'74 FJ40 - Re-Resurrection of the Grey Burro

[PenguinScotty]

Dearest members of the Anti Mudding community, i bid you hello.

Long time lurker, first time buyer here.

I've just picked up a '74 FJ40, grey, from a friend and member on here, Calico Kid. The truck has been sitting for 3 years, and after a lot of prodding, he finally sold it to me. My roommate and friend, also has an FJ40, a '69, so it'll have good company here. ;p

Naturally, after sitting for 3 years, i expected a lot of work before it could even be moved over to my place, but, surprisingly, after figuring out some of the wiring that got screwed up, the car started and ran great, so we drove it over there in preparation for some work.

The main things that will need addressing are the bent right front leaf spring as well as checking out the disk brake front conversion, tires, wiring and all the fluids.

First thing, though, was to get everything that was left in the truck out and at least give it a quick hose down.
Before:

As you can see, sitting for 3 years under a car-port left everything covered in nice carbon and Dust.

Interior has stock dash and everything, just a bit dirty as well.

Bath Time!

Hey, it's actually grey-blue color! Who knew

So, i gave Calico Kid, our local Kiwi and a Frenchie a call to help with swapping the front springs today. Naturally, when you have more people, less work gets done

In the back you can see all the things we pulled out of the truck and Calicos' Pig.

We somehow DID manage to get the springs switched out today, so next on the agenda will be the Fluids and wiring. One thing after the other

Thanks for looking,

 

[calico kid]

It is good to see the ol'40 getting back in shape man.
It spent most of it life locked up in a Garage in Nevada. As far as I know it's the only Factory Gray 40 around. The mileage on the speedo is what it is so it what 56,000 or so? I don't remember.


Oh and

 

[Chamba]

That is a beautiful rig! Congrats and take good care of her, never send her out east.

 

[Phares]

How did the spring change out go?

 

[PenguinScotty]

Thanks guys!

Calico and me got quite a few things done today. Cleaned out the rig completely, took the seats out and cleaned those as well as gave them a quick spray. Finished up the wiring and dropped in another new battery, so the dual battery setup is good to go now.

The spring change was pretty straight forward, but they DO seem not as wide as the old ones, so i may have to put some washers in, but i have to look into that. Also grabbed some new U-Bolts from Man-A-Fre, complete set with everything for 59 bucks, for the stock setup. Totally worth it.

Tomorrow i'll go over the exterior, properly cleaning it and attempt to preserve the paint (Seems like it'll be shiny, even!) and see if i can clean and preserve the top a bit as well.

Next thing is going to be new tires (And wheels from Calico, because he has about 60 sets) and probably switching out the Brake Master Cylinder, since it's not really working well for Disk/Drum as well as installing a proportioning valve.

Again, thanks for looking! More pictures to come tomorrow when she's more pretty!

 

[PenguinScotty]

Well, got a few things done this weekend.

To make it road worthy, i still had to change the front U-Bolts, which when replacing the front springs, i had not replaced. Also had to finish up the Dual Battery re-wiring and grab a new battery.

Picked up a Man-A-Fre set of U-Bolts for the Front and Rear for 59 bucks. They look really great and fit perfectly!

Next i tore out the seats and washed out the interior. Quite a bit of dirt and such collected there in 3 years of sitting outside. Cleaned up the seats and sprayed the brackets with some flat black to make them look a bit better.

The wiring for the Radio is still in there. I think i'll remove it for now and replace it whenever i decide to put a Radio in there as well. The center console i still have to clean and fix up before putting in.

Following all that, the exterior was next. Washed it properly and then actually grabbed some wax designed for non-clear coat paint. Nothing special, but it did the trick. I want to preserve the remaining factory paint as best i can.

It even has Shiny spots!

Today i went ahead and registered it so i can get some fresh gas and do a quick Test Drive. Sadly, i managed to destroy my driver side Mirror (Do NOT adjust the mirror while driving...) and lost my passenger side Land Cruiser emblem

Luckily, Calico has an insane collection of Parts, so he gave me some new factory Mirrors as well as Jump Seats which are in really great condition. I'm also grabbing some nice Steel Doors and Wheels from him this weekend!

