My new fj55, now what?

[Flip4It]

I picked up a classic rusting 1974 fj-55 this week. It has some serious rust issues but fixable. The engine has been swapped to a 78 f2 with header and aftermarket intake manifold. The hubs have also been changed to warn. It runs but overheats withing a few minutes. Seems to be a bad water pump. Outside of that it seems to run good.

I plan on doing a frame up restoration job on this beauty. I'm not sure what I should include in this. It seems hard to find values on the 55's. I am thinking about doing a 4" spring lift, disk brake conversion, add power steering, and keep everything else close to original.

I'm not sure what is best for the engine, keep the 2f, v8 conversion (not really fond of the idea), or do a diesel conversion.

Looking for others ideas and inputs. What would you do with this opportunity if it was yours? I don't plan on any serious off roading. Want it to be a comfortable daily driver and look great with keeping a high market value on it.

Let the ideas roll in!

Thanks! Jeff

 

[Toybota]

Like the green and white color. Looks like it will be a cool build.

I vote desmoged 2F, no V8. What transmission is stock on a '74 55?

 

[Flip4It]

Like the green and white color. Looks like it will be a cool build.

I vote desmoged 2F, no V8. What transmission is stock on a '74 55?

It has a four speed + reverse was included for free!

 

[My71FJ40]

It has a four speed + reverse was included for free!

Wow...thats a plus!

So with reverse does that make it a 5 speed

 

[DSRTRDR]

keep the 2F - brings the grunt to the pig

 

[Flip4It]

The motor overheats rapidly, I went to check the thermostat and my can of kroil failed me! Now I have my first of I'm sure many broken bolts to contend with. So much for a five minute quick fix! THe good thing is that I was able to find out that my block is a 78 2f, now I at least can match up the correct water pump, because I am sure that is the issue after the thermostat tested good.

 

[bikersmurf]

Don't get carried away with your rebuild. You can have a very nice truck without replacing every nut and bolt with nos oem.

 

[Pighead]

, because I am sure that is the issue after the thermostat tested good.

Do not be so sure...
Does the waterpump hold water? Does water pour out of the weep hole in the waterpump housing? Sure, it could be that the vanes in the pump have eroded away, but that's kinda rare. How long has the Pig been sitting? Could be a plugged radiator core. New radiators for a 55 are a little hard to find (understatement). You may need to have your core rodded out or even re-cored.
Also, when a later Toyota engine is swapped in, it's easy to mix & match pieces and parts from the various years to make it fit. Simply ordering parts for a '78 2F may not always get you what you want. We will probably need pics (after you post a couple more times). Especially of your aftermarket intake (Offenhauser?)
'74 is my favorite year for a Pig, been renovating mine for 25 years now.

 

[DenCo40]

The motor overheats rapidly, I went to check the thermostat and my can of kroil failed me! Now I have my first of I'm sure many broken bolts to contend with. So much for a five minute quick fix! THe good thing is that I was able to find out that my block is a 78 2f, now I at least can match up the correct water pump, because I am sure that is the issue after the thermostat tested good.

I dunno, sounds pretty technical. I think you should give up and just let me have it. I promise I'll take care of it.

 

[coleman2347]

My vote is put a diesel in it. The 60+years I lived in the US I only had one diesel and old 7.3 in a 350 van. When I got here I found out most drive diesel. I know why now, here diesel is a few pesos cheaper, I remember it being a little higher than Premium in the States but IMHO the reliability and guts of a diesel make it a better choice hands down. I have two diesels running, one in a Ford Everest and one in a Bighorn (Trooper) and am putting a 15b into a 40, there are several good swaps documented here in the diesel section of engines you can get in the States...But in the end its your truck, you have to do what makes you happy....cool rig btw...wish they had them here...Lee

 

[Flip4It]

Restoration is complete stock.

Maybe you are thinking renovation (ie modernize)

Thanks for the correction, I had thought about the restoration, but not worth it since it doesn't have the original motor. Plans will now be renovation with a touch of class and functionality.

Do not be so sure...
Does the waterpump hold water? Does water pour out of the weep hole in the waterpump housing? Sure, it could be that the vanes in the pump have eroded away, but that's kinda rare. How long has the Pig been sitting? Could be a plugged radiator core. New radiators for a 55 are a little hard to find (understatement). You may need to have your core rodded out or even re-cored.
Also, when a later Toyota engine is swapped in, it's easy to mix & match pieces and parts from the various years to make it fit. Simply ordering parts for a '78 2F may not always get you what you want. We will probably need pics (after you post a couple more times). Especially of your aftermarket intake (Offenhauser?)
'74 is my favorite year for a Pig, been renovating mine for 25 years now.

Thanks for the info, it has been sitting for 5 years, started right up though! I was planiing on having the radiator rotted out during this process anyway, so I might just have that done now instead of later. The fluid looks clean and with very little discoloration, but buyer beware because I have no idea if was changed out 8 years ago or last week. I will post pictures of the water pump soon, the one on the motor now looks like it has some extra mounting holes that were not needed for this block, so i have no idea what will fit.

 

[Flip4It]

Don't get carried away with your rebuild. You can have a very nice truck without replacing every nut and bolt with nos oem.

We'll see how I do, initial plan is to correct the overheating and drive it this summer. I have a sailboat I need to finish renovating before I can start on the pig. I tend to be very anal with things and detail oriented so I don't know how I will do without doing it all the to my best ability. I plant to spend about $10k on the restoration over the next two years. My son is 14 and this is going to be his first car when he gets his license... if I am still willing to let go of it after completion!