Highlandcruzer's FJ40 Un-restore......and Re-restore/slow build up

[highlandcruzer]

The gas tank is in good shape....... My liner is peeling in places.....












The white paint is over top of the blue.....rust proofing?

 

[southerncruiser62]

Roll cage looks good scott, seemed an easy install. So when we gonna see this truck in person down south?

 

[highlandcruzer]

So when we gonna see this truck in person down south?

Won't be too long! If not earlier, I'm hoping to bring it to the GSMTR.

I've gotten myself kind of inspired to go to work on it today. I'm really tempted to strip it, and re-paint and re-bedline the interior. What's there is decent, but as you can see, it wasn't the best job in the first place, and it's starting to show it's age. I want to stop the surface rust that's starting to show, before it sets in.

 

[highlandcruzer]

Did I mention my perfectionist tendensies?...............

This is precisely why I need another 40!! Whenever I start a new project on my truck, I have a real hard time not taking it to the next level.

It is a trail truck..... I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and paint now. It would'nt take more than a couple more hours to strip the tub down. Touch up the bed liner, or re-do? Same with the paint. Hmm...decisions.

 

[highlandcruzer]

Parts needed/wanted list

I thought I'd post a list of what I'd like to obtain in this thread, to help me focus and prioritize. I'll edit this post as I progress. Not necessarily in order of priority......




Rear hard brake line....mine's mangled

OEM disc brake steel wheels/hubcaps

tie rod check

Factory drum parking brake assembly. check

^^ One of the first mods on my Cruiser: Replaced transfer output seal, and installed Man-a-fre's disc parking brake. I have been less than pleased. [and they wanted my drum for a core??] I didn't think about it at the time. sigh.

Skid plate! At minimum-factory. Preferably IPOR's

Rear frame crossmember ["bumper"]

Tail lights check

Fresh seat belts would be nice check

Speedometer cable

factory radio antenna

round bezel bib

passenger side front fender/ or MT fenders

drivers side correct apron

correct hood check

Tranny to Transfer oil return not needed: installing 3 speed transfer soon

radiator surround/radiator

Coolant overflow/windshield washer bottles

lockers

power steering check

Winch: PTO/8274

Front brush guard of some sort

sun visors check

Ambi doors/hard top......Maybe trade my early hatch top? got the ambi door header, just need the doors.

 

[mtweller]

I've got a set of brand new seat belts and a hood that wouldn't require too much body work. It's the original hood off my '78. Give me a call if you are interested.

Ramon

 

[Flinny]

I have an apron...need to check if it is in good shape.
I should have the speedo cable...i will look around this weekend
I have a frame off a 78 that we can get the bumper off...a little bit of rust though. I can get some pics.

 

[highlandcruzer]

I have an apron...need to check if it is in good shape.
I should have the speedo cable...i will look around this weekend
I have a frame off a 78 that we can get the bumper off...a little bit of rust though. I can get some pics.

Sounds great! Let me know.

 

[highlandcruzer]

"Fiddled" around a little bit yesterday. Just generally cleaning things up, and getting to all the dirt that's trapped behind every little thing. It's been a while since most of this stuff has been taken apart. It's got several layers of gunk/paint around the floor pans and trans cover. The good news is, there is still factory paint and solid metal under the crap. There was a lot of dirt, debris, pennies, etc, caked up under there. That stuff is what concerns me the most, holding moisture, and encouraging rust. I'm a little nuts about this stuff, but I plan to keep this thing for the rest of my life!

The bad news is, even though some of the bedliner is peeling up cleanly, alot of it is going to be a mother to remove. There's a layer from the PO, that was kinda sloppy. And then a layer that I applied hastily. I'd love to get it all out and start fresh. I'm in the mood to go nuts on this thing and "do it right", but I don't want to rush on it to make May/June wheeling. I might just clean the tub up good, and put some black paint down for now.


Anybody want a free Man-a-fre disc parking brake ?

 

[highlandcruzer]

Scraping sucks ):

Good lord. Would somebody please kick me square in the rear? ...........

It looks like there is a very good chance that I'll have the tub off for sand basting by next weekend. .....No really, I talked to my guy about it today.


I've spent the last couple of days pulling things apart, cleaning, scraping bedliner off, and finding new areas of surface rust left and right. IH8RUST!! I think it's time to bite the bullet and POR15 the whole dern thing. I'll never be completely satisfied until it's done right. Maybe I'm crazy. I don't mind scratches and chips so much, I just hate the thought of rust festering over time. Rust never sleeps!














Don't get me wrong, I'm not heading for garage queen perfection. I just want to drive through what I want, take a water hose to the inside of the tub, and not have cancer show up five years down the road.
POR= No more worries.


Where do you guys buy your paint?

 

[mtweller]

Scott I wouldn't use POR on the tub if you are going to sandblast. Just use a HIGH quality epoxy primer selaer.

I would use POR on the frame, axles, etc.

My .02

R

 

[fj40z]

My neighbor POR 15'd his whole 40, literally the whole truck. It was a pain scuffing it all up before he primed and painted it, but it turned out really nice and he wont be worrying about rust for a long time.

 

[highlandcruzer]

Scott I wouldn't use POR on the tub if you are going to sandblast. Just use a HIGH quality epoxy primer selaer.

I would use POR on the frame, axles, etc.

