1969 FJ40 to Cadillac Conversion

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booradley

booradley

Joined
Jul 29, 2017
Threads
28
Messages
374
Location
Birmingham, AL
I did it again. I have no mechanical skills at all but I keep rescuing land cruisers like puppies on the side of the road.

Picked this up Friday:
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September 1969 three on tree. It’s very rough but not overwhelmingly so. I have no dreams of a total restoration. The immediate goal is to get it safely starting, running, stopping. The next goal is to get it dependable and easy to wheel in the Starbucks parking lot.

I have Cole at OTM Cruisers helping me. I have financed his house with some other builds; I’m going to start putting his kids through school now.

To prove I have a problem here is another one:
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1971 no motor thrown in with the deal sight unseen. It is literally being dragged out of a pasture. Got it for the doors and top but looks like some other stuff can be salvaged.
 
I am reading the FAQs until my eyes are bleeding, and I am familiar with the search function, but I am going to be asking some stupid questions on here. These build threads are amazing and some of you are very talented. I appreciate any advice or comments as I go along.

(1) Can anyone confirm the color on the 1969 is T451 Coronado beige? It is very light with a yellowish tint to it? There’s work and bondo in the back but paint otherwise looks to be original.

(2) (sorry for this one) if I want to only purchase tires once, riding on the clapped-out suspension for now while we get it rolling but looking at a 2” lift down the road, what size would be good?

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@booradley

Are you staying w/the stock rims? Or, other?
 
I was told that the 1F (with some kind of Holley on it) will turn over (haha we’ll see) but it has been unhooked from the fuel system.

First thing I noticed was the wiring is totally jacked. It has been clipped at the firewall, does not look to be original at all, and has some scary looking splices all over the place.
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I have already reached out to @Coolerman, but I’m thinking of starting from scratch with a harness from JTO (or similar), maybe with some sub-harnesses from him? I am not going for purity, just function, so maybe with waterproof connectors off Amazon?
 
FJ404345 said:
Are you going to use the 5.0 or the 4100 engine of Cadillac ?
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Going to start with getting this 1F going first. But if anyone has a 2F or 3F laying around . . .

Learned about split hoods and riveted wheels today.
 
To start, I need to get the truck rolling so we can move it around. The tires are dry-rotted and shot. I almost broke my brain trying to figure out FJ40 wheel and tire combinations. I finally decided on this:

16x7, 4.00 backspace

I would like to be able to run hubcaps, but I cannot see $450 for shipping on the City Racer 16s. I think there was an effort at some point to mount hubcaps on these Vintiques but did not see a definitive solution. If so I would be interested.

Also, I am moving to 35s on my 100, and I hope to be able to move my 285/75/16s over to these at least temporarily.
 
booradley said:
To start, I need to get the truck rolling so we can move it around. The tires are dry-rotted and shot. I almost broke my brain trying to figure out FJ40 wheel and tire combinations. I finally decided on this:

16x7, 4.00 backspace

I would like to be able to run hubcaps, but I cannot see $450 for shipping on the City Racer 16s. I think there was an effort at some point to mount hubcaps on these Vintiques but did not see a definitive solution. If so I would be interested.
Click to expand...
Try looking at the fjcompany website, I believe they have the same wheels but with clips for OEM hubcaps. shipping might kill the deal if you looking for free shipping.
 
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What part of Birmingham are you located in? I’m in Huntsville and there is a local shop here that can help with your desired engine needs.
 
Michael B said:
What part of Birmingham are you located in? I’m in Huntsville and there is a local shop here that can help with your desired engine needs.
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I am in Vestavia. OTM Cruisers here in Birmingham is going to try to get the 1F running before we do anything else but I'm already thinking about what's going to happen down the line.

I was at the Veteran's Day ride at Hawk Pride. I know those guys at Rocket City they do good work. Maybe I'll be driving this thing by next Veteran's Day and I'll come up there and let them take a look lol.
 
booradley said:
(1) Can anyone confirm the color on the 1969 is T451 Coronado beige?
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booradley said:
Ramsey PTO winch on the 1969. No idea if it works but I thought it was pretty cool.
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This is a 10/69 purchased from the original owner in 2011. He always had it parked on the north side of his home under a carport. I've kept in a garage since I bought it. It is Coronado beige. Has more yellow tint than my 10/75 FJ40 and 73 hard top I bought in 76.
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Here is best picture of the 73. Repainted the 68 over forty years ago.
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When insured it I took a bunch of pictures of the condition for a declared value policy.
 
Living in the Past said:
This is a 10/69 purchased from the original owner in 2011. He always had it parked on the north side of his home under a carport. I've kept in a garage since I bought it. It is Coronado beige. Has more yellow tint than my 10/75 FJ40 and 73 hard top I bought in 76.
View attachment 4056157View attachment 4056164View attachment 4056166
View attachment 4056174
Here is best picture of the 73. Repainted the 68 over forty years ago.
View attachment 4056182
When insured it I took a bunch of pictures of the condition for a declared value policy.
Click to expand...
Those are very very nice. I have come to realize the color on mine is a very bad spray job. It started out Coronado Beige though, which I like. I will get it back there eventually.

This thing is never going to win any beauty contests though.

Mine is a 09/1969 so not far apart.
 
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