A little history…
I have been a Land Cruiser owner for the past 12 years including: '00 UZJ100, '01 UZJ100, '02 UZJ100, and '97 FZJ80 Collector's Edition. A couple of years ago I restored a '61 Dodge Power Wagon my wife bought for me and it was a blast. I worked on the old beast with my dad and grandad and we gave life to that old iron again and had it running like it did when it rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. It was special and I learned a lot about restoring old trucks. I have the best time working on projects with these two, my dad who is 61 and my granddad who is 81. Some would call them shade tree mechanics, they have seen and done it all and worked on just about everything under the sun. Not to mention they can diagnose and fix just about any problem with a vehicle. I learn a lot and basically try to stay out of the way, but it’s really fun, memories are made.
The day we picked up the Power Wagon
The day I sold the Power Wagon
So, while I am super excited about FJ40 restore project I am even more excited about the journey it takes to get there and spending quality time with two people who mean the world to me. After we completed the Power Wagon project I started getting a little more serious about a FJ40 build since we are a Land Cruise household including my awesome wife. I have been a MUD member for the past 8 years and have read many posts about the dos, donts and how tos. I had a pretty good feeling on what I wanted to do on the project and what I needed to find to begin the project. However, after several months of looking I was having trouble locating some good FJ40 bones to work with (at a reasonable price that wasn't completely roached out). I search the standard places, MUD, ebay, CL, etc. This is my rough documented journey in search of an FJ40 and the process it takes to rebuild the one I found…
January 2, 2015
So, I took the plunge on what needs a little (read alot) more work than I had originally planned. I found this old “deer camp 40” located down in the panhandle of Florida. The current owner had not done anything to it since he had purchased a couple of weeks earlier. He basically bought it to flip and make a few hundred dollars. From what I could tell by looking at pics on craigslist it looked decent. It was ‘71 (at least that’s what it was advertised) soon I will learn it’s an actual ’72 with mostly all original parts. I have a good friend who lived only 30 mins from where she was located and I asked if he could go take a look for me. T and his wife went and gave it a once over and said yep looks good, not a ton of rust, but yep it has rust and missing a few things and does not drive but the engine runs and fired right up. It has the family roll cage, no jump seats and some old torn up from seats that will require replacing. More knobs on the dash then it needed and wires everywhere…
Ok, so my quick check list...
1) rust? check
2) engine run? check
3) mostly original? check
4) original inline 6 engine
5) original 3spd tranny? check
6) diamond plate corner pieces? check
7) wiring issues? check
8) brake issues? check
9) carb issues? check
Sounds like a winner to me... So, I am buying this camo FJ40 sight unseen. First vehicle I’ve ever purchased where I didn’t actually see it in person, which to me is a little scary. Nevertheless, I took the plunge and hoped for the best and prepared for the worse. Thankfully I have an understanding wife who is supportive all my projects…My buddy helps me arrange for shipping from the panhandle of Florida to North Alabama (Huntsville).
January 10th
FJ40 d-day (delivery day) arrives and I get to see it in person, the bones to the project I’ve wanted to start for some time. She arrives after dark so I’m not getting a good picture of the truck other than with headlights and a flashlight. No brakes, no clutch, no battery to test if it will turnover although my buddy Tommy had already seen/heard the engine running in person so I knew it would.
January 11th
Daybreak and I am already up and ready to give a full inspection of my new 40 project. Ok, let’s look at the frame, umm, yes there is rust. Not a ton, but there’s enough… Let’s look in the engine bay umm, yes there is sand, lots of sand in every little piece and more rust. There is some rust in the back and mainly between the tub and top and of course around the drip rail. With a fast 5 min inspection and I already know we will need the following. 1) Battery 2) Clutch 3) Brakes 4) Wheels/Tires 5) Side marker signals 6) Front apron side markers 7) Running boards 8) Front seats 9) Rear Jump seats 10) Roll bar. After inspecting the data plates in the driver side door jam, it reads a build date of Oct 1971 but the VIN ends with 72 and the original owners manual in the glove box is showing 1972. In addition, the data plate under the hood and on the frame also read that the ’71 I purchased is actually evolving into a ’72, no biggie to me. One thing that should have given it away to me was the hood was not split like the most ’71 models. Again, the year did not matter to me. Upon further inspection I see more rust than I had originally planned for, but nothing that can’t be fixed. I am a little anxious to look under those rear diamond plate corner pieces to see just how bad those areas might be and what they might be hiding. A couple of other items I noted, the rear jumps were missing, in place of them was a Con Ferr bench seat along with a full family roll cage. I’ll plan on removing both of those items and probably selling on MUD or Craigslist.
