Builds Project Dumpster Fire - Building my 1972 FJ40 with my Dad

[msapers]

Had a similar situation 20 yrs ago when I was an active motorcycle rider. My newest bike was 1947…the guys on the new fuel injected FLHTCU-I did not believe I would ever keep up on group rides…

It’s a good feeling to know !

Nice! I'm still riding but so much gets in the way these days.

 

[msapers]

The deed is done. Quick 700 mile round trip from L.A. to Stockton and back and the transmission and transfer case were dropped off at Valley Hybrids yesterday. Still working on stripping everything off the body and waiting to hear back from the sandblaster with a ballpark quote.

 

[msapers]

Meanwhile, I've spent several hours over the last few days peeling/scraping the bedliner off of the inside of the tub. It's actually not that bad. So far, the area under the gas tank is the only place I've been able to see any daylight after I scraped the rust. I'm considering cutting out the whole tank drop down area since I won't be using an interior tank and replacing it with flat sheet. I'll be building custom seat frames with storage drawers underneath so this space would have been inaccessible anyway and not much more than a place for water and grime to collect.

 

[msapers]

Made some good progress on the 40 this week. Tire carrier, hood, windshield frame, and fender flares are off. The tub in the rear fender area looks solid as does the cowl under the windshield frame/hinges, so that's a win. Also stripped the dash and that's where the failure set in. The gauge cluster is in rough shape. Also, I really wanted to save the original knobs and rebuild the original switches but the knobs as well as the retaining bezels pretty much disintegrated as soon as I touched them. I believe that I can still disassemble the headlight and wiper switches and rebuild them but I may be better off just replacing them with new. Also, how the $%^ do you remove the cigarette lighter socket from the dash? New video coming in the next few days. @65swb45 , I haven't forgotten about you. I'm compiling a list of the things I need and then I'll be reaching out. I'd hate to be calling you every day with another item that I'd forgotten about. Also, I'm honored to say that @mtn biker has invited Dad and I to be on the Classic Land Cruisers podcast. How cool is that?
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[pb4ugo]

its a tube in a tube. The outside of it from behind the dash unscrews.

 

[msapers]

Talked to Valley Hybrids this week. Georg is planning to start my Orion build next week! Also here's the new episode. Nothing earth shattering, although I did make my dad laugh and I discovered that the lighting in the garage is better for filming with the garage door closed, so that's what we'll do moving forward. I'm still learning the whole camera thing. Big news on my old Con-Ferr tank - I apparently don't have it anymore. No idea where or when it went but I dug through all my Land Cruiser goodies and it's not there. Great.

 

[msapers]

More progress! I spent the day scraping the bedliner out of the entire interior while Dad disassembled the doors. The doors are perfect and the interior is not as bad as I thought although there are a few trouble spots. So much bondo.

 

[msapers]

 

[msapers]

MAJOR UPDATE: We've decided not to remove the body and will proceed with the mechanical end of things as driving and enjoying the rig is far more important to us than shiny paint. This turns the project from a multi-year frame off to a 6 month "rolling restomod", meaning that It'll be a mechanically 10/10 daily driver with a nice flat rattle can paint job that I can touch up as I work on panel repair. When all of the panels are ready, I'll eventually strip it and paint it with a nice glossy automotive paint unless the flat look has grown on me by then.

To that end, I bought a Surface Conditioning tool from Harbor Freight and tried it on the bondo/rust.

Surface Conditioning Tool

This thing ROCKS. I would 100% recommend it. It quickly chewed through everything, leaving a nice smooth surface. This was with the 40 grit wheel. There are many grits and even a wire wheel available. That's the good news. The bad news is that it seems Helen Keller welded my tub with her feet. Ugh. This truck is not getting shiny paint any time soon. Hopefully, rattle can flat paint will hide some of the sins as the plan is to get he mechanical end of things done and enjoy the truck. That will let me slowly fix/replace one panel at a time while driving it and still have it looking decent. Nice paint will come later.

I'm going to leave the body alone for now and focus on the mechanicals. This means that I'll be ordering some bolts and a new welding helmet and we'll be swinging the engine/trans/transfer case in, tacking the mounts where we want them, removing the engine /trans/t-case, finish burning in the mounts, clean and paint the frame/welds and swing the motor/trans/t-case back in one last time and bolt it down. Then it's just the 842,693 little things that need doing and we'll be on the road.