Builds LuckyNB 77 FJ40 - 7 Year Journey (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Threads
14
Messages
113
Location
New Braunfels, TX
Documenting the 7 year journey..

I bought this 77 FJ40 for $2400 back in 2011. Stock 2f and drivetrain, with SOA. It was barely driveable (no brakes) and fugly.

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During first week I fixed the brakes and got rid of the toxic green.. 8 cans of Flat Desert Tan, a little flat black and some flat white - all rattle can.

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Added some new tires, cleaned up the mess of wiring and got it inspected and legal.

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I enjoyed it just like this for around 4 years. Fixing things here and there.. then about 3 years ago decided it was time for a makeover, so I tore it all apart.

As of this month (dec 2018), it is back together again, safety inspected, legal and sporting a new look. Still on same stock 2F and drivetrain, running like a champ.

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More posts to follow on what all happened in between 2011 and Dec 2018.
 
Man that paint made a big difference. What are the details on your rims and tires ? Did you widen them yourself ?
 
Man that paint made a big difference. What are the details on your rims and tires ? Did you widen them yourself ?
I looked at going the widening route, but tried something different instead.
Tires 35x12-15 BFG Mud KM2
The wheels are from Summit... 15x8 Wheel Vintiques 12 Series Smoothie Wheels 12-580604
I was able to get oem hubcaps to work by fusing a baby-moon cap that fit the wheel with the oem cap that I modified the underside of in order to attach to the moon cap.
 
I looked at going the widening route, but tried something different instead.
Tires 35x12-15 BFG Mud KM2
The wheels are from Summit... 15x8 Wheel Vintiques 12 Series Smoothie Wheels 12-580604
I was able to get oem hubcaps to work by fusing a baby-moon cap that fit the wheel with the oem cap that I modified the underside of in order to attach to the moon cap.

Any clearance issues ? Does it hit your steering etc ?
 
Going to try and post the process in order, showing what all happened over the 3 years I had it apart..

Teardown begins.. in my backyard. 2 years out in the elements, cutting, welding, grinding.
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Improvised shade.
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It was a long walk from my garage to where the FJ sat. Set up my 4wheeler as a tool hauling welding rig.
Not enough room in garage for the FJ. I did eventually build a shop, but the FJ project was almost done by that time. New shop in future post.
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Quarters were rusty and butchered by PO.. Cut em out made new ones. I chose to make my own so I could do the wheel opening exactly where I wanted it.

Cut, cut, cut
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Make pattern out of poster board and test fit.
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Transfer pattern to 16 ga and mark the bends.
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I scored the bend lines with cutoff wheel in order to make bending easier.
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I didnt have a bending brake so I improvised.. again.
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Cleaned up the bends with HF cheap body hammer kit
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Test fit
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Welded in the bends since scoring the lines made the metal thinner at bend point.
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Ready to mount
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Welded in. This took a while... 1 spot weld at a time as to not overheat and burn through...Plus the fab'd quarters where thicker metal than the stock body panels. I still burned through many times and had to redo a bunch of places.
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Grinding... revealing some poor weld deposit. I had to do a bunch more spots.
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Cleaned up and looked good enough for me. I later had to cut out some metal above the new panel and weld in new. I couldnt find any pics of that though.
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A couple weeks later, repeated the process on passenger side. Much more surgery required here, plus I had to graft in a fuel filler.
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Reused my patter and transferred to metal
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Tacked in the bends again
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Ready to mount
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More welding, 1 spot weld at a time.
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Next is fuel filler cutout and weld...
 
Adding the fuel filler and replacing some top rail metal..
Marked the spot.
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Cut out the hole to match the peice I got from Lascaral. I got pretty precise here - nearly no gap anywhere.
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More spot welding
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Grinding done and a glimpse of what i cut out of top rail
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Square tubing to replace what was rotted out
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All buttoned up
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I found some rattle can that was close to what I was going to have the body shop shoot - just to see.
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Time for a top and doors...
FJ parts seller on ehay had a top, side panels, ambi doors and front doors. I had bought several other small parts from him in the past, so hit him up for a package deal. He crated it all up nicely and we shipped via Fastenal. Not very fast, but way cheap.
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Crate too tall to fit in my Tacoma due to the rack.. rented a trailer.
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Front and rear doors from different trucks. All glass was good and original except for one large side panel and one front door.
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Top, ambi doors, and side panels look like from same truck.
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Quite a bit of rust to cut out and weld in new metal, but got a pretty good deal I thought.
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Looking good
 
I found a nice hood and windshield frame locally. Reportedly they are from a 78. Guy had lots of parts and a very well equiped 40 he was trying to sell for $40K.. its still for sale - 1978 Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser. Said he was switching to Land Rovers and had a brand new one in the driveway. I also got an extra roll bar hoop from him that I used for rear cage.
Hood and windshield only needed basic paint prep - no patching, cutting, welding, etc...

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Windshield frame came complete with wiper motor, cover, linkage, wiper arms, glass, defrost plastic

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My cowl needed some patching around the hinge locations.

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If I have any regret on what I should have done differently, its not completely removing the tub. This is as close as I got to frame off... tub was disconnected long enough to replace the body bushing/pads. Would have been nice to have a sandblasted and epoxied frame and new paint all over the tub, not just the topside.

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Reconnected - opportunity lost

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