Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and enjoy. The rest of the posts shouldn't be this long.
Well, I am finally getting around to working on Leopold, my 1968 FJ40. This will document what I plan to do, what is currently being done, and figure out what path should be done.
Model: 1968 FJ40 in Spring Green with Coral front seats, F with "3 on the tree"
Name: Leopold, aka Leo, but the rest of the family calls it Leopoop (keep reading). I am sure this will change when they see the finished product
History: This 40 is what I would call a Farm Fresh FJ40. If you've been on earth for awhile, you will know that everything comes with a price and this was no exception. I got this at an incredible price from a guy who won it at a storage facility auction, but I had to do some nasty work to get it, which you will read below.
As I was heading over to view it, I figured I would buy it for parts, however once I got it home it gee on me and I've decided to keep it as a personal truck.
I met the seller at the storage facility. As I was looking it over, I opened the PS door and WHOAA, I got a whiff of this terrible stench. Looking into the cabin, I see mounds and mounds of CRAP. Literally! There must have been a family of raccoons, opossums or something similar living in this. See the pics. As I was trying to process the tremendous amount of feces, the guy noticed there was a Rhino PTO Winch in the front seat. It's a Norco AL8. Sweet, so a winch is included I am thinking. I ended up making a deal with the guy.
As I walked back to the truck to tell the wife I was getting it (it was a family event), AND there was dung in it, she was in awe (To this day, she cant believe I bought it, but she's ok with it now). As we were leaving, I said I wanted to go to a DIY carwash so I could spray it out. She suggested getting a mask and gloves, so we went to Walgreens and I picked up the best mask and gloves I could buy.
At the car wash and armed with gloves and mask, I was ready to spray all the dung out. It was an utterly disgusting task, one I will never forget. There were numerous parts in the back as you can see, so I removed them- front seat, tranny cover, bib, some smaller parts, left bench seat and a compression tester
Then I began shoveling the crap out. Literally. The refuse ended up being about the size of a case of oil box- the 12 quart kind, and that was after I had dumped 1-2 loads into the garbage there. Then I sprayed the crap out of it (pun intended). Top, bottom, sides, the parts I had removed- almost 20 minutes of spraying high pressure spraying. I was able to get 99% of it out, but that odor still was present. When I arrived home, I ended throwing away my shirt and shorts before I walked inside and immediately took a hot shower.
With it cleaned out I could get a better picture of what needed to be done. There is rust on the PS front fender, the rear quarters, the rear sill, the floor pan, and both rockers will need to be cut out and replaced, . There is a brand new oil pan on it. It is the enviable T-1028 Spring Green, which is an awesome color IMO.
Plans: Let me preface, I am not trying to take lightly the work that goes into a frame off restoration, but I really don't think it will be that hard. Time consuming? Yes, but not terribly difficult for this 68. It lacks many electrical and emission garbage that are on the newer years. I will take the tub off, remove the drivetrain and axles and have the frame blasted/painted. And then reassemble. It has a lot of surface rust on it, but its very solid.
For starters, the rust is going to get fixed. ALL of it. CruiserYard has allowed me to meet many, many awesome cruiserheads. One of the guys is reevesci. If you have every met him, you know he is a truly great guy and has MAD body-working/welding skills, the kind that the rest of us just dream about having. Just go read the thread on Marley and you will see what he has done. The start and end pics are truly a masterpiece. Fortunately, he now lives in TEXAS for awhile, so today I dropped it off for him to do his magic. This will be his 2nd FJ40 and I think he's going to get most of the parts from Real Steel Cruiser Parts. I will let him say what he is ordering, but he is going to cut out all of the rust, weld in the new parts, sand/grind down everything else before primering everything. When doing the rear sill he is going to make it extra thick, which I am very excited about. I will be ordering a PS front fender too, easier to replace than to fix.
He currently doesn't have a good place to paint in Texas like his shop in Wyoming, so unless something crazy happens, I will get it painted in Austin, and I will keep the Spring Green color.
How it will be used when completed: Mainly, this will be driven no more than 2000 miles/year- club meetings, occasional Fridays to WALCS meetings, weekend driving, and some light wheeling at Roundup. Nothing hard core, it will be too nice for that. Besides, thats what my pig is for….
Questions that need to be answered: Being a 68, it has the thicker 16g sheet metal. This is evidenced by the little rust that is on, as it is overall in pretty good condition. Had it been 10 years newer, a replacement tub would be in order. The downsides are that it lacks some of the refinements that the latter models have.
My biggest concern is that it keeps its value, I dont want to do anything that detracts from this. So please keep this in mind when answering the below questions-
1- Engine- Assuming the F is working, should I just keep it in there? Or replace with a 2F? Or a Mercedes OM617 diesel?
2- Tranny/Tcase- it has a "3 on the tree". Should I put in an H42/H41 on the floor? I am not interested in a 3 speed on the floor, it defeats the purpose. If I go with a split case, I lose the PTO that I have
3- Front Brakes- I know, everyone says go with discs, but does it detract or add to the value. It does have Selectro hubs.
4- Steering- Do I convert to power steering? And if so, is it OEM or Saginaw?
5- Bolts/screws- Should I paint the tub and then put on new bolts so the chrome color will be shown? Or Should I assemble items back and have the bolts painted?
6- I need a PS front fender? Who makes a THICK fender, I dont want a thin fender.
7- Besides being made in Japan, does anyone know about this winch?
That's it for now, I am sure I will have many more questions.
PICS: Set shows when I first picked it up with dung, some are post-wash, with numerous pics in reevesci's garage showing the current state as of today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29711249@N08/sets/72157629537218850/
Well, I am finally getting around to working on Leopold, my 1968 FJ40. This will document what I plan to do, what is currently being done, and figure out what path should be done.
