Hey everyone!
My name is Mike, and I'm now the eager and proud owner of a 1965 FJ40... But before we dive in to the new truck, I'll share some back story.
In March of last year, I purchased my first Land Cruiser/Offroad build after a decade in the world of classic BMWs. We went through a number of adventures together, but unfortunately, this past Monday, my FJ62 was stolen here in Orange County, CA.
Life just isn't right without a Land Cruiser, so I began the hunt for a replacement truck, and I'm extremely excited with where my search has landed me. I had originally planned to purchase another FJ62, but buying another, and throwing a lot of money at it just to arrive right at where I was prior just felt too painful. Wanting to stay within the Land Cruiser community, I broadened my search to include the 40 series, and today, I made the purchase.
The truck is a 1965 FJ40, and the main motivator for purchase is that it's incredibly rust free. Although it's earning a patina of sorts, every nook and cranny is devoid of the rust we all know and despise. The floor pans look great inside and underneath, the rear and is solid up and down. The frame is great, and overall, I think I'd struggle to find one with less rust that hasn't gone through a restoration.
The paint is an interesting tan, with lots of speckling and such going on. A sun-burn patina is working its way through parts of the truck, which for me, is to-die-for. Paint is beautiful, but in my garage, more often than not, things have an alternate finish, and this truck is a perfect match. A few patches of grey paint are oddly welcome, giving things a bit of character (under the gas neck, on the front fender, etc)
Everything seems to be present and works well. The inside is a deep grey, similar to the color of my stolen FJ62. There's an extensive roll cage inside, that will likely come out - I build roll cages, and am not happy at all with the work on this one, so it'll get added to the growing to-do list.
The rear has some sort of aftermarket swing-out tire carrier, which I'll rebuild at some point as well. The rear folding door setup has shot seals (as does the rest of the truck) but everything seems to function well. The tires are nice to look at, but are chunking apart and are by far the loudest thing I've ever driven on (requiring yelling to the passenger just to hear. It's abysmal.)
Under the hood is a small block Chevy 350 - I'm sure that's a mixed opinion thing around here, but for me, it seems like a nice alternative. The fellow I bought the truck from knew little about it, and since bringing it home and to the shop, I've done some crawling around underneath it to see what kind of gear is present.
The truck seems to have been swapped nicely, as everything fits up well and all of the mounts are professionally made. It has an AA Ranger III box in it - which seems like a positive thing? - although I haven't tested out any functionality yet. Part of me would like to convert to an automatic transmission, so I'll be prodding you guys with questions about that before too long. Currently, the 4-speed trans is hell to drive, and the clutch pedal force is immense (I'm a manual trans owner in every car I own, but this is on another level).
I'll update tomorrow with some more photos, details, etc about the truck, especially as I learn more and tear in to it.
The first things on the list:
New tires
The "Front Drive" lever on the dash isn't hooked up to anything - the box it leads to in the engine bay has four ports, and none have hoses, so I'll need to find some diagrams and re-hook this stuff up.
Attempt to solve the clutch pressure
New tie rods.... I've never driven anything that wanders the road so bad.
Anyway, I'll be sure to update this thread as the build goes on! And with better photos. Looking forward to learning more and being a part of the FJ40 community!
My name is Mike, and I'm now the eager and proud owner of a 1965 FJ40... But before we dive in to the new truck, I'll share some back story.
In March of last year, I purchased my first Land Cruiser/Offroad build after a decade in the world of classic BMWs. We went through a number of adventures together, but unfortunately, this past Monday, my FJ62 was stolen here in Orange County, CA.
Life just isn't right without a Land Cruiser, so I began the hunt for a replacement truck, and I'm extremely excited with where my search has landed me. I had originally planned to purchase another FJ62, but buying another, and throwing a lot of money at it just to arrive right at where I was prior just felt too painful. Wanting to stay within the Land Cruiser community, I broadened my search to include the 40 series, and today, I made the purchase.
The truck is a 1965 FJ40, and the main motivator for purchase is that it's incredibly rust free. Although it's earning a patina of sorts, every nook and cranny is devoid of the rust we all know and despise. The floor pans look great inside and underneath, the rear and is solid up and down. The frame is great, and overall, I think I'd struggle to find one with less rust that hasn't gone through a restoration.
The paint is an interesting tan, with lots of speckling and such going on. A sun-burn patina is working its way through parts of the truck, which for me, is to-die-for. Paint is beautiful, but in my garage, more often than not, things have an alternate finish, and this truck is a perfect match. A few patches of grey paint are oddly welcome, giving things a bit of character (under the gas neck, on the front fender, etc)
Everything seems to be present and works well. The inside is a deep grey, similar to the color of my stolen FJ62. There's an extensive roll cage inside, that will likely come out - I build roll cages, and am not happy at all with the work on this one, so it'll get added to the growing to-do list.
The rear has some sort of aftermarket swing-out tire carrier, which I'll rebuild at some point as well. The rear folding door setup has shot seals (as does the rest of the truck) but everything seems to function well. The tires are nice to look at, but are chunking apart and are by far the loudest thing I've ever driven on (requiring yelling to the passenger just to hear. It's abysmal.)
Under the hood is a small block Chevy 350 - I'm sure that's a mixed opinion thing around here, but for me, it seems like a nice alternative. The fellow I bought the truck from knew little about it, and since bringing it home and to the shop, I've done some crawling around underneath it to see what kind of gear is present.
The truck seems to have been swapped nicely, as everything fits up well and all of the mounts are professionally made. It has an AA Ranger III box in it - which seems like a positive thing? - although I haven't tested out any functionality yet. Part of me would like to convert to an automatic transmission, so I'll be prodding you guys with questions about that before too long. Currently, the 4-speed trans is hell to drive, and the clutch pedal force is immense (I'm a manual trans owner in every car I own, but this is on another level).
I'll update tomorrow with some more photos, details, etc about the truck, especially as I learn more and tear in to it.
The first things on the list:
New tires
The "Front Drive" lever on the dash isn't hooked up to anything - the box it leads to in the engine bay has four ports, and none have hoses, so I'll need to find some diagrams and re-hook this stuff up.
Attempt to solve the clutch pressure
New tie rods.... I've never driven anything that wanders the road so bad.
Anyway, I'll be sure to update this thread as the build goes on! And with better photos. Looking forward to learning more and being a part of the FJ40 community!
