Restoration Begins on the 77

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ColoradoFJ40

ColoradoFJ40

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Threads
90
Messages
718
Location
Urbandale, Iowa
Well to bring us current over Thanksgiving I got the FJ back to my cousins shop. We used a little Super Clean and washed off the 10 years of sitting outside.

When I trailered it home we used a winch and dragged it onto the trailer. It was stuck in 4 Lo and the truck hadn't been started in 3 years.

We slapped a new battery in her and sput a little fresh gas in the carb and she started right up and purrs like a kitten.

The body is pretty rusty as you can see, but my cousin can do amazing things with metal. I am getting by for fixing all the rust on the entire truck...doors,fenders, everything...for $2500.

So today he started the rust repair and I will be posting new pictures soon. I will be getting involved once the rust is all fixed and we remove the body from the frame.

I'm really excited. Hopefully my FJ account $$ can keep up.
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The front bumber has two jerry cans mounted to the bumper. The crap all over it is the same stuff that was all over the body. A fungus of some sorts. I didn't scrub the entire truck down as this was the same night we got it home. It comes off pretty easy, but we were all tired from hauling it home. The roads were icy and cold and we got it running and the shop was full of old gas exhaust. So...I will remove the can holders and metal will clean up nice.

Yes, there is some floor issues. Once the external stuff gets repaired we will remove the top and then the body from the frame. Then when it is on the rotisserie we will fix the seams and floor pans.
 
So I made it back to Iowa for a few days of work at my cousins shop. You all are lucky if you have a place of your own to turn wrenches, but I have the next best thing I guess. I have an experienced cousin to help me and he lets me use all of his great tools. I can't say enough about having the right tool for the job and years of experience to show you a "faster/better" way to do something.

The next few days will be fun. We have torn the rig down as far as you can see here in 1.5 days. Tomorrow we will fix the passenger side rockers and quarter to where we can take it off the frame and out it on the rotisserre (sp).

This rig has a lot of cancer. Almost to the point I question if the tub can be saved, but my cousin assures me it can be. Stay tuned.

I just realized I have been taking super close up pictures of everything so I know how it all goes back together. :doh: Tomorrow I will take some better photos showing the entire rig and patches we put on the quarter.
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Any tips when I get to taking apart the dash or steering column? I am taking photos of everything but if there are any do or dont's please let me know.
 
So today we got the passenger fender off, windshield and almost got the drivers side off. We also did a little rust repair. I think we will be buying new fender wells as they are just to far gone.

Tomorrow we will be getting it fully off the frame and making new floor pans for the drivers side.
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"So your commuting from CO to IA to work on the rig??? "

The short answer is yes. I moved to CO in 2006 but all my resources and family are back in Iowa. I bought the truck in Iowa so it will have to be long weekends and vacation. Luckily I have lots of vacation and my work will bring me back for some extended weekends several times here over the next few months.
 
The body is off

Catching up on my build thread, but in 4 days we dismantled everything down to get the body off the frame. We had a few broken bolts we had to plasma cut off, but overall with the hoist we had and the brace we mocked up everything went well.

Next up is new wheel wells and then finishing all the body work on the doors and rear doors and getting it into primer. Then I am going to focus on the frame.
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Frame Repair, Sandblasted and Painted

So I had three days to work on the 40 and got the following accomplished.
1) Engine/tranny removed
2) Axles removed and frame stripped of everything
3) Sandblasted
4) Rear of frame repaired
5) Fresh POR15

I will post more photos of the finished frame. Next up is the axle job, installing the new springs, new rear discs and brake lines. Hope to have the chassy back to rolling by the end of April.
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POR on the frame

I need to put another coat of this on, but the first coat will be dry when I do it. Will the second layer not take on POR if it is dry?

I'm not really crazy about the shiny black finish. I really wanted matte or satin, but who's going to see it anyway. It will be under the truck.
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Rolling on 4 wheels Again

Well, I got a few more days to work on assembling the frame, new suspension and wheels. It took forever to get all the CCOT parts for the suspension. If I had any words of advice it would be to call before you order and verify that they have everything for your kit. I waited over 2 months before I had everything to assemble.

Issues I encountered so far was the amount of rust on the rear portion of the frame. We had to make new rear frame gussets and will have to make a new bumper as well. You can't see it in the photos and even though it is painted the rear bumper is just too thin to reuse and I wouldn't feel safe trying to pull a small trailer or hauling my dirtbike on it. Anyway, this took a few trips to the scrap metal yard.

The rims I had blasted and painted and they turned out nice. I know I have some broken clips that I should have had fixed before I painted them, but I didn't know they sold new clips to weld on. Oh well. Not sure that I will put the hubcaps back on or not. I kind of like the old school color.

I want to put new calipers or rebuilt calipers on but couldn't believe the cost of new OEM calipers. Seriously how many does Toyota sell at $700 each. Has anyone used aftermarket and had any issues? That is the route I am looking to take. I also looked at new Warn Hubs, but they also are sticker shock. I will be rebuilding those and cleaning them up.

Other great things.
1. New bolt kit
2. New Tie Rods
3. CCOT 4" Springs with Greasable Shackles and Greasable Pins
4. New BFG Mud Terrain KM2's

For those of you who are wondering. The CCOT lift out the door was around $1700 and the BFGS ran right at $900. The bolt kit was right at $300 but oh so worth it.

Over the next month you will see the engine and transmission get freshened up and put back in the frame. Hopefully by fall you will see the freshly painted body back on the frame.

Things I am thinking about now are:
1: Wiring Harness. I need to read up and make sure it is ready.
2: New brake lines and fuel lines
3: Engine detailing, new gaskets, carb rebuild, same with tranny.

I still am going back and forth on bed lining inside and underneath. I've read a lot of comments on the pros and cons, but have a bit more time before I have to make that decision.
 
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