January 15th
First day to turn some wrenches on the camo 40. We knew we had to replace the clutch slave cylinder as the clutch was resting on the firewall. Also suspected we needed to rebuild the entire brake system. But I wanted to see if we could fire it up and drive up and down the driveway. We do a compression test and all cylinders have excellent compression. YES! We changed the oil, it was pretty dirty. Listening to her run we could tell we probably need to rebuild the original Aisan carb. It was backfiring and running, but it was running, just rough. A carb rebuild is in our future. We installed the new clutch slave cylinder and we now have a clutch and she will move. I back it down the drive and we have brakes, not much, actually not much at all but she stops, barely. So, I’ll take a SLOW spin around the block and see how she does and see how she runs under a load. Running rough and coughing and brakes seem to work, but only one side and pulls hard to left so I think it might just have one brake cylinder working. Wheel it back to the house and park it. A brake rebuild and carb rebuild is needed before we can move her again. Order the parts from Cruiser Corps to rebuild the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We also take note that none of the lights are working. No brake lights, head lights, blinkers (missing).
January 20th
The alternator that’s installed is no good so we are replacing it today. It appears that the PO had an old GM alt installed. Let me say this about the alternator and all the other wiring in the truck. How do I put it, it’s a HOT mess. If you can envision 100’ of different colored wire just wadded up, spliced together and rotting in different sections, attached to various parts on the truck. Well, that would be a nice job compared to what we are dealing with. It’s just a total mess and we realize that we are going to have to do a rewire job on everything before all is said and done. Of course after we hook up the alternator it has power, but is not charging the battery. Realize we need to add a voltage regulator-another day.
January 27th
I located turn signals from a MUD member who happens to live within an hour or so of Huntsville close to the Shoals area. I buy these from him and we are slowly knocking out some of the missing parts needed for the different areas of the truck.
January 30th
While working on the engine we noticed the fan shroud was missing and your hand can get awful close to a fan when tweaking the engine so I want to find a fan shroud quickly before my dad, granddad or myself loses a finger or worse a hand. So, I locate a fan shroud on CL up around Lynchburg, TN which is only 45 min drive up to meet another Cruiserhead and buy an extra fan shroud he has from one of his ongoing Cruiser projects. He’s got two 40 projects going as well as a FJ60. Super nice fellow and my wife and I visit with him for an hour or two. Interestingly enough his farm borders the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and his particular farm traces back to Jack Daniels farm. Pretty cool and lots of history there…
February 3rd
I found another local MUDDER who had an OEM roll bar and a pair of visors and I gobbled those up to add to our parts list that continues to grow. This 40 did not have the typical roll bar originally, but I wanted to add one and I also wanted to go back with the long rear jump seats. When I bought the truck it had a Con Ferr bench seat that I’ll end up selling since I’m going back with the parallel jumps.
February 6th
The weather has been terribly cold, wet, and icy/snowy here in Huntsville and we have not gotten to spend much time on our project. Hopefully weather will be improving soon. We have all the needed rebuild parts for the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We spend the day rebuilding the wheel cylinders. I’m not sure these wheel cylinders have worked in 20+ years. Most of them are locked up tight but we manage to free them up and everything back in working order. Ready to install when the weather cooperates.
February 8th
Carb has been rebuilt, although it seems like we are missing a few items from the carb it’s back together at this point and rebuilt. We’ll see how she runs… again wx is holding us back. When we have some weather above freezing temps and not snowing we’ll be able to get more accomplished.
February 13th
I located some original front bench seats just outside of ATL. They appear to be a good fit for the project so I head over to GA and pick them up and also meet a fellow Cruiserhead who has also restored a ‘72 Fj40 that is beautiful. The places we go and people we meet for parts is a story by itself. It’s part of the journey and part of what I enjoy about these projects is the adventure and what it takes to get all the pieces of the puzzle brought together.
