Painting an 80 Series Landcrusier! (Its Finally Done)

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Ahhhhh, the feeling of completion! :wings:

About 4 months ago i decided to wanted to "Restore" my very used looking 80series. I never really cared for the Emerald Green (no offense to any emerald green owners) color when i bought it and decided since the paint was very tired, it was time for a change! What color you ask, well, white of course! Isnt that the official Expo color?

I wanted it done right and the quotes i was getting were in the $5k Range! :Wow1: I talked with some friends of mine and we decided to paint it ourselves as i wanted some body work done that would easily double the $5k quotes i had been getting!

I have always liked the look of the 80 with the flares removed but didnt want to do the standard herculiner fix to cover up the holes. I posted on mud looking for flareless white 80 pics and saw a pic of a Jap Spec 80 with no factor flares and the factory steel wheels! EXACTLY what i wanted.

While i was in there, i also wanted to change and upgrade some stuff. I always liked the new "Sombero" style grill so i swapped one of those in (traded with a friend) and i have always liked the white colectors edition "black pearl" emblems so i found a set of those as well.

Parts needed for 91-94 style to 95-97 style grill swap:-Grill
-Both Headlights
-Both Corner Marker Lights
-Lower Valance Panel
Parts needed for black pearl emblem upgrade:
-Antenna Ring
-Grill Emblem
-Large "Toyota Landcruiser" emblem on lift gate
-4WD Emblem on tailgate
-Sombero emblem on tailgate

The Black Pearl kit is discontinued, and finding all the parts was not easy!

The truck was stripped in no time:

We talked about various ways to fill the holes and we decided that the best way to do it with long term results in mind was to cut out little plugs and weld them up. This was a very tedious process as there are lots of little holes, but my friend mike is a hot rod customizer and he made short work out of it!

 

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Once the plugs we all filled and welded, we ground them down to start the insanely time consuming process of feathering them in, this will prove to be the hardest part of the job for sure!

Once this was done, it was on to the door jams. We decide it was best to paint all of the jams seperately as that could be done in my driveway with some good prep and wind protection, this was a lot more involved then it looked, but came out awesome!

We decided to start with the back of the truck to test the texture and such.

The end result was awesome so we decide to do all of the jams in the same manner. The prep for this was very time consuming, but the results were well worth it. I originally just wanted to spray the outside, but i am very glad they talked me into doing the jams too!

 

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Next step was the doors, liftgate, and tail gate.

We decided to paint the jams of these off of the truck so make it easier and more uniform:

When the glass was removed from the liftgate, we found some rust in one of the seams, i treated this with some acid etch and applied POR15 to stop the rust. Once it was hardened, i sanded it down for a smooth finish;

 

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Once assembled, it had to get prepped for the "booth spray" of the exterior. We borrowed a booth from a friend and we able to trailer it there after it was all prepped and ready to go to save a lot of down time.

I decided not to skimp on the paint as this truck is going receive a full restoration and will be kept for a LONG time!

After talking with several body shops and auto paint suppliers about what the truck will be used for and the need for a very durable paint, they all suggested i use PPG DelStar which is a very durable single stage Acrylic Enamel. I went with the OEM Toyota "045" color code which is standard from 91-97 on 80 series.

The paint was very easy to apply, shot very smooth, and the finish is perfect! Very pleased!

We soaked the floor with water to prevent any dust kickup that might get stuck in the paint

 

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Huge thanks to my friends Brett and Mike for helping out with this project!

I am very pleased with the results and have a new found respect for people in the auto body industry!

Many more pics coming soon when i bolt everything back on with all the new goodies i got!

Assembly Begins:

 

[articulate]

Holy crap, bro!

That's incredible. I would never think of painting a vehicle myself, mainly for the lack of appropriate tools and knowledge. She looks great.

 

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Holy crap, bro! That's incredible.

My thoughts exactly! Turned out awesome! It was a team effort, and i cant even try to take credit for this masterpiece!

I would never think of painting a vehicle myself, mainly for the lack of appropriate tools and knowledge. She looks great.

Tools were easy, got a lot of friends into hotrods and such, they dug the project and helped me out quite a bit, again, i cant even try to take credit for this masterpiece!

Knowledge was fun as i picked a lot of brains of friends, auto body shops, auto paint stores, etc... Learned quite a bit in the process, but it was my buddy Brett who had done this a few times and is responsible for how awesome it came out!

 

[CLynn85]

Congrats. Looks uber-good and nice to see it in expo-white. Doing body work yourself may be tedious and hard work, but in my opinion the satisfaction of completing it is well worth the time and effort. So far I've done two of my cars, and plan to finish the body work and paint on my austin-healey project car this winter. :Mechanic:

Are you going to leave the factory alloys as is?

 

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Are you going to leave the factory alloys as is?

No, they look horrible, i will be installing a set of the Non-US Steelies when i get some time!

 

[calamaridog]

Kevin,

It looks awesome. I'm glad you did the door jambs, it really makes the project complete.

BTW, what's the story with the other rig?

 

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Kevin, It looks awesome. I'm glad you did the door jambs, it really makes the project complete.

Yeah, i was being lazy at first and i am glad the guys talked me into it! Makes a world of difference! K

BTW, what's the story with the other rig?

You dont see another rig! You dont see another rig!

However, you may notice an update to my signature!

Sorry, cant leak details for another week!

 

[Desertdude]

Nice work! I agree on the EG color especially in the heat - always figured I would go white when the time came.

What did you do under the hood? Around the engine?

What type of paint? Single stage, two stage?

 

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What did you do under the hood?

Swapped a nice white hood from another truck, was in awesome shape and blends well

Around the engine?

I am pulling the engine around the 1st of the year and will be painting the engine compartment at that time. Figured it wasnt worth it to do it now with everything in there.

Engine is being pulled to do the head gasket, PHH, Oil Pan Gasket and Rear Pan Arch Seal. All as PM.

What type of paint? Single stage, two stage?

PPG DelStar Single Stage Polyurethane Acrylic Enamel

Factory Toyota Code "045" of course!

 

[Desertdude]

Thanks Kev

It's a ton of work Well done!

 

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It's a ton of work

I nominate you for understatement of the year!

Took almost 4 months! I thought auto body shops were scam artists when i was getting quotes, now i fully understand the time and labor involved.

And before anyone asks, NO, I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!!

Well done!

Thanks, i will spread the word to the team