FJ62 Roof Rack, Rain Gutter Repair, General R&R

[Brody]

I have been working on an FJ62 and I thought that I would start a thread as some of the repairs and refab of the roof rack, etc., were pretty cool. First, a brief history:

I met Matt through Chris (Thanks!!) as he was one of the people who were interested in buying Chris' rig. Well, he already had four FJs, 60s and 62s, and didn't really need another one, but he did buy Chris' roof top tent. His FJ62 was also very nicely set up with all sorts of electrical plumbing for major accessories, custom Alcans , SUA, etc., etc. The problem was that he had loaned his neighbor his rig and his neighbor drove it into the Cherry Creek underground garage parking, tearing off the existing roof rack and pretty much destroying the rain gutters. He got in touch with me for basic mechanical work (clean rig, tighten everything, check all components, go through the existing electrical (I removed 40' of wiring that simply wasn't connected to anything anymore), cleaning off the grounds, battery terminals, running new ground wires, labeling all loose wires, redoing all the vacuum lines, cleaning the MAF, cleaning the throttle body body, etc.) and when I had his rig "running better than it ever has", which was nice to hear, he asked me about the rain gutter and roof rack repair. He had taken it to quite a few folks, two of which gave him a very pricey estimate, and the others refusing to even touch it. I told him I could fix the gutters, and reconfigure the roof rack to his specs so that is was both lower profile, modular, and would serve as a mount for the RTT.

Since I am also going to be doing more work on this in the form of a new front winch bumper, sliders, roof repair, fender repair, winch install, dual battery install, etc., I thought I would start a thread on it. Here is what I started with:

[Brody]

And more. As you can see the rain gutters had been really damaged. What isn't shown is the racked roof rack. It was torn completely off the rig, so you can imagine the damage.

[Brody]

The first thing to do was to straighten out the damage to the rain gutters, clean the body caulk from them, re tack weld and cut and weld as needed. About as challenging as it looks to be, but I had done quite a bit of this kind of repair work before and he wanted weld in mounts for the rack, so it wasn't too bad.

[Brody]

Here is where I am today, with light mounts still to do, the RTT location, bracing for the spare in location#1 and a separate mounting plate for spare location #2 towards the back of the rig for when he isn't set up for the RTT. As I mentioned, the whole rack is modular except for the welded in mounts, allowing Matt to relocate the spare mount to the front or rear, unbolt the entire rack, unbolt the Hi Lift, make a flat surface for sheet goods, or reconfigure for mounting a boat. When I am done with the basics rack stuff, he is going to have that sandblasted and painted, the roof, after the repair work, painted the same low gloss or flat black, and then the rest of the rig camo covered with the vinyl camo cladding. He is a hunter and that is the primary use for this rig.

[Chris]

Looking good Pete, I'm sure Matt's very happy with everything you've done!

[Brody]

Thanks Chris! He sold the FJ60 and the other 62, both of which were, along with his, "running the best they have ever run" when I got done with them. He is really happy with the way the roof rack/gutter repairs turned out as he was about ready to give up on this rig.

[Chris]

The 60 series are great trucks when they get the attention they need so thanks for keeping these alive and well. I'll have to post a pic I just got of my old truck doing duty as a hunting truck in Iowa.

[RockyMtnHigh]

Nice job! :thumb:

[Haku]

Cool stuff. I met Ben today, Matt's friend who had you do some work on his brakes and stuff. He is another Production techy type that works Freelance for the same company that Steve and I do freelance for, and Adam works full time for him. He seemed pleased with the work you did. He said he had a Landcruiser, but wasn't sure what model it was.

Good stuff, kinda makes me want a Landcruiser.

[Brody]

Ben's a nice guy, as is Matt. I have a junkyard shopping list going for Ben's rig and a rubber distributor cover that I repaired for him over at my house. Still have to do the electric window fix on his rig, too.

I got the extra spare tire carrier on in the back yesterday as well as all of the tie downs, final welding an the brackets, etc. It left yesterday evening for a trip to the sand blaster and some paint. Next pictures will be with the rack painted as it will be coming back to me for roof repair and light wiring and install.

[DKDunn04]

Looks great!

[Brad]

Looks really good! As always Pete! :thumb:

[Dirt Claude]

Looks great Pete, keep up the good work!

[mrmatt]

I can't thank pete enough for the work on my truck!! It has been a fun little adventure and it's really just getting started - when I first met Pete I was contemplating getting rid of the 60's series platform alltogether after having a run of misfortunes, and because of his amazing work and knack to trouble shoo,t the cruiser went from being a question in my head, to a knowing that this particular 62 I will own forever, or pass on to family.

Soon I will have more time to start reporting on the build. It is about to have the first round of surgery prep - gotta remove carpet, parts of headliner, mirrors, badges/emblems, etc. Glad to have a real project back - Pete has been a huge part of making that happen!! THANK YOU PETE :D

[Brody]

Thanks Matt!

Fun working with you on this project, too! Looking forward to doing the bumpers, sliders and other work.

[RockGrinder]

That is a very nice look to it as well!!! I am thinking that I will come to you for some future mods on my K5 and Ford Ranger sometime.( The K5 only if I am happy with the way it handles when I have driven it more than just around my trailer park.)