FJ40 hardtop repair

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zerotreedelta said:
Indeed - it's very...not white. I did end up painting my top white-white, but only because the body was going back to factory-original Cygnus, and Cygnus everything is a bit bland...a whiter white at least gave a bit of the two-tone look, and it tricks the eye a bit into the Cygnus looking a bit more tan as well. Cygnus is definitely the way to go with the other colors, though...it's an interesting white for sure.

Your link in 4 takes me to hand lotion...don't use that for paint. :rofl:

The gutter seems in decent shape, but it really isn't that hard to split it and reattach it either. I think it took me under an hour to redo the 70ish rivets, easy peasy...sometimes you'll spend more than that trying to clean the gutter and glass (top and bottom) while attached. Pick your poison a bit, I suppose.

Headliner was no issue with the gutter on, just need to do some marking and trimming...I think it's more typical to do it after to avoid any paint contamination anyway.

I'd keep the light for it's 40 quirkiness. I probably still have the 3D print STL file from CityRacer (?) if you need a lens...I think that's the one that he has.

EDIT: and definitely go light on the sanding...if you burn through the white gelcoat-type layer, you'll be filling in pinholes in the glass underneath.

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Re: the dome light- I searched for the correct lens but don’t see it. If you can share the file I’ll see what i can do.
 
CBFJ said:
Re: the dome light- I searched for the correct lens but don’t see it. If you can share the file I’ll see what i can do.
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This cover was made (thanks again @zerotreedelta ) using the City racer program

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OK- progress was made today. I sanded the top, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and put a small jar of the bondo short- hair fiberglass repair on it.

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I went heavy on the area in the front where the metal plate was. Pretty heavy all around.

I also used a nylon wheel on my impact driver to clean out the gutter, which looks pretty clean. I’ll hit it with 3M self-leveling sealer tomorrow.

Once I sand the whole thing, I’ll use the Krylon 2 in 1 gloss Ivory spraypaint I found- most paints are out of stock here, but this Krylon looks good and is pretty identical to the Wimbeldon White.

Question: check out the rust on the top of the sills

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Should I treat that that before putting it back together? If so, what’s the product?

Also, the supply chain is not limited to paint- the 3M headliner adhesive is out of stock, so it looks like I can find 3M 77 or 90 (or something like that- long day) I’m planning on using the 90, spraying both the top and the liner. Any red flags?
 
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I currently used Corroseal on the frame. It went from rust to black almost immediately. Smells like Elmers Glue too.
 
Today I made some good progress. Had to tarp the project for a day due to snow in my workspace.

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This was the best I could do with @DangerNoodle's recco of self-leveling sealant; of course I went way too thick with it, thinking it would...self-level...so the gutter isn't the prettiest, but hey who looks in the raingutter?!

Gave it two days to cure, it was still soft in places (20 degree lows probably didn't help) Sanded it the best I could:

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5 cans of Krylon gloss ivory later:

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Despite the hazards of falling leaves and fricken dogs STEPPING ON IT while painting, I'm psyched! I could've kept going after 5 cans, but figured that would suffice.

Then I hit the rusty sill with a wire brush and some Permaseal rust treatment, and she looks like she's under control:

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Tomorrow, it's sand the inside and install the new CCOT headliner, and put 'er together with all new weatherstripping. The end is in sight!
 
Looks great. I would strongly encourage parking the truck indoors or under cover. Every night's dew runs down into various cracks/crevices on that truck, including around the edges of the drip rail. Anything you can do to keep rain and dew off the roof and hardtop is something that will pay off down the road, rust-wise.
 
Question:
SteveH said:
Looks great. I would strongly encourage parking the truck indoors or under cover. Every night's dew runs down into various cracks/crevices on that truck, including around the edges of the drip rail. Anything you can do to keep rain and dew off the roof and hardtop is something that will pay off down the road, rust-wise.
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I wish. No garage.
 
With the forecast calling for up to a foot of snow tomorrow, today was the day to get her buttoned up.

I hate to say it, but I'll grade myself at around a C+ for this project; far from perfect job on the headliner, and wow was reassembly interesting.

First off, the CCOT headliner is top quality and is sticking beautifully. However, the center seam is not flat (kinda wants to make an X if you look at it in profile) so we decided to spread the parts under the seam while we adhered the liner, as opposed to bunching them up on either side of the seam. This was quite difficult for 2 people to manage with a liner full of glue, and as we spread the seam the liner drooped and glued to itself. got some wrinkles we couldn't get out.

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The front half was perfect. Next up, I glued the CCOT weatherstripping to the frame with some Lexel, which worked great. I figured it would be good to have some pilot holes for the bolts, as the stripping is super thick and the bolts didn't stand a chance getting through there. I referenced their instructions, but nowhere did I see anything about how to get bolts through the weatherstripping. My advice would be to give yourself more than just pilot holes if you can.

