- Year
- 1978
- Vehicle Model
- 40 Series
- Location
- United States
It’s with a bit of regret I am listing my 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Life dictates that I need to pass this awesome truck along to someone who will finish the work that I started on it. I am intending to try to sell this as a complete package, so I am not interested for now in selling any of the piece-parts independent of the truck.
Full Album is here: FJ40
I have no idea what the market looks like anymore, so I’m putting it out there, complete, at $9,500. The truck is located on a Navy base in the middle of God’s nowhere (Dahlgren, VA), so I’m willing to video chat or Zoom or whatever with interested folks. If we work it out, and you give me some good-faith money or something, I’d be willing to trailer it within a reasonable radius of the DC Area.
The truck is an honest example of one of the better model years of US Market FJ40s – 1978 means it has disc front brakes from the factory, and drums on the rears. She’s far from a perfect truck, and a full concours-restoration is out of the question, but she’s a fun wheeler and a great candidate for the resto-mod that I never finished.
I purchased from the son of the original owner (no documentation though) in Wenatchee, WA in late 2013. My first kid was born 2 months later, and thus began the frantic-work/long periods of disregard cycle. The best illustration – I started a knuckle rebuild 18 months ago, and right as I had buttoned up the first side and was moving my tools to the other side, my wife went into labor. I still haven’t finished the knuckle rebuild, though the parts are included.
The Good: Solid frame, good body that is starting to get some rust in the typical LC spots – corners, door bottoms, etc. The front passenger fender has one spot of delamination, though I am not sure whether it would need repair or replacement. The first thing I did when I bought it was take the interior of the tub down to metal, weld in patches where it needed it (not many), and then POR-15 and paint it. I also replaced the fuel tank with a good refurbished steel one.
The engine was professionally swapped by the guy I bought it from, and is a solid Gen 1 Small Block Chevy from the late 1970s. It’s running an Edelbrock carb that I had rebuilt 2 years ago, and I replaced the distributor, ignition coil, plugs, and wires at the same time. It’s maybe got 100 miles on it since that work was completed. The throttle cable, bracket, and everything between the pedal and the carb were replaced last year with Lokar stuff, since I was sick of the stretched, home-brewed version that was on there before. I’ve only ever run Castrol ZR-1 High-Zinc in it.
Iron Pig Offroad replaced the brake master cylinder and flushed and bled the system for me about 18 months ago. The tires (33x12.5 BFG Mud-Terrain T/As) are a year old, and have about 50 miles on them, none off-road.
The hardtop is complete and in decent shape, but isn't original to the truck - it's definitely a Sky Blue on the inside where the slightly-different-yellow paint is wearing.
I recovered the seats, also cleaning and repainting the seat frames, in 2015. The new covers are marine grade vinyl and are super-nice. I think they came from Cruiser Corps, but don’t quote me on that. Squirrel-cage fan/blower and front heaters have been rebuilt as well.
The Bad: Body rust has increased in the last year, and it’s one of the main reasons I’m selling. Prior to 2017, it was garage kept and I could dawdle over it as much as I wanted without much degradation. Since our move to Virginia, it’s been outdoors and I am faced with the choice between making it my job for a period of time (impractical) or letting it rot in my driveway (undesirable), so it’s time to sell. Most of the external stuff is superficial, but the rear wheel wells most likely need replaced (a skilled and patient amateur welder could fix it though). One of the barn doors is starting to go from rust to rot on the bottom as well, but the other is solid.
The parking brake doesn’t work at all, as is often the case with the driveshaft brake. I have the parts to rebuild, but haven’t done anything with it.
There is an intermittent electrical gremlin there too, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. The net result is that if the headlights are on, the blinkers don’t consistently blink, and from time to time (again, not all the time), the fuel gauge stops reading the level and indicates an empty tank.
The last major issue is that it doesn’t turn over with every key turn. It’s minor, and I think just needs a new starter (~$40-60 from Rock Auto or Auto Zone), but I haven’t done much with it. The solenoid clicks every key turn, but the starter only cranks every couple. It does eventually start though, and like I said, I’m pretty sure it’s an easy fix.
The weather stripping is about 50 years old, and doesn’t really do much.
Also included:
Full brake rebuild kit (drum shoes, wheel cylinders, disc pads, springs, etc)
Soft half-doors, a drop-in tailgate, and a bikini top
Knuckle rebuild kit with Koyo wheel bearings, and a rebuild kit for the Warn manual locking hub (driver’s side is complete, but passenger’s side is undone). Also included is the giant socket you need to pull the hub nuts off.
2 cases of ZR-1 High-Zinc motor oil
Energy Suspension Body Mount kit
Mostly-complete M8 and M10 bolt kits (hundreds of bolts, nuts, washers, etc) in those two VERY common sizes on this truck
Fully weatherstripping kit (non-OEM, so without the molded corners)
Tuffy speaker/storage boxes that fit under the roll cage hoop on the rear wheel wells.
Used but solid rear heater core
Gravity-feed media blaster – I was planning to use it to work on the accessible parts of the frame
Other stuff I am sure I am forgetting
A relatively pristine Warn 8274 Winch, which comes with the Warn Accessory kit as well. I rebuilt the internals, brake drum, etc. The issue is that I bought it cheap from someone who turned the head off the pawl bolt, and then made a real meal out of trying to drill it out. I’d intended to have a shop drill and retap, but never did. I did open it up, clean it all up, and put new oil + Lucas stabilizer in it. I haven’t optested it all, but I bench-tested the motor and it worked well.
