ROTW - my64fj40

[my64fj40]

Hey all, sorry because I don’t have a finished rig to show cool pics of. So yall can see the work I’ve done to my 64 so far.

Well, this is my 1964 FJ40. Bought it a little over 2 years ago and was a complete novice to the 40s, in fact at first glance I thought this cruiser was one of those mail delivery jeeps. But after a close look I was caught, saw it had minimal rust and it had some Arizona plates so that was a good sign. I liked the idea of the SBC and auto so after some time I bought it.

At first I didn’t really know what I was gonna do with it, started out by pulling the engine and the rest of the driveline so I could rebuild that and then it started to snowball. Now it’s a full frame off “build”. Yes, I avoided the word “Resto” for all yall purists out there.

The 350 it had was shot, huge grooves in the cylinder walls, and it had all ready been bored out a couple times. So I was given a 350 and took it to a long time friend of mine that’s been building and racing engines for about 30 years. He took a look at it and the heads and didn’t like it and lucky for me he had a 400 block sitting around. So I decided to go that route and now I have a 406 SBC built for low end torque.

The TH350 has been rebuilt and has a shift kit now, and I’m running one of those big towing torque converters, which is supposed to keep the RPMs down and save some on fuel.

T-case was rebuilt by myself, and put one of those t-case savers on it to delay the inevitable I guess.

I also completely rebuilt the front and rear axles, all new bearing, seals, etc. I converted the rear to fine spline axle shafts and installed a Detroit locker. The front axle is as is for the next couple years so I can get this thing drivable. Then I’m gonna go to a newer front axle from a later year, and hopefully longs and an ARB or Detroit. But that’s too much to drop into a front end right now.


I’ll go ahead and stop here for some pics and catch up to the point that I’m talking about.

There are many more pics and further explanation of some of the things I did in my build thread if your interested. Or just post up here with any questions ya got I’ll be glad to answer or at least try.

Here is what she looked like when we first got her. Ain’t she a beauty? That’s my son sitting in it in the second pic, he’s pretty much convinced that it’s his.

[my64fj40]

Here’s a few tear down pics:

[my64fj40]

Frame after the POR15 process:





Rear axle goodies:



And now so I don’t make this too boring, here is a pic of the chassis w/ t-case, tranny, mini-truck p.s. and axles. Put a 4in HFS lift on and don’t be hating on my thornturds I have to have something on there to roll the frame around.

[my64fj40]

And here is the heart of my big girl. The 406 SBC. Yea, she’s got some grunting power.



And an installed pic after adding a GM Serpentine kit:

[my64fj40]

Well, the body was a little interesting. Replaced some rusted out panels, took to my buddy next door to my shop, he sandblasted and powdercoat primed it. It’s a zinc rich expoxy primer in the powder form. So I got that back, did a little body work to clean up the areas where I welded and put a couple coats of DuPont Corlar down. Sanded that down, note Corlar is not fun to sand and put a couple coats of DuPont Imron down as the top coat. Then put a coat of black Imron down for the underside and firewall.

Pics:

[my64fj40]

I have now put the body on the frame, and done a few other things, but yall will have to wait till tomorrow for some pics of that. Still got to take the pics

Teasers:

[okie]

very clean !!!! do you have the doors and hardtop for it also?

[Big Bore Lover]

Congrats on being ROTW. Its definitely lookin nice there. Have you gotten to working on the rear bifold yet? Just wondering about the condition of the track the rollers move in and that such stuff.
Maybe in ten or so years Ginny might look half as good as yours.
What is your plan for brakes/master cylinder setup with the brace on the firewall?

[my64fj40]

Originally Posted by okie

very clean !!!! do you have the doors and hardtop for it also?

Of course, I really like the look of the corrugated hard top sides for these early years. And the seats too

Originally Posted by Big Bore Lover

Congrats on being ROTW. Its definitely lookin nice there. Have you gotten to working on the rear bifold yet? Just wondering about the condition of the track the rollers move in and that such stuff.
Maybe in ten or so years Ginny might look half as good as yours.
What is your plan for brakes/master cylinder setup with the brace on the firewall?

I have cleaned up all the rollers and little accessories for it and I got the bi fold panels painted and ready to go. Just haven't put it together yet.

I post up some pics of the brakes tomorrow and tell a little about it.

[my64fj40]

Finally got around to imroning a few things today.

Got the hood, windshield frame, gas tank, tranny hump, and tool box lid done.


I rolled the cruiser out of the shop so I could paint and within 30 minutes I had 3 people stopping to talk to me about the cruiser. These things really do attract a lot of attention.

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Wow! You've done a lot of work on that old rig so far! Keep it coming!

Good luck with the rest of the build!

Regards,

Alan

[cory]

WOW! thats sweet! you'll be afraid to hit the trails. congrats on ROTW

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

bump!!

[1phrogguy]

Looks awesome! I am jealous of your motor, I want one. I agree with you about the look of the stamped hardtop.

[FJ40zen]

Nice. You are going to love that suspension too.

[65fj40_steve]

Looking good...

[Volunteer]

Nice work.

[camcruiser13]

so sweet





i need more

[scouthead]

That's a sseEXXY motor! It's gonna sound sooo good... and the cruiser looks pretty good too. I love those old tops. A friend of mine had one on his 40... we only got it open like twice the whole time he had the thing, but it just looked so cool!
What may I ask are you planning on doing with the AC pump on the serpentine setup? AC? On board air? (I just put a TBI motor in my FJ55, and the GM air is just too big to sqeeze under the hood... dang!!)

Lookin forward to seeing some more!

[REZARF]

Nothing else to say but... WOW!

Great job, nice resto for sure!

Rezarf <><

[alwayscme]

Very, very nice!

[74fjsemistock]

Incredible job.Congratulations.Your son looks like he's going to be a very lucky guy...to just help change the oil.