Restoring 79 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

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Aug 17, 2015
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Location
Pennsylvania
Hello all
Trying to bring back 79 back to the day it left showroom. Questions
1 did bolts that held hinges on doors and hood come painted body color or with no paint. Found concours resto with no paint and unrestored” with paint.
2Also came with no jump seat belts. Does anyone know if they came black or gray.
3 heater black or pewter?
4 front tow hook black or silver?

Thank u all
 
I am the original owner of a 78, but I suspect your 79 came in the same condition when new.

Door and Hood Bolts painted color of body.
Belts for Jump seats: Black
Front Heater: Black, Rear Heater: Aluminum (Pewter?)
Front Tow Hook: Black


My rear seat belts are grey to match the roll bar that changed from black to grey in 79.
 
You must have a big budget to go to showroom status...
That’s the thing trying to do it on the cheap. Previous owner went nuts with the spray can. Been using aircraft stripper to remove layer after layer on bolts. Sounds ridiculous but amazing how much better it looks with paint off bolts
 
I am the original owner of a 78, but I suspect your 79 came in the same condition when new.

Door and Hood Bolts painted color of body.
Belts for Jump seats: Black
Front Heater: Black, Rear Heater: Aluminum (Pewter?)
Front Tow Hook: Black
Thank you. Amazing how many different finishes you can find when u look them up. Found a 78 unrestored on internet. Showed silver tow hook. Think in 79 Toyota changed some colors
 
Thank you. Amazing how many different finishes you can find when u look them up. Found a 78 unrestored on internet. Showed silver tow hook. Think in 79 Toyota changed some colors

Only difference in hooks was the bolts Toyota used. Early did not have a stamped head on the bolt. 75 Toyota started using only one hook. Previous years had two. But all years the hooks we're black on the FJ40. FJ25s were painted body color as well as the hooks.

Curious was the 78 the one that supposed to have been stored in a box? Believe it have the silver hook and in one thread was brought up that was not correct.
 
Only difference in hooks was the bolts Toyota used. Early did not have a stamped head on the bolt. 75 Toyota started using only one hook. Previous years had two. But all years the hooks we're black on the FJ40. FJ25s were painted body color as well as the hooks.

Curious was the 78 the one that supposed to have been stored in a box? Believe it have the silver hook and in one thread was brought up that was not correct.
Yes it was the green FJ with about 5 original miles
 
Yes it was the green FJ with about 5 original miles


Believe it was 5K undocumented miles. Problem with anything pre 81 with a shorter than seventeen VIN and a odometer that turns over after 99999.9 miles hard to prove mileage. Wasn't until around 2000 Toyota went to a electronic odometer. Prior that pretty easy to rollback a odometer. Pretty common on a FJ40 for the grease to dry up and odometer to stop working. Just repairing it it's easy to set to what ever you want. But CarFax would give you a good idea if it had been on the road if 81 or newer. As for the 78 the original owner had past and story is supposed to be from his kids with no documents or pictures to back it up. Just so many things wrong on that 78 it's hard to believe it will appreciate in the future as the FJ40 market becomes refined. In my option at $100K it was a poor investment.
 
Believe it was 5K undocumented miles. Problem with anything pre 81 with a shorter than seventeen VIN and a odometer that turns over after 99999.9 miles hard to prove mileage. Wasn't until around 2000 Toyota went to a electronic odometer. Prior that pretty easy to rollback a odometer. Pretty common on a FJ40 for the grease to dry up and odometer to stop working. Just repairing it it's easy to set to what ever you want. But CarFax would give you a good idea if it had been on the road if 81 or newer. As for the 78 the original owner had past and story is supposed to be from his kids with no documents or pictures to back it up. Just so many things wrong on that 78 it's hard to believe it will appreciate in the future as the FJ40 market becomes refined. In my option at $100K it was a poor investment.
Agree. Seems like everyone likes a barn find story or in that case stuffed in a box in a warehouse story.
 
Klaus,

"photos of a correct 79"

There are color photos from Toyota sales brochures out there. To be 100% authentic "the day it left the showroom," you need to know the market where your vehicle was first imported, since various upholstery, drivetrain, and required additions/deletions were being done at the factory throughout the production runs. So simply replicating what you see in a photo may not be correct for your specific vehicle. LITP here knows much of the minutae on many of the correct details. There are some fanatical collectors of this and other makes and models of vehicles. And once you feel you have it down 100%, there will be a collector somewhere to fault you for an incorrect bolt head on a fuel line bracket, the wrong color wire deep in a wiring loom, or a missed stitching detail on a web strap. As you approach "perfection" the smallest details can drive you mad.

I believe you will ultimately learn to settle for something less than 100% "showroom"--how much less is open for debate. Knowing in advance where your settling point rests, will help your overall satisfaction with a job well-done. Good luck with your project.
 
