Restore to Mint

The enclosed link shows an old Land Cruiser being taken apart to the screws and put back together thru an impressive restoration process.

https://youtu.be/c4zHCy-CkRk?si=9d7oLhV_IR7gVizm

Are there any shops in the Northeast or in the States that can do this level of restore to our old Tundras.

I’m in the middle of a road trip and enjoying how comfortable and just perfect it is. I wonder if there are places like this to leave the car for weeks (months) and all the rusted parts (under and around engine bay) changed to new or non-rusted.

 

There isn't a level of interest to really justify that kind of restoration, even for a 1st gen Tundra. The ROI or value just isn't there.

The reality is, the Land Cruiser, especially in the j100 and earlier editions, is extremely beloved, sought after as being the perfect combo of luxury, utility, cersatility, and durability. Our trucks check off some of those boxes, but not enough for most shops to justify that level of work!

 

The Car Care Nut on YouTube occasionally references some restoration projects behind him. Illinois isn’t exactly the northeast but from what I’ve seen he’s very familiar with replacing rusty parts.

wouldn’t be cheap.

 

Sick!

 

Thanks Shifty. Maybe something close to that.

icon4x4 comes to mind but their projects must start at 50K.

 

I wrote to a YouTuber called Waldos World, no response. I may write to the Car Care Nut and take a drive to Chicago

 

That silicon robot is ridiculous.

 

A frame off on a Tundra would cost north of $50k if done by a shop. You could do the same thing at home for much less. Labor will eat up most of the cost compared to the parts and materials needed to do it. Much can be cleaned and restored and re-used. Some parts will benefit from replacement. Blasting and recoating the frame and axles / suspension bits will be $$. The repaint will be $$$ for a good job.

 

That was wild.

At 4:10....what was that "breaker bar?"

I see they use yellow cordless tools.

The transmission. What about the tranny? No fair skipping their evaluation of the tranny.

 

I know there's a guy in Boise that does media blasting with dry ice to get rid of surface rust and restore frames, etc on older vehicles. I'm sure there's someone in the northeast that does something similar.

https://sanoblast.com/

 

Unless you do most of the labor yourself it’s going to be prohibitively expensive.

 

Best thing anyone with this mindset can do is buy a totally mint, lower-mileage* 1GT and then shop the holiday dealership parts sales and just replace stuff little by little, until 20 years from now drunks at meetups will debate whether their 1GT is, like, I mean, like even still the same truck anymore, you know, man? You know what I'm saying?

*I know, I know, megathread-caution-be-damned, but I mean low-mileage in the sense of used so relatively infrequently it still looks really nice: e.g., rubber on brake pedal not worn slick, windshield not sandblasted from driving 350k mi, etc. Fewer parts you're having to source and replace, most of which are NLA. A low-mileage truck is a better cosmetic starting point since any reputable mechanic should be able to overhaul drivetrain components.

 

Yeah, unfortunately it's not always economically viable for a YouTuber of that scale and category to do it just for expenses (I'm getting that this was your proposal from an earlier post in another thread). They make fractions of a penny per view.
Here are some stats for that channel.
Waldo's World's YouTube Statistics - Social Blade

 

New trucks are $50k and up. I believe I'd pay $50k for a new Gen1. I've never found a truck I'd rather have. Considering my truck still looks and drives well after 25years, a new Gen1 would be my last vehicle. So why not a Gen1 redo!

 

They didn't. You can see the rebuild axles being installed into the dirty ADD.

 

Yes, this is the correct mindset. Below is the 2025 version (options wise) of my 25-year-old truck. I'd finance that amount to have my truck "new".

 

How much money do you want to spend? If you offer enough money I'm sure there are shops that would do it for you. If you really want to keep it on the road for a long time, I'd start buying up spare OEM parts that are either discontinued or near being discontinued. Interior and exterior trim pieces being the big one. Couple extra sets of OEM LBJs, maybe a spare set of LCAs, gas cap, whatever parts tend to fail with the SAI system, etc.

Usually values on old vehicles become cyclical if the market decides that they're valuable and will fall in and out of popularity. Other vehicles go from being unwanted to prices skyrocketing. Still kick myself for passing on an air cooled Porsche in the 90s. The FGT isn't either of those things, it's value is still naturally declining with age and is slowly turning into the old beater truck with nice models still earning a premium. Maybe in another 10-20 years there will be a new demand for them and we'll see a resurgence in aftermarket parts for them, but there's most likely going to be a low period in popularity and parts availability first.

What my ramblings are trying to get at is if you really want to do this, do it sooner than later while most OEM parts are still available. You mentioned NE, so I'm assuming that's where you're at. If it was me in one of the rust areas, and this will all be much cheaper if you do it yourself. Body off frame and get that frame the best damn rust protection you can. Then do the same to the whole underside of the cab and bed. Full respray of paint while it's apart, and maybe some nice little upgrades while reassembling it. I'd install sound dampener under the carpet in the interior. But the longer you wait, the more time you're going to spend hunting for discontinued parts than actually working on the truck. And FGT sales numbers were never all that impressive compared to Tacomas and 4Runners, so we're never going to get their level of aftermarket support, and definitely not the parts availability of any old big 3 American truck.

 

A new Hilux would be sweet

 

I thought of that idea of buying a totally mint, lower-mileage* 1GT ….that means starting over with a new vehicle but it will be less expensive.

I already found a place for the rust and the dry ice treatment in Staten Island, NY.

 

People do it now with 1st gen tacomas it looks like. I don’t care about what my truck is or would be worth but it is the absolute perfect truck never have I been in a more comfortable truck that has the perfect mix of power and no squeaks or rattles after 20 years. I would pay to have mine redone

 

It is SO inexpensive in China….can you imagine if shipping was a thousand bucks.

I don’t care for perfection, I just want the truck to last a long time for the reasons we all know.

 

I've thought about it. If I had the money, I might get mine completely restored.

But I'd also restore everything I owned!

 

I had an 88

$229 Toyota SR5 TOYOTA Tundra Interior BURL Wood Dash Trim KIT Set 2007 2008 2009 2010

Toyota SR5 4wd Truck (before there was a Tacoma name).I don’t care about what my truck is or would be worth but it is the absolute perfect truck never have I been in a more comfortable truck that has the perfect mix of power and no squeaks or rattles after 20 years. I would pay to have mine redone[/QUOTE]

^^^^^ This

 

I had an E34 525i BMW in Calypsorot Sport Mettalic with the tan leather interior that I just loved. It had 455k miles on it and I considered doing a restoration on it myself. After diving in to the cost to repaint and reupholster the interior for giggles I looked up low mileage garage queen examples. They were 1/5th the cost of a full redo on mine. F that. I sold that thing and decided if I truly loved them that much I would buy one of those low mileage examples. Never did. A low mileage cream puff Tundra that's rust free and looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor sells on BAT every month or so for around $30k. That's what I would do if I really wanted a mint FGT. I would personally restore mine, but no way in hell I would pay someone $50k+ to restore it for me.

 

This guy right here, ladies and gentlemen!

 

BAT?

 

Bring a trailer

 

www.bringatrailer.com

 

example truck....

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-toyota-tundra-47/

 

Hell yeah! And $30k! Holy shit! I'll sell my creampuff 82k original miles, loaded, and OEM+ upgraded 1st gen AC for $26k! That's a whopping ~15% savings!!