Sprout - Rustic Green 1976 FJ40

[madorbit]

Obviously the next eyesore to manage is the cluster trim. I looked and looked for a paint code for pewter. Nowhere to be found. I like CCOT, but I’m not buying their special Pewter paint. So I decided to just take a few pieces to the paint shop and see what their old books had that was close. I found it endlessly hilarious that the dude’s name who helped me at the paint shop, was Chip. Memorable name and a super cool guy.
I’m not in love with the specific color Toyota picked out for these pieces. I think it’s a bit dull tbh, so I found a color that does it proud and is a little brighter and a little warmer. I think it’s going to look great against the green. I bought two quarts in a single stage Omni. Still cheaper than CCOT’s offering. I couldn’t stand it so I did a quick rub down of these pieces so I could spray them just to see it in it’s full glory. I think it looks pretty amazing actually. I got a few bits of dust and a fisheye so these are going to get nibbed down and re-sprayed in an actual booth once I harass my neighbor to let me use his shop for an afternoon.

 

[Old40Dog]

More...more...more...Keep it coming Mike!

 

[madorbit]

A spray bottle of Simple Green and a hose has been a pretty solid way for me to clean up the engine compartment. I’m not at a place of looking for perfection yet, so it’s a good start for now.

 

[madorbit]

More...more...more...Keep it coming Mike!

Absolutely! I am kinda caught up right now. I sprayed the paint earlier tonight, so it’s been a bit of a tsunami over the past few days, but as I progress I will absolutely keep posting. What you’re seeing here is about three weeks of me poking around with it. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to do. More to come!

 

[Old40Dog]

Mike, Just don't forget that this truck is 44 years old! And there's value in things still "original".

 

[madorbit]

Mike, Just don't forget that this truck is 44 years old! And there's value in things still "original".

Oh absolutely. I’m not going to do anything crazy to this Truck. Just clean and fix and paint. The cluster lighting is probably as wild as it’ll get. And even that is completely reversible should the next owner want to have the original garbage backlighting that Toyota decided on. I’ve made some mistakes on previous land cruisers. One overarching goal is to be non destructive with any changes I do make. This is the most complete FJ40 I’ve ever had and it’s going to stay that way.

 

[ragman]

Very cool! What a cruiser. I'm happy you ran into SteveH! I was lucky as well to run into him years back. Thank you for posting the pictures. Oddly, I was there with you, I could smell the simple green! I hosed the pewter recently too, opting for the CCoT pewter. It turned out pretty nice but was very difficult to spray.

Keep up the great work!

-dallas

 

[Romer]

Nice story. I bought my first FJ40 from Stevinson Toyota in 1979. I wonder where it is now? I did save the small tool bag you have in one of your pictures as a memento.

Keep the pictures coming as you work through it.

 

[madorbit]

Very cool! What a cruiser. I'm happy you ran into SteveH! I was lucky as well to run into him years back. Thank you for posting the pictures. Oddly, I was there with you, I could smell the simple green! I hosed the pewter recently too, opting for the CCoT pewter. It turned out pretty nice but was very difficult to spray.

Keep up the great work!

-dallas

Dallas, I was probably covered in it!
&& Steve is a great guy! The first time I stopped by his place I didn’t get a chance to talk to him much, but when I stopped by to pick up the steering box I was able to spend a little time chatting about land cruisers and such. Super guy, I’m very glad to have met him! I hope to repay his generosity some day.
The single stage can be a bit tricky. It builds out really fast. Too much and the metallic gets a little funky, too little and it orange peels quite a bit. You can add a bit of extra reducer and bump up the pressure at the gun so you get good atomization and flow. The Omni product I have is a 4:1:1 paint:hardener:reducer and it does pretty good. I was mostly concerned about buying the CCOT paint because it doesn’t look like they tell you what paint it is. I like to have an idea what chemistry I’m working with. I can go back to my paint guy and get different reducers and hardeners if something is acting weird. Not sure what I’d get with the CCOT product. Luckily 2 quarts is enough for several coats on everything twice or more.

 

[ragman]

I can tell you with the CCoT pewter, it is very good. Take a look at some of the stuff I have sprayed here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1978-us-market-fj40-restoration.1084111/page-15
I had (as you'd mentioned) to use tools to get a precise temp/humidity reading, bumped the recommended pressure from 25psi to 35psi and reduced with laquer thinner (on the pewter), and I reduced the tip on my HVLP gun from 1.5 to 1.3. That did the trick and it layed down perfectly.

Enjoy the cruiser, it looks amazing and I miss the Denver/Colorado Springs area! Keep up the great. work.

-dallas

 

[ragman]

*I'll add that the CCoT is an acrylic two-stage. It comes with a quart of color and the hardener and reducer you need. I just ran out of reducer by the end of it and used lacquer thinner.

 

[madorbit]

Those do look outstanding! Nicely done. A good quality modern acrylic enamel, even a single stage, with hardener (which is optional) is probably 10x better than what Toyota did back in the day. Their color is an exact match to factory! I’m sure they use a good product, I’m just more comfortable knowing the chemistry and who to go to for help should I need it. I’m familiar with the PPG Omni paints, which is an economy line of professional finishes. CCOT might use Omni products with their own formula. It’s WAY better than anything you’ll get out of a rattle can. I set the instrument cluster cover on the cluster this morning after allowing the paint to cure and wow. What a difference. I am going to wet sand it and spray another coat on it to get the dust out, but otherwise I’m fully satisfied with the color & all

 

[ragman]

Very snappy! - Well done.

 

[madorbit]

So a little paint spraying and sanding and buffing later I have some interior pieces that are (probably going to get another coat) ready. This little ashtray got a coat of epoxy primer after being stripped down to bare metal then three coats of the Palermo Grey, an overnight cure, a brief 1500 wet sand, then a machine polish. The dang thing is smoother than the original paint. I don’t think I’ll be able to reproduce that orange peel.

 

[madorbit]

I called in a quart of the Rustic Green, picked it up and I don’t think we’re quite where we need to be. I’m going to call them and ask if we can work together to get this rustic green a little more yellow. I believe the color is just a bit too blue. The first image is the back side of the tire carrier, brushed on. The second photo is the under side of the gas tank cover, sprayed on

 

[madorbit]

Here are a few more photos of the trim pieces in their final glory...
You can see the ashtray cover compared to the back side of the vapor separator cover. My color is super close to the original. It’s just a little brighter and a little more warm.

 

[bassguyry]

Coolest. Thread. Ever.

What a cool rig and and awesome backstory. I'm enjoying the heck out of this! Thanks, Mike!

 

[madorbit]

My pleasure! It’s going to be a long road but we’re going places!
Thank you for the encouragement!

 

[SteveH]

That pewter will do!

 

[On the RX]

This is awesomeness!