Build Salted Pork fj55 family wagon build

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onemanarmy said:
mad man!

are ypu going to hand fab new pieces or do you have some new ones? or sq. tube?
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I have to fab new floor supports Thinking square stock of some sort. I gotta measure the width. and I gotta figure out a plan of how to attach the new floor support to the existing non rusty support. but I have @bobm floor pans, front body mounts and rockers. should be able to get it done with what I have. I am going to look at the front fender after I get the rockers done. I do wish I had a working plasma cutter though. my eastwood one broke before I ever got to use it! I may order one of those yeswelder ones to do the passenger side. I went through 6 cut of discs on my grinder.
ceylonfj40nut said:
I think your wife asked you carve the turkey, not the pig?
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Luckily I did all this yesterday and took today off for thanksgiving! going to get back at it tomorrow!
 
I also got an early xmas gift from @theglobb Thanks man!! going to put this bad boy to work for sure! tested it out on a lug nut and it seems faster than my Milwaukee impact.
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Roastchestnuts said:
Does anybody know how to rebuild door hinges on these? or where you can buy some sort of rebuild kit? mine are worn out for sure. Not high on the priority right now but I will get there!
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Read this thread. If you have questions, ask in this thread. FWIW you are more likely to get pig specific answers in this sub-forum.

Hank Tank

Thread 'Driver side upper door hinge?'

Hey guys,

Any advice on sourcing a solid/refurbished driver side upper door hinge? Part # 68710-90351. Mine works but it's getting worn out. Specter Off Road has a refurbished one for a small fortune. Just wanted to check with the group before hitting my 401k for this thing.

Thanks!

Hank

charliemeyer007 said:
I think some sells new hinges, or you could just make new bushing and pins. My PO did brass bushing and stainless pins.
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They are very different than FJ40 hinges. In fact, there's almost nothing body wise that's the same.
 
Have you been following this thread. Its certainly a clinc on how to disect a 55 and see how they're made. He worked on his hinges too.

kelly saad

Build Thread '#27 red and white 55, full body restoration.'

I have been working on this part time for a little while now and decided to start a thread on it. This 55 looked pretty clean, and maybe it is compared to some others, but there is still a lot of rust! Many parts I will fabricate myself.

The project:
1. Disassemble vehicle.
2. Strip paint to bare metal.
3. Mount on rotisserie.
4. Remove floors where rust is obvious and replace with new steel.
5. Fabricate new lower fender skins and replace.
6. Fabricate new lower door skin replacement panels.
7. Repair all the cracked steel, mainly underneath where the hinges mount.
8. Repair tailgate...
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bobm said:
Ya, not good! Open end of rockers face front FYI. Stop cutting it's like a puzzle 1 piece at a time 😉🙂
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just joking on the cutting wheel. I figured out thats how the rocker orientation went. Thanks. I think I got this. pretty sure I understand how it all goes together. Only a few things I am going to do today. 1 is getting the seat mount out of the way so I can get the floor pan measured out where I am going to cut it. I am waiting on my C channel and a few other tools to come in to complete the job. Wish I had my plasma cutter like I said above. I might take my front fender off today to inspect whats behind it before I get too far into it.
 
Found more treasures! I found a magnet pen (completely dissolved) and a socket and extension. I assume they were tying to get their socket and extension out. All that aside. I supported the front pillar, and got the front body mount out. I also got the seat mount out but I will reuse that. I am planning on getting to a place where I am ready to weld in the rocker on the drivers side by the end of the weekend.
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Not much letf of this body mount
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just wanted to see it with a floor pan in. the seat mount is not attached in this photo either. I wont weld this in until I have the rocker in first. I have some work to do where the front body mount attaches to the rocker. The area in the corner close to the clutch pedal. Its pretty toast. I will be able to weld something together though.

also borrowing this ingersol rand 3/8 impact... holy crap I need one! that thing is awesome. I did also use my snapon 1/2 impact some too. I know electric impacts are THE thing now and I do own a Milwaukee 1/2inch impact but these air tools are awesome to use too. this 3/8ths impact has some gumption for sure. I had it on its lowest setting and It would lite up those fasteners. I also know I have the wrong socket on there. I dont own any impact 3/8ths only half inch ones.
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Because the land cruiser is down I have been daily driving the samurai! I love this little thing. Its like a mini land cruiser. I still have a few things I want to do like tires, rims and seats but pretty fun!

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The Fj55 progress! I left off yesterday getting everything fitted. today I will start welding it. I will wait on the floor pans till I have my C channel. Sorry for the terrible picture. I only took one for my instagram story yesterday because I was in the zone.

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I have alot of work to do with a flappy sanding disc... But its all welded in. Not my best work on the welds but It will do. Its very strong! this is an upgrade to factory rockers for sure! I did weld the cap on the front of the rocker but I forgot to take a picture.

