I’ll try to keep this short.
I bought my first Cruiser in 1996 at the age of 16. I was looking for a 40, but this stock 1973 FJ55 was pretty cool. Ran awful, braked even worse, and was a complete blast; it did have one of these sprawled across the hood though:
(First thing I did when I got it home was remove it).
I got it running, it broke down, and continued like this with a 75psi-d F up until 2000 when I rolled my ‘74 40. From there I swapped in the 350 I suddenly had lying around along with the four speed from the 74 with the rebuilt stock 3 speed case. At this point I built a custom set of 16x6.5" rims from Chevy centers. From there I installed the axles from a ‘79 55 I had (including a rear no-slip), and then decided to rebuild my rockers from 2x4" 1/4 wall steel, POR15'd the front clip, and install some 70 series turn signals. With the idea of heading to Cruise Moab 2002 and then heading to Alaska, I built a roof rack from EMT, ordered a set of heavy Alcan 2.5" springs, and painted the whole thing olive drab. I built a new rear bumper, built a temporary front bumper, and installed Scout PS. A month before we were scheduled to leave I replaced the 350 as the one inside the truck decided to implode.
My buddy Jude and I loaded up the truck with everything we needed for a few months in everything from Utah to Alaska.
After swapping hoods and wheels. 1997?
STUCK! during a trip to Veedauwoo, midnight and nobody around.....
Post 350 install, 2001?
I bought my first Cruiser in 1996 at the age of 16. I was looking for a 40, but this stock 1973 FJ55 was pretty cool. Ran awful, braked even worse, and was a complete blast; it did have one of these sprawled across the hood though:
(First thing I did when I got it home was remove it).
I got it running, it broke down, and continued like this with a 75psi-d F up until 2000 when I rolled my ‘74 40. From there I swapped in the 350 I suddenly had lying around along with the four speed from the 74 with the rebuilt stock 3 speed case. At this point I built a custom set of 16x6.5" rims from Chevy centers. From there I installed the axles from a ‘79 55 I had (including a rear no-slip), and then decided to rebuild my rockers from 2x4" 1/4 wall steel, POR15'd the front clip, and install some 70 series turn signals. With the idea of heading to Cruise Moab 2002 and then heading to Alaska, I built a roof rack from EMT, ordered a set of heavy Alcan 2.5" springs, and painted the whole thing olive drab. I built a new rear bumper, built a temporary front bumper, and installed Scout PS. A month before we were scheduled to leave I replaced the 350 as the one inside the truck decided to implode.
My buddy Jude and I loaded up the truck with everything we needed for a few months in everything from Utah to Alaska.
After swapping hoods and wheels. 1997?
STUCK! during a trip to Veedauwoo, midnight and nobody around.....
Post 350 install, 2001?
Oh man that makes me want a 55!
why? 
