The Long Slow Build - 1980 FJ40

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No real visible progress this weekend, though I spent 8 hours in the garage.

I put a nice secondary fuse box in for the fog lights, seat heaters, garage door opener, usb plug, etc. but wasn't getting power to any of them. After a few minutes with test light I realized there were no fuses in the fuse box. :bang: At least it as an easy fix. Still dunbass move though.

Wired in the fog lights & tested several other connections. Put some oil in it, starter does turn over. I'm waiting on a fuel tank strap, then I'll get some gas in it & see if it will start.
 
Rear heater installed & roll bar in as well.

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Hi gcrump01,

Nice build.

I'm working on 1980 and doing a rebuild. Body very rusty in parts and places completely gone. Would it be possible for you to measure the distance between the rear door lower posts on the tub.The larger flat area not where the door seals fit .I think it is 41 1/16
Also the height from the rear sill member where the floor panel and quarters attach too to the top rim where the hardtop bolts on,I make it 14 ½ or 14 15/32. Mine is rusted away that I have lost that reference.
If you need pictures let me know.

Thanks for your help in advance.

jb
 
Kiwi,

I'm at 41 3/8 for the rear door opening. With the doors on I have about a 1/4 inch in all 3 gaps.

I'm just shy of 14 1/2 on the height from rear sill to the top rim so your 14 15/32 sounds right.
 
Crump,

Thanks for the dimension check. The 41 ⅜" (very close to 1050 mm) makes sense as now the side rails of the tub are the same width front to back.
I'm busy making the two side supports for the 14 ½" pieces. Have very little to go on just a few rusted pieces on each side giving clues to the final shape of the bottom parts.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

jb
 
We have tunes:clap: This is a RetroSound Model 2 in Black - with what they call a Mini Euro faceplate. I need to do a little adjusting on the mount, but it looks pretty good to me. Modern sound & I didn't have to cut the dash. It has Bluetooth, 2 usb ports, etc.

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More wiring today - well testing of the wiring anyway. plugged up headlights and front turn signals, and everything seems to work.

Damn I need some red front fenders & a bib!
 
Stereo mounts finished and kick panel speaker mounts. Had to modify the kick panel mounts to match the later A pillar but that was not too difficult.

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Also got the drive shafts balanced, painted & installed. sorry for the crappy pic but it's dark. Used all new bolts from Toyota

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Guy is supposed to be here this Wednesday to media blast fenders, bib, hood, 2 sets of front doors, rear doors, windshield frame & side panels for the top.

Classic Tube is redoing the brake line I had a problem with and the new one should be here this week.
 
Today the portable media blaster showed up & cleaned up the front fenders, hood, fender aprons, 2 sets of front doors, rear doors, top side panels, front bib & spare tire carrier. Everything looks great. Very little rust on any of these pieces so body work should go smoothly.
 
wow nice, are you using epoxy primer and how long until you paint after that? Im going in slow stages, blasting and primer, take a break then hand sand and paint over a 3 month time frame. Im told its ok.

Did it do any pitting? Im told this is better then sand, you used glass beads? Well because im told you wont need body filler from sand damage and its easy on the thin skins like doors.
 
Definitely did not use any sand. I've been told by several people that sand gets too hot & will warp the panels. The way I understand it - the blasting media is glass & water. They actually rinse it with water too, but the water has some type of rust inhibitor in it. Pretty sure they told me it would not rust for at least 30 days. We plan to have everything in epoxy primer this week. Then we'll concentrate on getting the front fenders, bib, hood, etc done. Doors & top will have to wait.

There is very little if any damage from the blasting itself, it does expose any rust pitting and any previous bondo. Found one of the doors had a boat load of fiberglass in the bottom which we'll cut out to weld in new repair panels. Really expecting to only need body filler as skim coat, then sand, prime & paint.
 
You should get the rubber gaskets that go behind the rear emblems. Love your thread, looks great.
 
I actually have a set of rubber gaskets, just didn't think the later models were supposed to have them. I'm worried about the emblems not fully seating in the tub as it is. Rubber gasket would just make it worse. Am I missing something here? Do the emblems require some type of nut on the back like the front grill emblem?

They just don't seem to lock in place, maybe the holes are not exactly the right size?
 
I had mine sandblasted in the traditional dry sand way. I thought that little if any damage had been done to the panels. It was only when I took it to a real pro to do the colour that I saw how much damage the blasting had done. The doors of which I was particularly proud had rippled from the heat. He refused to finish them and let them out his shop like that. He says it is as a result of the heat generated by the blasting in the hands of an operator that does not understand the effect of what he is doing. Had one of his guys spend days getting everything flat again.

Nobody here does dustless blasting and I am seriously considering importing a unit and setting somebody up in a business with it.

Nice work, she's looking real good.
 
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