Hoz 78 FJ40 Restoration

[todt]

Are you redoing just to sell?

 

[hawkeyealum]

Sorry for the delay Travis. Been a little busy at the DMV

I'm having trouble with the attachment upload the pics but i'll post a few before and after ones

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

@hawkeyealum : you can email me and I can post them for you as well. Your call.

Update from the weekend. We fought and fought with the sand blaster. It was so hot out it kept plugging up from moisture. Many 15 hours days getting all these parts blasted. Mike suggested we buy a gravity feeder blaster and use the 'black sand' (which appears to be glass/plastic. After I purchased the gravity feeder and the 'black sand' we made up for ALOT of lost time messing with the regular sand blaster. I hope this small bit of info saves someone else alot of time.

So this weekend all parts were blasted down to bare metal, passenger side rear quarters were cut, welded and replaced along with the passenger side rockers. We used 16g steel and they are straight as an arrow. I am very happy with the outcome this far.

 

[hawkeyealum]

Here is a before and after. I have added the apron emblems back on now, just not in these pictures. The rear quarters were done in the same fashion as Travis is doing his - sheetmetal cut to size and welded in.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Thanks Chris, thats awesome!!!

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Update on this build :

This week Mike has been working on the new rear quarters and rockers. He finished welding those up and enforcing the rockers and rear quarters with metal strap. They are solid and don't move at all and straighten the new quarters and rockers.

I have been working on phase 1 of sanding down all the blasted parts. (phase 1 consists of smoothing out the blasted parts with 50 grit sand paper). Here are some pics.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

I'm excited to say that this is the final week of the build.

Mike had spent all weekend working on the tub. He used his metal t square to make sure everything was dialed in and straight. A small amount of skim coat on the rear quarters and rockers and its perfect. Ater he primed it there were a couple of imperfections we filled with spot puddy. This paint and the prep we did on the metal will ensure a great paint job.

I spent all weekend of phase 2 (220 grit) sanding and smoothing the rest of the parts. The next couple of days I'll be working away on phase 3 (wet sanding all primered parts). This is the key to a sleek paint job. The fella who painted my truck the first time missed all these phases by a long shot.

Here's a couple pics of the tub and misc parts after primer.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

A few more pics for your viewing pleasure.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

This week we have been working diligently getting the last of phase two parts sanded and primered. Tuesday 7/26 we finished with the last bits of sanding and primering all the parts. The tub has its final coat of primer and it looks great. Also the rest of the parts received their last coat of primer and are ready for wet sanding.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Wedneday and part of this evening we are finishing the last of the wet sanding. We hit each part once and then go over it again for good measure. As you can imagine this takes ALOT of time. But we are finishing up everything tonight and will start hanging parts to start painting on Friday. Here's some pics of the wet sanded tub and some parts.

The finger marks on the side of the rear quarter were all over the truck. This primer is so smooth and clean we were walking around it going 'oh yeah,' 'oh thats great' you'd think we were at a peep show. Haha. It is very nice though.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

We are at the tail end of wet sanding everything down. Tonight we are finishing the wet sanding and hanging all the parts so that we are ready for paint tomorrow. We have double and triple checked the primer and the parts to make sure that everything is perfectly smooth.

I'm excited to get all these parts hung so we can paint Saturday early afternoon. Also tonight we are stripping and sanding all small parts (hinges) and will be hanging those as well.

I will post pics tomorrow night of the 40 painted.

 

[hawkeyealum]

how did it turn out?

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Its been a loooong weekend. We had to start painting Saturday evening (10pm) due to heat and finished up at 4am. It turned out great though. Check it out.

 

[hawkeyealum]

that rear quarter looks much better

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Yesterday the paint really shined in the day light. Here are some day light pics of the finished product. We have to let the paint cure for two days so we are working on restoring the fiberglass hardtop. Sunday afternoon we sanded and prepped for primer.

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

More pics...

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Fiberglass hardtop sanded and prepped for primer.

 

[gisham]

great job man!

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Last night we installed the weatherstripping between the tub and hard top sides. Also installed the crossbar for the hard top and the hinges for the rear hatch. We cleaned and installed the glass in the front doors and put those together as well as reinstalled the vent window weather stripping. Installed the windshield frame and mirrors. Its starting to look like a 40 again

Giving big props to Mike who has made this truck look amazing. (pic 3)

 

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

Last night we fitted and aligned the rear doors and installed the weatherstripping. Its straight and tight and correct. Looks great and seals great. We also installed the weatherstripping on the front doors and they seal tight. Also installed new carriage bolts in the hardtop. They look amazing.

Installed and bolted down front fenders, aprons and mocked up the hood.