I figure I might as well start some sort of build thread, it won't be much, I'm not going very deep into the beast, just enough to get it driveable and safe. I am leaving the tub alone, short of putting some sort of rust inhibitor on the rusty spots. I really like the paint and the old age patina the cruiser has on it now.
I tackled the interior first, seemed like a logical thing to do, since once it is running, all I will want to do is get in and drive it.
Started out gutting everything inside. The seats were rotten down to the frames due to sitting outside with no top for years. There was pine straw EVERYWHERE. took the gas tank out to get said pine straw out from underneath it and wondered why there was not a drop of gas in it. Because it has holes in it, lol. Got on the web and ordered up some POR15 tank sealer, I also cleaned up and painted the outside of the tank as well. I have not put gas in it yet, hope the POR works.
The floors in the rig are very solid, no rust anywhere except behind the footwell front brace. scuffed everything up with a wire wheel, acetone cleaned everything, and coated everything with black Hammerrite paint from Dale's paint. This product turned out OK, but it seems to chip pretty easy, and took three coats before the "orange peel" went away. I coated the inside transmission tunnel on the bottom edges with POR15, I like this product much better.
After everything was back together, I scoured the junkyard for some suitable seats. I found some Honda Accord buckets in gray and pulled two drivers and one passenger side seat. I will be installing two front seats and one rear, behind the driver for Claire. I liked the seats because they were low and had built in seat belts. I got matching shoulder harnesses from the same vehicles that I will tie into the roll bar. The frames were chopped up and new ones built from 3/4 box tubing and 3/16 steel plate. Everything was welded together and painted black to look nice. After looking at some carpet kits online, I decided to go to Wal Mart and buy some cheap gray indoor/outdoor carpet and cut it too fit where I wanted it. You can shape the carpet with a heat gun and actually make it look very nice. The wife approves.
I tackled the interior first, seemed like a logical thing to do, since once it is running, all I will want to do is get in and drive it.
Started out gutting everything inside. The seats were rotten down to the frames due to sitting outside with no top for years. There was pine straw EVERYWHERE. took the gas tank out to get said pine straw out from underneath it and wondered why there was not a drop of gas in it. Because it has holes in it, lol. Got on the web and ordered up some POR15 tank sealer, I also cleaned up and painted the outside of the tank as well. I have not put gas in it yet, hope the POR works. The floors in the rig are very solid, no rust anywhere except behind the footwell front brace. scuffed everything up with a wire wheel, acetone cleaned everything, and coated everything with black Hammerrite paint from Dale's paint. This product turned out OK, but it seems to chip pretty easy, and took three coats before the "orange peel" went away. I coated the inside transmission tunnel on the bottom edges with POR15, I like this product much better.
After everything was back together, I scoured the junkyard for some suitable seats. I found some Honda Accord buckets in gray and pulled two drivers and one passenger side seat. I will be installing two front seats and one rear, behind the driver for Claire. I liked the seats because they were low and had built in seat belts. I got matching shoulder harnesses from the same vehicles that I will tie into the roll bar. The frames were chopped up and new ones built from 3/4 box tubing and 3/16 steel plate. Everything was welded together and painted black to look nice. After looking at some carpet kits online, I decided to go to Wal Mart and buy some cheap gray indoor/outdoor carpet and cut it too fit where I wanted it. You can shape the carpet with a heat gun and actually make it look very nice. The wife approves.
. After much debate with myself, I have decided to keep my smog equiptment...for now anyway. This is mostly based on Justin's '84 rig, we desmogged his carb and gained nothing in the way of power.
! My factory skinny rims are already at the powdercoater getting baked with some factory gray. And my hubcaps are shined and waiting. Then I decided to go 33x10.50 because they are still available. Called Big O tires to order a set and 
Found out the my cruiser came from California and brought half of the San Andreas fault with it in the exhaust manifold. I have never seen a crack this large in anything! Bummer. I knew everything was going to well. So now I'll have to go farther, and spend more money.....such is life with a 40 huh? Oh well, need to check that heat riser flapper thingy anyway.