New Owner starting some work on a 73

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C

clmat

10 Year
Joined
Nov 8, 2011
Threads
2
Messages
22
Location
Tallahassee Florida
Hello from Tallahassee, Forida. I recently bought a 1973 FJ55 located previously in South Carolina. I have worked with Bobm to get some floor pans, rockers and floor mounts to start a body restoration. Bob was very helpful and has a couple of threads here showing the work he has done. I wanted to start a thread showing what I have. The goal is to get a driver that I can use when I retire to Montana (3 years). I am having a body shop, Turn4, here in Tallahassee do the work. They will start later this week. I will try to get some pictures up shortly to show what I have.
Thanks, Charlie
 
Florida to Montana, WOW! better get the heater working good. I've got a 71, body is done , reworking the frame and running gear. Good luck, look forward to your build.
 
cool, where in MT are you retiring to?
 
3_puppies,
My wife and I bought a log cabin in Libby Montana. It's on the Kootenai River, we got really lucky. I feel very fortunate for the chance, although most retirees go from cold to warm. We have 3 years till we start living there. It's been a dream since we got married.
 
Scrapdaddy,
Thats the route I am taking. Bobm, a member here, supplied most of the metal work and I am going to fix body first. The pig runs so I figure I can use till I figure out what to do. I need suspension work then I can use. Of course all rubber and seals need replacing. I want to have some fun with it before I personally start tearing it apart. The few times I drove it many people reacted favorably, I even had people stop to take pictures... Kind of funny because I bought thinking I did not want to be noticed and it was different that an FJ40.
 
Scrapdaddy,
The rear heater works great. I think the heater has two settings. I think the first one is "OFF" and the second one is "HELL" hahahaha. I think my jeans caught on fire when I drove her home and put the heater on. I can't imagine it working any better.
 
clmat said:
3_puppies,
My wife and I bought a log cabin in Libby Montana. It's on the Kootenai River, we got really lucky. I feel very fortunate for the chance, although most retirees go from cold to warm. We have 3 years till we start living there. It's been a dream since we got married.
Click to expand...

I spent 4 months working in Libby 2 years ago. there are a few cruiser guys up there, more in kallispell
Nice area and not as cold as the rest of the state when I was there, lots of snow tho.
 
Clmat, welcome to MUD, and the most esteemed corner of MUD, the Pig pen!
Congrats on your new Pig! That is very cool that you are starting body work. That is always exciting to me to hand over the vehicle for work that I can't/shouldn't do and commit funds ($).
Way to cool to hear about your retirement plans! I bet you and your wife are excited!
What kind of work are you retiring from?
 
PabloCruise,
Both the wife and I will be retiring from the State of Forida, State government workers. I work in computer management and Lia works in Budget and Finance. We are looking forward to Montana and trying to have second childhood! We found the people in Libby Montana to be great and we wanted to get to a smaller community. We love the west and hope we can adapt to full winters. Vacation is easy, see how the full timing works.
 
Can't wait to see pictures of your piggy in that beautiful scenery out west, every time I see pictures of cruisers out in that part of the country I just start daydreaming.
 
OK, trying to post some pics, seems the camera ate some of my Pig pics but left Bobm's metal pics, what's up with that? This may take a few attempts. I have some PO's pics of my Pig to pot. Will take more on my camera when I get a chance.
FJ55 front view.webp
FJ55 side view.webp
 
More PICs

Pic's of what Bobm did for me!
Hope this helps all see where I am at. I have some pic's my camera ate of the rust problems with rockers and floor pans, hope to figure that out and post them as well. The guys at the body shop should start in the next couple of days so maybe some progress shots soon as well.
Charlie
pig pics 003.webp
pig pics 002.webp
 
Found rust damage pics

Found some rust damage pics on camera, still no Pig pics. I think my camera likes bacon.
First and second pic is Floor pan and body mount under passenger front door. Second pic shows where PO filled rocker with expansion foam, rockers rusted out.
Third pic shows what seems to be undercoating that rusted away??? It is a thin layer under all floor pans and riveted to floor pans...
New Image.webp
rust2.webp
rust3.webp
 
Congrads. on your retirement plans. I retired last year and it's been nothing but fun. For me, it's exactly like you dream it will be. Good luck with the 55, it looks to be a very good truck to start with. Stay healthy and enjoy the ride.

Ron
 
found my pig pics

Found my Pig Pics, camera did not eat, they were on phone.... I should start getting some cutting and welding pictures from the shop. It will be interesting to see how it moves forward.
pig1.webp
pig2.webp
pig3.webp
 
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