Patina Pollux Formerly "New FJ40 no direction decided" (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 12, 2006
Threads
3
Messages
47
Location
SE Tennessee
after 17 years i finally got a landcruiser again, last one was a completely rotted out BJ40 when i still lived in Germany, then live happened, and while i did have a 1985 4runner and a 86 minitruck, i never had the time to dive into them as 20 years ago.

anyway, its a 1973, pretty good condition in regards to rust, i found 1 spot that i will need to look at, its behind the spare tire carrier, but other than that, the frame looks amazing, maybe from all the oil thats leaking? :)

long time ago someone put in a 305, from what i see they used the AA kit, and while i could return it to original, i enjoy driving it too much to consider putting the 6cylinder back in.

so at the moment, just fixing everthing and working on making it reliable, but have no idea of what direction i want to take it, i love a resto, but i want to drive it and dont have time/energy for multi month projects..

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i know... bezel... its fixed :)
 
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the steering was very scary, she is very fast, but i almost needed 2 lanes, previous owner told me that was normal and i will get used to it....

i replaced all tie rod ends, and had to replace the tie rod itself because some hero had welded the tierod end to the tie rod, and i rebuild the centerarm thinghy
the steering stabilizer i bought didnt fit, but even without it, she wants to drive straight !
i do have exessive play in the steering box, but cant adjust it at the moment as it is soaking with PB Blaster to remove the rust, hopefully i can adjust it in a few days:

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i also removed the bumper contraption that was welded to the frame, and got a HFS Bumper, and installed a Warn 8274 ( needs to be rebuild but atleast its not sitting in the garage in my way, rebuild will happen in the winter...


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last weekend i was looking at the brakes, which are pretty bad, she pulls hard to the right when breaking, and i looked into why 4wd doesnt work, the front driveshaft spins when put in 4wd, but the wheels dont turn, when i jacked the axle up, locked the hubs and spun the wheels, the driveshaft didnt spin... i guess the birfields are done...
 
Sounds like a good one. Also sounds like you’re headed in the right direction already. Keep doing what you’re doing. Give her a spit shine and enjoy it.

“It’s normal” is hilarious. I can let go of my wheel while running down the highway at 65+ mph and it continues straight. ON SWAMPERS.
 
anyway, its a 1979

Maybe a '69? Or else it's a '79 that's been sleeping hard with a '69? Anyway - good looking truck. Just unfungled what's messed up, drive it, and enjoy it.
 
Congrats on the 40. It looks like a great start. Its not a 79, looks to be maybe a 73 with the big backup light. I hope your paperwork is ok. Squirrely is not normal. Updating the the steering components is a good start. Check, bushing, ubolts and especially your caster angle, if its off it can be a handful. Check and repack the wheel bearings while your checking out what going on with the frt hubs or birfields. Get it running, driving, and stopping, then enjoy it.
 
you guys are right, 79 is a typo ( im home with covid and my brain is a little foggy ) she is a 73, and i have clean paperwork
she is already registered in my name and insured as a pleasure vehicle ( 90$ every 6 months)

all rubber bushings are bad, no-one has done anything in the last 10 or 20 years as far as maintenance goes.

here is a list i have already done:
Fixed temp gage
Fixed Oil Gage
Fixed speedo
Fixed heater
removed extra wiring ( now i only have the stock wiring left)

ill just keep chugging away, and when she is reliable i can look at what i want to do with her, but her purpose is to just cruise around the mountains here in the summer.
 
Congrats on the new truck. Any idea what the original color is?
Search for degree "shims" that can be added under your spring pack to correct caster angle and help the "wander" you are having.
I used a 4 degree shim on my 79 40 series that has an old 2.5 lift/33's and it was some of the best money spent to improve my steering.
 
That 40 looks great the way it sits. Clean up the paint, give it a CLR scrub and maybe a good polish and wax and I bet it will shine really nice! Be on the lookout for a set of OEM wheels, welded style preferred over riveted style. Some OEM wheels and hub caps would really set the look of that truck off. Congrats on the purchase!
 
steering is now all fixed, i managed to remove the play in the steering wheel, now i can even let the steering wheel go at 50mph and she will stay in her lane.
still waiting on installing the steering stabilizer (needed more parts) and now i am going to focus on the brakes.
 
still chugging along.. :) fixing minor things here and there

after reading some of the patina threads, i guess im gonna try the CLR thing and see how shes going to look.

i found out the 4x4 didnt work because the transfer case is busted, the case has some welds so it looks someone already fixed it once.
i got a used 3 speed with tranny for cheap that i will rebuild.. no hurry though...

what bothered me the most when driving it was that the underseat fueltank has a leak, so im using the rear one, but never know how much fuel i have, so today i pulled the tank, and yes it has pinholes on the bottom, i ordered a repro tank today, and started removing the bedliner in the front since it has lifted from the metal where the fuel seeped out. i havent found any holes in the floor yet, mostly surface rust for now. when thats fixed i will use the front fuel tank and have a gage again.

i also removed the dash pad since its rusting underneath it and it looked pretty bad.. the dash pad actually had a dash pad cover over it, that made it look even worse
no holes found under there but a good bit of flakey rust, so ill clean it up and find a new pad.

i also ordered the 2" lift springs from ironman ( 25% off for Christmas) and new standard length shackles, since the front ones are bent, and the rear has some monster shackles that seem like 2" longer than stock.

next on the list is fix brakes in the front, she pull hard to the right when breaking and after that will be OEM rims and 33x9.5 R15 tires.

than i should be ready for summer....
 
The PO screwed up the bezel and he fixed it, right? So no crack needed there--he did it justice--but now it looks like a photo negative!
 
The PO screwed up the bezel and he fixed it, right? So no crack needed there--he did it justice--but now it looks like a photo negative!
that is correct, was upside down when i bought it, the Wife then proceeded to make awesome pictures of it before i had the change to fix it.
the pictures of the new bumper show its correct again :)
 
btw i wished that was the only screwup the PO did... i think he robbed a hardware store full of random size bolts and then went over to advance auto to buy cheap s*** to make the V8 run....

as much as i like the power, im considering putting a 2F in....
 
Sid79
We are all Po’s at some point. These rigs were not always classics and have been kept running for 50 years, not always in a proper way but kept running nonetheless. Don’t sweat the small stuff. There will be plenty of things that warrant worrying. Good job on putting it back together correctly and getting back on the road.
 

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