Money Pit

Might as well put this out there now, LandCruisers are a money pit ... !
I have read this before, but its not till you actually start to fix/repair or restore a LandCruiser that you realise just how much money can be spent.
The reality is once you start, you are pretty much paying the cost of a new truck/car.

I'm trying to keep this site as an actual record of the project and for that I need to list the costs. So here's some parts and costs for same.  These are just the pretty bits :)
This is a list of parts ordered to date. This does not include the next major order which will include the tub and body panels ..... makes me cry :)

order4 TADOR, HEAVY DUTY ALUMINUM ½ DOORS

TARQP, FULL ¼ PANELS, DIAMOND

TCAGE, FRONT CAGE

KBIKI, BIKINI TOP

TRAIL, BIKINI RAIL

S1917, SUPERWINCH

51464, HOOD CUSHIONS, 4EA.

53881, HOOD BUMPERS, 2EA

AS401, SNORKEL, BJ

45451-1, TIE ROD, SHORT                                          Total   €2'922.00

order 3 TURBO KIT                                                                     tOTAL    €900.00

order 2                                     STEEL WHEELS AND TYRES                                       TOTAL  €'1'100.00 Order 1

suspension lift kit with 'u' bolts TUFFTY CENTRE CONSOLE

2 number door window seals

2 number glass retainers

2 number window winders

2 number door internal pull handles  Total    €1'650.00

Decision made ..

Well I have decided to strip the BJ down to the chassis, This is exactly what I never planed on doing, but the truth be known I bought a truck that had all the rush and rot hidden under paint. So I could drive it as it is, but I would only be putting off the work that would eventually have to be done.
Having made the decision to get the body work done, I cant weld or any of that stuff, so it had to go to a body shop. I went about checking and pricing replacement panels, patch panels, 1/2 and 3/4 tubs. The real problem was while there was 60% of the body work in reasonable state (repairable), the labour for the remaining cutting, patching and welding was looking crazy. The more I though about it, the more a 3/4 tub seemed the way to go. Nice idea, but not to many 3/4 tubs in Ireland, I checked some of the tubs that were being imported and was not to impressed with the quality of the steel.
So out of curiosity I checked the aluminium tubs, ok they seem expensive at first but when I compared the cost of the patch repair panels, floor front, bed liner, wheel arches, rocker panels etc, there was only about seven hundered euro in the different. The labour and time saving, if I could get the aluminium tub, seemed to outweight the additional cost.
So that where it is now, I'm a day or two away from ordering the aluminium tub :). And as usual when anyone ordered stuff for their Landcruiser, they can never avoid slipping in a few other bits .....

The Aqualu Aluminium tub :)