Finally got started on the stupid 72 FJ40 I drug home this summer. I went out and looked at it with cash in hand and talked myself outta it because it needed a ton of work. Then he lowered the price $300 and I couldn't say 'no'. DAMMIT! I drove it onto the trailer and immediately regretted it.
Pros: Allegedly rebuilt 350 V8 (actually runs shockingly well), ARB lockers front and rear, possibly has different gears in the axles, sprung over, almost no rust, 12k Warn winch, York compressor plumbed and functional, 35's with room for 38's, curb appeal
Cons: Transmission adapter split in half, hacked wiring straight outta a chevy, 4 wheel drums that require the pedal pumped before they work, no power steering, cut out dash replaced with diamond plate, all welding and most fab work done by a baboon with a arc welder, 12k Warn winch needs new motor, York compressor installed poorly with a lot of zip ties holding the hoses, No hardtop no doors, no rear doors, windshield held up with a bungee, someone seam sealed everything, lower rockers cut off, very marginal cage, fenderwell headers, sm420 with a mile of play in the shifter, seats screwed in...yes, screws!
Anyway, figured I'd get it driveable which meant fixing the cracked advanced adapters between the land cruiser transfer case and the sm420. The dude actually drove it about 40mph like this!
Once removed it literally fell apart.
The right hand side of the transfercase mount had broke and been poorly repaired probably on the trail, which is probably what caused the adapter to break. Got a new mount sitting behind it.
The beautiful repair job up close and personal. This level of quality has been the theme of this truck.
This is the frame side of the mount, they also did a gnarly repair here too! Yes that is rebar tucked behind the mount that they used as a spacer!
Found a slightly pre-owned plate adapter for a sm465 to a Land Cruiser 3 speed transfer case so I yanked the sm465 outta my FJ55 since I wasn't going to use it anyway.
For the new plate style adapter the fj40 transfer case input gear slides on to the sm465 output shaft, which is amazing considering they are two different manufacturers. The hard part was you are supposed to drill and tap the transmission output shaft, went to 3 machine shops and nobody would touch it. Was gonna hit up Matt with his lathe but Gnob suggested putting a snap ring on it and that's the way I went. Had to grind the gear down a little to expose the splines but it went really well overall.
Finally got it all bolted together.
The guy I got the plate adapter from also gave me a bunch of other goodies. For some reason I now have 3 sticks to worry about protruding though my floor. I think the 3rd one is for warp drive!
I removed the fuel tank and the seats to get the dog house out. Almost no rust in this thing! Evidently it was originally forest green. The fuel tank promptly started leaking as soon as I removed it. Gonna need a new one. This is as far as I got at the moment. Gonna cut the transfercase mounts out and redo them next before I install the transmission.
Free seats anyone? No idea what they're out of but they are wide and fairly reasonable upholstery wise. They were screwed to those mounts!
Dash fail. Note the wiring zip tied to the roll cage. That is how you start the engine! With an allen wrench! One outta 9 gauges actually works!
Here is the master control panel! Must have been a sale on the switches! Also has the line lock and idle up controller right there, nice touch at least. You can see the "key" underneath the line lock.
I figured nothing was connected and that's why the gauges didn't work. I was wrong. Don't worry, all the wiring is color coordinated... to red.
Pros: Allegedly rebuilt 350 V8 (actually runs shockingly well), ARB lockers front and rear, possibly has different gears in the axles, sprung over, almost no rust, 12k Warn winch, York compressor plumbed and functional, 35's with room for 38's, curb appeal
Cons: Transmission adapter split in half, hacked wiring straight outta a chevy, 4 wheel drums that require the pedal pumped before they work, no power steering, cut out dash replaced with diamond plate, all welding and most fab work done by a baboon with a arc welder, 12k Warn winch needs new motor, York compressor installed poorly with a lot of zip ties holding the hoses, No hardtop no doors, no rear doors, windshield held up with a bungee, someone seam sealed everything, lower rockers cut off, very marginal cage, fenderwell headers, sm420 with a mile of play in the shifter, seats screwed in...yes, screws!
Anyway, figured I'd get it driveable which meant fixing the cracked advanced adapters between the land cruiser transfer case and the sm420. The dude actually drove it about 40mph like this!
Once removed it literally fell apart.
The right hand side of the transfercase mount had broke and been poorly repaired probably on the trail, which is probably what caused the adapter to break. Got a new mount sitting behind it.
The beautiful repair job up close and personal. This level of quality has been the theme of this truck.
This is the frame side of the mount, they also did a gnarly repair here too! Yes that is rebar tucked behind the mount that they used as a spacer!
Found a slightly pre-owned plate adapter for a sm465 to a Land Cruiser 3 speed transfer case so I yanked the sm465 outta my FJ55 since I wasn't going to use it anyway.
For the new plate style adapter the fj40 transfer case input gear slides on to the sm465 output shaft, which is amazing considering they are two different manufacturers. The hard part was you are supposed to drill and tap the transmission output shaft, went to 3 machine shops and nobody would touch it. Was gonna hit up Matt with his lathe but Gnob suggested putting a snap ring on it and that's the way I went. Had to grind the gear down a little to expose the splines but it went really well overall.
Finally got it all bolted together.
The guy I got the plate adapter from also gave me a bunch of other goodies. For some reason I now have 3 sticks to worry about protruding though my floor. I think the 3rd one is for warp drive!
I removed the fuel tank and the seats to get the dog house out. Almost no rust in this thing! Evidently it was originally forest green. The fuel tank promptly started leaking as soon as I removed it. Gonna need a new one. This is as far as I got at the moment. Gonna cut the transfercase mounts out and redo them next before I install the transmission.
Free seats anyone? No idea what they're out of but they are wide and fairly reasonable upholstery wise. They were screwed to those mounts!
Dash fail. Note the wiring zip tied to the roll cage. That is how you start the engine! With an allen wrench! One outta 9 gauges actually works!
Here is the master control panel! Must have been a sale on the switches! Also has the line lock and idle up controller right there, nice touch at least. You can see the "key" underneath the line lock.
I figured nothing was connected and that's why the gauges didn't work. I was wrong. Don't worry, all the wiring is color coordinated... to red.
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$300. I'd call it good.
That poor 40.... Hack everything I say and start a new 
