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Help saving a L70

MSJW

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May 13, 2017
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great_britain
Hi all

I've got what I believe is an 1989 FJ70 that used to be the family car over a decade ago. It's got the usually signs of wear and tear with the three biggest issues being the window trims are knackered and bloated with rust, the sun roof which looks like it's been welded over is a bit deformed around the seems and there's a hole in the passenger rear side panel near the wheel arch about the size of a tennis ball or smaller

The rest of the vehicle is surprisingly clean. Headliner needs looking at but the engine bay and chasis are very tidy. We have used this as an off roader a few times over the last couple of years and it's performed amazingly as you'd expect

I've had a look online for parts and get the impression they're sparse at best.

Given these seem to be the main issues from getting it back on the road I wanted to get opinions on how viable this is... without an unlimited budget.

Has anyone been able to source window trim/ seals before?
Has anyone made repairs to the sheet metal - it doesn't look like you can bolt an equivalent body panel on so welding would be involved... again not sure whether this would need to be jusy sheet metal cut to fit, if so what thickness and material is best?

Oh it's a two door

Pics to illustrate

Sun roof https://i.imgur.com/wIkkrUZ.jpg

Windows https://i.imgur.com/mwnhi5b.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2ub1UwW.jpg

Rear panel near wheel arch https://i.imgur.com/wffmaF3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MAzjJrh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AwAVkyX.jp


Cheers
 
Seem to be loading for me.

Take a look at Ben's threads, LJ70 build thread, LJ78 build thread and RJ70 build thread. You'll see what can be achieved with some time, skill and dedication.

LJ 70 thread is a long one for sure but there's arguably few others on this forum that are as familiar with 70 series Cruisers as Ben is.
 
Last edited:
Hi all

I've got what I believe is an 1989 FJ70 that used to be the family car over a decade ago. It's got the usually signs of wear and tear with the three biggest issues being the window trims are knackered and bloated with rust, the sun roof which looks like it's been welded over is a bit deformed around the seems and there's a hole in the passenger rear side panel near the wheel arch about the size of a tennis ball or smaller

The rest of the vehicle is surprisingly clean. Headliner needs looking at but the engine bay and chasis are very tidy. We have used this as an off roader a few times over the last couple of years and it's performed amazingly as you'd expect

I've had a look online for parts and get the impression they're sparse at best.

Given these seem to be the main issues from getting it back on the road I wanted to get opinions on how viable this is... without an unlimited budget.

Has anyone been able to source window trim/ seals before?
Has anyone made repairs to the sheet metal - it doesn't look like you can bolt an equivalent body panel on so welding would be involved... again not sure whether this would need to be jusy sheet metal cut to fit, if so what thickness and material is best?

Oh it's a two door

Pics to illustrate

Sun roof https://i.imgur.com/wIkkrUZ.jpg

Windows https://i.imgur.com/mwnhi5b.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2ub1UwW.jpg

Rear panel near wheel arch https://i.imgur.com/wffmaF3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MAzjJrh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AwAVkyX.jp


Cheers

This will need a shed load of dedication, but it's doable. Richard has guided you to Ben's threads and it shows what can be done, but you'll need to find (or learn) a body-panel welder and if you get a good one who's not too expensive, he will be able to do everything you need.

Learning yourself will be the best way, you can then take your time....
 
What's the story on this cruiser JW? Is it yours or are you thinking of making it so?

On the metal the best is the same thickness as what you are welding to and will be mild steel. Ben uses aluminised mild steel.

If you're going to be doing the welding yourself, get some of the exact same metal and practice away from the car until you're good enough.
 
As the lads have said already, go to Ben's threads and have a read. I'm working my way through my own 70 and Ben's thread is defenetly helping me out as any problem you come across Ben probally came across already so you'll have a good basis to solve your own problems.
Currently I'm at my sunroof and can tell you that your roof is shot. Mine looked the exact same as yours and I ended up collecting two dustpans of rust out of it lol. When you start I'd leave the roof as one of the later jobs and use my mistakes to learn from. I'll be putting photos of it on my thread.
If you can get your hands on one, try get a glass sunroof from the square light lj70
 
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Thanks guys. ;)

Welcome to the club MSJW. :thumbup:

Firstly its an LJ70 you have, not an FJ70.