February 20th
Found a great deal on some BFG 33x10.5x15 tires on craigslist that were for sale down in Orange Breach, AL. Great find, I just happened to be going down to OBA for my oldest daughter’s soccer tourney next week so I contacted the owner and wouldn't you know they were sold. A couple of days pass and the owner emails to say the deal with his buyer fell through and asked if I still wanted them, heck yeah! Dad and I pickup the tires from the seller while we were down in OBA enjoying some high school soccer.
February 22nd
I ended up buying some steel wheels from Summit Racing that I like, they look good and had a similar design to the original wheels. They are not exact, which is fine with me. I want to give this old 40 life again and not as worried about everything being back to 100% stock. If I can get it relatively close then I’ll be happy.
February 27th
I remove the diamond plate corners and the fender flares to see what might be hiding from us. Surprisingly, there is rust, but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. We do have a couple of areas that will need our attention but for the most part it’s solid and we have something to work with. Along with filling a good number of holes left from where they attached the diamond plate corners. Another surprise we notice is that the PO added an extra fuel tank to the back of the 40 and they decided to use nice rubber garden-type hose (instead of steel lines) for the gas line. So, another must do is to change out the rubber fuel hose for steel fuel lines. I also should mention, for now I have decided to keep the fuel tank located in the back as I like the location a little better than under the seat of the passenger. I’m still toying with the idea of keeping both tanks but at this moment I’m leaning to keeping only the tank in the rear but that could change.
March 1st
My original goal was to get the 40 running smoothly and stopping safely and then work on the cosmetics down the road. I wanted to drive it around some and be safe to do so. But, I guess, goals are set and then plans change. So, now I decide to go ahead and restore (not a complete frame off) but have a nice truck that runs well and looks pretty good for what I want. This leads me to thinking about what color I want to paint her. The current color is a nice Army camo job. Original color is Red. I am considering Tan or Sand Dune Beige. Still tossing around color ideas, I have plenty of time to decide.
March 8th
Finally have had a few decent days of weather and we have been able to get the newly rebuilt brake cylinders installed, new master cylinder installed, new brake shoes installed, and brakes bled. Brakes are MUCH better, not 100% but they are really pretty good. They are a little soft so we think there might still be some air in the lines and will plan on bleeding again. Also, we notice the brake booster has some hissing sounds when depressing the brake pedal. Not sure if it needs rebuilding but need to keep an eye on it to be certain.
March 15th
The Aisan is another story altogether. As mentioned previously, we rebuilt the carb last month, but there seems to be a couple of parts missing based on some exploded views we have reviewed online. We are not exactly sure what the PO might have done or not done but something is not quite right. It never wants to run with the choke all the way in, backfires like crazy and idles pretty rough. Even when making the adjustments nothing seems to help. Scratching our head on the carb, nothing seems to help or change no matter how much we adjust.
March 20th
I found a pair of jump seats on CL located in St. Louis and I struck a deal with the seller. Fortunately, he works some in Nashville and we will be flying out of Nashville next week and we can easily make the exchange. Score!
March 22nd-28th
We are taking a break from work, the rat race and our FJ40 project. This week we are taking our family to Steamboat Springs, CO for spring break. We had a great trip to Steamboat, the week consisted of snow skiing and fly fishing on the Yampa River. It was a fantastic trip and fun memories made. I even saw two FJ40s in Steamboat (blue one without doors and a brown one) driving around town.
March 29th
We picked up the jump seats in Nashville after our return flight from Denver. Both seats appear to be in great shape, the frames and upholstery look really nice. These are one of items that my younger daughters are most excited about. They love the old parallel jump seats and so it was a must to include in the project.
April 4th
We removed hard top, which was quite a job with two men and no lift. We’re already talking about an easier way to do this and not be so cumbersome to remove the top. But we were able to get it setup on a stand and now I can get to it a little easier and have better access when I start working on stripping the top down to repair and repaint.
