doyles lj70 project

[doyle61]

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So a couple of months ago I showed ye my new lj70 (New for me anyway lol) and last week myself and my father started the restoration project. So bit of background; this is the body donor for the car. It's an lj70 vx model with that crap 2.4 (2 lt) engine in it. This really is the worst engine toyota ever built. It only has 136k miles on it though which is mental when you think of it.
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I'm going to change it but hopefully the head isn't gone on this engine so i can hold of for a while first and get everything else sorted first. As i said it's a vx which I'm delighted with. My chassis I'm getting of my brother in law who's doing up two atm as well. It's a 1987 chassis.
So my end criteria is that the 70 will be pritty standard with few subble mods. I'll fit a winch but it'll be hidden, a snorkel, 16" wheels and few other bits as I go along. It'll be used for light offroad driving (lol ye right I always say that and then go crazy), shooting and shows which I'm really looking forward to.
So as I said in the other thread there's rust in the usual spots so first thing to do was strip the interior to see if there are any other hidden gremelins.
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So when I got the carpet out and had a good look around I was over the moon, No rust on inner arches and everywhere bat two small bits on drivers sill are rock solid so happy days.
The second reason for stripping the interior is to lighten the body for when we lift it to do the chassis swap so everything bolt on will go.
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The rear doors I reckon are just too far gone and I'll proposal just replace them and I'm just not sure yet about the drivers door. There are couple of small holes along the sill on it and I'm thinking it might be just easier to replace rather than repair. There's also small bit of rust under the windscreen on passenger side bit overall it's actually very solid.
I'm also taking smaller bits home with my to repair there rather than having a huge amount to do when in the shed. I'll take photos when I'm doing them repairs and post when I can
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So wish me luck lads, this is my first full on restoration!!!! So any advice and suggestions will be welcome and hope ye enjoy the project

 

[clivehorridge]

Looking good so far, and a good practical approach by the sound of it

Wishing you luck (as requested) and patience...

 

[Shayne]

Best of luck with it Doyle it looks like your starting out with a good base .

I'm no good to you for tips and advice because i constantly wish i thought i had the ability and the facilities to build my own truck from a multitude of donor vehicles , but i don't

So with that said maybe i can contribute by saying i guess you wouldn't be taking on such a project if the LJ70 wasn't your dream car for keeps , and with that in mind i would suggest you source a 3.0 engine and sort out the brackets for it on the chassis your bro is donating then take it to be galvanized .

Seems everyone with a 2LT swaps or wants to swap for a 3L so no explanation needed there . And my idle day dreaming has had me look into galvanizing my 90 chassis , if i could cart in a bare chassis to them it might cost in the ball park of 200 quid , but if i drove my truck to them they are talking upwards of 3 grand for me to drive it away again with a shiny chassis .

Food for thought maybe .

 

[Ben]

Nice project, looking forward to seeing it progress!

 

[doyle61]

Well came across my first little oversight today. ..... was spraying the grill, headlight surrounds and underside of plate at back of bumper and used sattin black. It just looks wrong so back to motor factors tomorrow for different shade/effect black. I decided to paint the underside of the plate because the top side chrome is 100% so its just for a bit of protection

 

[doyle61]

Only got to do a couple of days on the project since my last update. Between Christmas, working and being sick as a small hospital in December and getting in a bit of shooting in January it didn't leave me much spare time. My plan is to take some of the smaller parts away home with me so it saves time when I get to the shed with some of the bigger jobs. So heres what i did over a few days i managed to get with her. First parts to do were I brought the grill and lights and plate behind the bumper with me to paint.

So with these I masked of the bright work, sanded and sprayed with gloss rattle can. I cleaned the crud from under the plate that goes behind the bumper and did t he same just for a bit of weather protection.
My end plan is to have a cruiser that's not perfect and has some imperfections but that someone will look at and say that it's an honest car if ye get me.
one of the jobs i couldnt wait to do was take that stupid looking bull bar off. Well first attempt at it and everything went wrong with any job i went at. sheered loads of bolts, and couldn't free a lot more so left it till the next day. Second time going at it and I showed no mercy and used the cordless dewalt grinder on the bolts holding the bar and jobs a good one

Now here's where the real fun started. Next to come off was the front plate connecting the two wings, what a pure pig to get off. All bolts were seized and as ye can see it's not in great condition. Now the brother in law has one of these for me but I'd like to rescue and repair as much of the car as possible so I didn't want to damage it any further than it was already. I knew it was filler on the panel so work was previously done but what I found shocked even me who's on their first project. The filler was just put straight on over rust and was rusting from the inside out

