Builds 1960 FJ28L - Project Lara (1 Viewer)

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Just found a couple more pictures I had taken. Coolest part is the badging. There’s another one to the right of the glove box that I didn’t get a picture of but will later.

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Duh house of cruisers still has it on their website. Lots of pictures! Now I’m not going to get anything done today... is that the tool box under the passenger seat?

also I think I’m missing a parking brake!

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Few more. Looks like I might need to source the carb too? hard to see. Was this a big window D40?

See how the seat frames look brand new. What’s the FJ25 frame look like?

interestingly it has all 4 door handles on the exterior (which are identical to the LV handles) but it’s missing a few of the thumb buttons and only the driver door functions. The other 3 doors have slide bolts to keep them shut. That should be a fun piece of the project to figure out. Doubt I’ll find originals. I have 4 spares of the exterior handles if anybody has interior ones to trade (though I’m not sure what they should look like yet).

does that hole next to the shifter plate maybe look like where the semaphore (?) switch would have gone?

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Few more. Looks like I might need to source the carb too? hard to see. Was this a big window D40?

See how the seat frames look brand new. What’s the FJ25 frame look like?

interestingly it has all 4 door handles on the exterior (which are identical to the LV handles) but it’s missing a few of the thumb buttons and only the driver door functions. The other 3 doors have slide bolts to keep them shut. That should be a fun piece of the project to figure out. Doubt I’ll find originals. I have 4 spares of the exterior handles if anybody has interior ones to trade (though I’m not sure what they should look like yet).

does that hole next to the shifter plate maybe look like where the semaphore (?) switch would have gone?

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Yes its a SD40 big window carb.
Seats look to be newly made, i would think the seats would be close to what FJ45 LV seats look like.
These are FJ25 seat frames. They are the same as early FJ40/45 seats till early 63.
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Well anybody that knows where I can find an SD40 big window carb let me know. I’ll be posting up a bunch of wanted ads later this week once I have a good list together.

I think you’re right the interior should look a bit like an LV. Curious about that box below the passenger seat though. The gas tank is below the rear though I noticed.
 
Most likely that’s a battery box / tool area under the seat

Too bad yours didn’t have the external brake booster like what’s on the other 28

And thank goodness yours didn’t have the rib cut to put in your booster
 
Well anybody that knows where I can find an SD40 big window carb let me know. I’ll be posting up a bunch of wanted ads later this week once I have a good list together.

I think you’re right the interior should look a bit like an LV. Curious about that box below the passenger seat though. The gas tank is below the rear though I noticed.

What carb is on it now ?
 
Couple of surf boards and that thing is good to go. So I’m thinking Rhonda. (Help me, Rhonda ...).
 
Well anybody that knows where I can find an SD40 big window carb let me know. I’ll be posting up a bunch of wanted ads later this week once I have a good list together.
@pardion or @Indygbd may have what you need. They each had one that was worthy of the restoration you are about to embark on. Might have trouble finding a correct stamped year carb for something that old but you never know what someone may be willing to sell
 
Picking the truck up tomorrow so I’ll have more pictures soon.

I also got a reply from the seller, I wanted to make sure I kept the story/history of this truck alive along with the truck. See below:


Ok, I will give all the info I have from the vehicle. It was found in a farm in Venezuela near a town named HUMOCARO ALTO in the State of LARA (West side of Venezuela). According to the scout who found this Land Cruiser for me, the same family always owned the vehicle. They used the car to go from Humocaro Alto to BARQUISIMETO, the capital city of Lara State. The whole family used to go to Barquisimeto once or twice a month to buy their needs, go to church, go the doctor… The scout got the info from a son of the person (already passed away) who bought the car in 1960 from a Toyota dealer. He said his father changed the engine many years ago. He took an original 20 series engine from a Land Cruiser FJ25 they also owned and had in the farm. So that is the reason why this FJ28 is not matching numbers but it actually has an original F-type engine, a 3.8L, 105 HP! (Exactly as the one that came from factory in this FJ28 from 1960 – It even preserves an old decal in the valve cover). Transmission, axles, transfer are all original. Almost every other part is original, even the dry-type air cleaner which is rare and hard to find…

When I got the car it had been stored for about 20 years (since his father died). The family could not start the engine and they did not know anything about its mechanical conditions… It came to my warehouse in a tow truck and after some basic mechanical inspection and service, a few hours later this FJ28 was running and driving in the streets.
The floors from this FJ28 are original and actually in good shape.
As you can see, the car is in good conditions for being an original 1960 survivor. There is rust, but nothing to be too worried about (we applied some clear coat to stop/prevent more rust). I would personally keep this FJ28 as is (it has a lot character and a huge historic value), but if you want to restore it, It is for sure a solid platform. Frame is also ok, with a clean unmolested VIN number. It has all the original emblems. It even has one inside in Japanese, which is amazing!

This is a highly collectible vehicle... No more than a handful of this model is known to exist. There is only one more (4-door) in the US being exhibited at The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in Salt Lake City, UT (I did sell that one to the museum) and I have another one (I will probably restore it but I might keep it). It takes a very long time and work to restore these kind of vehicles, that’s why Sometimes I decide to keep them as they are. Also because many people prefer to keep them as they are (unrestored). I did restore an FJ28 (white pick up) for The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum and it took me 3 years.
..
 
60 FJ28VA - She needs a name, according to the story ; "Lara"



@scoobiedubes Congratulations !!!



:cheers:
 
Alright picked her (I do think I like the name Lara!) up this afternoon, in an unusual Phoenix drizzle and got her over to the shop to go through it all. I took the 45LV over so they could meet. Man this is going to be a lot of work! First step is to start figuring out what's original and what isn't, so everybody that knows a lot more about the 25's than me please chime in when you see something that needs to be replaced.

Photos of the two together

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Exterior photos, its kind of bent all over the place but should be workable. Honestly the worst part is up front - the fenders are really rough so I do think I need some new ones, and the fender apron is welded to the fenders as well as to the piece closer to the firewall.

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Interior photos. Floors aren't really too bad. I'm not sure what to do about the seats, certainly they're newly built frames but it's hard to know what they should look like. Maybe somewhat like the LV's, but I think this probably had a fixed rear seat so maybe not. All of the interior window cranks and door handles are missing so I'll have to figure out something for those as well. Oh and it has the vacuum wipers apparently @pardion, I was wrong - these ones aren't functional. Any threads on how to restore these?

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Your front bumper brackets are not correct. The brake and clutch masters are wrong. The starter and alternator are wrong. Just to name a few items.
 

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