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LJ78 Restoration Lexus Conversion

v8estate

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Mar 18, 2021
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great_britain
I am in the middle of a body off restoration of an LJ78 which includes an upgrade to Lexus V8. I thought I would post a bit about the restoration.
I purchased the vehicle about 5 years ago and drove it around for about a year until the engine died. Instead of trying to fix it I decided it was time for an upgrade, not least because it was full of rot. It really didn't look too bad until I removed the wheel arch covers.
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The Rear Panels were cut out revealing yet more rot
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I decided more drastic action was required

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The chassis was shot blasted, and repainted. Fortunately it was in great shape and didn't need any major repairs
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Panels for these are incredibly hard to source, but Tyrell Restorations in Ireland made me some rear panels.
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There has been a serious amount of fabrication done to get these fitted. Both rear inner arches have been fabricated from scratch . I hate to think how many hours have gone into the rear quarters
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A nice thing to do! I like how your panel maker has replicated the line in the rear panel above the lower line.. looks good!

The imports are great with higher level of trim etc... but they didn't have the underbody treatment/layer from factory. So they suffer quite badly from less years on salted roads.

Nice job buddy.. :thumbup:
 
So very true
I have just spent a few days sanding the underside and spraying with marine primer and topcoat
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The engine was fitted with the body still off the car, and luckily it just cleared the firewall up when the body was dropped back on. Engine mounts were pretty straightforward. The power steering pump looks like its going to be an issue though and may have to be relocated
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