Having seen this I decided "fcuk it" and put the sanding disk on the grinder and have a look at the wings. I figured they were either gone or not but needed work anyway so no need to be suttle.
Right hand side

Before

After
Left hand side

Believe it or not there was good news, the inner arches are solid with only a small bit of surface rust that I'll sort very easily, but the outer right wing is shocking imo
So I brought the centre panel home with me to see how I get on repairing it. I'm going to be bringing a lot of these into work to do during lunch...........and also when the CO isn't around lol. I also brought the rear door with me

Again it looks pretty bad but it's just in this spot (fair enough it's front and rear skins) but the rest of the door is solid and remember I want to rescue as much as possible.
I also got another bit of good news, I managed to secure 5 rims and tyres off some of our cars being sent for breaking. The tyres are general grabbers and about 3/4 thread left on them and the rims are off a Nissan patrol. I'm delighted with myself as they are very similar to the Toyota ones but I prefer the "16 to the landcruiser "15. I also got a bracket we use for mounting our comms antenna and got a NATO hitch aswell

Today I started (trying) to make the patches for the panels but never took photos but I'll start doing that tomorrow and post again during the weekend

 

[Ben]

Nice work mate.

I know you want to keep it as original as possible, but its a shame I'm not closer. I've got a mountain of completely rust free panels that fit the front of these and they just dont seem to sell down here!

Whats the go with all the Patrol's? Seems such a shame for them to be going to the scrap yard!

 

[doyle61]

I'm in the army. When cars get to a certain age off they go. Sometimes when a good one gets to scrapping age a case can be made to keep it longer but a lot of the cars at 10 years old in the army have had a very very hard life. The white ones obviously are U.N. cars so you can only imagine how hard a life they had lol. You should have seen the ones that came back from Africa a few years ago

 

[doyle61]

Update time......
Well like everyone else, I havnt got as much done in last two weeks as Ben has managed to do but I made a bit of progress all the same. As i said earlier in the thread I'm going to bring as much of the project into work with me as I can so I can use the machines there and also if I get stuck on something one of the lads can help aswell.
I decided to try my hand at a bit of bodywork, which I've never done before..........ever!!! I brought in the front panell that connects the front wings and the rear door from my earlier post. So I started by taking off the headlight washers and made some cardboard templets and transfered these into 1mm sheet steel. I cut and shaped these but then held off on cutting the panel for a while. My brother in law have me a spare panel he had in the shed so I'll complete my own one in a few weeks time and store it as a spare one.

Next I had a go at the washers, they were just rough looking with one of them broken in half. It turned out the metal inside the rubber mount was completely rotted away.

I came up with a bit of an idea and put the washers into the sand blaster to see if this would clean them up

They came out like new. I was delighted with the result but have to say i was also surprised by it. Next to refit the broker washer I cut where the screw holes are and cleaned the rust out, got a nice size washer and put fiberglass on front and back of it and placed into the space closing back over the cut rubber. I then put the two parts and fiberglassed them together from the back

Next I went at the numberplate light thingy lol. Stripped it appart and the metal was weak in only one place. I sandblasted it and decided not to bother cutting out such a small piece that afterall doesn't need any strength so just painted it with gate paint

The lights themselves are in bits so I'm going to try find similar to replace them with, maybe Led's??
As i said I was planning on f ping that front panel first because I figured it was easiest and I could practice there before going into the likes of the door, and I was also planning on getting one of the fitters in work to do the welding for me; none of this happened. I decided to go for it and have a lash at the door, I Made up the two patches for the outer skin, Said a prayer lol and cut the rot out and hey presto no fitter around to do the welding for me so threw caution to the wind and had a go at it myself lol.

Have to say i was like a dog with two mickeys afterwards with the result. Over the moon and got the thumbs up from the fitters when they saw the results.
With the way the outer went I decided to see how I'd get on with the more complicated inner skin. I started with the rot at the corner and worked my way back across the door breaking it up into sections

I know they're not the best welds by a country mile out there, i i did need to uae the grinder a fair bit to clean everything up, but I have to say i was delighted with my first attempt at body work. Don't know when I'll get round to putting filler on it so might just spray some primer on first just for protection.
So far really enjoying the project

 

[clivehorridge]

Update time......
Well like everyone else, I havnt got as much done in last two weeks as Ben has managed to do but I made a bit of progress all the same. As i said earlier in the thread I'm going to bring as much of the project into work with me as I can so I can use the machines there and also if I get stuck on something one of the lads can help aswell.
I decided to try my hand at a bit of bodywork, which I've never done before..........ever!!! I brought in the front panell that connects the front wings and the rear door from my earlier post. So I started by taking off the headlight washers and made some cardboard templets and transfered these into 1mm sheet steel. I cut and shaped these but then held off on cutting the panel for a while. My brother in law have me a spare panel he had in the shed so I'll complete my own one in a few weeks time and store it as a spare one.
View attachment 114167

Next I had a go at the washers, they were just rough looking with one of them broken in half. It turned out the metal inside the rubber mount was completely rotted away.

