Project "Red Dawn"

[letterman52]

Started another build. Picked this 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 up Oct 8, 2020. This is the progress page dating back to the day I picked it up. I'm pretty horrible with logging updates, but I'll give it my best. Enjoy.

The day I picked it up. The previous owner took it to Black Dog Performance to have the rust repaired and painted. They quoted him 11k for the work. I happen to catch him on his way out after he declined the work and he was simply over the 40. I paid the bill for the estimate and the couple hours of work and was on my way with it headed home.

 

[letterman52]

More pics on day one.

 

[letterman52]

And more pics of Day one.

 

[letterman52]

Got it home, changed the fluids, and a fresh battery. Fired right up. Clutch is questionable, but that is much later. Did a compression test and numbers were good across the board so it was go time. So it wasn't a parts truck at that point and I decided I would replace the sheet metal. The previous owner used it to launch his boat into the ocean. Significant scaling throughout the frame validated that statement. The frame was solid though. A needler will pop that scaling right off anyways. Started by tearing out most of the interior, roll bar, poor man speakers, and the carpet headliner since it smelt like wet death. Pics part one.

 

[letterman52]

Pics parts 2. Took a paint removal pad to the angle grinder to see how bad the rot actually was and if a patch was even feasible. Complete waste of time. Ordered both quarters, wheel well tops and sides, rear sill w/cover from CCOT. Drivers side floor pan from Reel Steel and both outer kick panels.

 

[1969FJ]

Perhaps a new tub would be less frustrating and less cost overall.

 

[letterman52]

Decided this truck would stay at our beach house in the Outer banks. So sold off the doors and hardtop to pay for all the panels. It had a sunroof and made me cringe since I still could smell the old carpet. Also sold off the rear half-doors as the Aqualua storage tailgate is wife approved for the wife's purse if I didn't have a hardtop or excessively large center console. Braced the tub and then started cutting out the driver's side floorboard as that panel showed up first. Shop dog supervised the chaos.

Perhaps a new tub would be less frustrating and less cost overall.

Hold on we are getting there.

 

[chinotalk]

You'll be dealing with a lot of rust. This restoration project will keep you busy for months and I wish you the best with this build. You can check 4wheelonline if you need some aftermarket accessories for that car. I can't wait to see how you will bring life to this classic red ride.

 

[letterman52]

You'll be dealing with a lot of rust. This restoration project will keep you busy for months and I wish you the best with this build. I can't wait to see how you will bring life to this classic red ride.

This is old news. Hold on and you will see.

 

[letterman52]

More random pics from the first two weeks.

 

[letterman52]

Started cutting out the driver-side wheel wells and quarter. The Key is to brace and only do one side at a time.

 

[letterman52]

Then started the quarter panel.

 

[letterman52]

More drivers side quarter panel pics.

 

[letterman52]

Knocked out the passenger side outer kicker panel. I was lucky and most of it was still good. This was Dec 29th, 2020.

 

[letterman52]

Started the passenger quarter after this. The timeline on the repairs is a bit blurry as I knocked a ton of it out on Christmas/New years break.

 

[47coeman]

Looks like you are on your way starting to come back to life.

 

[letterman52]

Then the passenger quarter panel went on. This was the second week of February after a short break as I built my kids a treehouse in between.

 

[letterman52]

Finished the passenger quarter near the end of February. The rear sill also went in as the quarters were now in to ensure alignment and fitment.

 

[letterman52]

Remounted the factory tire carrier and started loosely fitting the storage tailgate. I didn't want to give up on the stock carrier, but of course, the aquala hinges were in the way. So I bumped the hinges out 1/2 an inch.

 

[letterman52]

Tailgate mounted up and working great. The driver's side outer kick panel was bugging me with the wave it had and needed too much filler. Cut it out and slapped in a new one. Lesson learned. I rushed it when I did it and I should have known better.