I did measure out where the centar pillar should be. its on the money!
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Below is where I stopped. I filled the cavitys before I welded it up with rust reform planning on getting some fluid film or cavity wax in there too. Still some work to do on some rusty areas though. Like the corner of the floor near the rear seat. and the wheel well. the bottom of the front pillar where the rocker attaches was also pretty roached and required extensive patching too.
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These welds were the worst. I was still trying to get my settings dialed in. Turns out I had some paint on my ground.. glad I figured it out. also picked the bondo off... got some work there too....
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its coming along! next I have the floor pans and floor supports and the body mount. waiting on metal to come in though.
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Have you seen the FJ55 build @kelly saad is doing for @WarDamnEagle ? If not, it’s in the 40 section, it is, shall we say, surgical.
 
RevISK said:
Have you seen the FJ55 build @kelly saad is doing for @WarDamnEagle ? If not, it’s in the 40 section, it is, shall we say, surgical.
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I have. it looks really nice. and alot of work put into it. I am not looking to Restore this one or anything. Again looking to do exactally what @roadstr6 did with his fj55 bucky. Just repair rust, keep it from rusting more, make safe, water resenstant, and sturdy. Honestly I don't think toyota did a really good job putting these things together anyway. at least I dont think they had a good understanding of rust. That being said it is my favorite land cruiser other than the fj45 trucks.
 
Roastchestnuts said:
keep it from rusting more,
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That is going to be the problem given your location and how these 55s were built. Multiple layers in several areas that you can't get to unless you pull parts apart. Very different from the 40 series. Of course it might take many years for it to rust to the point of unsafe so for now I certainly can't argue with "make it safe" and drive it.
 
Roastchestnuts said:
I have. it looks really nice. and alot of work put into it. I am not looking to Restore this one or anything. Again looking to do exactally what @roadstr6 did with his fj55 bucky. Just repair rust, keep it from rusting more, make safe, water resenstant, and sturdy. Honestly I don't think toyota did a really good job putting these things together anyway. at least I dont think they had a good understanding of rust. That being said it is my favorite land cruiser other than the fj45 trucks.
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Figured it’d be a good education about the where, why and how of the panels. Unless he starts splitting atoms, @kelly saad can’t really take that thing more apart.
 
WarDamnEagle said:
That is going to be the problem given your location and how these 55s were built. Multiple layers in several areas that you can't get to unless you pull parts apart. Very different from the 40 series. Of course it might take many years for it to rust to the point of unsafe so for now I certainly can't argue with "make it safe" and drive it.
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You cant live here and expect things not to rust without constant attention and being diligent. its the same as areas that salt the road. We have a 2017 silverado for work that is toast now. has 40,000 miles. and the rockers are gone. Thats because things were not maintained. and cleaned. it also was used for a surf camp truck for the past 5 summers.

However I have found Fluid film and cavity wax is my friend. I have actually had pretty good luck with that. and painting insides of panels while I have them open if they are rust free. That fluid film creeps into those areas pretty good I have found. Ohh and the flood floor stuff for patina preserving! that helps keep any bare metal from getting worse too. my old fj40s rust didn't get any worse using that stuff. and yeah I for sure see that its different than a 40 series. the 55 is a whole different vehicle. The only thing that is the same is the drivetrain. its especially different than an early 40. Maybe 5 10 years down the line I will completely pull it apart and redo everything. however I don't even have a garage right now so not sure thats the best idea. also knowing me who knows I might get board after I finish it and want something else hahaha. probably not but :meh: . I like the project aspect thats for sure. Again I am going for the "bucky look" of this build thread as I like the philosophy of it and I think it looks so good! Builds - 1971 FJ55, "Bucky" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1971-fj55-bucky.1081608/
I love that you can see the history of the vehicle but its mechanically fantastic. I will get there with the family wagon you better believe it.
RevISK said:
Figured it’d be a good education about the where, why and how of the panels. Unless he starts splitting atoms, @kelly saad can’t really take that thing more apart.
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yeah I think I saw one thing about 3 random spot welds in that thread. It is really interesting. The layering of body panels seems to be a toyota thing that brings lots of rust. @theglobb had alot of issues with that on his troopy.
 
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This is the move for rust prevention:

roadstr6 said:
Once I get to a stopping point with my rust repairs, I plan to pump every crack, crevice and void in the truck full of Penetrol and strategically drill holes and place rubber plugs to allow me to re-up the protection using a garden sprayer every couple of years as needed. This will include inside the doors, behind the rear cargo panels, rocker panels, etc. My hope is that I can slow the spread of rust in the areas that are not perfect, but not bad enough to justify dealing with right now. In my experience, Penetrol works well at rust prevention, goes on easy and doesn't smell like a dead sheep lying in a mud puddle.

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