Builds Project Pikachu: 1977 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[cbmontgo]

Enjoying following along on this thread! Neat to see an old cruiser resurrected/improved. Can you share some data about the rear seat set up you have? Looks interesting to me. Thanks! PM if you don't want it all out there

Cheers!

Thanks. It is a Bestop Trailmax II Fold and Tumble seat. Great fit for a 40 and a much safer alternative (than the jump seats) if you have kids.

 

[1Fine40]

Thanks. It is a Bestop Trailmax II Fold and Tumble seat. Great fit for a 40 and a much safer alternative (than the jump seats) if you have kids.

More pics please!! Especially mounting & belts

 

[ColoradoCarlisle]

Two of those beauties look familiar

Awesome job Carson
The spray paint looks like a great match
What are you using

So the Super Swampers on my HJ47 were due for a tire rotation. Decided to swap shoes with Pikachu while I was at it. I'm kinda digging it. In fact, the 10.50s look better proportioned to the bigger HJ.
View attachment 1645924 View attachment 1645925
They also pay homage to my former mistress, coming full circle.
View attachment 1645926

 

[cbmontgo]

Two of those beauties look familiar

Awesome job Carson
The spray paint looks like a great match
What are you using

Thanks, Jason. The wheels are just Smoke Gray Rustoleum.

I sure miss that ole green '73, but the HJ has been fun. Hard to even stop at a fuel pump without getting into a conversation about it. Reliable and rugged as they come.

 

[cbmontgo]

I had been to the LSLC Round Up twice before, once in 2005 in my FJ60 and once in 2016 in my HJ47. With the warmer, damp, sweet air of late Winter creeping in, I wanted to take Pikachu this year. In this case, about 625 miles round trip. My faithful buddy and adventure partner, @Drewk hit the road behind me in his '77 FJ40 as well. Off we went, leaving the DFW area around noon on Thursday.

I asked Drew if he minded taking the slowest route possible (read: speed limits under 75 wherever possible), and he happily agreed. Pretty soon, we were rolling down Texas 16 en route to Cherokee, where the next backroads turnoff was.

 

[cbmontgo]

I had elected to try FM501 from Cherokee to Pontotoc. Scrub cedar, mesquite, and cactus along the roadside for many miles, ending when you come over this ridge to the deck below. For some time, I felt like I was riding a horse through the old west, but the sewing machine hum of the trusty 2F kept me grounded.

 

[cbmontgo]

Next was 71 to Fredonia, then a turn onto Ranch Road 386, which eventually drops you off right into the town of Mason. We turned at the Mason Square and made the 6-mile drive to the Kruse Ranch, Katemcy Rocks. It was great to get camp set up and settle in, and nice to know that the rigs had handled over 250 miles trouble-free so far.

The next day was a morning of driving around the Ranch, followed by lunch on the Mason Square at the Willow Creek Cafe & Club. Had a couple of great bacon cheeseburgers and talked to a nice cruiser family that rolled up in a two-tone FJ62.

Next, we the hit Lowe's Market and replenished beer supplies. I ended up in two separate conversations in the parking lot, both of which were with old ranchers who had owned FJ40s many decades ago.

As a side note, the people in Mason were some of the kindest, classiest folks I've ever met.

 

[cbmontgo]

Much of that afternoon was spent out on the property in some lawn chairs catching up, as we both have very busy big city jobs and I'm not a phone chatting kind of guy. We perched up in a spot where several tough trails combined, which allowed a nice backdrop for watching folks who like smashing metal.

 

[cbmontgo]

Friday evening was a pot luck dinner, followed by the John D Hale band. Eventually, once the root beer moonshine had gotten into the guys with tractor keys, we suddenly had a giant steel fire pit and a load of wood ready to go. I backed Pikachu up to the fire and spent the night bs'ing with some great folks.

I met a lot of great 'Mud folks, no longer just calling them by our goofy handles on a forum.

 

[Jetlander]

I’ve been meaning to do the roundup for a long time now. Just never seem to get the stars to align. Perhaps I’ll make it a priority to get my FJ40 put together and road tested enough to make the run next year.

 

[tucker74]

Good to meet you man, rig is even better looking in person

Tucker

 

[cbmontgo]

Woke up Saturday morning in a bit of a haze, partly from the low-hanging clouds and partly from many, many beers the night before. Luckily, I didn't open the gin that I had brought, or it might've been even worse.