FJ70's have leaf springs all round and were never sold in the UK. :ugeek:

Secondly, looking at your pics its really not that bad and perfectly savable. :dance:

The sun roof needs replacing and as Doyle61 suggested, a glass one out of a later square headlight LJ70 would be the way to go. Have a search on ebay for "Landcruiser breaking" and try and find some one breaking a square headlight one.

Theres a few guys on here who break Landcruisers but its usually 80's they have, so I doubt they will have one.

60 series glass sunroofs also fit, maybe not much help in the UK, but here in Australia they are easier to find than the glass LJ70 ones.

The rear window frames have rusted out, quite common, particularly down here for some reason.

You can still buy the frames from Toyota and the cheapest option would be to use either Amayama.com or Megazip.net. They source genuine parts from Japan or the UAE and they are a lot cheaper than Toyota GB or Toyota Australia.

Another option that you may not have considered that may or may not suit you, is to do away with the glass in those 2 rear side windows completely and fill them in with steel, painted the same colour as the car, or even black.

It would certainly be a lot cheaper than replacing the standard metal frames and depending on what you intend on using the vehicle for and if you will carry rear passengers or not, it might be a good option.

The rust in the arches will need cutting out and new metal welding in.

Depending on your budget and how handy you are it may be easier to get someone else to do this for you and may not be too expensive.

If you want to do it yourself you will need access to a MIG welder and you will need to cut and fold/bend some 1.8mm or 2mm sheet steel.

Ideally you should use alluminiumised steel for this, as it is a lot more corrosion resistant than regular steel.

Good luck. :thumbup:
 
From what I'm finding out from research and talking to lads the easiest fix for the sunroof is to change to the glass one. Now that are hard to source so brother in law gave me an idea if I can't source toyota parts; he said cut out a nice good quality glass sunroof and skin from a scrap car and weld the new skin into the roof of the 70. It's a very fiddly job and a new roof liner would have to be made but something along that lines is my last line of defence option if I can't get genuine parts. Fingers crossed I can though.
 
Guys thanks so much for th me info and clarifying exactly which LC this is!

The back story is this used to be the family car circa 15 years ago (my dads) and even then it had a slight issue with the rear wing but it's got worse from being out in the elements stood mostly still for the last decade.

We were using the car as an off roader a few times a year but have since got a 1997 discovery which has taken the LCs place. I always liked the LC.. metal dash, nice dials and a solid feel to it. It would be a shame to sell it for little cash or part it out as hopefully it's not too impossible to get back on the road. Mechanically it runs very well with 102k on the clock.

Ben your thread is so useful! I'll check out those sites for the window frames. I was reading your posts on replacing your wing. I'm going to jack the LC up later and get a proper look underneath the body.

I've already been searching for breaking LCs so will keep on it and see what parts I can source.

I'd prefer to keep the rear passenger glass and the option of a glass sunroof does sound good. I have access to scrap vehicles which I could measure up to see how viable it is to Frankenstein the sunroof if I can't find anything through breakers.

How likely is it the window rust is from the body or is this from metal inside the window frame? I don't want to take out the existing until I have replacements and a good weekend to swap them over.

Have access to a MIG welder so a bit of DIY is an option, although I'll need a sheet metal guilotine and bending tool - looks like I can get the latter for about £65 (small one from one of the chain tool shops here).

Cheers
 
Plenty out there sell universal sunroofs though i've never looked at prices , i must assume these come with all you need to make a tidy finish inside and out on cars that never had a sunroof so maybe if you can find one bigger than the original it would be a shortcut ?
 
The window frames rust out because they drain holes get clogged up, dirt and leaves build up in the frames and they just rot.

You could possibly even get replacment frames from some one breaking one. They are pretty easy to change. :icon-biggrin:
 
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