Builds Montana 65 FJ45LV "Tin Zen" (1 Viewer)

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Recieved the front bench back from upholsterer. Have to say definitely worth the wait, couldn't be happier. It's a handcrafted beauty complete with seat heaters. These guys are willing to make a run of these for those of you that want to commit to purchasing them, I'll try to circle back around with those who expressed interest. Working on the rear bench right now, might be done this week. Also they need my truck for a week, in running condition, to verify floor mat fitment before they'll make a run of those. That can't happen until Fall sometime, I'll update the floor mat thread separately.
Finally got to re-install the driver's door.
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Recieved the front bench back from upholsterer. Have to say definitely worth the wait, couldn't be happier. It's a handcrafted beauty complete with seat heaters. These guys are willing to make a run of these for those of you that want to commit to purchasing them, I'll try to circle back around with those who expressed interest. Working on the rear bench right now, might be done this week. Also they need my truck for a week, in running condition, to verify floor mat fitment before they'll make a run of those. That can't happen until Fall sometime, I'll update the floor mat thread separately.
Finally got to re-install the driver's door.View attachment 3033267View attachment 3033268View attachment 3033264View attachment 3033265View attachment 3033266
I painted my frames white too, but went tan with the upholstery.

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I painted my frames white too, but went tan with the upholstery.

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Your LV is stunning, really nice work. Keeping the standards high.

On the photo below, I added some contrast to the seat frame paint color. I tried matching the seat frame paint to the existing blueish/greenish interior color. In the photo below I put a piece of white paper on top of the painted frame piece, and the panel I used for matching paint is below the frame piece, hopefully this shows the color a little more accurately.
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Your LV is stunning, really nice work. Keeping the standards high.

On the photo below, I added some contrast to the seat frame paint color. I tried matching the seat frame paint to the existing blueish/greenish interior color. In the photo below I put a piece of white paper on top of the painted frame piece, and the panel I used for matching paint is below the frame piece, hopefully this shows the color a little more accurately. View attachment 3033511
Thank you!

Agreed, we call it white, but it’s not all that white when you check it against something like that. Congrats again on this LV get! Following!
 
The door cards and rear bench are back from upholstery. They'll go in much later but I couldn't resist just setting up a door card to get a sense of it. Just like with the front bench, I feel like the upholsterer did an excellent job with these pieces. In the pics below, the card is sitting on a block making it a couple inches higher than where it's supposed to be.
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Looking great Steve!
 
Any updates?
Hi and yes, been needing to update this thread. Thanks for the nudge.
While patiently waiting in queue over at Classic Cruisers, I've kept chipping away at some smaller details. It's going to Classic Cruisers next week, they could have it for months. I'll catch the thread up over the next few days.
Let's jump back in and talk windshield gaskets. Checked all the threads I could find here, as well as reached out to a few folks that have replaced their windshield and all pointed me to a the standard "H" type gasket used on 40's. If you use that gasket, it will put the glass in plane with the metal flange around the opening. While the actual shape of the factory gasket is such that it holds the glass out flush with the body, about 7mm away from that metal flange, see photos.
I ordered what I believe to be the correct gasket, measured it 10 different ways, will know for sure very soon.
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The old window scrapers were rock hard and scratching the glass so I replaced them. Chris @c2dfj45 puts together a door gasket and scraper kit and the pieces fit perfect. Was able to pop out and re-use the little steel clips that hold the scrapers.
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The door cards and rear bench are back from upholstery. They'll go in much later but I couldn't resist just setting up a door card to get a sense of it. Just like with the front bench, I feel like the upholsterer did an excellent job with these pieces. In the pics below, the card is sitting on a block making it a couple inches higher than where it's supposed to be.View attachment 3046276View attachment 3046283View attachment 3046282
This family owned upholstery shop has been a go-to place for years. Everything from brass cars to hot rods in addition to run of the mill repairs. You should see some of the vehicles that pass through this shop! Beautiful work on Steve's LV.
 
One of you smart individuals wrote somewhere on Mud that the FJ55 dome light lense is very similar to the LV's. The lense does look very similar, the only difference I found is regarding some plastic tabs that wouldn't let the lense fit on the base. I trmmed one of the three tabs off and the lense snapped on to the base.
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She is off to graduate school, should be getting a driver back in the next few months. The car is in excellent hands with those guys over at Classic Cruisers. Major items being addressed are the exhaust, transfer case and brakes.
When it's ready to be picked up from Classic Cruisers, I'll be trailering it straight to the upholstery shop so those floor mats can be finished up.
Yanked the windshield and dropped it at a glass shop.
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Can't say enough how good of hands that car is in over at Classic Cruisers. Those guys really know early Landcruisers and they are showing mine some serious love.
Here is the F135 receiving new crank seals and cover gaskets among some other little goodies.View attachment 3198523View attachment 3198524
What distributor are you using? Are you running ported vacuum? My '66 VA pulls from the opposite side and is full manifold vac.
 
What distributor are you using? Are you running ported vacuum? My '66 VA pulls from the opposite side and is full manifold vac.
Not sure which model of Distributor that one is, I'll check when I go see these guys next week and report back. The vacuum to the dizzy comes from the carburetor. That motor came out of a '64 FJ40 and I suspect that is not the original dizzy.
Cleaned up the fuel hard lines that I found tossed in the back of the LV when it came home, and they almost fit.
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Great progress, looking so good!

Vacuum retard distributor and doesn't look like it's clocked right. Needs manifold vac not ported, but I'm not sure where that happens with the single barrel carb and manifold. Personally, I would find a good vac advance dist.
 
Great progress, looking so good!

Vacuum retard distributor and doesn't look like it's clocked right. Needs manifold vac not ported, but I'm not sure where that happens with the single barrel carb and manifold. Personally, I would find a good vac advance dist.
Thanks for the kind words.

I have a couple of these distributors that are attached to dead F135's in my yard. Looks ripe for a rebuild. Is there really a big difference between the VR and the VA distributors? Besides of course the VA being a part of the F135 's original design.
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