 

[cbmontgo]

So I had never made the "expedition run" that is typically scheduled at some point during the weekend of Katemcy, but I wanted to make it happen this year. I fired up the 40, shuffled some stuff around, and headed up to the pavilion for an 11AM departure. Turns out that the run was gonna be led by Jessica, the cute redhead daughter of the ranch owner. Although she lived in San Angelo now, she'd grown up here and was willing to drag a big pack of hooligans around Mason County behind her 4Runner.

We tuned the CBs to channel 5 and hit the road. There must've been close to 20 rigs, including one drive by Marlin Crawler himself. Unfortunately, there were 2 Jeeps in the crowd to screw up the homogenous Toyota photos.

The first stop was in the tiny town of London, TX, where we ate some great burgers at the London Grocery. This place appeared to have been run by two older ladies, one of whom was a little more friendly than the other. Neither spoke much but they were good cooks. We sat on the front porch and watched a thunderstorm roll by to the west.

 

[cbmontgo]

Also of note is that across the street sits one of the oldest running dancehalls in Texas, London Hall. I'd love to come back and check this place out one night.

 

[cbmontgo]

This small gremlin, named Cricket, was in our caravan and was a character. He had wandered up to their shop in Waco as a puppy and seems to know the ropes pretty well now.

 

[cbmontgo]

On to the run through the county...we went down miles and miles of dirt roads. Quite a few of the others became tired of the dust and distance, peeling off eventually for pavement back to town. One of the Jeeps had a total electrical failure and had to be towed out. We kept pushing though, and it was down to Jessica in her 4Runner, myself, @TexYoung in a 1973 FJ40, @Drewk in his 1977 FJ40, and @SHREG in his 1996-ish LX450.

The roads got more and more scenic. We had a couple of minor issues (a loose starter wire on Dane's '73 and a failed idle solenoid on Drew's '77 where Greg was able to build a temporary jumper to the battery), but nothing that stopped us for long. Quite a few creek crossings, as well as some fascinating wildlife along the way.

It was a lot of fun, and I believe we clocked around 75 miles that afternoon. I rolled into Mason with half a gallon as gas left in the tank, thinking that the trip was going to be much less distance. Well worth it.

 

[cbmontgo]

Once back at camp, Drew and I cruised to the Back 40 fireplace and perched up underneath a tree again. Our Austin neighbors at the camp site, Manny, Daisy, John, and a couple of others eventually met us back there as well. Manny and Daisy work for HEB in Austin, and John is a Lexus service tech in Austin. He's owned the same late-1970s Toyota 4WD pickup for 20 years. Manny had a nice mid-90s Toyota 4WD pickup with a clean V8 conversion. They are all incredible cooks and I occasionally stumbled over to their camp site for a snack or two over the weekend.

Man, there are some great folks in the Toyota world.

 

[cbmontgo]

That night, we had a big BBQ dinner and raffle, followed by some good Land Cruiser talk before heading back over to the camp sites. Although I had planned to get to bed early, I found myself at the Manny/Daisy/John campfire, drinking beer, listening to Eazy-E, and joking about things I don't remember until close to 2AM.

The next morning was Sunday, and it was time to roll out. I enjoyed the drive so much that I didn't take a single picture that first 4 hours of driving. It was a cool, muggy Sunday morning and the winds were calm. All I could hear was the drone of Super Swampers and the 2F, moving along effortlessly.

We decided to stop in Comanche for gas, and found ourselves at a great little Mexican restaurant a 1/2 mile down the road. Again, the people were so friendly that I continuously took notice. Makes me really think about getting back to the country.

 

[cbmontgo]

After driving 625 miles since Thursday, I rolled into the driveway at about 4:30 PM, and it was great to be home. I hugged my kids, then the wife and I went out to dinner. I hadn't fully downloaded the trip in my mind yet, but had a big smile on my face.

Really looking forward to the next adventure in ole Pikachu.

 

[Varty Yo]

Just awesome man!!!

Im really feeling the itch of taking adventures in my 42 sooner then later. 1st one will prob be Black Hills Cruiser Classic BHCC for short haha. ITs the closest major get together from me up here in Canadaland. One day moab....