April 11th
I removed the old seats, original gas tank under the passenger side and began cleaning the tub. There was so much sand in this truck it’s like it live on a sand dune for 20+ years. There are some additional rust areas we need addressing, some small areas in the tub and a small area on the tranny hump. I’ve also got to start thinking about tackling that mess of a wiring harness.
April 15-16th
Inspiration read: Read Roma’s build and Roma and Tucker’s build. Man, they have done it right. I really enjoyed reading those buildups and it has given me some great encouragement on my project. They set a high bar and have done some beautiful work. You should read it if you need some extra motivation about your 40 project.
Read it here: Roma's 78 fj40 gets a refurb
Roma/ Tucker’s 40: Tucker and Roma's 75 FJ40 Restore
April 17th
Even after the Aisan carb rebuild the old girl still does not want to run smoothly. I have read numerous posts from several folks who swear by the Aisan stock carbs, Trollholes and Webers. We have fought and fought with this carb and have not had much luck tuning it. I’ve just about given up on the Aisan rebuild. I ran across a fellow MUDDER selling a Weber from one of his 40s. Interestingly enough he lives in Steamboat Springs where we just visited a few weeks earlier. I decided to buy the Weber and we hope to see if we can get her to run a little better without coughing and backfiring.
April 18th
I’ve decided to start working on the doors until the Weber arrives. They have some rust we need to address. In addition, they have a couple of broken areas that need welding and repairing. Thankfully my dad and granddad are both excellent welders. My task for the day is to remove the top halves of the doors so we can get to the areas that need welding and I can focus on cleaning up the top halves of each door.
April 20th
The Weber I purchased from a fellow Mudder arrives today and it looks like it’s in good shape. We look forward to installing it this weekend if the weather will cooperate.
April 21-22nd
Inspiration read: Just read @SeaKnight Commander’s story and his journey across the country in the Turtle and his Old Rustbucket – to be continued journal. What a fantastic story, I feel like I know the man like he were a family member and I’ve never met him and probably never will but would love to. If you have not read his trek, it’s worth your time…You will laugh and cry. I hope we get to read the rest of his story some day… RIP Army
Read it here: Saving The Old Rustbucket--My 1982 FJ40 Tale
more to come...if anyone is interested.
I have been a Land Cruiser owner for the past 12 years including: '00 UZJ100, '01 UZJ100, '02 UZJ100, and '97 FZJ80 Collector's Edition. A couple of years ago I restored a '61 Dodge Power Wagon my wife bought for me and it was a blast. I worked on the old beast with my dad and grandad and we gave life to that old iron again and had it running like it did when it rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. It was special and I learned a lot about restoring old trucks. I have the best time working on projects with these two, my dad who is 61 and my granddad who is 81. Some would call them shade tree mechanics, they have seen and done it all and worked on just about everything under the sun. Not to mention they can diagnose and fix just about any problem with a vehicle. I learn a lot and basically try to stay out of the way, but it’s really fun, memories are made.
The day we picked up the Power Wagon
The day I sold the Power Wagon
So, while I am super excited about FJ40 restore project I am even more excited about the journey it takes to get there and spending quality time with two people who mean the world to me. After we completed the Power Wagon project I started getting a little more serious about a FJ40 build since we are a Land Cruise household including my awesome wife. I have been a MUD member for the past 8 years and have read many posts about the dos, donts and how tos. I had a pretty good feeling on what I wanted to do on the project and what I needed to find to begin the project. However, after several months of looking I was having trouble locating some good FJ40 bones to work with (at a reasonable price that wasn't completely roached out). I search the standard places, MUD, ebay, CL, etc. This is my rough documented journey in search of an FJ40 and the process it takes to rebuild the one I found…
January 2, 2015
So, I took the plunge on what needs a little (read alot) more work than I had originally planned. I found this old “deer camp 40” located down in the panhandle of Florida. The current owner had not done anything to it since he had purchased a couple of weeks earlier. He basically bought it to flip and make a few hundred dollars. From what I could tell by looking at pics on craigslist it looked decent. It was ‘71 (at least that’s what it was advertised) soon I will learn it’s an actual ’72 with mostly all original parts. I have a good friend who lived only 30 mins from where she was located and I asked if he could go take a look for me. T and his wife went and gave it a once over and said yep looks good, not a ton of rust, but yep it has rust and missing a few things and does not drive but the engine runs and fired right up. It has the family roll cage, no jump seats and some old torn up from seats that will require replacing. More knobs on the dash then it needed and wires everywhere…
Ok, so my quick check list...
