Restoration, and bonding experience, '76 FJ55

cruiser guy · 11-19-2005, 08:43 PM

While I'm waiting for the rest of the pictures to be hosted I'll start with "dessert" and show the "finished" product! This started out with a talk about buying a car with my daughter who had just finished her junior year and a search on the 'Crusier websites for whatever might be available! She and others put sweat equity into the project as well so it's not just my doing.

cruiser guy · 11-19-2005, 08:45 PM

Here's another view!

cruiser guy · 11-19-2005, 08:47 PM

The frontal view! That's our well travelled BJ60 next to the FJ55. The FJ55 is in B.C., Canada and we spend most of our time in Central America!!

orangefj45 · 11-20-2005, 09:49 AM

same color scheme as the one i sold a few months ago to fgr55's dad, steve. looking good.

surfpig · 11-20-2005, 08:22 PM

I need a bigger monitor!

Don't be surprised if mine turns that color soon... Nice.

nial

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:37 AM

Here’s the ’76 FJ55 that my daughter dragged home! Yep, dragged home over the Rockies from North Dakota. She wanted a Land Cruiser but as we all know, they don’t come cheaply but there was an ad for a free!?!? ’76 Land Cruiser “good for restoration” in Minot, North Dakota. Come and get it and it’s your’s! What a bonding experience with your daughter. “You want the truck, go get it and we can restore it together”. Well what would you do if you’ve got time on your hands and not much money? Her and a couple of friends went for a drive and a week later the FJ55 is in the back yard.
Restorable? Well, perhaps if you were REALLY ambitious but it was really rusty from the bottom of the windows down. You had to be careful getting in or you’d step right through onto the ground below! Notice the lack of rocker panels and general rustiness of the lower part of the truck.

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:39 AM

What to do? How do you tell your kid that it ain’t happening? You don’t! You look for another FJ55 to work with. Where do you find an FJ55 with a relatively solid body? California of course! There if there is rust they don’t bother with it any more.
So off to L.A. with a flatbed to bring home an FJ55 shell, relatively solid from the windows down but rusty up top! Check out the gutter area on the red body. The roof is nearly off due to rust perforation!

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:44 AM

So off with the body and clean up the frame and under carriage. After all if we’re going through this much work it may as well last a little while. The sundeck is recruited for parts storage along with areas of the basement and the garage really becomes a garage! We wire brushed and cleaned the frame and under carriage, repaired and replaced broken or worn parts that were not too expensive (after all I’ve never done this before and I don’t wish to risk $1000’s in a project that may not work). We also repaired the rust that we found on the keeper lower body so that we can mount it on the frame and be able to move it around. After painting the frame and the underside with a rust preventative paint we slip the frame under the solid, from the bottom up, body.

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:46 AM

Feels good to be in your own truck, even if you got to sit on a bucket!!

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:47 AM

Now to deal with the rusty roof. Obviously you whack off the rusty one and replace it with the non-rusty one. If only it were that easy! We searched for the original factory spot welds and drilled them all out and lifted off the rusted roof and windshield frame. Then we did it all over again and lifted off a solid roof leaving behind a rusted lower body. Then came welding and fitting the roof and body together while maintaining the correct dimensions at the window and door openings so everything would work when we were finished.

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:49 AM

Well, that went better than I expected and now it appeared that there was little to stand in our way as far as emerging from this episode with a functioning and classic Land Cruiser. Out with the bondo and primer to get rid of the minor dents and areas that needed attention after the welding (hey, I never said I was a good welder).

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:50 AM

Now to the engine, lets put some gas and water in it and see what happens. “Dad, is there supposed to be water coming out while you fill the radiator?” Well, I knew I was saving the extra 3B diesel for something! Time for a rebuild kit. Now FJ55’s didn’t come with diesels and 3B diesels don’t mount the same as the 2F nor do the transmissions of 2F’s mount to 3B’s. How to fix that? Scrounge a 3B tranny housing and BJ60 mounting crossmember, a 3B input shaft and put it all together. It’s all Toyota! The 3B diesel, H42 tranny and 3 speed J30 single piece transfer case and a PTO thrown on for good measure!!

