Project PHOENIX-Gene's new LV (4 Viewers)

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My late 67 LV was Spring Green/White on the outside, and full Spring Green on the inside except for the dash.
 
My late 67 LV was Spring Green/White on the outside, and full Spring Green on the inside except for the dash.

Your dash was white and your floors black? I love that color combo btw. I think it was my favorite of the stock colors.
 
Dash was gray and floors were Spring Green.
I like that color combo also, i didn't like Spring green when i painted mine, i went with red instead. Spring Green has grown on me in the past few years and wish i went with that color combo sometimes.
 
Dash was gray and floors were Spring Green.
I like that color combo also, i didn't like Spring green when i painted mine, i went with red instead. Spring Green has grown on me in the past few years and wish i went with that color combo sometimes.
I’m generally not a fan on red with the cruisers but the LV is an exception. Your LV is gorgeous! Something very classic and “National Park” like about the way your LV turned out Antony.

My floors are all gray but that was a repaint. Doesn’t really matter anyway since i have the SOR carpet kit in it, which is actually pretty nice. Never liked carpet in the 40s but with the LV being a wagon for some reason I like it in there.

I do love spring green on the pickups though.

gene is your color scheme already published or is that going to be a surprise for all of us? :)
 
I’m generally not a fan on red with the cruisers but the LV is an exception. Your LV is gorgeous! Something very classic and “National Park” like about the way your LV turned out Antony.

My floors are all gray but that was a repaint. Doesn’t really matter anyway since i have the SOR carpet kit in it, which is actually pretty nice. Never liked carpet in the 40s but with the LV being a wagon for some reason I like it in there.

I do love spring green on the pickups though.

gene is your color scheme already published or is that going to be a surprise for all of us? :)


I have never been a fan of red on Cruisers either, but yes there's something very classic about the red/white combo and I like it on the LV.

My paint scheme is still going to be the same colors that I chose 10 years ago, a deep olive drab and almond instead of white. Almond on the bottom and roof and olive in between like the first FJ35 pics. You'll notice that in the third FJ35 pic from the 1960 car show the paint colors are reversed and are like the 45LVs. My interior color will be olive with the exception of the glove box door, cluster, ashtray, pull bar and cargo side panels in almond. The carpet will be medium brown and the upholstery will be a medium leather brown/almond combo. I'm going to go with a little nicer upholstery pattern than I've seen on most LVs. Nothing over the top, just something more like what you'd find in a 1950s/60s American car. As I said before I'm also adding two extra upgraded dome lights to the roof as well. Just a few small upgrades. I love the old school things that come with the LV, I even like how loud they are when driven. I respect the builds that some have done bringing their LVs back to stock, like asking about the stock colors at the floors and wheel wells mentioned above. That kind of build takes real commitment. But my mind is always thinking about what would look cool and unique. Because I have a 45LV I'm making look like a 35, a 2F with the early valve cover, and am not changing a rare and perfectly good 45LV into something different, I feel a lot of freedom. And because I was gifted this LV from Eric C. and then that was followed by the generosity of the guys here on the board, I've always wanted to make this LV special. The bodywork is costing me a small fortune but I have never been worried about how the finances shake out when I'm done. I will be driving a classic again. As I told my wife, If I only had one vehicle to drive and I had to give up my other cruisers I'd keep the LV.
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My floors are all gray but that was a repaint. Doesn’t really matter anyway since i have the SOR carpet kit in it, which is actually pretty nice.

Something I don't believe I've ever shared... After buying Marv's LV and getting it running I was posting pictures of the work I was doing on it each week. Then before I painted the inside I posted pictures of my new SOR carpet kit and upholstery and some of the guys asked why I would install both before repainting the inside first. I couldn't answer then but now I can. I would share my excitement about the LV each week to Marv until he finally said, " You're kind of making me sorry I sold this thing to you" and he started taking a new interest in LVs. Some time later he asked if I could leave my LV at his shop for a week or two so he could measure the floors, seats, and roof because he wanted to start making LV parts. I did and he let me drive his 80 series during that time. When he told me to come in and pick it up it had the new carpet and upholstery kit installed along with a firewall and shifter boot cover as a thank you for leaving my LV with him. I was blown away and he asked that I kept it between us. He was a humble and very generous man and I watched him do things like this to many others during the years we were friends. I really miss that guy and would have loved for him to have been able to see this project completed. He was a damn good man.

Edit: I forgot, under the upholstery there was new foam for the seats as well. :) What a guy.
 
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Gene,

Amen to your comments about Marv. He was always interested, encouraging, and generous with both his time and his resources to me personally, and to others I know. He looked after his employees like family and did many kind and unspoken gestures he wanted kept quiet.

Agreed, a remarkable and good man and friend who is sorely missed.
 
Exactly. A customer bought the SOR upholstery kit for his FJ60 and told Marv that he had to leave it at the upholstery shop for a day or two while it was installed. It was his only vehicle. Marv said, "Nonsense, follow me". When I came out Marv had pulled two tattered FJ60 front seats out of storage and they were swapping them so the owner's seats could be dropped off without the vehicle being left. Marv simply smiled and said, "I want my seats back when they're done". He even unbolted the rear seat. As I said, a good man. And I've got many other stories like this one as I'm sure you probably do.
 
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Rockers in...

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Some door repair...

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Looks great.. going through this expensive process myself at the moment. The progress pics make it all worth it; will be a good solid wagon for years to come.
 
Yeah I actually marked all of the PO drilled holes to be filled and a few non FJ35 factory holes with red paint and then I took pictures, printed them and created a 3 ring binder. It's filled with all kinds of notes like paint colors, added pieces like the mounts for the two extra dome lights, B pillar covers, etc. I'm glad I did it since everything was sand blasted off at the very beginning. Now they have a reference for pretty much everything I want done.
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I stopped by again yesterday and they're moving right along. They've got the driver rear quarter panel in and the tailgate installed. It's cool to watch the process, some pieces are spot welded on and others are held by self tapping screws to make sure everything lines up before welding. Floors go in next. About 60% of the rotted metal has been replaced.

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I stopped by the body shop on Thursday and there wasn't much to show. Floors are next but they haven't come in yet so I took some measurements for the jailbars in the cargo glass area. I've been working on them and needed some additional info to finish. I ordered 3 of the cheaper VW back window kits at $39 each verses the $100 set. All I really needed was the end mounts and it turned out to be the right kit to buy. The bars on this kit are 3/8" aluminum which I knew I wouldn't be using because I wanted a larger diameter, but it turned out that I was able to cut about 2" off the aluminum bar and hammer it into the 1/2" steel bar so that I could use the end mounts. I finished the hatch today, and will visit the shop again this week to mount the sides and get the correct bar lengths. On the sides I decided to go full length rather than stopping short of the C pillar like in the FJ35V photographs. I understand they stopped short so that rear passengers wouldn't be looking through the bars, but I don't plan on having my rear seat in most of the time and I think it is a much better look going full length. Plus the FJ35V brochure shows them full length and the 28Ls & VAs had them full length as well.

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1/2" steel bars verses VW kit bars...

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Thanks to the generosity of Don @crustycruise I am using a FJ55 rear bumper to cap my home made stout bumper and give it a more stock look. I was looking into using it originally as a means to creating a FJ35 looking front bumper but this made more sense.

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