1) rust? check
2) engine run? check
3) mostly original? check
4) original inline 6 engine
5) original 3spd tranny? check
6) diamond plate corner pieces? check
7) wiring issues? check
8) brake issues? check
9) carb issues? check
Sounds like a winner to me... So, I am buying this camo FJ40 sight unseen. First vehicle I’ve ever purchased where I didn’t actually see it in person, which to me is a little scary. Nevertheless, I took the plunge and hoped for the best and prepared for the worse. Thankfully I have an understanding wife who is supportive all my projects…My buddy helps me arrange for shipping from the panhandle of Florida to North Alabama (Huntsville).
January 10th
FJ40 d-day (delivery day) arrives and I get to see it in person, the bones to the project I’ve wanted to start for some time. She arrives after dark so I’m not getting a good picture of the truck other than with headlights and a flashlight. No brakes, no clutch, no battery to test if it will turnover although my buddy Tommy had already seen/heard the engine running in person so I knew it would.
January 11th
Daybreak and I am already up and ready to give a full inspection of my new 40 project. Ok, let’s look at the frame, umm, yes there is rust. Not a ton, but there’s enough… Let’s look in the engine bay umm, yes there is sand, lots of sand in every little piece and more rust. There is some rust in the back and mainly between the tub and top and of course around the drip rail. With a fast 5 min inspection and I already know we will need the following. 1) Battery 2) Clutch 3) Brakes 4) Wheels/Tires 5) Side marker signals 6) Front apron side markers 7) Running boards 8) Front seats 9) Rear Jump seats 10) Roll bar. After inspecting the data plates in the driver side door jam, it reads a build date of Oct 1971 but the VIN ends with 72 and the original owners manual in the glove box is showing 1972. In addition, the data plate under the hood and on the frame also read that the ’71 I purchased is actually evolving into a ’72, no biggie to me. One thing that should have given it away to me was the hood was not split like the most ’71 models. Again, the year did not matter to me. Upon further inspection I see more rust than I had originally planned for, but nothing that can’t be fixed. I am a little anxious to look under those rear diamond plate corner pieces to see just how bad those areas might be and what they might be hiding. A couple of other items I noted, the rear jumps were missing, in place of them was a Con Ferr bench seat along with a full family roll cage. I’ll plan on removing both of those items and probably selling on MUD or Craigslist.
January 15th
First day to turn some wrenches on the camo 40. We knew we had to replace the clutch slave cylinder as the clutch was resting on the firewall. Also suspected we needed to rebuild the entire brake system. But I wanted to see if we could fire it up and drive up and down the driveway. We do a compression test and all cylinders have excellent compression. YES! We changed the oil, it was pretty dirty. Listening to her run we could tell we probably need to rebuild the original Aisan carb. It was backfiring and running, but it was running, just rough. A carb rebuild is in our future. We installed the new clutch slave cylinder and we now have a clutch and she will move. I back it down the drive and we have brakes, not much, actually not much at all but she stops, barely. So, I’ll take a SLOW spin around the block and see how she does and see how she runs under a load. Running rough and coughing and brakes seem to work, but only one side and pulls hard to left so I think it might just have one brake cylinder working. Wheel it back to the house and park it. A brake rebuild and carb rebuild is needed before we can move her again. Order the parts from Cruiser Corps to rebuild the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We also take note that none of the lights are working. No brake lights, head lights, blinkers (missing).
January 20th
The alternator that’s installed is no good so we are replacing it today. It appears that the PO had an old GM alt installed. Let me say this about the alternator and all the other wiring in the truck. How do I put it, it’s a HOT mess. If you can envision 100’ of different colored wire just wadded up, spliced together and rotting in different sections, attached to various parts on the truck. Well, that would be a nice job compared to what we are dealing with. It’s just a total mess and we realize that we are going to have to do a rewire job on everything before all is said and done. Of course after we hook up the alternator it has power, but is not charging the battery. Realize we need to add a voltage regulator-another day.
