniversary

[rdcnj]

Cool, I’d do the steering box truss no matter what.

That’s just basic math as far in as tou are IMO.

And give a critical eye to the pipe spanning the rails up by the oilpan, at least look for any cracking.

But no matter - your 80, your frame, your time/labor.
I’m just offering my easily typed advice.

I can tell you, I appreciate it. Forcing me to think and be proactive while everything is "out" is the best thing that anyone can do for me and it's why I started a thread. I want to be challenged so I learn and make less mistakes.

 

[Pippylongsausage]

I'm loving this thread. Moving incredibly fast!

 

[rdcnj]

I'm loving this thread. Moving incredibly fast!

We have a fair amount of "frame off" experience with LLV's.

We've also done a few pickups outside of the LLV's.

Couple that with the slow time in general and we are trying to keep it all moving while we have the time and idle hands available.

 

[rdcnj]

Speaking of... time check: 52 hours in.

 

[rdcnj]

OEM bushings, bolts and body mounts are all coming in this week.

Preparing the differentials for protective coating and hopefully next week we will get working on the undercarriage of the truck.

 

[LC4LIFE]

Looking good! I would hose down the inside of the rails and everything you can reach with some fluid film or wool was too.

 

[rdcnj]

Looking good! I would hose down the inside of the rails and everything you can reach with some fluid film or wool was too.

Fluid film is priority number one once frame and drivetrain are back up!

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Love watching this come together!

 

[rdcnj]

Removed the front end, bringing it to the sand blaster to get it's treatment and then to the body shop to fix the couple of small sections with rot.

 

[Broski]

Undercarriage assessment.

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I know I am late to the party but I hope you got a really good price because that undercarriage is hammered!!!!

 

[Broski]

Nice job I am impressed

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Very cool! Keep up the good work!

 

[LINUS]

I seriously hope you plan to keep longer than 5-10yrs with all this work.

Crap, I’ve had my black one 20yrs+ & I’ve never separated the cab from frame.

More power to you, all that labor will pay off if you keep it mainly stock whenever you choose to sell.

I just noticed the cel phone in-cab - I gotta know - can you even get service on those anymore?

 

[rdcnj]

I don’t ever have plans to sell this, but that doesn’t mean that s***ty circumstances won’t force a sale one day anyway.

While I may not have envisioned it getting this crazy initially, we have a rule here. If you’re not going to do it right don’t do it at all. When we put this truck on the lift a month ago, we all talked and knew there was only way to do this.

We are really fortunate to have the experience and the facility to perform this level of work. The present economic scenario presented us with time we would never get otherwise.

I really owe everything to our team here. Without them, this would never be possible.

I don’t plan on doing any crazy upgrades to this one. I really just want to enjoy this truck with my son and do things with him. If I really get the bug to do dumb things, I will find a beater to abuse.

Dont know much about the phone... but I will surely find out when we can turn the key again. Hoping that’ll be in late May.

 

[Broski]

I don’t ever have plans to sell this, but that doesn’t mean that s***ty circumstances won’t force a sale one day anyway.

While I may not have envisioned it getting this crazy initially, we have a rule here. If you’re not going to do it right don’t do it at all. When we put this truck on the lift a month ago, we all talked and knew there was only way to do this.

We are really fortunate to have the experience and the facility to perform this level of work. The present economic scenario presented us with time we would never get otherwise.

I really owe everything to our team here. Without them, this would never be possible.

I really did not think it was possible to get that cleaned up. But you and your team are doing a bang up job & doing it right, theirs not to meany people out there willing to to commit to this type of restoration. I applaud your dedication. I will be following a long

 

[rdcnj]

Prepping body for treatment.

 

[Jason Gallant]

I wish there was 30 more pages of this so I could binge read the entire build today!!
My 40th was worse on the frame and I really really wanted to take the body off but it was going to be too difficult in my crappy home garage so I am very jealous of your work. I went with POR silver for the base coat (it has the most fillers for rough surfaces) then black I wish I had gone with gloss not flat as I now believe it sheds mud, dirt etc better, I really struggled with the interior of the frame and very interested with what you did?
I ended up just fluid filming it but I wanted better, I liked Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating but thought it would take so many cans it would not be cost prohibitive.
anyway this is a great read and I appreciate the time you are taking to show us your project

 

[rdcnj]

I wish there was 30 more pages of this so I could binge read the entire build today!!
My 40th was worse on the frame and I really really wanted to take the body off but it was going to be too difficult in my crappy home garage so I am very jealous of your work. I went with POR silver for the base coat (it has the most fillers for rough surfaces) then black I wish I had gone with gloss not flat as I now believe it sheds mud, dirt etc better, I really struggled with the interior of the frame and very interested with what you did?
I ended up just fluid filming it but I wanted better, I liked Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating but thought it would take so many cans it would not be cost prohibitive.
anyway this is a great read and I appreciate the time you are taking to show us your project

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That’s still a really clean job considering you did it in that manner. Great work and love the way the color stands out.

I also debated the gloss vs chassis black. Weird part is that one section looks completely gloss near one of the shock towers. But I’m happy overall just getting it cleaned and protected.

I’ve ordered Fluid Film and Woolwax for anything that can’t be accessed. Going to do that as we start to put it together.

 

[rdcnj]

Moving along...

 

[joxeale]

Fckn ART! Super fun to go through this thread. I'd do exactly this if I had the funds. Can't wait to see where you take it! Good luck