The most important thing before starting a restoration is to be prepared for it to take many hours. Very many hours. Maybe thousands of hours. I used 10 years to finish. I did not have much experience from before so I had to learn a lot of new things. Welding and sheet metal work, mechanics and painting. But that’s a part of the fun.
I have done a few writeups along the way that I hope can help. This article provides only an overview, in other articles you can find more details:
Door Skin repair
Hardtop restoration
Disc brake restoration
Add Power Steering to a Land Cruiser 40
Electrical Restoration
Ambulance Doors Restoration
Bib Restoration
Windshield frame Restoration
Roof Restoration
Insert windows in a Land Cruiser
General:
Welding sheet metal
Sheet metal work
Painting and rust protection
Body Solder
Or see all topics on LC40 here: land-cruiser-40
The Land Cruiser 40 is an incredibly rugged car, perhaps the most rugged ever built. But unfortunately it also rusts easily. The good thing is that it is a frame car with a body that is easy to work on. No cavities and mostly surfaces that only curve one way.
This means that it is quite easy to make new parts. In addition, it is a popular car to restore so you can buy most of the body parts. And the car is still in use in many countries so Toyota can still supply original parts, e.g.
ih8mud.co
buschtaxi.org (in German)
LandcruiserClub.net
Disassembly
Before disassembly begins, spray all bolts with an rust penetrating oil. I used Fluid film for this. It should work as long as possible, preferably a few weeks. Heat will also help for difficult bolts. There were very few bolts that snapped for me. If the bolt snaps and you can get to it, the best way to get the remains out is to weld on a nut. Then you can use a pipe and in addition the heat will make it loosen.
Be structured during disassembly. Do not disassemble more than necessary. Take lots of pictures showing the assembly of parts. Mark all parts. Put screws and small parts in marked plastic bags.
Cleaning
The underside of the car was covered with old Tectyl that was hard as stone. I sprayed this with Fluid Film and left it for a few weeks to soak up, then scrape and high pressure washer to get it off.
Frame
Although I have a fairly large sandblaster, I chose to set this job away. The frame was primed with Epoxy at the same time.
The frame was very good on this car. The only thing that had to be replaced were the two sloping brackets at the rear. And there was some rust at the front spring attachment, rear. This is a weak point where dirt and moisture accumulate. The wall thickness of the frame is 4.2 mm, here it was only 2 mm.
Welding in the frame requires skill and is not really recommended because the steel becomes brittle and can crack along a weld under load. It is better to use a fish plate if possible. A fish plate is a piece of steel that is screwed or riveted over the bad part. I made an internal fish plate over the weak part and bolted with high tension bolts.
Tub
The tub was rusty in all the usual places. That is, rear quarter panels, rear wheel wells, rear bed and front floors. Some rust had been repaired earlier, but this was very badly done. I was lucky to get hold of another tub so I had something to cut parts from. The side of the wheel wells are, for example, composed of plates from the two tubs. Making the corrugation on these is not easy.
I bought some parts new. The rear bed is from Teseven , and the top of the wheel wells from coolcruisers.
Before you start cutting in the tub, be sure to stiffen it off. Weld on square tube so it does not lose its shape.
Else I made the steel pieces that were needed. The side profile of the rear doors was made of square tubes that were cut lengthwise and welded together again.
I think the attachment of the roll bar is too weak as it was originally made, so I built a frame of square tubing that is attached to the tub at the traverses in the front and rear.
See: Welding sheet metal, Sheet metal work and Painting and rust protection
Engine
The engine worked very well so I saw no reason to do anything with it. But it was quite rusty so I picked off the diesel pump and starter, etc to get access for cleaning and painting. Rust was removed with rust-eater. Some of the frost plugs were really rusty. Two of them got holes when I brushed with a wire brush. So I changed all when the engine was out. Only those at the top of the block were very rusty so it had been enough to change these.
Tools
What you need will of course depends on what you are going to do yourself, but I would recommend: MIG welder, compressor, sandblaster, simple plate break, some angle grinders and standard hand tools. See more in articles in sheet metal, welding and painting.
Buy Parts
https://www.amayama.com/ – Very often the best prices on OEM parts. In the Emirates, but fast shipping.
https://carmarka.com/ – sometimes cheaper than Amayama. Dubai
https://www.teseven-toyotaclassic.com – Body parts. France
https://www.megastore4x4.pt/ – Mechanical and body parts. Portugal
https://www.euro4x4parts.com/ – Mechanical parts. In France
https://www.4x4extreme.be – New and used parts. Belgium
https://www.coolcruisers.com/ – Mechanical and body parts. USA
https://shop.cruiserparts.net/ – New and used parts. USA
https://www.sor.com/ – Parts. USA
There are many more, but I have used most of these.
See all topics on LC40 here: land-cruiser-40
