Request for some local help. (1 Viewer)

[Fitzgerald]

Hello Colorado Land Cruisers,

My family and I moved to the springs a few months back and are still getting settled in our new house. I am getting ready to tackle the long, long journey of restoring the rust filled FJ55 that’s been in my family for about 40 years now. There's the thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/513793-nurture-my-pig.html

I would appreciate some help locating local help / supplies. Here are my current needs:

• Electrician: My 1986 garage is woefully underpowered. I need to add several 110 receptacles and a couple 220. I’m pretty handy, but don’t think I want to give electrical a shot just yet. I’ve been given the names of a few and have made several phone calls, but no call backs. ???
• Welding supply
• A source for high quality auto sheet metal
• Media blasting

I know I can search the phone book / internet for this stuff, but I was hoping to you all could clue me in on some trustworthy & quality people.

Thanks in advance,
Fitzgerald

 

[PWCO70crusier]

Welcome to the area Fitzgerald! I'm sure at some point Luke will chime in about the electrician work. My suggestion on media blasting...do it yourself. If you have an air compressor, I bought an at home sandblasting kit for less than $100. Media is pretty cheap too. So far its done a great job cleaning what I've been working on. kyle-landcruiser.blogspot.com

 

[black95]

I'm a Colorado licensed master electrician, I hate sidejobs, but I'm pretty broke these days. I might be able to help with your garage. Depends on the layout of your house and what you want to do. Sounds like you need a sub-panel in your garage.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the area Fitzgerald! I'm sure at some point Luke will chime in about the electrician work. My suggestion on media blasting...do it yourself. If you have an air compressor, I bought an at home sandblasting kit for less than $100. Media is pretty cheap too. So far its done a great job cleaning what I've been working on. kyle-landcruiser.blogspot.com

Thanks for the welcome! Hope to start getting out a bit more here soon, and maybe to a meeting or two.

As for the blasting, I think at some point I'd like to have some type of home unit, but as you can see from the pic below, I need to have the whole thing sprayed.

 

[Fitzgerald]

I'm a Colorado licensed master electrician, I hate sidejobs, but I'm pretty broke these days. I might be able to help with your garage. Depends on the layout of your house and what you want to do. Sounds like you need a sub-panel in your garage.

Thanks for the offer, but I'd hate to have you do something you didn't want to do. If you are interested, I can PM you some more info to see if it's something you'd be willing to do. If not, no worries, really.

 

[PWCO70crusier]

So far the process I've used on mine...aircraft paint stripper, wire wheel and drill, sander and have only had to sand blast the bad areas. Of course that is if you're going down to the bare metal. Also an FJ40 isn't quite as big! The overall restoration process is a bit slow, but will be well worth it in the end. If you're looking at doing the frame as well...let me know...Eastwood has a great set of frame resto products.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Yeah, I've used stripper and wire wheels on previous projects, but noting to this scale. This old girl really is mostly rust, seriously. If it wasn't for the family history, I'd probably wouldn't attempt a restoration.

I am thinking a full body off is in order and would like to give the frame plenty of attention. I'm familiar with Eastwood, but am sort of perplexed by all of their products. I'd be interested in hearing what has work for you.

 

[PWCO70crusier]

when I did the frame...I wire wheeled it and media blasted where I couldn't get the drill. Its not perfect, but really not bad either. Basically for the frame its a 4 step process after getting the frame sanded down. First hit it with their PRE...removes grease and contaminants from the frame. Next its their Rust Convertor which neutralizes the rust and makes the metal inert. Follow this up with the Rust Encapsulator which also acts as a primer. The last step is their Extreme Chassis Paint...a thick resin paint. I did 2 coats of each. There are curing times with each step...24-48 hours depending on the product...so its not a fast process. But I'm very happy with the results. I did the frame for less than $500 including everything.