What to do, what to do.... (1 Viewer)

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Oct 6, 2011
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Location
Castle Rock, CO
What should I do with my new (to me) '66 SWB 45.
I'm now a single man, with lots of time but not much money.
I'm not sure what I want to do with it, I have a FJ40 that is built up but would like to change a few things. I have always wanted a 45 and finally found one that was close to home, good price and in great shape.
The cab is in great shape, the bed is good, frame is great, the only rust besides surface rust is on the drivers side floor and the rear quarter panels of the bed.
Now I need to decide what to do, and you can help!


It has been decided...A restorationmod it is!


A few photos...
CIMG5554.jpg
CIMG5543.jpg
CIMG5536.jpg
 
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opps, tried to make it have a poll but I guess it didn't work.

A: Restore close to stock

B: Make into medium crawler. SOA with 33's to 35's

C: Sell to someone on mud that would that could bring back to life better than I could

D: Or, Other....???
 
Build it into a driver. Im not a purist but do like the look of a stocker with mild lift and tires. Does it run now? If so just get it driving and upgrade brakes. Then decide.

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Nice

Restore close to stock MTCW

It is your truck do what makes you happy.
 
Make it into a light wheeler. If your 40 is anything like my 55 The local trails get boring and you can go too many more places than a lot of folks so they end up watching or you end up skipping the fun stuff. My 45 is a blast on the trail and the road. It's made the local places fun and social again.
 
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no, not running as of right now, but very close. PO put a Chevy 283 in it then it sat for he said 5 years. I cleaned the carb, looked everything over that I know how to look over and turned it over with no spark plugs in. Turned over great! I need to mess with the timing and i think it will run just fine. Still has 3 on the tree. Never driven one with it, should be fun!
CIMG5545.jpg
 
With a V8 , I would make it stop. Learned that with mine. Get it running and enjoy it before diving in head first. Just my opinion.


Mike
 
maybe I should look into getting some later 40 axles with disc brakes in the front and better rear drums.
I put FJ60 axles under my FJ40 with a rear disc swap and a FZJ80 booster and master and now I can lock all 4 wheels using my hand on the pedal. It stops crazy easy! love the extra width but with this one I don't think I will be doing anything too crazy on the trails. Also, Just not sure if i want to deal with out boarding the springs again.
 
Nice looking old SWB truck. I think you will find it's a 65 titled as a 66. The vent in the windshield and bug catcher vent windows on the doors ended in 65.

I would restore it with a small lift and 33" plus update the brakes to match the engine. Maybe change the head rack a little (round the upper corners) but I like the over all look of it. If yours is like my 65 LWB with a 2F the engine serial number is on the VIN. With a V8 it could never go back to 100% original with original egine gone so do what you want.
 
Get it mechanically sound, then run it as is. But like others said, your truck, do what you want.:hillbilly:
 
Definately upgrade brakes. Easy to start with. Booster with a spacer from marksoffroad and newer front axle for starters. Rear axle not as important yet. Run all new brake lines and new hoses. But drive it first. So many of us have not just driven our stockers before modifying. Could easily do rear disks with brackets from poser for about the same cost as rebuilding rear pistons. Just an idea. Better to stop than to go.

Sent from my phone using IH8MUD
 
This matches the frame at least! haha
Maybe to get closer to stock I could swap my F engine from my 40 crawler into the 45 and the chevy engine into my 40.
quick questions, is the date of manufacture in the engine No. and what is the L in FJ45L stand for?
CIMG5555.jpg
 
This matches the frame at least! haha
Maybe to get closer to stock I could swap my F engine from my 40 crawler into the 45 and the chevy engine into my 40.
quick questions, is the date of manufacture in the engine No. and what is the L in FJ45L stand for?

L is for left hand drive. It should have a P after that but not having it common. The long wheel base would be FJ45LP-B. the B because of the wheel base. SOR has a chart to date you vehicle here http://www.sor.com/sor/fj45frame.tam Looks like 9/64. Curious what your rear veiw mirror looks like? The long running boards should be 65 model which started during 64.
 
hey, thank you. Good to know.
rear view
CIMG5558.jpg
 
Brake upgrade, mech sound, drive.

Nice! I love the SWB 45's. We never got them.
 
Nice 45. A good starter no matter what you decide to do.

3 speed on the column, no clutch master on the firewall. So, is that a full mechanical clutch linkage I see coming through the floor?

If so and you plan to wheel it much, that mechanical linkage could cause issues with binding or even falling out of place when the chassis gets twisted up.
 
Nice find. You have to decide for yourself on whether to keep or sell. 45's are bigger than 40's so they keep more weeds from growing in the yard.. ;p
 

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