Project Still for Sale '68 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

CreeperSleeper

Cascade Cruisers
SILVER Star
Joined
May 16, 2005
Threads
178
Messages
7,409
Location
Canby, OR
For those that know me, or have seen my previous build threads, you know that everything I have is for sale. I also don’t tend to enjoy big projects. To be honest, I enjoy using them way more than building them. It just seemed appropriate for me to name my newest project “still for sale” given all of these facts.


“Well then why are you starting another project?!?” you ask… My wife and I are having a baby! An unexpected baby. And to prepare for our new son, I needed to sell my truggy. A tubed out, two-seater crawler isn’t very family friendly and the debt I am able to pay off with the sell makes it the best decision. I put the word out to my fellow Cascade Cruiser members that the truggy was going for sale after our TLCA sanctioned event; Cruisin’ the Woods. Well, I got an offer for a part trade that I couldn’t pass up.


She is an early 1968 FJ40 hardtop with a small block Chev engine, TH350 automatic trans, 203 crawl box, and stock case. It comes with a super awesome 3” body lift, MAF shackle reversal kit, and acre long rear shackles to make up the difference in lift. (That was my sarcastic voice, just in case you missed it.) It does have a Saginaw power steering swap (minus the pump), FJ60 front knuckles and brakes, a bunch of spare parts, and one of the cleanest original tubs I have seen. The poor thing has been buried in the back of a garage for a very long time and these were the pics that started it all:


received_710394935977583.jpg


received_459045837940108.jpg


received_296396570953488.jpg


received_289454064987639.jpg


received_286194428867814.jpg


received_2177129779279343.jpg


received_2147671835492628.jpg


received_1981839301837945.jpg


received_1126129017549572.jpg


received_1110293972452371.jpg
 
What happened to the VIN? My guess would be FJ40~51571. LV would only be in the model.
 
It actually has a replacement VIN from CA DMV. But they just added "T68" to the original VIN "FJ40LV51571". I don't know the history on that, but my guess is either a lost title or it was stolen at some point in its life.

But yes, you are correct: She's a gas engine, short wheelbase, left hand drive, hardtop and she was the 51571st built. That puts the manufacturing date in Sept of 1967.
 
What will you do with the hard top? I am interested in one.

Cheers.
 
A far cry from the way Toyota made them. This does not even resemble the factory unit. Not that it is a bad thing, but, I am a purist so I enjoy the way things were.
 
What will you do with the hard top? I am interested in one.

Cheers.

The original hardtop is MIA

A far cry from the way Toyota made them. This does not even resemble the factory unit. Not that it is a bad thing, but, I am a purist so I enjoy the way things were.

Very true. But it does have a pretty cool history from what I can see. This will be in no way a restoration. Due to lack of funds, it will probably start out as something a college guy in the late 70's would have dreamt about. I'm even thinking q78 Swampers. Once it is up and running and driving, I will start to evolve the build as money allows to something more "hardcore". It will continue to be comfortable on the street, but be able to crawl.



That is if it doesn't sell....
 
The original hardtop is MIA



Very true. But it does have a pretty cool history from what I can see. This will be in no way a restoration. Due to lack of funds, it will probably start out as something a college guy in the late 70's would have dreamt about. I'm even thinking q78 Swampers. Once it is up and running and driving, I will start to evolve the build as money allows to something more "hardcore". It will continue to be comfortable on the street, but be able to crawl.



That is if it doesn't sell....


Everything will sell, provided the right price. Also, I failed to congratulate on your upcoming baby. You do know that creating a child is the most important function we can do as humans. I remember when I had my kids and I had nothing. Did not matter, loving them and watching them grow was enough.
 
Everything will sell, provided the right price. Also, I failed to congratulate on your upcoming baby. You do know that creating a child is the most important function we can do as humans. I remember when I had my kids and I had nothing. Did not matter, loving them and watching them grow was enough.

I'm not really trying to sell it (yet), that is me making fun of myself... And possibly predicting the future. LOL

As for children, I couldn't agree more. And my 9 yr old reminds me whenever I am mad at her. I didn't mean for it to come out any way than it was an unplanned thing. Which is actually even more of a blessing.

Don't take this the wrong way but you might be retarded :flipoff2:
That's what your mom said, anyway.

Might? You give me too much credit.
 
Congrats! I saw it on FB, but I didn't know about the baby part. That's awesome!
 
Since I agreed to be a motivator/facilitator for this build, it's slightly my fault that Chad now has this in his garage.

The only content I have to add so far: a Lockright to hopefully replace the welded rear diff (pending confirmation of spline count).

Also... Chad, get me some engine block and head casting numbers! I think half of this build will be figuring out what's there and what kind of shape it's in.

IMG_20180213_153054.jpg
 
Last edited:
Wow, @Mr Chuck Norris, you really need to update your signature... And I only blame you partially for this holding down my garage floor!

The lockrite will be used in either the front or the rear for sure, however messing with the axles is way down on the priority list. I think the first thing I need to do is go through all of the boxes of parts and find out what I can sell. This is going to be built on the hopes and dreams budget.

Or someone can just buy it from me. :flipoff2:
 
Wow yeah, I needed to update my info. It's been a while.

My thoughts on the to-do list (priority TBD):

Engine:
Confirm Engine specs (so we can tune it properly)
Drop pan, inspect, oil
Confirm Engine Health
Clean carb, rebuild if necessary
Ignition check
Plumb coolant hoses
Plumb fuel lines
Fire it up!

Trans:
Fluid and filter change

T-cases:
Fluid change

Drivelines:
Inspect & lube

Axles:
Confirm specs
Fluid, grease change
Locker swap

Brakes:
Inspect
Plumb remaining lines
Fluid

Suspension:
Inspect
???

Body:
Lower body lift (hockey pucks!)
Seats
Wiring inspection
Lighting inspection
Bumpers/sliders TBD
Top?

Tires/wheels:
Sell Iroks & wheels
Buy wheels
Buy Q78 TSLs because old school badass
 
Last edited:
Under brakes, we need to put some on the rear. The drums were removed for a disc brake conversion that is no where to be found. It also has now master cyl or booster.

You also forgot steering. The Saginaw box is mounted in a way that she turns very well to the left and very poorly to the right. We may need to get a plate from Georg or Luke to get it right. There is also no power steering pump on the engine....

As far as confirming numbers on the engine, I don't really thing that is a huge deal. I know that it as an aftermarket intake manifold and who knows what else has been done to this thing since it came from GM. I will be using the Quadrajet carb for the time being, so having that info really doesn't help us tune. It would be interested to see if the engine matches the CARB tag.
 
Oh yeah, steering... We may have to re-engineer that one. I'm curious to see what's on there.

Personally, I'd want to know exactly what is in there for the engine. The wide variety of Chevy SB displacement/head/cam combinations can change your tuning needs (carb/ignition/exhaust). But if it's the engine on the CARB tag that's easy. Just want to confirm.

Speaking of exhaust... Is there any on there?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom