Just get her drivable

[onemanarmy]

got my 55 about a year ago and it was full of rust. pretty solid roof and completely solid floor though, and it ran great, so I was happy. It has been parked about an hour from me, so time has been very tough to come by to work on it, so i didn't take care of everything, and still have a ways to go, but i've been driving it for a few days. It looks great from 20 feet away, and I'm gonna be ok with that. there is some bondo work and some holes that still need to be patched, but I'll get to it. 1977 model, was originally Smurf Blue and White.

Here are some pics, nothing too detailed and I left some parts out seeing that I was working by myself and didn't always have a camera. i'll try to keep them in order, starting from last April.

I have all the door panels...cleaning out the 10 years of gunk in the bottom of the door

Sanded and painted the whole frame..it is solid

Rear window didn't work...faulty safety switch, just took it out

I have all the trim and lights back on it, and have drivin in a hundred miles or so, needs a tune up, but that's about it. The paint is Rustoleum spray cans, Sail Blue and White.

 

[laguna80]

That looks fantastic!
PS, you did far better on those fender patches than I did. Mine looks like a hunk of junk with booger welds all over the fender haha.

 

[JackA]

Looks great.

 

[OldBeachBob]

Lookin Gooood!!!!

Hey great progess - shes startin to look like a beauty!!!


Nice work

 

[nocents]

Looking Good - you do too much more you won't want to drive her and get her dirty

 

[laguna80]

Oh ya, I wanted to say, if you wanted her to shine and get the paint to look a little more uniform, you could wetsand with like 600-800 grit or something. I bet it'd come out looking fantastic!

 

[onemanarmy]

after getting some leaks fixed and a tune up, the paint will get some love again

 

[onemanarmy]

OK...question..I have gear oil leaking from my Ebrake and have read through numerous threads about how to fix this, but there are different approaches. There is the whole kit with the seal and drum brake parts, there is the double seal route from Mudrak, and then some people just replace the seal and put some sealant on the splines when putting it back together. Would this be the seal i need....Specter Off-Road Land Cruiser Parts - Search On 068-15 #068-15A? My ebrake still seems to hold fine, so I think I'm just gonna replace the seal, put some Permatex on the splines...worst case scenario is that I have an extra seal laying around. Also, do I need a new stake nut, or can I reuse the one I have? Also, looks like cruiser outfitters has what I need...just the seal for $6 and a new stake nut for $4.50 # 20061. This will work?

 

[onemanarmy]

came across these pics from about 10 years ago from the former owner...anyone know anything about this pig? license plate is '77 FJ55' and it had just been painted. was originally smurf blue and white.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

can't access that page from sor for some reason, but you will need the tcase output shaft(rear) seal, a new stake nut cause you don't want to find propper torque w/ the ols stake point where the new stake point should go, and FWIU from Georg @ valley hybrids, some permetex on the splines of the brake drum should do fine. I always wipe the extra RTV away from where the washer will go so it doesn't become a problem removing it in the future. I use a rag over a punch to reach in there. Also, since you're in there...the rubber seal at the backing plate that the linkage goes thru might need to be replaced and a set of shoes on hand in case you find they're worn too far. Napa near me takes un needed returns....you don't want to get in there just to have to do it again when you find you need more stuff and don't have em around. Also check the output shaft for play and I wanna say there may be a shim in there that might come out stuck to the back of the splined section of the drum, it'll need to go back. use the fish scale to check pre load of the output once you get it all back together./more than one pound of pull for an old bearing???check FSM

 

[onemanarmy]

thanks for the info..i took care of the leak about a week after I posted the question. I got a new stake nut and seal, took it all apart, cleaned it up, put on new seal, put some RTV on the splines, and put it back together. no leaks so far.

 

[ST8ROCKS]

Hey man, great lookin pig. I just got a 72 rust-bucket/wheelin pig (from jfz80 is G-boro) . Looking for to getting it on the road and on the trails, hope to see you out there!

 

[PabloCruise]

Don't know how I missed this thread before, but what a great transformation!
Nice job on your Pig!

 

[onemanarmy]

updated pics from a few months ago...

 

[RUSH55]

Cool man! Amazing what some rust removal and a couple boxes of rattle cans can do to a pig!

 

[scrapdaddy]

Very nice work, I'd be proud to drive that anywhere. How's the inside, plans?

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Nice look'n pig ya got there. are definately cool

 

[PabloCruise]

It sounds like you started working on this Pig in April of 2010?
What did you paint the frame with?
I am hearing of people using Chassis Saver, but I don't know much about it.

 

[onemanarmy]

Got it in April 2010...the most recent mod is some junkyard bucket seats and a homemade seat bracket. I painted the frame with rustoleum primer and semi flat black paint, applied very liberally with a brush. Kinda hard to get to all the spots with the body on.

 

[onemanarmy]

rather than start a new thread, i'll ask this here...

did some searching, and I think i've found the answer to my question , but wanna check....I want to put fj60 diffs in my 55, and as far as I can tell, all I'll need are the fj60 diffs and possibly drill holes to line up the flanges. This correct? Are there certain years of 60s that I can look for to avoid having to drill? Do I have to pull the shafts out to get the diffs out front and rear? This is no problem in the front, as I will be doing a front knuckle rebuild at the same time, but what about the rear? If I have to remove the rear shafts, what do I need to replace while it is all apart?