Green FJ55 build (1 Viewer)

[catdawg426]

New fj55

Hey guys, I posted this over in 40-55 tech and then I found this section...
I'm 14 and for my first car I bought a 1978 fj55! I found it on craigslist down in Weed, California. We just finished driving up to Bend. It's a bit rusty but I got a deal; the seller had a rig that he had rolled and let us take anything we wanted from it. The panels that hadn't been rolled on were in great shape, so anything on my rig that's rusty we have replacement parts for. The engine runs well enough to drive it from weed to bend going 60. The suspension and steering needs to be worked on, though. Nothing me and my dad can't do in the next two years . The interior is great and the floorboards have some rust but not horrible. The original paint was red and white but the owner before him I think put a cheapo solid green paint job on it. Not a huge fan of the paint, once I get all of the replacement panels on I'll paint it one of the original colors. The best part is the price : $1,800. I think I got a pretty good deal, any opinions?

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

Nice.

 

[308fj55]

awesome! i love it!

 

[SAWTOOTH 55 LC]

Nice find!What an awesome dad you have.Starting early learning/teaching skills that will last a lifetime.Congrats

 

[Tom FJ55]

Congrats on the nice find and for the fun project ahead!

 

[bogus one]

Nice

Welcome to the addiction

 

[PabloCruise]

Super cool!
'78 is a great year, and fairly rare.
Any options like AC or PS?

 

[catdawg426]

update

no, unfortunately no ps or ac.

hey guys, thanks for all the replies. This used half of my life savings (no joke, I've been saving as long as I can remember) so I've gotta a little room left before I'm broke. we ended up driving back to weed with a trailer to just take the whole parts rig (it's a 77), no extra cost (except for gas). Doesn't have a motor or anything, we already have the fenders and doors off, and the back bottom side panels are amazing and rust free. I also have a bunch of misc. parts from it so whatever I don't use I might sell.
It looks like a lot of you guys like the color . Well the panels from the parts rig are red and white, so if I kept the paint it would like a christmas car haha. I'm thinking about a rattle can paint job after all the parts are on, I've got more time than money. I really like the rattle can job someone did on their fj60 on here :

.

At first I wanted to do original colors but that one looks pretty cool. Ive got a couple years to decide anyways.

Here are some pictures of the 77 parts rig:

 

[PabloCruise]

Wow, you scored a great little parts Pig!
Too bad the PO rolled it.
I love the name Weed for a town. How many people live there?

 

[riderjgs]

Parts rig

Great score on the parts rig. It actually took owning four pigs and acquiring parts from several others to get mine together. If those rear corners are as solid as they look, they're worth quite a bit to a lot of folks on this forum. Later model welded steelies are in demand and can add to your project cash flow also. FJ40 types will want the rear springs. If you have a decent extra front floormat, I'd contribute right now. (Once you're in, it never ends.)

 

[PabloCruise]

If you have an extra set of vents for the rear quarters in decent shape, I would buy those.

What lock-outs do you have on the front axle? If they say "ASCO" I would be interested in those.

Does the parts rig have 3 point retractable belts in the front?

 

[catdawg426]

@PabloCruise, it's a pretty small town, about 3,000 people. Also, I'm not ready to sell stuff until I've got the green one built, but I do have 1 extra rear vent if you want it.
@ridergjs, I've only got one front floormat, sorry

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Nice find. Merry Christmas to you...

 

[land cruiser kid]

NICE!! My favorite year

 

[catdawg426]

I posted this before and it disappeared. Weird...
I'm 14 and I bought a pig for my first car. It was down in weed for 1,800
with a parts car. Full story here : https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/544043-new-fj55.html
I've decided to post all of my updates here.

My dad cut the top half of the parts car off because it was rolled.
Before :

After :

We've also started to part it out, but nothing's up for sale until the green one's done.

I used a hammer and chisel to get that soundproof coating off of the floorboard in the green pig, and then my friend and I used wire wheel drill bits to get the paint and left over tar off. The rust isn't too bad, the passenger seat is the worst, but the floor on the parts pig is good so we can use that. Here's the rust:

Can't wait until I can drive it! I'll post all of my updates on this thread until it's done

 

[v8slrtorana]

Here is your other thread mate
https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/544043-new-fj55.html#post7222071

 

[tucker74]

Merged both threads here, carry on ...



Tucker

 

[catdawg426]

thanks tucker, I confused myself there

 

[cruiserjunktion]

Man, you have a cool fawkin dad! Enjoy every minute of the build and the time with spent with your dad.

I love the the green and would try to keep it that color. I seriously doubt there are too many other green pigs that came from Weed.

 

[uglyoinker]

Super dig the green! Personalized plates that say "angry" would be fantastic with that color. What's the build plan/wish list?