1970 Toyota Rust Red FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[fflood]

This thread will cover the refurbishing of my "new" '70 FJ40. I acquired the FJ via Facebook after seeing an FJ40 listed for $350. I figured the parts were surely worth that amount so I went ahead and bought it straight away after seeing just a two pictures of it. It was located just an hour or so from where I live and so it seemed like a decent deal.

As I said, I figured the parts were worth the effort and I had just finished work on a '75 FJ40 so I figured I could either use the parts or flip it. Of course once I saw it in person the decision to get this thing back on the road started. I've been inspired by wngrog's patina build (Project Patina-November 1968 FJ-40) and although I know my FJ40 is pretty far gone, I still will try to get a driving vehicle out of this if I can locate some red parts to replace the missing or rusted items. Follow along as I piece this thing back together. Here are the pics I saw when I offered to buy it. Looks like fun right...?

 

[fflood]

So I arranged pick-up for the FJ40 past Friday. Here the FJ40 is with parts loaded and things secured for the drive to my shop. There were a lot more parts present than what were visible in the Facebook photos. This is when my excitement about building a driver out of this hit me.

 

[fflood]

The FJ40 arrived to my shop in Boone safely and everything intact.

 

[fflood]

I got everything unloaded at the shop and started to clean out all of the parts boxes and the years of dirt and flaky rust. The hood and grill have been replaced at some point. They are both in need of repair, but I have a few extra grills and hoods, but not the right year. It would be nice to find a red hood and grill that are the correct year.

 

[fflood]

I unhooked the gas tank and vacuumed out the entire tub. I decided to give it a quick wash to rinse out some of the dust and rust. The floor pans are shot and the body has seen a lot of patching over the years from the looks of things. The rear section of the tub seems halfway decent though. I am a metalworker by profession and my last FJ40 was a disaster so I should be able to make patch panels and get things repaired.

 

[fflood]

The dash and cowl are in decent condition, but the floors, rockers and quarters have been patched poorly in the past. The frame also has a few spots that are going to need serious attention.

 

[fflood]

This power steering pump was in the box of parts I received. Anyone know what this is from?

 

[fflood]

The engine compartment has had a major oil leak at sometime. It's coated in oil and grease but this has protected the metal in some areas. I think the compartment will clean up though based on some early scrubbing and cleaning to see the condition of what's underneath.

 

[cult45]

It looks very similar to a Holden one, but that would make it a long way from home! Probably a GM variety, therefore a saginaw?

 

[fflood]

Yesterday I figured I would get out the old K-Mart rubbing compound and see if I could bring the cowl paint back to life. It appears that when some of the patch panel work was done, they decided to paint over parts of the FJ40. I used the rubbing compound to rub back down to the stock paint and then I used a 3M buffing compound to ring out the shine in the stock paint. It's gorgeous when it comes through properly.

 

[fflood]

Some of the results from just a few minutes of rubbing the paint back. I wish i had a hood and grill that I could do this too so I could get the front end back to stock.

 

[fflood]

The passenger side fender has been patched poorly at some time, but i just wanted to see if I could get some shine back in it using the same technique. I could do a lot more work here, but it looks like it might work as well. Will have to figure out what to do about the nasty patch. It's slippery road to walk here when you're tempted to just strip the paint off of everything. I did that on my last FJ40, but for some reason, I want to just try and leave the paint in the areas where it's good and then color match the areas I end up patching. I know thing thing would probably be a candidate for parting out, but there's something cool about it and trying to save it. I'll continue and see what I can do...

 

[fflood]

I had an extra seat that had come with my other FJ40. The PO was using it as a rear seat but I hung onto it because the upholstery was in decent condition and there's something cool about the bench seat. The 1970 came with seat brackets, but no seats so I was super thrilled when the bench seat lined up with (what's left) of the mounting holes in the floor pan. I'll have to do some work here, but if I can find a driver's side bucket to mount over the toolbox I'll be over the moon. I wish i could figure out where the upholstery came from on this bench. I assume it's custom as I've never seen the color before. I guess I just do new seat covers later after I find a driver's side.

 

[fflood]

It looks very similar to a Holden one, but that would make it a long way from home! Probably a GM variety, therefore a saginaw?

Thanks! I'll have to see if I can do some research on this. Just trying to decide if it's usable in a future power steering conversion.

 

[White Stripe]

That thing is really bad off. Looks like a ton of time a labor to patch up that rotted tub.

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

That's at least worth $5K on fleabay! Hell ship it to South America and have a "frame off restoration" done and sell it for $35-45K I wouldn't attempt getting that back on the road unless I didn't have a wife or more money than brains. But, do keep us posted.

 

[fflood]

That's at least worth $5K on fleabay! Hell ship it to South America and have a "frame off restoration" done and sell it for $35-45K I wouldn't attempt getting that back on the road unless I didn't have a wife or more money than brains. But, do keep us posted.

Well I’ve got a wife, but definitely no money, so my brain must be lacking to take this on. Regardless,my time and work ethic is strong. Guess I’ll keep plugging away... thanks for the words of encouragement! You can always count on the internet to bring out the positive energy from people!!

 

[hooter]

View attachment 1790838

Without saying a word, the guy in the background is saying a lot. I think i look like him when I look at those tub pictures...

hOoter

 

[fflood]

Today, I cleaned a ton of grime off the interior engine compartment. I still have a lot to do to get it clean, but I was surprised how good the paint looked once I peeled back the years of oil and dirt. It feels good to get a little dirty and spend some time resurrecting this old beast regardless of what some might think. I used to work on old VW split window buses and I've been amazed at what some folks have brought back from the dead. My 75 FJ40 wasn't much better than this so I think I can get some floor, quarter, and rocker patches welded in and make a driver out of this.

 

[fflood]

I cleaned up the hood a bit to see what was under the dust. I know the front lip is toast, but it was still fun to see what I could do with the rest of the hood. I'll still be looking for a used hood from the proper year.