[kcustom73]

A little history behind my cruiser. I had been searching for the last year for a mid 50's Willys wagon to restore but with out much luck when my wife told me she saw a cool looking truck for sale 5 minutes away from the house. So that weekend I went to take a look at this so called cool looking truck to find out it was a 75 FJ40. I loved the look of it right away and the wife was liking it too. The place was closed so I couldn't talk to anybody about it so I decided to go back home and do a web search on it. That’s when I found IH8MUD and read up on all the great history of the vehicle and I was hooked. After checking the finances (had spent quite a bit doing landscaping so far this year) I went back to the garage where the cruiser was and talked to the owner to get some history about this cruiser. It had been a plow truck for the last 9 years and he had just retired it. I could see that the body and a section of the frame where really rusty, but I knew I could get the parts to fix it. So I made a deal with the PO and brought my 75 FJ40 home in late July of this year.

Here's a picture of it when I first brought it home



I finally got to work on the cruiser this weekend. Started by gutting the interior and removing some of mess the PO had done to this poor cruiser (welded in driver seat, fuel tank from God knows where). No real surprise with the shape of the body but the frame is a little rougher then I originally taught but nothing that can’t be fixed

Here she is in her new home



As you can see from the pics, I'm going to have to replace the rear crossmember and both rear frame gussets and probably the rear spring mounts







a pic of the driver side seat mount near wheel well



The plans are to make this into a reliable daily driver so I’m going to take my time and go thru every part of the cruiser and fix/replace/clean up or upgrade everything that needs it. Here are some of the plans for it:

-body: everything from the rocker panels back has to be replaced (too much cancer) so thinking of getting an Aqualu tub. Any opinions on this?

-drivetrain: keeping stock 4 speed and t-case (rebuild them) and adding a Ranger overdrive (I've read that they can be noisy, but I'll be doing some sound insulation to make it a nicer daily driver, no water crossing for this girl any time soon) and replace the 2F with a 6.2L GM diesel (I know it hard to recoup the money you spend on converting over to diesel but I'm doing it to go to bio).

-disk brake upgrade: front from a FJ60 or mini truck, rear maybe from Poser

-Suspension: 2.5” OME Dakar spring and OME shocks

-Wheel & tires: stock 15” rims and Firestone Destination A/T 31x10.5

I know I've got a lot work ahead of me but it should be fun and a great learning experience.

Wish me luck
Kevin

[SouthBostonFJ]

Welcome
Good looking truck! If you are doing all that work, why not just replace that frame? It looks like a whole lot of trouble to repair it.
Sweet garage, it looks like an airplane hanger.

[kcustom73]

Well I have started ripping my cruiser a part. I'm a little dissapointed with the thru condition of my 40. At the point I'm at now, I'm sort of thinking I should of started with something in a little better condition. Oh well, guess it's going to be one heck of a learning experience. Here are some of the latest pics of the progess:

Here's what left of the floors and the rear fenders after couple of hours of cutting.


The frame is in ok condition, but the rear crossmember and the two frame gussets have to be reaplaced for sure.




The windshield frame will need some repairing!


Both rear sides will need some minor sheet metal repair and I'll also get rid of the non-stock light holes the PO cut in them.


So that's it for now. Progress is slow but steady but I'm hoping to have it completly strip by the end of the xmas holidays (if plans don't change...)

[AATLAS1X]

http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/tubbodyfj40.html

[kcustom73]

AATLAS1X, I've seen those Pilgrim tubs before. Nice stuff but the price.... I pulling more towards the Aqualu tub. Seeing that I'm in an enviroment that uses a lot of salt during the winters, I need something that will last. I'm building something for "me" and I don't really care about resale value.

[fj40_73]

might want to hang around the parts for sell area, and just start with a different frame. Then aqua tub. And use the cruiser you purchased for driveline / switches / gauges & title.

That thing looks fawked. I ended up with a rust bucket close to that one, as much as I did not want to,.... I had to lay it to rest. Good luck.

[zcruz]

don't be too scared of that rear section of the frame. I replaced mine with c-channel, about a foot of it. then replaced the rear cross member with a real bumper. thats usually the worst part of the rust there in the back. just check that the rest is worthwhile, any more than what your showing might not be worth the trouble. but I'll take a small frame repair over body repair anyday! less b.s. I replaced my whole rotted tub with an aqualu. front and rear cowl and windshield frame. so worth it.

[meat]

http://catalogue.ebicruiserparts.com...cPath=22_89_29

[CristianRamirez]

uuuffff and i thinking that my fj40 are rusted .. good lock in your proyect

[65fj40_steve]

Thats a lot of work... but anything is possible, just depends how much work you want to put into it.

Good luck

[kcustom73]

zcruz, only about the last foot of the frame is rough so like you, I think I can repair it (haven't seen the frame under the cowl yet but if the rear is the worst then its not to bad).

Hard work doesn't scare me and it should be a great learning experience (I also save another cruiser from being put to rest ). My wife is all for me working on the truck, as long as the important things are done first.

Now all I need is to get enough gift certifacte at xmas to buy myself 230V MIG and I'm good to go.

[The Red Camel]

Good luck, im doing the same thing, don't walk away from your truck.

