Reno shop recommendation for resto-mod (1 Viewer)

[nor_cal_cyclist]

Looking for a FJ40 competent shop in the Reno area to perform a MAJOR resto-mod (engine-tranny swap, lockers, disc brakes, SOA, P/S, S/R, cage, possibly off frame clean up/paint). Been given these 3 shops as a starting point - anyone with opinions?

Folbecks 4wd
Adams Hi-Rolling Customs
Street to Sand

Any help appreciated - hate to turn my truck over and get a FUBAR mess back...and the LC specialty shop of choice (Mudraks) has a wait list a couple years out for just the mechanical stuff. Thanks!

 

[toomanytoyzz]

Call this guy up. I bet you his labor rate is about $300/hr for a crappy flame job.

 

[BadReligion]

Looking for a FJ40 competent shop in the Reno area to perform a MAJOR resto-mod (engine-tranny swap, lockers, disc brakes, SOA, P/S, S/R, cage, possibly off frame clean up/paint). Been given these 3 shops as a starting point - anyone with opinions?

Folbecks 4wd
Adams Hi-Rolling Customs
Street to Sand

Any help appreciated - hate to turn my truck over and get a FUBAR mess back...and the LC specialty shop of choice (Mudraks) has a wait list a couple years out for just the mechanical stuff. Thanks!

I'm in Reno and would say avoid Folbecks 4wd. I wouldn't trust them with an oil change. They don't have a ton of Toyota experience either. I don't know anything about the other shops but I have yet to find a single shop in town that I can trust. That's probably why I do all work on my own. I think you may be better off looking for something in Sacramento.

If you do find someone good in Reno, please let me know.

 

[White Stripe]

Fc fabrication, Campbell enterprises, all pro offroad. All several hours from you though.

 

[Casey E]

I would work with Georg and FC. This is the best of the best.

 

[Casey E]

Have FC do all the fab work and Georg the axles, motor, tranny transfer and wiring.

 

[BIG RENO AL]

I drive by Independant Automotive (technically on Bergin Way) every day going to and from work. They have a very nice mid 70's FJ40 there now that they have been working on. Ive been watching the progress for a while. Might be worth a call to see if they are truly up to speed on FJ40's. Couldn't hurt.

 

[YoYoHo]

I would say that your first mistake is thinking you need to find someone local when the work you are talking about is not going to be a quick job. I would shop for shop quality and experience over distance and regardless of what anyone tells you ask to see their work and talk to people who have had similar work done before.

(engine-tranny swap, lockers, disc brakes, SOA, P/S, S/R, cage, possibly off frame clean up/paint) - Is not a small or quick list BUT it will be a very easy list for someone to screw you on and screw up badly. Just looking at things like SOA you have either done them, done them well and have customers with them or you are a hack who will probably screw it up and learn on your dime.

If a shop can't be bothered showing you their work or can't get any of their previous customers to talk to you then they are not the sort of shop you want working on your truck. If a shop did a good SOA / Engine Tranny swap for a customer and they are happy they would have no issue telling you about it.

I would use the suggestions as a list of places to call but not reason to get them to do any of the work.

Cleaning up others peoples screw ups is way less fun than doing it right the first time

 

[65swb45]

@powthief19 speaks well of the shop he used in Gardnerville, a few miles down the road from Reno. He said they have done KOH builds, so that should more than cover ‘resto-mod.’ Maybe he will chime in with their name.

 

[nor_cal_cyclist]

Honestly, I'm open to going about anywhere in the west. Was thinking it might be nice to find a local shop for work, since I know once built, there will be repairs and familiarity with a custom build makes that easier.

Going to give Mudrak a try and guess I'll cross Folbeck off the list based on comments here (some good, some bad...don't need the bad at all for this type of work).

 

[Racer65]

Georg’s shop is probably the closest Cruiser shop to you:

Contact - CruiserBrothers

cruiserbrothers.com

 

[fjdiesel]

I can't recommend All Pro from a previous encounter I had with them... fortunately, the problem isn't associated with the company anymore but I have no trust for them because of it.

I doubt you could get in with FC... VERY long wait list... I'm on that list already Probably won't be interested in a huge 'do all this at once' type project. If you can get in, he is beyond OCD on the quality of his work and is artistic in his work. You can get an idea of a lot of his work on the two FJ55s in my signature(Trail55 and Trail50)

I would 100% recommend @orangefj45 (Valley Hybrid) if you can. He is one of the few shops I do trust. He won't steer you wrong. He isn't afraid to call bull on ideas and provide a better solution. I'm not sure what his availability is but when I was at his shop ~2-3 weeks ago, it was full of goodness. *edit* Last time I talked with him, he will steer you away from a shackle reversal.

I will resonate what @Lil'John and @Racer65 said. Call @orangefj45, he won't steer you wrong. And I will second that he will talk you out of a shackle reversal.

I am 2000 miles from him, but over the phone, on more than one long conversation, he told me how to set up my 40 suspension and took the time to explain why he felt that was the best way to do it. Excellent to deal with! A plethora of cruiser knowledge!!