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:54 AM

After leaving for Central America of course it was a little difficult to over see the finishing up but MSN and e-mail work good too. I was a blast to see it mobile when we cam back up for vacation last summer. It looks good too and it’s ALL Toyota!
Here's a shot of the tranny support required with the 3B. This is a BJ60 support. A 'pre-80 BJ40 support would be easier due to frame width considerations but I didn't have one.

cruiser guy · 11-21-2005, 05:56 AM

She’s still got a few cosmetic things to take care of but it runs and it’s a classic, not to mention turning heads! We wanted the classic two tone paint (original FJ55 color and single stage paint correct for that age) and as much as possible the classic lines. The purists out there will notice a few things still not quite right but in the world of FJ55’s body parts are not exactly overflowing with spares.

Greg_Canada · 11-22-2005, 07:31 AM

Looks great!

Omgz · 11-23-2005, 01:51 AM

that is one beautiful 55!

RustyNailJustin · 11-23-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omgz

that is one beautiful 55!

Yes it is!

SPEEDCRAVIN · 11-23-2005, 04:20 PM

Good job, I love 55's

JOSH

cruiser guy · 11-24-2005, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPEEDCRAVIN

Good job, I love 55's

JOSH

She had never seen an FJ55 before going to get that one. She first wanted an FJ/BJ40 but now the FJ55 seems more practical to her too. Since it's a little larger she can take her friends and their gear when they go into the mountains. She graduated with an Associate degree in forestry so I'm sure she'll use it.

Still to come is a lift and tires as well as the winch head. The lift and tires will be on her ticket now since she makes ALOT more than we do as volunteers! The winch head that we have for it was busted and the PO had messed around with it a lot, welding things together and so on, so it needed some work. I brought that back down to Guatemala last summer and we spent some time in the shop class here fixing it, replacing bushings and seals and now it's ready for the truck.

cruiser guy · 11-25-2005, 08:10 PM

I just edited the pictures to make it a little easier to view. The other pictures were just a little large! I'll be adding more pictures of the roof swap once I get them from my daughter.

89s rule · 11-27-2005, 06:59 PM

wow, been listening to you talk about this and your other build ups on ih8mud. Great job! continue to keep us posted.

greasysmitty · 11-27-2005, 11:53 PM

Holy crow dude, you are a badass! Kudos for jumping right in on a 55. I had one on the line right here in town for essentially nothing, but the convoluted sheetmetal on those things scared me off. Obviously no problem if you make judicious use of the sawzall! Man that thing is sweet. Your daughter must love it. That is so awesome… she must have gotten so much out of that experience. Awesome.

dieselcruiserhead · 11-28-2005, 10:59 AM

Lookin great, great to see another 55 restored... And diesel as well! Cruiser Guy I forget your name (sorry!) but I have been following this for years and loving every second of it!

cruiser guy · 12-07-2005, 09:10 PM

This just in! One of the photos that I did not have earlier. This is the roof as it was cut off the green truck laying on the front lawn as we get ready to fit it to the rest of the body! As you can see we drilled out the spot welds on all the areas where we separated the old and new. It was not an easy job to get it apart as there is always one more weld to drill out.
Once the roof was in place we also added the roof supports from the roof we took off so the new roof actually has 6 support braces and not just 3. This also allows for a courtesy light in the cargo area! We pulled a wire for that too!

11-19-2005, 08:43 PM	#1
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Restoration, and bonding experience, '76 FJ55 While I'm waiting for the rest of the pictures to be hosted I'll start with "dessert" and show the "finished" product! This started out with a talk about buying a car with my daughter who had just finished her junior year and a search on the 'Crusier websites for whatever might be available! She and others put sweat equity into the project as well so it's not just my doing. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 07:46 PM.

11-19-2005, 08:45 PM	#2
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Here's another view! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 07:56 PM.

