Meet Peppa Pig (1 Viewer)

[cruiserkreutz]

Peppa Pig is one of my two year old grandsons favorite cartoons. So, naming our 1974 FJ55 Peppa seems a logical choice. Here is a picture of Peppa Pig the cartoon for the uninitiated;

And here are some pictures of Peppa the FJ55 over three years ago when I first picked her up near Bend OR.

As you can see, she needed some work. It ran just enough to load her onto a car hauler for the 185 mile trip home. This was a craigslist sale, so of course it had some drama. When I showed up at the sellers home to pick it up, I was informed his young daughter had lost the keys that morning. Not sure he was telling the truth, but he did knock some money off the purchase price.
It almost didn't make it onto the trailer. I think it was only running on a couple of cylinders. "Only needs a tune up" says the seller. I knew better, and bought it anyway. Yeah, I overpaid for it.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

My son and I made the trip without incident. Once home, I called up a local friend of mine that has worked on my Camaro and a couple of other Land Cruiser projects I've dragged home. He said he'd look at it and see if he can get it running. We all know that's a slippery slope... He had it over at his house for a winter. He worked on it a little, pulled and cleaned the gas tank and radiator. Got rid of the Holley carb, put a CityRacer carb in its place and some other miscellaneous stuff I've since forgotten. No pictures of this process as I didn't stop by his place to often. At that point he couldn't get it running much better than when I dropped it off, and I could tell he was no longer interested. No worries, I have lots of mechanic friends thank goodness.
Off to the next guys place Peppa goes. Upon further inspection of the engine, it looked like water had somehow got into the engine, making it inoperable. I decided to have my friend rebuild the motor. While he was at it they pulled and re sealed the transmission and transfer case and rebuilt the parking brake. He installed a new gear reduction starter, rebuilt the alternator and put a new water pump on along with belts, hoses etc. It was at his place for a couple of years during this process (which I was fine with). He fixed much of the dreaded PO wiring rats nest and has started working on the tailgate window mechanism.
While it was down I had the seats recovered locally.
Here is how she sits now;

 

[gonzopancho]

It's beautiful!

you changed the turn signals, too.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

It's beautiful!

you changed the turn signals, too.

Thanks! Good eye, yup couldn't stand the lolly pops

 

[remy1974]

Lol funny just scrolling the channels and came across peppa pig on Nick jr

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Was it originally white on white? I assume yes. Engine bay cleaned up nicely.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Was it originally white on white? I assume yes. Engine bay cleaned up nicely.

It originally had a blue bottom half, there are places where the over sprayed white paint has chipped and I can see blue paint. I'll post up some pictures.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Was it originally white on white? I assume yes. Engine bay cleaned up nicely.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Installed a carpet kit a while back. Turned out better than I expected. Also went with awesome new scuff plates from @bobm.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Peppa had a bad case of the Cruiser lean, she sat about an inch and a half lower on the drivers side. Always wanted to do a lift, so this was my perfect excuse. Ordered the 3" setup offered by @cruiseroutfit, turned out awesome. Those guys are the best!

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Tires and wheels were up next. Decided on stock steelies and new OEM hub caps. Debated for quite a while over tires. I've been running BFG mud terrains on my other Cruisers, and wanted to change it up. Love the tall skinny look, and was eyeing the Interco tire line up. Read all the reviews (good and bad), ultimately deciding on the Super Swamper SAM-14 Narrow 34X9.50-15. I love them. Here are some pictures without and with hubcaps.

 

[RUSH55]

Wow man congrats and fantastic job so far!! Looks phenomenal l! Gonna be a heart-throb contender with Bucky!

 

[smooth]

Like your wheel & tire selection. Thinking about going tall & skinny myself.

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Very nice looking Pig you’ve got there.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Cleaned up the dash area. Ended up replacing the windshield (painted the defrost area while the windshield was out), put a dash cap on (fits like a glove, didn't even glue it), refurbished and installed a center dash pad (very hard to find) and put a new glove box pad on.
Was planning on replacing the aftermarket cassette player with an OEM am radio unit from my stash. Discovered that a PO had butchered the original mounting tabs to the point an OEM unit would no longer work. I ended up deciding to delete the radio with an awesome plate from @overton.
Thought about refinishing the control knobs, ultimately decided that would make them to nice and stick out too much.
I think I'll add a leather Wheelskins steering wheel cover. Put one on my '74 FJ40 and love it.
Before and after pictures;

 

[RUSH55]

Retrosound Hermosa

Something to think about...

RetroRadio M2A (Chrome buttons)

Digital media receiver for classic cars — does not play discs

www.crutchfield.com

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Looks great. My glovebox door is separating a bit on the backside. Hoping to find someone to refurbish it.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Retrosound Hermosa

Something to think about...

RetroRadio M2A (Chrome buttons)

Digital media receiver for classic cars — does not play discs

www.crutchfield.com

Thanks for sharing. As I've gotten older, listening to music while driving my Cruiser has become less and less a priority. I love enjoying the experience by listening to the beautiful concerto that is the 6 cylinder motor. If I really feel nostalgic, I'll throw in my bluetooth speaker box and listen to period correct Eagles hits.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Looks great. My glovebox door is separating a bit on the backside. Hoping to find someone to refurbish it.

I got my reproduction glove box pad from Specter. Looks great in my opinion.

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Put an ARB roof rack on Peppa. Wasn't sure I'd like the look, wife said it would look good. It's growing on me...