40D Plasma and 16GA

[ksmeggy]

A friend of mine is fixing up a pair of FJ-70s, he's trying to get me to buy one of those. I told him I have too many projects already, and not enough room in the garage for another hunk of steel. They're pretty awesome machines though, we've gone off-roading together a few times (I have an old Chevy Blazer).

[kb3gun]

Yeah, you got to love the Land Cruiser. I finally painted mine a couple of weeks ago. All I have left is bedlining the interior, finishing the brake lines and wiring it up. The end is in sight.

[Ascinder]

I have a 1967 Nissan Patrol. It is extremely similar to the old FJ-40s. Some hack in the past(mine came off a farm) had welded and bondoed the top of a washing machine lid as a patch panel for the back portion of the left rear fender, so needless to say I'll have to fix that. I also have various rust areas to deal with. I've had it about 4 months and the thing has been nothing but work work work. I have had to replace all manner of things and every time I fix one, three others break. There were only about 2,000 or so Patrols imported to the states, so parts are impossible to find(had to import brake cylinders from Australia). There's pics in my gallery for the curious. Rumor has it that Toyota and Nissan had a closed doors meeting back in the day and came to the agreement that Toyota would get the "offroad" market and Nissan would tackle the car market in the US, hence the advent of the "Z" series of cars and the death toll for US Patrols.

[Firefightaz]

Wow that is impressive. Are u using 110 or 220? ..... Great pics too!

[180guy]

Looks good.

[kb3gun]

Thanks everyone. It's been awhile since I visited this thread. I'm wiring it up now (EZ Wiring generic harness) and believe it or not, I used to like wiring. Not so much now. Once I get the wiring done, it'll be time to get the cage welded in and get it registered for the road. I'm ready to wheel it and get the paint scratched.
Ascinder: I wheel with a few guys with Patrols. Very cool rigs and very capable.
Firefightaz: 220 all the way. 110 would have been more than enough for 16GA, but I wired it for 220, and that's where it'll stay.

[rustycase]

Fun stuff, exercising the old 4x4's !
When I was logging we had an old FJ that was plumb wore out and beat up and stove in.. worn out 6cyl and street radials...

Chain up all four and drop her into low range and there was NO place she couldn't go ! Well, we did our best to get her stuck, and usually did, but she went MUCH further than any other 4x4 we had...

rc

[Nick]

Huge fan of the FJ's. There's a reason why they're still in devout service around the globe.

The new FJ's are a pita, seats are rock hard, aerodynamics are that of a brick, etc. They do have excellent ground clearance though.

Bear, the idea is to fill in everything with small spots/beads without distorting the panel. You work on opposite sections until you fill in the gaps. (While waiting for things to reasonably cool, or using aids) The concept of shrinking and stretching metal barely exists anymore. Combine this with welding, and you're a long way ahead.