Then we put Lexel on the bottom side of the strip and put the lid on. We had already put the sides on so it was just the lid interface. I had ordered the CCOT 54 bolt kit, but quickly found the bolts really weren't going to go through the weatherstrip and extra headliner in the gutter, so went to the hardware store and got $25 worth of metric screws (they have a name, can't remember) Those worked like a charm and sucked the top right up. And the black heads look cool.

In the process, I managed to get the liner pretty dirty, from drilling through the stripping to touching it with glued-up hands, etc.

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After seating the strip inside of the rivet line, there is a good 1/2" hanging over inside the truck, which I think I'll trim with a razor. I'm not criticizing CCOT, this was just a handful for me.

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And the top, with the 5 spray cans, is already scratching up and I'm sure it won't last too long, but this is much improved over how it was last month!

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Now if I can just get the damn thing to run well. It's lugging and got fuel supply issues. The mechanic offered me money to sell it to someone so he'd never see it again... I'd love to drive it this winter but at this point thinking about stashing it in the yard. I'll pick up that other thread and see what everyone thinks.
 
CBFJ said:
With the forecast calling for up to a foot of snow tomorrow, today was the day to get her buttoned up.

I hate to say it, but I'll grade myself at around a C+ for this project; far from perfect job on the headliner, and wow was reassembly interesting.

First off, the CCOT headliner is top quality and is sticking beautifully. However, the center seam is not flat (kinda wants to make an X if you look at it in profile) so we decided to spread the parts under the seam while we adhered the liner, as opposed to bunching them up on either side of the seam. This was quite difficult for 2 people to manage with a liner full of glue, and as we spread the seam the liner drooped and glued to itself. got some wrinkles we couldn't get out.

View attachment 2821393

View attachment 2821383

The front half was perfect. Next up, I glued the CCOT weatherstripping to the frame with some Lexel, which worked great. I figured it would be good to have some pilot holes for the bolts, as the stripping is super thick and the bolts didn't stand a chance getting through there. I referenced their instructions, but nowhere did I see anything about how to get bolts through the weatherstripping. My advice would be to give yourself more than just pilot holes if you can.

Then we put Lexel on the bottom side of the strip and put the lid on. We had already put the sides on so it was just the lid interface. I had ordered the CCOT 54 bolt kit, but quickly found the bolts really weren't going to go through the weatherstrip and extra headliner in the gutter, so went to the hardware store and got $25 worth of metric screws (they have a name, can't remember) Those worked like a charm and sucked the top right up. And the black heads look cool.

In the process, I managed to get the liner pretty dirty, from drilling through the stripping to touching it with glued-up hands, etc.

View attachment 2821386

After seating the strip inside of the rivet line, there is a good 1/2" hanging over inside the truck, which I think I'll trim with a razor. I'm not criticizing CCOT, this was just a handful for me.

View attachment 2821387
And the top, with the 5 spray cans, is already scratching up and I'm sure it won't last too long, but this is much improved over how it was last month!

View attachment 2821388
Now if I can just get the damn thing to run well. It's lugging and got fuel supply issues. The mechanic offered me money to sell it to someone so he'd never see it again... I'd love to drive it this winter but at this point thinking about stashing it in the yard. I'll pick up that other thread and see what everyone thinks.
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It looks great. Don't be too hard on yourself. We aren't all professional restoration techs, but even they got that way from doing exactly what you just did and learned from it. It looks great and you did your own work and can appreciate it. Also I can appreciate what you did because I did that a couple years ago myself, not easy. Check out my signature line for a link to see how that turned out.

The cruiser looks great don't sell it. Just put a tarp or car cover over it for the winter if you're done tinkering with it and pick it back up next year.

Also, you mentioned a mechanic, but if you are even a little mechanically inclined and have, or are willing to buy, a few tools, there's a lot you can do yourself, just like you did with the headliner, that you will learn how to start working on these things. Again I only say this from going through the same experience and learning hands on. It's a fun learning experience and gives you that much more appreciation for you 40. Kuddos to you on the work done so far.
 
airon23 said:
It looks great. Don't be too hard on yourself. We aren't all professional restoration techs, but even they got that way from doing exactly what you just did and learned from it. It looks great and you did your own work and can appreciate it. Also I can appreciate what you did because I did that a couple years ago myself, not easy. Check out my signature line for a link to see how that turned out.

The cruiser looks great don't sell it. Just put a tarp or car cover over it for the winter if you're done tinkering with it and pick it back up next year.

Also, you mentioned a mechanic, but if you are even a little mechanically inclined and have, or are willing to buy, a few tools, there's a lot you can do yourself, just like you did with the headliner, that you will learn how to start working on these things. Again I only say this from going through the same experience and learning hands on. It's a fun learning experience and gives you that much more appreciation for you 40. Kuddos to you on the work done so far.
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Thanks man- very cool work on yours, looks like I'm about 2 years behind ya! No worries, I'm not selling. I'm enjoying this more than most things in my life right now!
 
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