Pros and Cons of a fiberglass FJ40 body? (1 Viewer)

[kbahus]

Both of those look great. I found a parts cruiser for sale locally that has been hill-jacked sadly. It does have a fiberglass body but I think it's a Mallotte. The cowl vent is not real looking, it's kind of just a mound. Also the guy cut a few inches off the sides to gain more ground clearance which is sad and maybe the wheel wells too, hard to tell from the pics. The price is probably too high for what it is but got the gears turning in my head.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

From what I have seen of the Gozzard tubs, it's pretty hard to tell the difference until you get really close. Even then there are some steel reskin jobs that don't look as good as the Gozzard stuff. Should I ever decide to re-tub my truck, Gozzard is at the top of my list for a tub.

 

[V8FJ4078]

Both of those look great. I found a parts cruiser for sale locally that has been hill-jacked sadly. It does have a fiberglass body but I think it's a Mallotte. The cowl vent is not real looking, it's kind of just a mound. Also the guy cut a few inches off the sides to gain more ground clearance which is sad and maybe the wheel wells too, hard to tell from the pics. The price is probably too high for what it is but got the gears turning in my head.

Mine is a Malotte body, but the vents are cut out of an old steel body and are recessed and riveted in and glassed over, same with the rear gas tank filler. The kick vents have an aluminum sheet behind the fiberglass to seal on and on the inside glassed into the body. Has held up well, it is at least 20 years and my father has one that he has had 30 years. Gozzard is heavier and better made. Have worked on 2 of them for other people. They all take time to fit and adjust everything, but I sure do not miss the constant fixing of rust!

 

[djcfj40]

Finally able to take some recent pictures

 

[kbahus]

@djcfj40 That looks nice from the pics, how does everything fit like the doors, hardtop, etc?

 

[djcfj40]

Actually pretty good fit for the most part.Before I tore it apart, the front doors didn't seal very well where the windshield and the door met. But other than that I would say as good as any of the steel bodied ones I've seen.

 

[kbahus]

@djcfj40 How has the build been going? Did everything line up right etc?

 

[djcfj40]

Yes and no... It's a bit of a long story.Everything was going together pretty smoothly until June 16th. My shop was flooded with four feet of water. Motor,transmission and diffs all full of muddy water. Luckily the body didn't get a scratch,but now I'm pulling things back apart to check everything for damage. I don't want to chance putting it together any further just to take it all apart later.
Never got far enough together to final install doors though,but my trial fitting before painting it looked really good.

 

[603]

Hi All, here in Germany having a 1977 BJ40 body off restored, tub only. I'm having to buy everything else still, window frame, hood, fenders, doors, ambu doors and a (hard) top. Of course I stumbled upon this tread and was wondering if anyone has experience with this company? I bought small rear doors from them years back and they seemed nice, but were very hard to paint. It kept bubbling air out of the pores of the polyester. Maybe should have put a coat of G2 first, in hindsight.

Roycréation, catalogue carrosserie

In Europe stuff rusts as bad as in canada, one could say

I also found these on ebay:

Toyota Land Cruiser Fj40 Fiberglass Fenders (Pair) right and left | eBay

Any experience with that company?

 

[603]

never mind, I'll go with stainless steel.

Teseven

 

[DesertEmu]

Fiberglass tubs are for off road only !!!!!!!!! for a reason.