I came up with a bit of an idea and put the washers into the sand blaster to see if this would clean them up

They came out like new. I was delighted with the result but have to say i was also surprised by it. Next to refit the broker washer I cut where the screw holes are and cleaned the rust out, got a nice size washer and put fiberglass on front and back of it and placed into the space closing back over the cut rubber. I then put the two parts and fiberglassed them together from the back

Next I went at the numberplate light thingy lol. Stripped it appart and the metal was weak in only one place. I sandblasted it and decided not to bother cutting out such a small piece that afterall doesn't need any strength so just painted it with gate paint

The lights themselves are in bits so I'm going to try find similar to replace them with, maybe Led's??
As i said I was planning on f ping that front panel first because I figured it was easiest and I could practice there before going into the likes of the door, and I was also planning on getting one of the fitters in work to do the welding for me; none of this happened. I decided to go for it and have a lash at the door, I Made up the two patches for the outer skin, Said a prayer lol and cut the rot out and hey presto no fitter around to do the welding for me so threw caution to the wind and had a go at it myself lol.

Have to say i was like a dog with two mickeys afterwards with the result. Over the moon and got the thumbs up from the fitters when they saw the results.
With the way the outer went I decided to see how I'd get on with the more complicated inner skin. I started with the rot at the corner and worked my way back across the door breaking it up into sections

I know they're not the best welds by a country mile out there, i i did need to uae the grinder a fair bit to clean everything up, but I have to say i was delighted with my first attempt at body work. Don't know when I'll get round to putting filler on it so might just spray some primer on first just for protection.
So far really enjoying the project

I like your approach to this Doyle, taking the view that only others can do this won't get you anywhere.

I used to gas weld with Oxy-Acetylene in the old days and ended up virtually rebuilding old cars, structurally and bodywork. You don't know what you're capable of until you give it a go, and from what you've achieved so far, you should be well chuffed

Keep at it and posting, looking good matey

 

[Ben]

Nice work mate.

 

[doyle61]

Did a bit more work on the second rear door on the 70 but turns out I didn't take a photo of the finish so I'll do that tomorrow and do a write up over the weekend.
I'm after a bit of help from ye though, can someone put up a photo of the panel or whatever's behind the rear right wheel protecting the fuel pipes. There's nothing there on mine and presume theses suppose to be something. I'll either get hold of it or make something but I'd like to know what I'm dealing with

Also when I put on the patrol wheels I realised they have a different offset to the 15's I've taken off and brought the wheels back into the axle. On the left front wheel a stabilizer (?) Bar is touching the wheel. I take it my only way around this is to use spacers?

 

[doyle61]

Update time; as I've said before, im going to do as much of the repairs as I can in work as I have access to all the machinery I need and this will save time to concentrate on some of the bigger jobs in the shed where it's stored. I got an idea to expand on this and decided to turn the garage back to a bit of a hobbie shop.
I rescued an old work bench in work and got my friend to knock up longer legs for me

Cleared the garage to create space. I'm putting my fridge I use for hanging deer out into my new garden shed

And reasembeled the bench. A friend has a vice for me and I'm trying to repair a mig welder aswell. I only have a gasless one which tbh was a waste of money

My plan is that I can now bring the finished doors etc home with me and I can do the filler etc in the garage where I'll have more time to myself. This will save time in work and hence in the shed.
So I posted a photo of the front panell connecting the wings and how it's pretty rotten, well the brother in law gave me a spare one he had. I'm still going to repair the other one as it can be a spare for the future. It didn't have headlight washers and had a small bit of rot. So cutted the rot out cut a patch and welded it up. Next I marked the squares for the washers, cut them, drilled holes and welded nuts to the back. Tbh I'm not overally impressed because I put too much heat into the panell and she warped a bit. I'll have to wait and see what it's like when bolted back together to see if it's ok or not.

Next I went at the second rear door. It wasn't near as bad as the first one but the more I prodded and scraped the more I was finding.

