The $5000 Build thread

[YukonCruisers]

Been about a year since I started this build and I figured it was time to post and archive some of it. I started with the goal of rebuilding a 40 for my teenaged kids to use mostly around town, but capable of some light offroad. The other big goal was to get them involved in the process of rebuilding, if they are going to drive it, they should know how it works. I also had a goal to keep costs reasonable and so far, we are doing OK on that front. So, we picked up this barn find for $500. It had a great many holes, but, it was a '77 with discs, motor ran from the floats, and came with an extra tub, extra suspension, and brand new fenders - the fenders alone were worth the purchase price. It also came with several hundred 22 shells, a bail of grass wrapped around the drivetrain and suspicions from the owner that there might be a transmission problem.

Tear down was fairly straight forward and was the point where the boys were at their most helpful:

More to come shortly...

 

[YukonCruisers]

Here is the second tub with the sill and rotten fenders already cut away (oh, and the project came with an extra sill too).
I should also not at this point, purists should look away, can`t do a proper restoration on $5K...

 

[YukonCruisers]

The tub in the last post is after sandblasting too. Here is the tub as it was for some 150 hours of welding - the wooden frame allowed me to tip it up on the side for welding access...

I ordered my fenders from Extreme Bends in BC - they were excellent to deal with, but only had the DS of their product - but were able to provide an old SOR one they had as well, I must say, I much preferred fitting theirs to the SOR cut out...

 

[YukonCruisers]

The doors were not great and required a fair bit of welding (please no comment on my rabbit dropping welding skills - they improved as the project went on...)

 

[GhostRIver40]

Oh wow you have come a long way with that 40 bud. I bought those hard top sides off you a few weeks ago and was shocked just now when I realized what truck I was looking at in this post. I was going to ask at the time if you had a thread on mud. Awesome work.

 

[YukonCruisers]

Thx, appreciate it - bought it I think in April last year.
On the $ side, I had to sell the extra suspension, it was EMU, but not for an fj (shockes were the HD variety and the leaf were too short), plus other bits I have sold, I am plus $300. On the spend side we have been thrifty, we have 12.5 bfgs with 90% tread for $400, 10" AL Mickey rims for $300, the panels were I think $500 delivered, few hundred on seat upholstery (not yet put on) and the biggest hit was the suspension, we went with procomp leafs and bilistein shocks - around $1200.

We ended up replacing those corner braces with 2x4 steel and used the extra to replace the rear rollbar supports under the fender. In this pic we had briefly attached the used suspension (kids wanted red shocks) - they are now sold.

 

[yotafj]

Looking good

 

[YukonCruisers]

Today, this is where she sits, sanding, sanding and more sanding.... The hood at one point had contacted the windshied - so lots of work there.

Here you can also see the MKT rims, they are super offset so give a nice stance, clears the brakes, will have to see what the turning radius is like...

Forgot to mention, the extra tub I have is actually from a `78 or `79 - dash will have more holes in it than it should and I had to adjust the gas pedal to get the travel correct - still not perfect, but working on it...

Cheers

 

[tls3601]

Big project but you are clearly making progress....great seeing kids involved!!!! No way on $5K right???

 

[BaFJ4]

Looks good keep it going!!!

 

[dasgeek]

No way on $5K right???

That's just the number he lets his wife see.

 

[winnie]

couldn't lose for $500 ... plenty of parts to use, trade, sell ... nice progress ... looking forward to following your and the kids' progress ...

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Calgary40, great rebuild thread!

Best of luck on the rest of the project!

Regards,

Alan

 

[YukonCruisers]

Re the $5000, I just might make it (if you don't include tools):
Purchase - 500 included extra tub, rear sill, front fenders
Suspension - 1200
Tires - 400
Rims - 350
mounting - 130
Seats - 400
body mounts - 130
rear panels - 400
voltage regulator - 40
Taiwan lights - 100
body supplies - 250 (incl about 150 in sandpaper alone)
chassis saver paint plus tremclad for interior - 100
sandblasting - 120
trailer rentals - 200
nuts bolts and things I forgot - 200
muffler - 40
oil seals - 40
fluids - 100
tj rear seat 100
carb kit - 100 (not done yet)

so that's - 4700 (wow, I never added it up before) - minus the stuff I sold for 400, so in to it for ~4200 now

left to go is:
paint
inspection
top repair - slight crush on the side of the fibreglass
wiper repair
weather seals - none will be oem if there are cheaper options

anyway, wanted to keep it cheap enough that I wouldn't be worried when one of my two new drivers gets their first accident (hopefully it will be in my wife's truck though )

Cheers (back to sanding)

 

[YukonCruisers]

The last week's progress was brisk - I am now completely in primer - I just have to figure out some kind of water separator and find a date to paint. I also along the way fixed the roof that had been dropped on its side and installed new seat covers from cruisercorps - and a most excellent local FJ guy has a spare set of headrests he is going to give me - a big score. I set the DS seat back as far as it would go, the reversal of the supports on mine wasn't as straightforward as some other posts, but with a little drilling, welding and persuasion, it's in.

 

[YukonCruisers]

I just realized I am missing a header bar for my top... I have nothing in the front behind the gutter - Is this an easy one to fabricate or something I need to dig up? Any advice appreciated...

 

[YukonCruisers]

Finally found time to paint yesterday - went with a single stage poly with a satin finish, really pleased with the look (might not be right for everyone, but the kids are pretty happy with it) - now to find all those re-assembly bolts... ($350 spent on paint and supplies)

 

[YukonCruisers]

So I have been tinkering for a while since the last post, struggling now with chasing grounding faults with the lights. Went with LED up front, its not exactly what I wanted, but getting close

 

[YukonCruisers]

Added a console this weekend and, thanks to Coolerman, sorted my electrical challenges (had stalled me for a month - the advice of running a good ground to the back while wiring rear lights was invaluable). The console was picked up to $10 and is from a 2005 Pontiac vibe. The width is perfect. I notched the plastic on the DS to get around the flat metal plate that sticks out, added a rear metal support (holds it down more than anything as the console rests on the rails) and a horizontal front support and then bolted through the front horizontal seat support - solid and cheap. The second photos shows the rear support attachment left of the seat using the gas tank cover bolt - Cheers!

 

[YukonCruisers]

Its coming along - just did the carb rebuild and tinkering with idle etc. but it starts beautifully now. Have a bunch of small things to do, license plate holder is a wreak, fussing with some door alignment, gotta fix the fuel sender, but it sure is close. A question though, I have the procomp 2.5 with bilistein - the stance seems to have a bit of a rake to the back...thinking of adding an inch to the shackle, but I would welcome views...
(and yes, I can see now that it is in the full sun, I have some paint touch-ups to do too...)