11-19-2005, 08:47 PM	#3
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	The frontal view! That's our well travelled BJ60 next to the FJ55. The FJ55 is in B.C., Canada and we spend most of our time in Central America!! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 07:58 PM.

11-20-2005, 09:49 AM	#4
orangefj45 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Member # 6816 Location: on thin ice Posts: 14,832	same color scheme as the one i sold a few months ago to fgr55's dad, steve. looking good. __________________ looking for Advance Adapter parts? send me a pm!

11-20-2005, 08:22 PM	#5
surfpig Wheeler Join Date: Aug 2004 Member # 34328 Posts: 105	I need a bigger monitor! Don't be surprised if mine turns that color soon... Nice. nial __________________ Nial '77 FJ55 (upgraded to daily driver) Sacramento, CA

11-21-2005, 05:37 AM	#6
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Here’s the ’76 FJ55 that my daughter dragged home! Yep, dragged home over the Rockies from North Dakota. She wanted a Land Cruiser but as we all know, they don’t come cheaply but there was an ad for a free!?!? ’76 Land Cruiser “good for restoration” in Minot, North Dakota. Come and get it and it’s your’s! What a bonding experience with your daughter. “You want the truck, go get it and we can restore it together”. Well what would you do if you’ve got time on your hands and not much money? Her and a couple of friends went for a drive and a week later the FJ55 is in the back yard. Restorable? Well, perhaps if you were REALLY ambitious but it was really rusty from the bottom of the windows down. You had to be careful getting in or you’d step right through onto the ground below! Notice the lack of rocker panels and general rustiness of the lower part of the truck. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 07:59 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:39 AM	#7
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	What to do? How do you tell your kid that it ain’t happening? You don’t! You look for another FJ55 to work with. Where do you find an FJ55 with a relatively solid body? California of course! There if there is rust they don’t bother with it any more. So off to L.A. with a flatbed to bring home an FJ55 shell, relatively solid from the windows down but rusty up top! Check out the gutter area on the red body. The roof is nearly off due to rust perforation! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:00 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:44 AM	#8
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	So off with the body and clean up the frame and under carriage. After all if we’re going through this much work it may as well last a little while. The sundeck is recruited for parts storage along with areas of the basement and the garage really becomes a garage! We wire brushed and cleaned the frame and under carriage, repaired and replaced broken or worn parts that were not too expensive (after all I’ve never done this before and I don’t wish to risk $1000’s in a project that may not work). We also repaired the rust that we found on the keeper lower body so that we can mount it on the frame and be able to move it around. After painting the frame and the underside with a rust preventative paint we slip the frame under the solid, from the bottom up, body. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:02 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:46 AM	#9
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Feels good to be in your own truck, even if you got to sit on a bucket!! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:03 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:47 AM	#10
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Now to deal with the rusty roof. Obviously you whack off the rusty one and replace it with the non-rusty one. If only it were that easy! We searched for the original factory spot welds and drilled them all out and lifted off the rusted roof and windshield frame. Then we did it all over again and lifted off a solid roof leaving behind a rusted lower body. Then came welding and fitting the roof and body together while maintaining the correct dimensions at the window and door openings so everything would work when we were finished. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:04 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:49 AM	#11
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Well, that went better than I expected and now it appeared that there was little to stand in our way as far as emerging from this episode with a functioning and classic Land Cruiser. Out with the bondo and primer to get rid of the minor dents and areas that needed attention after the welding (hey, I never said I was a good welder). Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:05 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:50 AM	#12
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	Now to the engine, lets put some gas and water in it and see what happens. “Dad, is there supposed to be water coming out while you fill the radiator?” Well, I knew I was saving the extra 3B diesel for something! Time for a rebuild kit. Now FJ55’s didn’t come with diesels and 3B diesels don’t mount the same as the 2F nor do the transmissions of 2F’s mount to 3B’s. How to fix that? Scrounge a 3B tranny housing and BJ60 mounting crossmember, a 3B input shaft and put it all together. It’s all Toyota! The 3B diesel, H42 tranny and 3 speed J30 single piece transfer case and a PTO thrown on for good measure!! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:06 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:54 AM	#13
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	After leaving for Central America of course it was a little difficult to over see the finishing up but MSN and e-mail work good too. I was a blast to see it mobile when we cam back up for vacation last summer. It looks good too and it’s ALL Toyota! Here's a shot of the tranny support required with the 3B. This is a BJ60 support. A 'pre-80 BJ40 support would be easier due to frame width considerations but I didn't have one. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:07 PM.