[natvet]

[Now all I need is to get enough gift certifacte at xmas to buy myself 230V MIG and I'm good to go.[/quote]

My thoughs exactly i dont have the rust just want a welder. Good luck Keep the wife happy so the kitchen passes keep comin and the cruiser keeps gettin better.

[dargreg]

Ya dont be afraid of the frame mine was way worse and just made it stronger.

[dargreg]

This was before first pic was after

[Coolerman]

Sencond the don't be discouraged quote.

Mine was just as bad and is turning out pretty good.

!Oy: Coolermans 1971 FJ40 Build <<<<<< This is a LINK...

[kcustom73]

dargreg, coolerman,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Sorry if I haven't updated my build thread in a while, but I've been actually working on the truck. I've got a ton of new pics and the plans have changed since my first plans. I'll post the pics a little later when I get a chance to organise them but here are the new plans:

1-stretching the 40 27" using an aqualu tub (ordered it today)

2-original frame being stretched in the flat section under the seats. Getting a professional fabricator to do that for me, too critical to trust my novice skills and I just don't have the right tools to do the work properly.

3-I'll also be stretching the hardtop and the sides. I've got my original top and sides from the 40 but I also got a set from 82. I'll keep the rear vent windows from the 82, but still undecided how big the the rest of the glass will be.

4-Full rollcage by the same guy doing the fab/reapirs to the frame. The guy is semi retired but was certified to do rollcage at one point in his career.

5-GM 6.2L diesel is still going in, but behing will be a 700R4 auto, Toybox (4:1) from Marlin and then the stock t-case. With that I'll be running 3.7 gears and 33x10.5x15 BFG All-terrain T/A KO. This combo will give me a cruising RPM of about 1800 (the happy number for the best milage with the 6.2) at my two most used cruising speed 109km/h (68mp/h) in overdrive and 75km/h (47mp/h) in third for the city.

I've got lots of cool plans to make this "my" cruiser and thanks to reading this board and others, I think I'm on the right track at doing things the way I want them.

[Micks-Troopy]

thats one hell of a job.. but then again some of the stuff ive seen you blokes in the USA and Canada do make the the ones done down here in the Land Down Under look easy, ive spent about 12 months in my spare time fixing mine up cutting rust out and i thought mine was bad, but ones down here dont have as much rust as the ones up there. One good thing "At the end of the day" you can say "you did it". keep up the good work.

[bdyer]

i bought a 1/2 tube from ironpig but i am not going to use it, it is for sale if you are interested.

[dargreg]

If you are going to all that trouble a 6.5 with web brases and the newer 6L trans is a better option.If you decide on the 6.2 the 1982 blocks are high in NICKLE and much stronger even than the 6.5 but definatly go to the 6L trans for either engine.

[kcustom73]

bdyer, thanks for the offer bought I've already ordred my tub from Aqualu

dargreg, I know the 6L trannies are newer but I want to try to stay away from electronics as much as possible. I also got the 6.2 and 700R4 sitting in the garage right now. Got an entire 89 GM van last spring and was able to get all the parts I needed.

[kcustom73]

Here are some of the latest build pics of my resto. Still working on the frame. Its been a long process just working a couple of hours on the weekend and weeknights. The frame is ruff but I'm almost ready to send too my fab guy for stretching. Here are a few of the pics of the repairs I've done.

The PO had cut the front bumper mounts to make room for is plow frame.



This is what it looked like after the repairs.



The area around the driver side - rear spring mount

before



After



And here are some other frame repair and prep for the stretch.





For the frame stretch I'm thinking of cutting between the center crossmember and the front body mount. Here are a few pics (made in Solidworks) of what I think the strech will look like.





I think things are progessing well but I think once the frame has been stretched and the new Aqualu tub gets here this thing will start looking like a Cruiser again.

[pbgbottle]

i see you have the tub hows the frame stretch going ??

[kcustom73]

pbgbottle, no stretch yet. The guy doing the work for me got bogged down with some role cages for some ralley guys.

Here are some pics of the new 27" stretch Aqualu tub.





I hoping to get back on the project now that my major landscaping project is done. Like my barber tells me "A happy wife is a happy life".

[pbgbottle]

you can say that again .

I can't wait to see the thing put together .this is exactly the project i have been planning . i have most parts collected .just need my frame stretched and to order the body also , now i just have to find the cash wife wants a boat first . then i can buy whatever i want

Originally Posted by kcustom73

"A happy wife is a happy life".

[kcustom73]

Time for an update. Progess this summer has been slow. Landscaping and other work around the house needed my attention. All the projects are done around the house (at least until next summer) so I'm back on the Cruiser.

I did manage to get the frame to the fabricator this summer and have him add 27" to the frame. Also had him repair the back part of the frame and box everything in.









I also managed to finish most of the repair work to the from cowl. This link is what I started with: cowl before repairs, and the picks below is what I finished with. There is still a little welding to do but it can wait for a bit.

passenger side




driver side


Now its time to drop the cowl back onto the frame and start making some new body mounts for the tub, then motor mounts, tranny mounts, stretch the sides, stretch the roof.... Going to be a busy winter

[pbgbottle]

nice . i think i am going to have to try and stretch my spare frame