Hey folks,
figured I'd start a post chronicling my new to me 1970 FJ40, but first the story behind getting it. Rewind a year and a half to my honeymoon in Australia - my wife and I swung by Dutton Garage to get some coffee and oogle the sweet classic cars. It was there and with this rig that my wife's obsession with the FJ40 began.
Already having a 1969 mustang project, a 1968 F100, and just coming off of a 3rd gen 4runner TRD supercharged build, I took the pic and brushed off her pleas for a FJ40. Fast forward a year and a half and the 4runner is long gone and I get an offer I can't refuse on the F100. As I'm browsing facebook marketplace for another american classic - my wife starts sending me pics of FJ40s she's finding on pinterest and instagram and it dawns on me that she has not forgotten about that FJ40 and resign myself to the fact that my fate is sealed. We are getting an FJ40. Working with a moderate budget, her choices often exceeded the funds and I really didn't want to take on another major project at the moment. So we were sort of back and forth on the idea until I happened across the rig we'd eventually buy. It was not my ideal base, a 1970 FJ40 with a 350/sm465 swap and Malotte body - but she loved the color (suntan yellow) so we decided to go see it. The rig was being sold by the builder's daughter several years after he passed away and it had been sitting in a garage all that time, so we knew it was going to need some love. Thankfully, the builder knew what he was doing and did a nice job with everything that he got to finish and, most importantly, kept fastidious records of all the work. Still needs finishing - interior, top, doors - and engine maintenance due to sitting so long, but thankfully isn't a full resto.
Picking it up:
Plans at the moment are to do the following to make it a bit more reliable and driveable:
- 4 wheel Wilwood disc brake upgrade w/ vacuum booster (purchased from MAF)
- corbeau or similar suspension seats
- efi and some light power upgrades (heads & cam) for the tired 350.
- new wheels and tires
- full soft top (bought a best top but really looking for an OEM style)
- fiberglass half doors
Here she is safe at our house after a harrowing but immensely fun 80 mile trip home. Haven't driven anything with non power assist 4 wheel drums in a while - and I quickly remembered why I've done a disc brake conversion on every single old vehicle i've owned. Despite that it still brought a huge smile to my face.
quick P-chop of the wheels/tires I'm picking up next week for it.
Also, desperately trying to find some fiberglass half doors. There was a set for sale about 6 hours from me but the guy sold them before I could get out there to pick them up. Blew a large portion of the budget on the disc brakes and edelbrock pro flo efi system, so a used set of fiberglass doors would be preferable. Let me know if anyone has a set or knows of some for sale. Thanks!!
Cheers,
Jason
figured I'd start a post chronicling my new to me 1970 FJ40, but first the story behind getting it. Rewind a year and a half to my honeymoon in Australia - my wife and I swung by Dutton Garage to get some coffee and oogle the sweet classic cars. It was there and with this rig that my wife's obsession with the FJ40 began.
Already having a 1969 mustang project, a 1968 F100, and just coming off of a 3rd gen 4runner TRD supercharged build, I took the pic and brushed off her pleas for a FJ40. Fast forward a year and a half and the 4runner is long gone and I get an offer I can't refuse on the F100. As I'm browsing facebook marketplace for another american classic - my wife starts sending me pics of FJ40s she's finding on pinterest and instagram and it dawns on me that she has not forgotten about that FJ40 and resign myself to the fact that my fate is sealed. We are getting an FJ40. Working with a moderate budget, her choices often exceeded the funds and I really didn't want to take on another major project at the moment. So we were sort of back and forth on the idea until I happened across the rig we'd eventually buy. It was not my ideal base, a 1970 FJ40 with a 350/sm465 swap and Malotte body - but she loved the color (suntan yellow) so we decided to go see it. The rig was being sold by the builder's daughter several years after he passed away and it had been sitting in a garage all that time, so we knew it was going to need some love. Thankfully, the builder knew what he was doing and did a nice job with everything that he got to finish and, most importantly, kept fastidious records of all the work. Still needs finishing - interior, top, doors - and engine maintenance due to sitting so long, but thankfully isn't a full resto.
Picking it up:
Plans at the moment are to do the following to make it a bit more reliable and driveable:
- 4 wheel Wilwood disc brake upgrade w/ vacuum booster (purchased from MAF)
- corbeau or similar suspension seats
- efi and some light power upgrades (heads & cam) for the tired 350.
- new wheels and tires
- full soft top (bought a best top but really looking for an OEM style)
- fiberglass half doors
Here she is safe at our house after a harrowing but immensely fun 80 mile trip home. Haven't driven anything with non power assist 4 wheel drums in a while - and I quickly remembered why I've done a disc brake conversion on every single old vehicle i've owned. Despite that it still brought a huge smile to my face.
quick P-chop of the wheels/tires I'm picking up next week for it.
Also, desperately trying to find some fiberglass half doors. There was a set for sale about 6 hours from me but the guy sold them before I could get out there to pick them up. Blew a large portion of the budget on the disc brakes and edelbrock pro flo efi system, so a used set of fiberglass doors would be preferable. Let me know if anyone has a set or knows of some for sale. Thanks!!
Cheers,
Jason