Just my $0.02

 

[White Stripe]

If your open to anywhere in the west than I would go for Proffitt's. They have an assembly line of nice cruisers coming out of their.

Here is the one campbell enterprises built.

 

[White Stripe]

I can't recommend All Pro from a previous encounter I had with them... fortunately, the problem isn't associated with the company anymore but I have no trust for them because of it.

I doubt you could get in with FC... VERY long wait list... I'm on that list already Probably won't be interested in a huge 'do all this at once' type project. If you can get in, he is beyond OCD on the quality of his work and is artistic in his work. You can get an idea of a lot of his work on the two FJ55s in my signature(Trail55 and Trail50)

I would 100% recommend @orangefj45 (Valley Hybrid) if you can. He is one of the few shops I do trust. He won't steer you wrong. He isn't afraid to call bull on ideas and provide a better solution. I'm not sure what his availability is but when I was at his shop ~2-3 weeks ago, it was full of goodness. *edit* Last time I talked with him, he will steer you away from a shackle reversal.

I recommended allpro because I saw a 40 that they did and it was pretty cool. But ive never dealt with them personally

 

[nor_cal_cyclist]

Heck - I guess the SOA and PS are the 2 mods I really need a Cruiser guy for (if not doing the SR) - maybe the Orion & lockers too. Luckily the body/engine/tranny stuff is typical for streetrods, and splitting time between Redding (Cool April Nights classic car show) and Reno (Hot August Nights classic car show), there are several high quality shops that can do that work...and I'm already on a list for that (about 12-14 months out).

I dropped Mudrak a line asking for his wait list, since he did my last FJ40. Next call goes to Georg.

Thanks everyone!

 

[gericurl]

Call Jeremiah Proffit. For the dollars you are about to spend, shipping your truck to CO would be one of your least expensive entries on your balance sheet.

 

[powthief19]

@powthief19 speaks well of the shop he used in Gardnerville, a few miles down the road from Reno. He said they have done KOH builds, so that should more than cover ‘resto-mod.’ Maybe he will chime in with their name.

The shop i used in Gardnerville just did motor work, nothing this extensive, that was Douglas Auto Machine.

However, a buddy of mine is currently doing a similar restomod project on his 40 using Haggerty here in Gardnerville. He's doing an LS swap and a spring over on 37's. He seems to be quite happy with them so far, i don't think they're very fast though.

 

[YoYoHo]

*edit* Last time I talked with him, he will steer you away from a shackle reversal.

To be clear you are saying that with an SOA @orangefj45 is saying to stay leading shackles ? I would not do that unless they have some secret sauce not often seen.

I have never seen a SOA without a SR and the few SOA's I have done have always done SR. All the factory rigs I have seen with SOA ( Hilux ) are SR and if you stay leading Shackles you will get some very scary characteristics.

As for getting any medium garage hack to do your SOA and PS Conversion etc then your chances are better than average of becoming one of those SOA / SR Haters. If your geometry and fab setup is not done correctly then your build will be s*** short and simple. By all means get a hack to slap ya Modern engine in there as with EFI and computers it is way harder to screw up than it use to be and easier to diagnose.

Get your suspension and Fab work done by a reputable shop with experience as the last thing you want to do is build on a bad foundation. Also keep in mind building off road race cars and comp rigs etc is a different skill set to building something you are happy to put your family in and cruse down the interstate.

Profits are still doing SR's on their builds

 

[nor_cal_cyclist]

All of the items you note with MAYBE the exception of the Orion are something ANY competent offroad shop could do... heck, the SOA and if you do an FJ60 PS conversion are something any medium duty 'garage' hack could do. I've done both with minimal pain though not OCD level welding(ie dropping dimes) but better than a bird cr^pping

Lockers are as simple as drop a third member out and drive to an axle guy. I drive about an hour to drop axle housing off to River City Diff in Rancho Cordova. 20 years ago, I drove 2.5 hours to drop parts off to him.

Another person you might consider is @hairy_apple. He is fairly close in Grass Valley. He's an LC guy. I'm not sure what his schedule looks like.

Obviously not a fan of the Orion case - was trying to avoid a new axle with a centered diff, but might go that way and go with an Atlas instead.

Also, while most competent shops can do the SOA - getting the cut/turn done correctly is just part of the process for a Cruiser guy. The FJ60 PS is an option, but I'm kinda a fan of Saginaw (using Mudraks pitman and frame plates - which sets the truck up for a SR).

Really think I want/need to get that part of the truck built by a Cruiser shop. If they will do the engine at the same time - cool. Otherwise, the engine and tranny and body work can wait. Get a solid truck first.

I loved my old FJ that Gary modified - huge fan of the SOA/SR/Saginaw...and LOW gears. She was a victim of bad frame twist from a hard 3x barrel roll and then an engine fire a few years later, and I let her go as didnt have the time nor money to repair at the time. Just trying to build another...a little better and cleaner than my last.

 

[orangefj45]

No SR EVER!!!!

Unless you want front wheel hop followed by rear wheel hop followed by a broken rear pinion.

Georg @ Valley Hybrids & Cruiser Brothers