Full Album is here: FJ40
I have no idea what the market looks like anymore, so I’m putting it out there, complete, at $9,500. The truck is located on a Navy base in the middle of God’s nowhere (Dahlgren, VA), so I’m willing to video chat or Zoom or whatever with interested folks. If we work it out, and you give me some good-faith money or something, I’d be willing to trailer it within a reasonable radius of the DC Area.
The truck is an honest example of one of the better model years of US Market FJ40s – 1978 means it has disc front brakes from the factory, and drums on the rears. She’s far from a perfect truck, and a full concours-restoration is out of the question, but she’s a fun wheeler and a great candidate for the resto-mod that I never finished.
I purchased from the son of the original owner (no documentation though) in Wenatchee, WA in late 2013. My first kid was born 2 months later, and thus began the frantic-work/long periods of disregard cycle. The best illustration – I started a knuckle rebuild 18 months ago, and right as I had buttoned up the first side and was moving my tools to the other side, my wife went into labor. I still haven’t finished the knuckle rebuild, though the parts are included.
The Good: Solid frame, good body that is starting to get some rust in the typical LC spots – corners, door bottoms, etc. The front passenger fender has one spot of delamination, though I am not sure whether it would need repair or replacement. The first thing I did when I bought it was take the interior of the tub down to metal, weld in patches where it needed it (not many), and then POR-15 and paint it. I also replaced the fuel tank with a good refurbished steel one.
The engine was professionally swapped by the guy I bought it from, and is a solid Gen 1 Small Block Chevy from the late 1970s. It’s running an Edelbrock carb that I had rebuilt 2 years ago, and I replaced the distributor, ignition coil, plugs, and wires at the same time. It’s maybe got 100 miles on it since that work was completed. The throttle cable, bracket, and everything between the pedal and the carb were replaced last year with Lokar stuff, since I was sick of the stretched, home-brewed version that was on there before. I’ve only ever run Castrol ZR-1 High-Zinc in it.
Iron Pig Offroad replaced the brake master cylinder and flushed and bled the system for me about 18 months ago. The tires (33x12.5 BFG Mud-Terrain T/As) are a year old, and have about 50 miles on them, none off-road.
The hardtop is complete and in decent shape, but isn't original to the truck - it's definitely a Sky Blue on the inside where the slightly-different-yellow paint is wearing.
I recovered the seats, also cleaning and repainting the seat frames, in 2015. The new covers are marine grade vinyl and are super-nice. I think they came from Cruiser Corps, but don’t quote me on that. Squirrel-cage fan/blower and front heaters have been rebuilt as well.
The Bad: Body rust has increased in the last year, and it’s one of the main reasons I’m selling. Prior to 2017, it was garage kept and I could dawdle over it as much as I wanted without much degradation. Since our move to Virginia, it’s been outdoors and I am faced with the choice between making it my job for a period of time (impractical) or letting it rot in my driveway (undesirable), so it’s time to sell. Most of the external stuff is superficial, but the rear wheel wells most likely need replaced (a skilled and patient amateur welder could fix it though). One of the barn doors is starting to go from rust to rot on the bottom as well, but the other is solid.
The parking brake doesn’t work at all, as is often the case with the driveshaft brake. I have the parts to rebuild, but haven’t done anything with it.
There is an intermittent electrical gremlin there too, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. The net result is that if the headlights are on, the blinkers don’t consistently blink, and from time to time (again, not all the time), the fuel gauge stops reading the level and indicates an empty tank.
The last major issue is that it doesn’t turn over with every key turn. It’s minor, and I think just needs a new starter (~$40-60 from Rock Auto or Auto Zone), but I haven’t done much with it. The solenoid clicks every key turn, but the starter only cranks every couple. It does eventually start though, and like I said, I’m pretty sure it’s an easy fix.
The weather stripping is about 50 years old, and doesn’t really do much.
Also included:
Full brake rebuild kit (drum shoes, wheel cylinders, disc pads, springs, etc)
Soft half-doors, a drop-in tailgate, and a bikini top
Knuckle rebuild kit with Koyo wheel bearings, and a rebuild kit for the Warn manual locking hub (driver’s side is complete, but passenger’s side is undone). Also included is the giant socket you need to pull the hub nuts off.
2 cases of ZR-1 High-Zinc motor oil
Energy Suspension Body Mount kit
Mostly-complete M8 and M10 bolt kits (hundreds of bolts, nuts, washers, etc) in those two VERY common sizes on this truck
Fully weatherstripping kit (non-OEM, so without the molded corners)
Tuffy speaker/storage boxes that fit under the roll cage hoop on the rear wheel wells.
Used but solid rear heater core
Gravity-feed media blaster – I was planning to use it to work on the accessible parts of the frame
Other stuff I am sure I am forgetting
A relatively pristine Warn 8274 Winch, which comes with the Warn Accessory kit as well. I rebuilt the internals, brake drum, etc. The issue is that I bought it cheap from someone who turned the head off the pawl bolt, and then made a real meal out of trying to drill it out. I’d intended to have a shop drill and retap, but never did. I did open it up, clean it all up, and put new oil + Lucas stabilizer in it. I haven’t optested it all, but I bench-tested the motor and it worked well.
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