Things i noticed on the test drive that i need to Address:

1. Voltage Regulator seems to be iffy. Needle Jumps a lot, will check it out.
2.When stepping on the brake whilst at a stop light, the idle becomes a bit erratic. Possible Vacuum problem there?
3.Brake Master Cylinder definitely moved up on my To Do list. Rear locks up really easy right now. Do have an FJ60 Master which i'll throw on with a proportioning valve.

That's it for Today!

 

[shipmag]

We do read these threads keep us up to date what you do. Yes a proportion valve they say will prevent locking up the rear brakes. I have to put on on my 74 FJ from installing a 76 FJ40 front axel. Good luck nice tire rack.

 

[Chamba]

As to No. 1: check that all connections to regulator are clean and put some dielectric grease on the connections.

As to No. 2, sounds like your booster is leaking; not surprising given how long it sat.

As to No. 3, I agree with the above, but you can also adjust the shoes in a tad in the interim.

 

[SteveH]

Great looking truck in remarkable condition. What's with the funky headrests? Are they a modified OEM headrest?

 

[PenguinScotty]

Thanks for the replies!

Well, my priorities shifted once again today. Went for a drive again after working on it yesterday and having it stall out under load. Changed filters and checked the electric side, but nothing helped. So today, when it did it again, i managed to see that the fuel supply was insufficient to keep the bowl filled. I kind of expected something like this to happen, since the car sat with just 1/4 tank.

So today, i pulled out the tank annnndd... well, take a look...

Aside from the fact that there is no fuel coming out of the line at all (It appears to be so plugged, even a 4ft wire couldn't dislodge it enough), it also was so rusty that i am fairly confident that it can't be fixed. It seems that fuel is seeping through that big rust spot as well, so it's just a matter of months before it gives out completely.

WELL, this means i have to get a new Tank! Been looking around for a quick and not extremely expensive solution, and the best value for money that i could find was the Cool Cruiser of Texas Replica Tank. Tried looking through the forum and it appears that a few people have them, but could not find long term reviews on them.
I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if they can overnight it for me. I'd like to go out this weekend

Anyway, thanks for looking and thanks for the info!

 

[Snowdogyyz]

I've had the ccot tank in my 74 for 2 years without issue. If you want OEM, check the vendor forums. Can get a good price from a couple of those guys as well.

 

[tucker74]

I had the poly tank in my 40 for ~10 yrs without any issues, I recommend you spend the extra $20 on their "reproduction" tank though. The issue is capacity, 12.5 gal at 12mpg doesn't get you very far :-(. They didn't have this option when I made the same finding you did, it was $250 poly vs. $600 for OEM then ... I say the extra 4 gal is worth it ...

Tucker

 

[apeterson]

Dude get OEM.. I bought one 3 years ago for my 74 and it was like $300 maybe.. Call cruiser dan..

 

[apeterson]

I like our truck BTW 74 bro here

 

[Michael Hanson]

Seems like a nice rig, I would figure most of the seals will start to go since it has sat so long. Id look at the radiator really hard.Booster is prob .going out, clutch next. Still a nice rig. Mike

 

[Spike Strip]

John, you sold it!

 

[coleman2347]

Thats a really nice truck, I vote fix the problems and drive the heck out of it, your pretty lucky to have a friend like Calico...

 

[calico kid]

As to No. 1: check that all connections to regulator are clean and put some dielectric grease on the connections.

As to No. 2, sounds like your booster is leaking; not surprising given how long it sat.

As to No. 3, I agree with the above, but you can also adjust the shoes in a tad in the interim.

The booster I have had trouble with it is on its 3rd one. The booster is a rebuilt one it just dose not seem to work well

 

[calico kid]

Seems like a nice rig, I would figure most of the seals will start to go since it has sat so long. Id look at the radiator really hard.Booster is prob .going out, clutch next. Still a nice rig. Mike

Funny thing about the seals. It is one of the few trucks I have seen that dose not leak any oil. That said it will start to leak now

 

[calico kid]

I like our truck BTW 74 bro here

74 is the best year I think. I still have my 74 PIG