January 27th
I located turn signals from a MUD member who happens to live within an hour or so of Huntsville close to the Shoals area. I buy these from him and we are slowly knocking out some of the missing parts needed for the different areas of the truck.
January 30th
While working on the engine we noticed the fan shroud was missing and your hand can get awful close to a fan when tweaking the engine so I want to find a fan shroud quickly before my dad, granddad or myself loses a finger or worse a hand. So, I locate a fan shroud on CL up around Lynchburg, TN which is only 45 min drive up to meet another Cruiserhead and buy an extra fan shroud he has from one of his ongoing Cruiser projects. He’s got two 40 projects going as well as a FJ60. Super nice fellow and my wife and I visit with him for an hour or two. Interestingly enough his farm borders the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and his particular farm traces back to Jack Daniels farm. Pretty cool and lots of history there…
February 3rd
I found another local MUDDER who had an OEM roll bar and a pair of visors and I gobbled those up to add to our parts list that continues to grow. This 40 did not have the typical roll bar originally, but I wanted to add one and I also wanted to go back with the long rear jump seats. When I bought the truck it had a Con Ferr bench seat that I’ll end up selling since I’m going back with the parallel jumps.
February 6th
The weather has been terribly cold, wet, and icy/snowy here in Huntsville and we have not gotten to spend much time on our project. Hopefully weather will be improving soon. We have all the needed rebuild parts for the carb and all the wheel cylinders. We spend the day rebuilding the wheel cylinders. I’m not sure these wheel cylinders have worked in 20+ years. Most of them are locked up tight but we manage to free them up and everything back in working order. Ready to install when the weather cooperates.
February 8th
Carb has been rebuilt, although it seems like we are missing a few items from the carb it’s back together at this point and rebuilt. We’ll see how she runs… again wx is holding us back. When we have some weather above freezing temps and not snowing we’ll be able to get more accomplished.
February 13th
I located some original front bench seats just outside of ATL. They appear to be a good fit for the project so I head over to GA and pick them up and also meet a fellow Cruiserhead who has also restored a ‘72 Fj40 that is beautiful. The places we go and people we meet for parts is a story by itself. It’s part of the journey and part of what I enjoy about these projects is the adventure and what it takes to get all the pieces of the puzzle brought together.
February 20th
Found a great deal on some BFG 33x10.5x15 tires on craigslist that were for sale down in Orange Breach, AL. Great find, I just happened to be going down to OBA for my oldest daughter’s soccer tourney next week so I contacted the owner and wouldn't you know they were sold. A couple of days pass and the owner emails to say the deal with his buyer fell through and asked if I still wanted them, heck yeah! Dad and I pickup the tires from the seller while we were down in OBA enjoying some high school soccer.
February 22nd
I ended up buying some steel wheels from Summit Racing that I like, they look good and had a similar design to the original wheels. They are not exact, which is fine with me. I want to give this old 40 life again and not as worried about everything being back to 100% stock. If I can get it relatively close then I’ll be happy.
February 27th
I remove the diamond plate corners and the fender flares to see what might be hiding from us. Surprisingly, there is rust, but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. We do have a couple of areas that will need our attention but for the most part it’s solid and we have something to work with. Along with filling a good number of holes left from where they attached the diamond plate corners. Another surprise we notice is that the PO added an extra fuel tank to the back of the 40 and they decided to use nice rubber garden-type hose (instead of steel lines) for the gas line. So, another must do is to change out the rubber fuel hose for steel fuel lines. I also should mention, for now I have decided to keep the fuel tank located in the back as I like the location a little better than under the seat of the passenger. I’m still toying with the idea of keeping both tanks but at this moment I’m leaning to keeping only the tank in the rear but that could change.
March 1st
My original goal was to get the 40 running smoothly and stopping safely and then work on the cosmetics down the road. I wanted to drive it around some and be safe to do so. But, I guess, goals are set and then plans change. So, now I decide to go ahead and restore (not a complete frame off) but have a nice truck that runs well and looks pretty good for what I want. This leads me to thinking about what color I want to paint her. The current color is a nice Army camo job. Original color is Red. I am considering Tan or Sand Dune Beige. Still tossing around color ideas, I have plenty of time to decide.