Model: 1968 FJ40 in Spring Green with Coral front seats, F with "3 on the tree"
Name: Leopold, aka Leo, but the rest of the family calls it Leopoop (keep reading). I am sure this will change when they see the finished product
History: This 40 is what I would call a Farm Fresh FJ40. If you've been on earth for awhile, you will know that everything comes with a price and this was no exception. I got this at an incredible price from a guy who won it at a storage facility auction, but I had to do some nasty work to get it, which you will read below.
As I was heading over to view it, I figured I would buy it for parts, however once I got it home it gee on me and I've decided to keep it as a personal truck.
I met the seller at the storage facility. As I was looking it over, I opened the PS door and WHOAA, I got a whiff of this terrible stench. Looking into the cabin, I see mounds and mounds of CRAP. Literally! There must have been a family of raccoons, opossums or something similar living in this. See the pics. As I was trying to process the tremendous amount of feces, the guy noticed there was a Rhino PTO Winch in the front seat. It's a Norco AL8. Sweet, so a winch is included I am thinking. I ended up making a deal with the guy.
As I walked back to the truck to tell the wife I was getting it (it was a family event), AND there was dung in it, she was in awe (To this day, she cant believe I bought it, but she's ok with it now). As we were leaving, I said I wanted to go to a DIY carwash so I could spray it out. She suggested getting a mask and gloves, so we went to Walgreens and I picked up the best mask and gloves I could buy.
At the car wash and armed with gloves and mask, I was ready to spray all the dung out. It was an utterly disgusting task, one I will never forget. There were numerous parts in the back as you can see, so I removed them- front seat, tranny cover, bib, some smaller parts, left bench seat and a compression tester
Then I began shoveling the crap out. Literally. The refuse ended up being about the size of a case of oil box- the 12 quart kind, and that was after I had dumped 1-2 loads into the garbage there. Then I sprayed the crap out of it (pun intended). Top, bottom, sides, the parts I had removed- almost 20 minutes of spraying high pressure spraying. I was able to get 99% of it out, but that odor still was present. When I arrived home, I ended throwing away my shirt and shorts before I walked inside and immediately took a hot shower. With it cleaned out I could get a better picture of what needed to be done. There is rust on the PS front fender, the rear quarters, the rear sill, the floor pan, and both rockers will need to be cut out and replaced, . There is a brand new oil pan on it. It is the enviable T-1028 Spring Green, which is an awesome color IMO.
Plans: Let me preface, I am not trying to take lightly the work that goes into a frame off restoration, but I really don't think it will be that hard. Time consuming? Yes, but not terribly difficult for this 68. It lacks many electrical and emission garbage that are on the newer years. I will take the tub off, remove the drivetrain and axles and have the frame blasted/painted. And then reassemble. It has a lot of surface rust on it, but its very solid.
For starters, the rust is going to get fixed. ALL of it. CruiserYard has allowed me to meet many, many awesome cruiserheads. One of the guys is reevesci. If you have every met him, you know he is a truly great guy and has MAD body-working/welding skills, the kind that the rest of us just dream about having. Just go read the thread on Marley and you will see what he has done. The start and end pics are truly a masterpiece. Fortunately, he now lives in TEXAS for awhile, so today I dropped it off for him to do his magic. This will be his 2nd FJ40 and I think he's going to get most of the parts from Real Steel Cruiser Parts. I will let him say what he is ordering, but he is going to cut out all of the rust, weld in the new parts, sand/grind down everything else before primering everything. When doing the rear sill he is going to make it extra thick, which I am very excited about. I will be ordering a PS front fender too, easier to replace than to fix.
He currently doesn't have a good place to paint in Texas like his shop in Wyoming, so unless something crazy happens, I will get it painted in Austin, and I will keep the Spring Green color.
How it will be used when completed: Mainly, this will be driven no more than 2000 miles/year- club meetings, occasional Fridays to WALCS meetings, weekend driving, and some light wheeling at Roundup. Nothing hard core, it will be too nice for that. Besides, thats what my pig is for….
Questions that need to be answered: Being a 68, it has the thicker 16g sheet metal. This is evidenced by the little rust that is on, as it is overall in pretty good condition. Had it been 10 years newer, a replacement tub would be in order. The downsides are that it lacks some of the refinements that the latter models have.
My biggest concern is that it keeps its value, I dont want to do anything that detracts from this. So please keep this in mind when answering the below questions-
1- Engine- Assuming the F is working, should I just keep it in there? Or replace with a 2F? Or a Mercedes OM617 diesel?
2- Tranny/Tcase- it has a "3 on the tree". Should I put in an H42/H41 on the floor? I am not interested in a 3 speed on the floor, it defeats the purpose. If I go with a split case, I lose the PTO that I have
3- Front Brakes- I know, everyone says go with discs, but does it detract or add to the value. It does have Selectro hubs.
4- Steering- Do I convert to power steering? And if so, is it OEM or Saginaw?
5- Bolts/screws- Should I paint the tub and then put on new bolts so the chrome color will be shown? Or Should I assemble items back and have the bolts painted?
6- I need a PS front fender? Who makes a THICK fender, I dont want a thin fender.
7- Besides being made in Japan, does anyone know about this winch?
That's it for now, I am sure I will have many more questions.
PICS: Set shows when I first picked it up with dung, some are post-wash, with numerous pics in reevesci's garage showing the current state as of today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29711249@N08/sets/72157629537218850/
even said... "that's not right is it?" I laughed. I knew it would be called out in a day or two here.