update on pig progress-the future is here I guess!
Well, I thought it was about time that I update this thread since I have finally begun working on the pig and not just looking at it.
Overall condition......Fortunately I was lucky enough to get a mostly rust-free pig to start with, which as I have learned here is rare.....especially on the East coast! Zero rust in the roof, drip rails, pillars, body mounts. Floors have some light pitting in a couple spots but I have stripped it clean and there is zero through-rust.....not even pinholes, which surprised me. The entire passenger side is rust free but, the drivers side has a few minor rust issues. The worst of which is the rearmost drivers side rocker / door jamb lower wheel lip area and an area below the reflector on the drivers side rear quarter panel. (If anyone has a parts pig that has these areas rust-free, I'm interested in patch panels....PM me!)
Rust prevention......To keep the rust at bay, I have stripped all of the undercoating off of the underside of the main floor section from the back of the engine area to in front of the rear axle while the trans and driveshafts are out of the way. I have used POR-15 in the past with much success, this time, I decided to give Eastwoods two part rust encapsulator / rust converter products a try; for a couple reasons.....one, cost....this system is much cheaper than POR / rust bullet, second, the fact that it is an aerosol is making the application easier. We'll see how it holds up. will eventually do this to the rest of the underside and inside the wheelwells
Mechanically, she's all stock right now. 3 on the tree, all stock engine, drivetrain, drum brakes, etc. After much consideration, (and since I already have all the parts)....I am in the process of putting in a low mileage 4-speed trans and transfer case out of a 1976 FJ55. I am keeping the original engine so, I decided to clean it up, tune it up, and paint and freshen up some parts, replace the oil pan and valve cover gaskets, etc. I had Mark A. rebuild the original carb. I purchased a Downey ceramic coated header and will be adding a custom exhaust, probably with a flowmaster muffler, would like to keep it on the quiet side. I had the Pertronix ignitor and coil in my FJ40 and it was very reliable, considering the same thing for the 55 as well.
Overall "Look" I'm going for.......I tend to approach things in a way that some may find strange. Example, I know the look and stance that I want it to have so, I painted a set of brand new disc brake steelies black with a satin clear and just mounted a set of 33x10.5 BFG M/T's, blackwalls out on the wheels......now I just need to decide how to make them fit the truck! I had originally thought about Alcan springs, and may still go that route but, new springs are not really in the budget right now so, I am planning a temporary lift with shackles or add-a-leaf to provide sufficient clearance.....I would love to hear suggestions on this issue from those that have had the same tire size.
I want to wait until the trans swap is complete before I mount the wheels and tires to determine the amount of lift needed. I can say that staring at my new rolling stock has provided inspiration to keep working on the pig. I can't believe I've managed to not mount them on the truck yet to see how they'll look!......trying to stay on more important tasks I guess.
Interior, for now...keeping a real stock look. My original front bench seat was recovered and I dont care for the look so, I will be using stock, very nice condition seats from the same 76 piggie that donated its 4-speed. I was going to keep the bench seat if I kept the column shift, now that it will have floor shift, I may go with comfy buckets in the future. The headliner is gone. I have new rear quarter glass seals and will be eventually pulling the qrtr glass and w/s to properly install a new headliner. I need a few interior odds and ends and will be posting an "items needed" list up soon. Thinking about lizard skin on the interior for some sound deadening and I like that it can be painted. I've never been a huge fan of high-build, textured surface finishes like bed-liner products for floor covering but, I do want to minimize the inevitable road noise a bit but dont want to go the dynamat / carpet route. I hope to add vintage air in the not too distant future.
Cosmetically, this is sure to raise some questions, and hopefully some answers. I am 100% certain that the stock colors of this rig were grey and white
.....the problem is that, I see NO grey color combo listed for the pig, ever. It looks like silver gray T450 was available as a solid color on the pig in 1969. The sample of silver gray that I have seen has only been a half inch square on my computer screen so, not sure if that is the color but, it looks like it could be. It appears as if my pig may have been special ordered in two-tone, cygnus white and silver gray. I thought about keeping that color combo but, its not a very exciting shade IMO. As of today, the plan is to keep the cygnus white area stock and paint the lower portion and roof a non-stock shade of olive green with a satin finish. I also hope to make up some simple custom front and rear bumpers, nothing real fancy but I feel like the pig deserves something a bit more stout than the stock stuff. Also think a big-ol Conferr rack would look great up top.
That's really it for now, kind of a long post...whoops! I will get some pictures this weekend and post them up since this is worthless without pics
I should add that this pig will be driven regularly but probably not more than a couple thousand miles a year. I hope to get up to Rausch Creek at least once a year with it as well and get back to doing some camping a handful of times a year in it so, "some light wheeling". I thought it would helpful to mention how this rig will be used to take into consideration when offering advice on which way to do certain things, suspension for example.
Thanks to all of the other pig owners who have posted pics and details of their amazing piggies......you have all provided the inspiration for me to want to pursue this build; you guys (and gals, Heather, Nuclear Lemon, am I forgetting anyone!?) have some awesome piggies, now I want to add one more to that group of sweetn piggies save from the slaughter
-Lee
-Lee
.it should have gone to the technical section IMO...can you post it again?, it would help all pig owners...TIA;
