Pig hunting (4 Viewers)

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East coast Land Cruiser museum in the works?????

I wouldn't dream of it until I find an FJ45 pickup and an HZJ73 to go with the clan!
 
Just got home from the "hunt", tag filled. 23 hour trip, and of course I had to mess with it for a little bit.. Now I am going to bed. All went great. I will post up more info and pictures after a few hours sleep. My one picture for now is out of order but I had to award myself a Blue Ribbon at 3:30 a.m. for making the trip and to celebrate the new piggy. I will nap happy!
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I met mud member Jason @NOSAJ at his place near Nashville after a 10+ hour drive down from Michigan. I noticed a drip from under the back of my F350 at a fuel stop and turns out the stupid rear cover rusted through! Off to the nearest Walmart north of Indy. Some brake kleen and JB weld 1 minute epoxy slowed it way down. The level was still good so had to have just happened. I bought synthetic diff oil, a pan, and permatex just in case it totally failed and had to pull the cover for a better epoxy job. That slowed me down because I stopped a lot to check on the seal job. All was fine so southward I went.

Jason is a great guy, typical of a MUD member. I know selling was bittersweet for him but I am grateful to get to buy the truck. We went over a couple of things and rounded up some spares that came with the truck. I was crawling around underneath and I saw something shoot past my head up by the back of the frame. At first I thought it was a big bug but peeked inside the lower cross bar and saw this little snake. Guess I am robbing his home. I flooded it out with a hose and left him be for a bit. Pretty sure he got out!

Anyway, Jason drove the 55 on the trailer and I spotted. Strapped her down and hit the road. I figured I'd stop somewhere for a few winks but I was so excited to get home I just kept rolling. I pulled in 23 hours after I left. I was kinda delirious but I had to look it over and have one celebratory step #6 quick before a little nap.

I did a little more deep digging this morning. Some good things, some bad so basically I am just as happy as at the start (or more). There's a bit more floor rust than I thought, so bummer but still nothing I can't handle. There are a few NOS weatherstrips with it so that's huge, tool kit is there.

Unfortunately the owner a couple back sanded the original paint with a DA before spray painting it. Luckily it wasn't much. I spent a bit testing on the driver's fender. If I can get the rest this good it will be left as-is for a long time as a rolling antique. At some point it will get the nod and get a drivers quality frame off resto with lots of powder coating and other durable finishes so it will look good and can be used.

I will get some more pics when I get a little caught up on getting everything put away and caught up on some sleep! Here are some trip pics and one poser of the piggie (and one of my pet snake)
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I like the paint! Scrape on.....

Stocking up on supplies. Lacquer thinner works pretty well. Tons of Bounty towels. SEM Bumper stripper worked really well on the Picasso spray paint job on my 60 - took the spray paint but not the factory paint, so I've gotta grab more of that. My buddy @Ocho77 used oven cleaner on his 40 with some success, so I'm trying that too.

Should be a fun adventure. I need an exhaust asap because it's open manifold now and LOUD.

Will the front seat from my 1970 work on the '76? It is in a little better shape. The fabric is junk but the foam is o.k.
 
Ok, so this is like snapping the bubbles in a sheet of bubble wrap - I just can't stop!

More original paint reveal. Easy off works pretty good but I likes the factory paint too. If I'm careful and put it only on thick spray paint spots, it really helps move it along then go thinner to get it all.

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Nice!

Like the saving of original paint too...
 
Inside pics please, hurry up man. No need for sleep

Haha, I am so far behind on sleep and have to be to work at 6 then run home at 8 and drive my daughter 2 1/2 hours each way to the airport tomorrow. Yippee.

I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead. (Hopefully later than sooner).

Interior is pretty rough but has a lot of plusses. I think I can "patina save" the door panels, the original front and mid mats are there, the guage cluster surround is ok. Needs seats, steering wheel, dash cover bad but really that's probably the easiest part.

I shall snap some interior shots asap.
 
Nice!

Like the saving of original paint too...

It's really rough but I so love original paint. No big restoration budget can truly replace factory paint. It will be rough for sure, but with the trim accents done like wheels, grille, emblems, it will look cool I think
 
I am fortunate to know a couple of real high end restoration guys, and they have shared a lot of knowledge. One in particular, Scott Tieman of Super Specialties in Portland MI (if you are into Pontiac super cars from the 60's you'll know who he is) made me respect that originality thing quite a few years ago. This guy does 6 figure restos on Super Duty Catalinas and Trans Ams and such.

We were walking through some show one day, checking out some of the other cars there and he went ape sh*t over a 6cyl Plain Jane firebird because it was so well preserved. Beautiful paint, paint on the subframe, the crayon marks the line workers put on the bits and pieces, etc. He was the one that explained that you can throw all the cash you want at a restoration but these cars we revere so much were put together by regular people like us, just doing their thing to make ends meet. It is originality that can't be replicated at any cost.

I love that
 
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Here here. Save the whales. woops wrong forum same idea
 

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