11-21-2005, 05:56 AM	#14
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	She’s still got a few cosmetic things to take care of but it runs and it’s a classic, not to mention turning heads! We wanted the classic two tone paint (original FJ55 color and single stage paint correct for that age) and as much as possible the classic lines. The purists out there will notice a few things still not quite right but in the world of FJ55’s body parts are not exactly overflowing with spares. Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade! Last edited by cruiser guy; 11-25-2005 at 08:08 PM.

11-22-2005, 07:31 AM	#15
Greg_Canada Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Member # 24516 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 219	Looks great!

11-23-2005, 01:51 AM	#16
Omgz Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Member # 57843 Location: Fairbanks, AK Posts: 3	that is one beautiful 55!

11-23-2005, 04:20 PM	#18
SPEEDCRAVIN Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Member # 30432 Location: Ozarks (NWA) Posts: 1,571	Good job, I love 55's JOSH __________________ [B][SIZE="5"][COLOR="Blue"]WWW.ANVILRECOVERY.COM[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B] GOT TULIP? yep and he's GOT HIPPIE!!! [SIZE="3"]CHECK OUT MY SHOP BUILD WITH APARTMENT[/SIZE] [url]http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=589523[/url]

11-25-2005, 08:10 PM	#20
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	I just edited the pictures to make it a little easier to view. The other pictures were just a little large! I'll be adding more pictures of the roof swap once I get them from my daughter. __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade!

11-27-2005, 06:59 PM	#21
89s rule Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Member # 37146 Location: Due West, SC Posts: 146	wow, been listening to you talk about this and your other build ups on ih8mud. Great job! continue to keep us posted. __________________ '93 Landcruiser - 48K original miles, 850/860, Billies, 285 MTR and LF 240 Blitz. TLCA #14198

11-27-2005, 11:53 PM	#22
greasysmitty Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Member # 54166 Location: Moscow (no, Idaho) Posts: 62	Holy crow dude, you are a badass! Kudos for jumping right in on a 55. I had one on the line right here in town for essentially nothing, but the convoluted sheetmetal on those things scared me off. Obviously no problem if you make judicious use of the sawzall! Man that thing is sweet. Your daughter must love it. That is so awesome… she must have gotten so much out of that experience. Awesome.

11-28-2005, 10:59 AM	#23
dieselcruiserhead Zeus of the Sluice Join Date: Jul 2002 Member # 12758 Location: Park City, UT Posts: 4,581	Lookin great, great to see another 55 restored... And diesel as well! Cruiser Guy I forget your name (sorry!) but I have been following this for years and loving every second of it! __________________ - '69 diesel FJ55 on a FZJ80 - '89 & 91' Toyota Mini Trucks, M416 trailer

12-07-2005, 09:10 PM	#24
cruiser guy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Member # 25339 Location: Guatemala/Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 229	This just in! One of the photos that I did not have earlier. This is the roof as it was cut off the green truck laying on the front lawn as we get ready to fit it to the rest of the body! As you can see we drilled out the spot welds on all the areas where we separated the old and new. It was not an easy job to get it apart as there is always one more weld to drill out. Once the roof was in place we also added the roof supports from the roof we took off so the new roof actually has 6 support braces and not just 3. This also allows for a courtesy light in the cargo area! We pulled a wire for that too! Attached Images __________________ '82 Toyota LandCruiser BJ60 3B AXT turbo, factory A/C, factory PTO winch, rear Aussie locker. From Vancouver, B.C., Canada! '67 Toyota LandCruiser FJ45LV being restored by my shop class c/w 3B and turbo, H41 low range 4 speed, as well as minitruck disc upgrade!

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