I tried to save a bit of time here with some of the smaller holes and just plug weld them but it just ended out being more hassle than it was worth so went back to what worked for me so far. So cut out all the patches and cut out the rot and started welding.

I also stripped the lock latch and stopper to clean them up aswell. I just sand blasted them and put gate paint on them and used spray marine greece on the latch.
I'm planning on stripping the two front wings next and I'll start making decisions of they're past it or if I'll try repair them.

 

[clivehorridge]

It's going to be a long haul Doyle, but I suppose you realise that (even if not so apparent when you started).

Don't give up mate, press on.

 

[doyle61]

So latest update on the cruiser, got to do a few hours last Friday but photobucket was acting up on me to upload a few photos. I planned on taking off the front wings and arches to bring into work, take off rear monstrosity of a bumper and take sunroof out. All I'll say is it fought me every step of the way. Most of the bolts holding the wings are rushed solid and only rung the nuts off so I'm bringing the cordless grinder with me next time.
I eventually freed the arches off and was left with this

I'm not all that surprised but I'm going to have a go at repairing them but this time in going to try put a flange on the patch, drill holes on it and spot weld them to the panels. This will give a good comparison to the other patches and with the rest ones in thinking of trying adhesive.
Found that on passenger sill which I somehow missed before

Got the rear bumper off which I hated beyond belief. I couldn't believe someone ever thought it was a good idea to attach it to a 70

It was only 4 bolts but whoever put it on decided it would be great to put them in the most inaccesable place on the car. Good news though is that rust is minimal here and that converter should sort that out.
Started at the sunroof. Unclipped the head liner up to the front windscreen but left it attached there. Unbolted everything but it's still holding solid around the front somewhere. i ran out of time because it started getting dark so bolted it to secure the sunroof not to dint the roof itself. Think it's some of the water sealant holding it so I'll bring a good blade with me next time

 

[Ben]

Make sure you cut all of the rot out or it will keep coming back, you need to cut back to good metal.

Surface rust should be ok cleaned up and treated, but rot needs to be removed.

 

[doyle61]

Make sure you cut all of the rot out or it will keep coming back, you need to cut back to good metal.

Surface rust should be ok cleaned up and treated, but rot needs to be removed.

Yep doing that so far. Next time I'll still cut the rot out but instead of stitch welding in going to try make a flange on the patch and spot weld

 

[doyle61]

Got to spend a few hours yesterday on the 70 but this time I brought along the trusty cordless dewalt grinder. On the list today to desmantle were the front arches and wings and finish taking out the sunroof
Started on the front wing and knew from last day that all the bolts holding it to the arch were rushed solid so went straight to cutting them off with the grinder. All I'll say on the subject is that when I look at the likes of Ben's photos this looks easy, why didn't someone warm me. I thought it was straight forward and I suppose in future it will be but there's a lot of hidden bolts to find for your first time dismantling lol.
Took a photo and took off all the anceleries. The battery tray has a lot of surface rust so brought that back aswell for blasting and painting.
Cut and unbolted the wing from the arch and "persuaded" it to come off. That sealant that's used is a right pain but eventually got them off

Next I started back at the sunroof. I ran out of time last day I was at it and was on my own so with the auld chap there yesterday I was going to take advantage. The problem was that it was stuck solid on one corner and at the front. After looking at it and pulling, hitting it and a lot of f$#king at it i realised i took two of the wrong bolts off the last day. Undid these and had her out in 5 mins. Big shout out to Ben for the schamatics for the sunroof he put up on facebook during the week.

When i got all the parts home I decided to have a close look at the roof. Motor off first and hooked it up to a 12v battery and happy days she works perfectly. Not so good from there on unfortantly. I'm having trouble separating the sliding roof from the "tub" so if anyone has a suggestion it would be appreciated. Also a hell of a lot of rust fell out from between the roof and tub so I'm bracing myself for bad news there. I'll post photos of the repairs next week

 

[JimmyLJ71]

I've just had a lot of restoration work done to my LJ71, I don't know if you are aware but there are a lot of repair panels available from Germany, I bought a set of new front wings repair panel and rear panels, the front panels look like the ones for your truck, I had to butcher for mine.

 

[doyle61]

Christ Jimmy that would have saved me a fair bit of work. I was trying to find front wings but no joy. Do you have a link? I have the inner arch finished and I'm currently patching the wing. I got one of the lads to make a flange making tool for me but it hasn't worked out properly so I'm doing these patches slightly different to the way I wanted to. I'll be putting up photos in next couple of days