I've been coming to ih8mud for a few years now but never did quite get around to starting a proper build thread, I figure it's about time. I bought this fully stock FJ60 with 317K miles with a 'fairly straight' body and no rust out of Cali. The rust statement ended up being largely true fortunately. My intention with this car has been to 1) own what I consider to be the best looking rugged people carrier bar none 2) Use it as a platform to finally learn welding, body work and paint, diagnostics, & automotive wrenching and 3) have a mode of transportation that I can really get attached to that gets to be a part of the family. I call her Pammy because my wife and I had a friend named Pammy on the east coast who was super cool and always made us smile, and this wagon has those same attributes. Her primary role right now is getting the girls to daycare and she's blue, so that's where the last name comes from... So far I'm a little over 2 years into ownership and have done most of the body work and interior decorating that I had planned and am ready to put her in to service again. Thought I'd share a before/after and then slowly build up this thread for future reference.
As a little background, I bought her sight unseen from a dude in Sacramento and made the decision to fly down and drive her 700 miles home. In retrospect I should have done more than just check the oil and drive, but then again these cars have their bulletproof reputation for a reason. Clutch cylinder failed about 5 minutes from home but I still made it back, and was officially smitten with the car after that.
Here's what she looked like when I brought her home. Notice the white latex primer on the valence and the totally degraded clearcoat on the hood and 1/4 panels. The crunched up panels aren't so visible in these shots, but they weren't horrible.
Other notable issues were a super leaky oil pan, EGR issues & stumbling, vacuum leaks from old hoses, and an extremely dirty and worn out interior. Other than that she was great!
Here's what she looks like as of last week:
I'll post a few more photos of the process but mostly I wanted to check in and say hi to everyone and give myself a proper build thread so I have a central place for the myriad questions I'll have as I slowly dig into the mechanical work coming up. Cheers!
As a little background, I bought her sight unseen from a dude in Sacramento and made the decision to fly down and drive her 700 miles home. In retrospect I should have done more than just check the oil and drive, but then again these cars have their bulletproof reputation for a reason. Clutch cylinder failed about 5 minutes from home but I still made it back, and was officially smitten with the car after that.
Here's what she looked like when I brought her home. Notice the white latex primer on the valence and the totally degraded clearcoat on the hood and 1/4 panels. The crunched up panels aren't so visible in these shots, but they weren't horrible.
Other notable issues were a super leaky oil pan, EGR issues & stumbling, vacuum leaks from old hoses, and an extremely dirty and worn out interior. Other than that she was great!
Here's what she looks like as of last week:
I'll post a few more photos of the process but mostly I wanted to check in and say hi to everyone and give myself a proper build thread so I have a central place for the myriad questions I'll have as I slowly dig into the mechanical work coming up. Cheers!
