1968 FJ40 Build in Colombia

[My wife said no FJ!]

That is going to look great once it is finished

Are you going to paint the sides of the top blue to kind of copy this?

BTW, this is not my cruiser...just a picture I found somewhere

 

[jtoro]

My wife said yes to the FJ but I bet she's more than regretting it!.

In the 60s and 70s, four wheel drive vehicles with a hard top had to pay higher taxes than the ones with a canvas top, so most of the FJs that were imported had a soft top and people installed an aftermarket version like the one you see in the first pictures.

They are made of fiberglass reinforced plastic but I really don't like them. Taking into account that we don't really have seasons (only rainy and dry, but temperatures stay around the high 60s and low 70s all year round) I decided to go for a soft top.

We also have "Ehsans" here, so I think I will be able to get a nice soft top.

 

[BJ44V]

I like that shade of blue...looks GREAT!

 

[Cruiser Corps]

x2 on shade of blue!!!

VERY nice look!

 

[jtoro]

Thanks for the comments. This weekend I will take pictures with a better camera so the color is closer to the real thing.

 

[fjwagon]

Looks great but are you sure it's 68 model.....the body looks like a 79 (on posting #20) or newer. The hood looks like a 68 but has a older "ornament"...maybe I'm wrong....but than anything, just curious. Good choice on the paint, it's looking real nice that's for sure. Can you take more pics of the engine. Interesnting on how people put different carbs to get them to run. My fj45lv had a 50 something buick Carb. I found out when I tried to get a carb kit for it. But after having a hard time locating a carb kit I swap the carb with the original one instead which also took forever to locate.

 

[jtoro]

Congrats on your observation skills. The original tub is a 68 but I didn´t like the fact that the fuel tank was inside the cabin and the cowl was in bad shape (on the first pictures you can see that). I got a "new" body from a 79 (the white one you see on the color testing pics) that was used for the build. This got me new style doors, fuel tank outside the passenger compartment and a few "what do you need two old cars for" from the wife .

I think the horizontal "ornament" is not stock. Probably a PO thought it was cool.

These are some pics of the "new" body when I got it. The whole rear was replaced for a new one which are cheap around here.

 

[fjwagon]

Well if can find horizontal "ornament" let me know. They are hard to find. I believe it's for an older cruiser.

 

[fjwagon]

I would not be surprised if you it was fj25 hood.

 

[jtoro]

Finished Painting, Engine and Gearbox on the frame

I haven't posted for a while, a lot of work on the truck but very little to show or comment. Mostly painting small parts (they take forever, paint on one side, wait until they dry and paint the other side because not all of them can be hanged from a place that won't show up).

This weekend I got the engine and gearbox back on the frame.

First, I lifted the engine from where it stood for almost a year...

I didn't want any scratches so a t-shirt was placed over the frame

After an hour or so, the engine (1FZ-F) is sitting on the two engine mounts and supported in the back on a jack

Then comes the gearbox, again, a t-shirt for scratch protection

Mating the gearbox with the engine. Easy task when you don't have the body in the way and you are not lying on your back

Finished, only missing the gerabox suport.

One of the issues that has to be considered when you swap a Series 70 engine-gearbox kit is length. In this pic, you can see how short the distance is between the gearbox and the rear 3rd member. I have made a lot of measuring so the angle is as small as possible, hoping not to have drivetrain vibration.

Rear view of the completed chore...

I felt the valve cover was not looking god so I painted it

I found this picture where you can see the before and after process that I did to all the parts.

Thanks for reading.

 

[waiting for time]

Wow, nice work on your cruiser. Love the 1FZ swap and especialy the prepwork you did for paint.

subscribed.

 

[addicted56]

Get to work

 

[addicted56]

Juan where you at? I want to see how it turned out.