Chris FJ80
SILVER Star
After doing some wheeling damage a while back, I have been slowly and painstakingly rebuilding my beloved 80. Attached are a few photos to show the progress.
After suffering the damage (hit a couple of trees in the Arizona backcountry) I thought I would get the insurance company to take care of it. After the shop stripped it down to assess the damage, the insurance company declared it a total loss. So I took the check, bought it back from them, and had it delivered to my home.
With the insurance check, I was able to by a parts vehicle (1996 Black 80) and all the tools I needed to bring her back to life.
I took the whole front end apart to replace the two inner fenders and so had to learn about A/C work in the process. While I had her apart I did the PHH hose replacement (posted elsewhere in this forum), cleaned the A/C evaporator / changed the expansion valve, rebuilt my fan hub clutch with 15,000 CST, and a bunch of other PM tasks.
Then I set up a paint booth in my garage (testing my wife's patience with me!!!) and started to paint the panels a new, charcoal gray color. See the doors below for the new color. Note the front end riding high without the ARB bumper mounted.
The final body work step was to get the body painted and get the flares reattached. I did not have enough room in my garage to set up a paint booth around the vehicle, so ended up shooting it in the driveway. I did it early in the morning before the breeze, and Arizona desert dust, picked up. Results below:
(Continued below)
After suffering the damage (hit a couple of trees in the Arizona backcountry) I thought I would get the insurance company to take care of it. After the shop stripped it down to assess the damage, the insurance company declared it a total loss. So I took the check, bought it back from them, and had it delivered to my home.
With the insurance check, I was able to by a parts vehicle (1996 Black 80) and all the tools I needed to bring her back to life.
I took the whole front end apart to replace the two inner fenders and so had to learn about A/C work in the process. While I had her apart I did the PHH hose replacement (posted elsewhere in this forum), cleaned the A/C evaporator / changed the expansion valve, rebuilt my fan hub clutch with 15,000 CST, and a bunch of other PM tasks.
Then I set up a paint booth in my garage (testing my wife's patience with me!!!) and started to paint the panels a new, charcoal gray color. See the doors below for the new color. Note the front end riding high without the ARB bumper mounted.
The final body work step was to get the body painted and get the flares reattached. I did not have enough room in my garage to set up a paint booth around the vehicle, so ended up shooting it in the driveway. I did it early in the morning before the breeze, and Arizona desert dust, picked up. Results below:
(Continued below)
