Inherited 1977 FJ40. Where to start for restoration?

[Heem9000]

No hardtop sadly. Just the rear doors. Also have original floor mat and cool vintage Toyota rubber mat in the back.

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[Heem9000]

Some other pics I have. Also has a box of some oem parts. Oem fuel filter and put on the newer looking black side mirrors. Jumpseats are in really good condition most likely never sat on.

 

[secretsquirrel]

854 Sky blue is my favorite. I may be bias. You got a great looking piece. What you want to do depends on you. Spend some time looking thru the forum and see how projects progress. These things can take a long time to complete. I’m in the middle of a rusteration of my own. The best thing you have going is your 40 is solid enough to get running and drive!! Which i highly recommend doing before diving into a major restoration

 

[Living in the Past]

Sadly what your seeing around the back is cracked bondo that most likely has separated from rusted metal.

 

[Living in the Past]

Here is what your seat belts would have mounted to on the hard top. Thread nut at the top of the hard top used to anchor the seat belt high.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

No hardtop sadly. Just the rear doors. Also have original floor mat and cool vintage Toyota rubber mat in the back.

Very nice. I think you’ll be amazed what a little sweat equity and elbow grease will do for your LC. That search button, along with the FAQ thread, are your new best friends. Take pics as you go and post them up to your thread.

 

[scotty2hotty]

For certain it nice and your love it bud

 

[scotty2hotty]

Spray all the bolts with a goods penetrating spray wait few days and keep spraying down especially the roof bolts inside

 

[knuckle47]

Inherited means more to me now than ever before. You have a good base to start, once running go step by step. Everyone here has laid out some great ideas and time lines. Good luck and keep posting. I for one love reading about a project like this and following along

 

[ELDE0368]

@Heem9000 - Well that's pretty funny - I just yesterday joined this forum because we will also be inheriting a 1977 FJ40. It too has been parked up for at least 20 years (dry stored in a garage in Arizona, but originally a California car).
Since we are both in Florida, we should compare notes and pool our resources! Our FJ should be transported from AZ to FL in the next month or two. In the meantime a few teaser photos from its current resting place

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[knuckle47]

@ELDE0368 this reminds me of those “barn finds” where they open a building and deep inside there is a great vintage vehicle inside with 20-40 years of dust on it and all original