March 8th
Finally have had a few decent days of weather and we have been able to get the newly rebuilt brake cylinders installed, new master cylinder installed, new brake shoes installed, and brakes bled. Brakes are MUCH better, not 100% but they are really pretty good. They are a little soft so we think there might still be some air in the lines and will plan on bleeding again. Also, we notice the brake booster has some hissing sounds when depressing the brake pedal. Not sure if it needs rebuilding but need to keep an eye on it to be certain.
March 15th
The Aisan is another story altogether. As mentioned previously, we rebuilt the carb last month, but there seems to be a couple of parts missing based on some exploded views we have reviewed online. We are not exactly sure what the PO might have done or not done but something is not quite right. It never wants to run with the choke all the way in, backfires like crazy and idles pretty rough. Even when making the adjustments nothing seems to help. Scratching our head on the carb, nothing seems to help or change no matter how much we adjust.
March 20th
I found a pair of jump seats on CL located in St. Louis and I struck a deal with the seller. Fortunately, he works some in Nashville and we will be flying out of Nashville next week and we can easily make the exchange. Score!
March 22nd-28th
We are taking a break from work, the rat race and our FJ40 project. This week we are taking our family to Steamboat Springs, CO for spring break. We had a great trip to Steamboat, the week consisted of snow skiing and fly fishing on the Yampa River. It was a fantastic trip and fun memories made. I even saw two FJ40s in Steamboat (blue one without doors and a brown one) driving around town.
March 29th
We picked up the jump seats in Nashville after our return flight from Denver. Both seats appear to be in great shape, the frames and upholstery look really nice. These are one of items that my younger daughters are most excited about. They love the old parallel jump seats and so it was a must to include in the project.
April 4th
We removed hard top, which was quite a job with two men and no lift. We’re already talking about an easier way to do this and not be so cumbersome to remove the top. But we were able to get it setup on a stand and now I can get to it a little easier and have better access when I start working on stripping the top down to repair and repaint.
April 11th
I removed the old seats, original gas tank under the passenger side and began cleaning the tub. There was so much sand in this truck it’s like it live on a sand dune for 20+ years. There are some additional rust areas we need addressing, some small areas in the tub and a small area on the tranny hump. I’ve also got to start thinking about tackling that mess of a wiring harness.
April 15-16th
Inspiration read: Read Roma’s build and Roma and Tucker’s build. Man, they have done it right. I really enjoyed reading those buildups and it has given me some great encouragement on my project. They set a high bar and have done some beautiful work. You should read it if you need some extra motivation about your 40 project.
Read it here: Roma's 78 fj40 gets a refurb
Roma/ Tucker’s 40: Tucker and Roma's 75 FJ40 Restore
April 17th
Even after the Aisan carb rebuild the old girl still does not want to run smoothly. I have read numerous posts from several folks who swear by the Aisan stock carbs, Trollholes and Webers. We have fought and fought with this carb and have not had much luck tuning it. I’ve just about given up on the Aisan rebuild. I ran across a fellow MUDDER selling a Weber from one of his 40s. Interestingly enough he lives in Steamboat Springs where we just visited a few weeks earlier. I decided to buy the Weber and we hope to see if we can get her to run a little better without coughing and backfiring.
April 18th
I’ve decided to start working on the doors until the Weber arrives. They have some rust we need to address. In addition, they have a couple of broken areas that need welding and repairing. Thankfully my dad and granddad are both excellent welders. My task for the day is to remove the top halves of the doors so we can get to the areas that need welding and I can focus on cleaning up the top halves of each door.
April 20th
The Weber I purchased from a fellow Mudder arrives today and it looks like it’s in good shape. We look forward to installing it this weekend if the weather will cooperate.
April 21-22nd
Inspiration read: Just read @SeaKnight Commander’s story and his journey across the country in the Turtle and his Old Rustbucket – to be continued journal. What a fantastic story, I feel like I know the man like he were a family member and I’ve never met him and probably never will but would love to. If you have not read his trek, it’s worth your time…You will laugh and cry. I hope we get to read the rest of his story some day… RIP Army
Read it here: Saving The Old Rustbucket--My 1982 FJ40 Tale
more to come...if anyone is interested.
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