Klaus,

"photos of a correct 79"

There are color photos from Toyota sales brochures out there. To be 100% authentic "the day it left the showroom," you need to know the market where your vehicle was first imported, since various upholstery, drivetrain, and required additions/deletions were being done at the factory throughout the production runs. So simply replicating what you see in a photo may not be correct for your specific vehicle. LITP here knows much of the minutae on many of the correct details. There are some fanatical collectors of this and other makes and models of vehicles. And once you feel you have it down 100%, there will be a collector somewhere to fault you for an incorrect bolt head on a fuel line bracket, the wrong color wire deep in a wiring loom, or a missed stitching detail on a web strap. As you approach "perfection" the smallest details can drive you mad.

I believe you will ultimately learn to settle for something less than 100% "showroom"--how much less is open for debate. Knowing in advance where your settling point rests, will help your overall satisfaction with a job well-done. Good luck with your project.


Can't agree more. The closer you get to 100% correct the less likely it will do anything more than sit. As for being 100% correct if you looking to sell after you restore in my opinion those that have brought top dollar have plenty of item that are not correct. It's really more how it's marketed verses how correct it is. If your looking to flip it after your done be sure you get the paint with the most gloss. Shinny seems to be more inportant than correct at this point.
 
City Racer and Wadster have multiple original FJ40s on their sites. Some changes occurred mid year in later models. Example...the correct jump seats for my May of 1980 had the wide leg braces. Earlier that year the braces were narrow based on what I can find (Krumsick Cruiser) The rear heater for my 40 is black and more squarish than the earlier version. The seat belts are grey.
 
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Klaus,

"photos of a correct 79"

There are color photos from Toyota sales brochures out there. To be 100% authentic "the day it left the showroom," you need to know the market where your vehicle was first imported, since various upholstery, drivetrain, and required additions/deletions were being done at the factory throughout the production runs. So simply replicating what you see in a photo may not be correct for your specific vehicle. LITP here knows much of the minutae on many of the correct details. There are some fanatical collectors of this and other makes and models of vehicles. And once you feel you have it down 100%, there will be a collector somewhere to fault you for an incorrect bolt head on a fuel line bracket, the wrong color wire deep in a wiring loom, or a missed stitching detail on a web strap. As you approach "perfection" the smallest details can drive you mad.

I believe you will ultimately learn to settle for something less than 100% "showroom"--how much less is open for debate. Knowing in advance where your settling point rests, will help your overall satisfaction with a job well-done. Good luck with your project.
Thanks for the advice. Agree always a nit picker out there looking to rain in the parade.
 
City Racer and Wadster have multiple original FJ40s on their sites. Some changes occurred mid year in later models. Example...the correct jump seats for my May of 1980 had the wide leg braces. Earlier that year the braces were narrow based on what I can find (Krumsick Cruiser) The rear heater for my 40 is black and more squarish than the earlier version. The seat belts are grey.
Thank you. Didn’t think of changes throughout model year. Heard stories of when they ran out of parts they made a change.
 
That’s the thing trying to do it on the cheap. Previous owner went nuts with the spray can. Been using aircraft stripper to remove layer after layer on bolts. Sounds ridiculous but amazing how much better it looks with paint off bolts

I did my 1969 , refresh, and did some things that I know were not factory , but really made a difference and look nice. Like you, all my hinge bolts are NOT painted and look real nice. Also, I removed items like the windshield hinges , and found out that Toyota only had primer under them. Apparently they primed the body in a red primer and attached items like these hinges and then sprayed color. No color got under hinges. I changed that. (Also protects better).
It is real interesting to me that these vehicles were built for hard use and utility and now we are seeing pristine restorations and looking good. I am not complaining as I own one but back in the day these were not high shine show cars.
 
My 1979 rear heater is black (or blackish because it has yet to be refinished). On my current refinish... I went with
the same grey color on the rollbar as the stock wheel rims....but its not really clear whether they should in fact be
the same grey. I believe these separate items (rims, rollbar, jump seats, rear lock plate) may have originally been
sourced from different vendors to toyota....so I'm guessing the greys may have never matched.
 
I'm curious: is the draw in bringing back a Cruiser to showroom quality the hunt for parts, the journey, the putting together the jigsaw puzzle or is it the end result that motivates, having the showroom Cruiser finished? I suppose it's both but I would think it's the former more than the latter.
 
I did my 1969 , refresh, and did some things that I know were not factory , but really made a difference and look nice. Like you, all my hinge bolts are NOT painted and look real nice. Also, I removed items like the windshield hinges , and found out that Toyota only had primer under them. Apparently they primed the body in a red primer and attached items like these hinges and then sprayed color. No color got under hinges. I changed that. (Also protects better).
It is real interesting to me that these vehicles were built for hard use and utility and now we are seeing pristine restorations and looking good. I am not complaining as I own one but back in the day these were not high shine show cars.
Yep so true. Never thought i would rather take my FJ to the car show over my 66 Vette. FJ just brings smiles to all
 

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