My .02

R

Why the frame and not the body? Because of the extra paint prep?

 

[mtweller]

Well, in all the reading I've done on POR-15, there has been many references to it not liking smooth surfaces, specifically after sandblasting. Plus, good epoxy primer creates an excellent seal and will adhere to the sheet metal excellent.

Remember I am by no means a paint expert paint guy or body guy. So, I would defer to someone with more experience. I'm just basing this answer on what I have read in the past.

Ramon

 

[highlandcruzer]

Remember I am by no means a paint expert paint guy or body guy. So, I would defer to someone with more experience. I'm just basing this answer on what I have read in the past.

Ramon

Same here. I was just curious about your thoughts. I've never used it myself.

The guy that's going to media blast for me has quite a bit of experience with it. I understand that you can use a metal etching chemical to help it adhere. I've read a fair bit about it in the past, but I'm going to need to give myself a crash course in paint/body work this week before I make a final decision.

I expect that I'll see many more trail scratches in my future, and I'm hoping the POR will prevent rust from forming in the scratches. That way I can touch up easily, and not worry about the rust lurking behind the touch-ups.

 

[highlandcruzer]

I've come to my senses and realized that I don't have enough time to pull the tub, sand blast, and paint before attempting to make GSMTR.

I have stripped the tub down pretty well for a good cleaning and touch up. Stripped the dash and dropped the windshield. It's kinda nice to get beneath and behind every little part for cleaning . I've gotten the majority of the bedliner scraped off.....The crappy, peeling liner was holding a lot of moisture in places, and rust was starting. I'm glad to get it off........... I think I'm developing some sort of cruiser OCD!

Anyway.....For the time being, I'm just going to put a coat of zinc primer and rattle can black paint in the tub to hold me through the summer wheeling.

Because I wanted to be able to spray out the tub with the hose, I dismantled the truck in my back yard.....Now since then it's been raining almost constantly, I haven't been able to get much done.

I did get two parts knocked off my list. The knuckle grease plug that I lost. Admittedly, I didn't put in a ton of research, but I had some trouble coming up with an alternative to just ordering one from SOR. [15 bucks + shipping iirc ] I took mine down to Specialty fasteners, and this is what they came up with. 3/8" pipe thread. I raised an eyebrow at first, but they thread/fit perfect. I bought two of each....2 bucks. [OEM on the right] I used the allen head.




I also picked up mini truck power steering gear. [Thanks Eric!] I had that PS pump from a 2000 Tacoma in my shed. I'm wondering if I can make it work with the mini set-up??

 

[highlandcruzer]

Sanded down some rust that was starting on the bottom of the gas tank. Getting ready to kill it and spray it.






I also got the new yard ornament Saturday. [Thanks again Eric!]

 

[fj40z]

Good progress! If I had known you were coming to Greensboro to pick that tub up at Erics I would have given you that round bezel. I hauled that tub back for Eric a couple of years ago, it would make a great tub for strictly a trail truck, Good find.

 

[highlandcruzer]

Crap! I didn't even notice that you were in Greensboro before. It was kind of a rush decision to go down. I had intended to make it earlier in the month, but ran into some issues that delayed me. I promised to have it out of his yard by the end of the month, and it crept up on me pretty fast!

I really don't have any immediate plans for the tub. I'm a sucker for free parts. I'll definitely find a good use for it. Trailer?, dedicated trail rig?, patch panels?, big flower pot?...... In the mean time, it makes a great hard top stand.

As many cheap/free body parts as I see popping up, I'm tempted to use this as a welding/body work training piece and make a decent complete tub. The floors and wheel wells are actually pretty damn nice.

 

[highlandcruzer]

Work and family life have kept me pretty busy here lately, but I've managed to eek out some progress on the 40.

I've gotten almost all of the old bedliner out of the inside of the tub. Unfortunately I found two rust holes/patches that a previous owner did a terrific job of hiding with fiber glass resin, bondo, and then bedliner.

Nothing major, one about the size of a silver dollar where the trans tunnel meets the lower fire wall on the driver side.....That area of the trans tunnel is eaten away some too.... And another small area in the back of the tub floor, right against the wheel well.

The good news is the rust was really localized, and what ever the p.o. did to treat it, completely stopped it from progressing. Since I'm planning to do a full paint job later this summer/fall, I'm just going to leave it alone for now. When I prep for paint, I'll cut it out, and weld in some clean patch panels. I'd like to find a nice rust free trans tunnel to replace mine with too.

There's been a coat of bedliner inside the tub since I've owned it, so this is the first time I've seen bare metal inside the tub. It surprised me to find the rust because I've worked under the tub quite a bit, and the underside appeared to be pretty close to pristine. Nothing hiding.....only the factory dry flaky undercoating, and where it was gone, very clean factory paint was visible. No cancer anywhere underneath. All the body mounts and seams, and just about everything look almost as good as new underneath.

Anyway, for the time being I'm just primering the inside of the tub until I can do it right, and putting it back together.

Since I've been on this restoration kick lately, I've turned my attention to some other little things that are showing their age due to repeated exposure to dirt, mud and water.....soooo I went to work on the gas tank, seat frames, seat back covers, factory jack, and gas filler cover. [yeah, I know I'm a nut. ;p] I've dismantled everything completely, and am hand sanding/wire brushing smooth...several coats of primer and paint. Not looking for perfect....just nice and clean.