So this story starts out like alot of others. I've had alot of Toyota mini trucks and 4runners in the past, but always wanted an FJ40. My girlfriend was talking about always wanting a Jeep, her father had one when she was growing up. I showed her some pictures of some FJ40's and was able to convince her that she would be happier with a classic Landcruiser. Around this time I happened across a CL add that had five Fj40 Landcruisers for sale for $10,000. That was more than I could afford to spend. I remember thinking to myself I wonder if the guy would split them up and sell them individually. After checking back on CL awhile later I recognized one of the Landcruisers from the previous add, the owner had split them up and had one listed in my price range. I made arrangements to look at the 71'. He was asking $3000 for it. Rather than trying to negotiate the price lower, I asked if he would consider throwing in another FJ40 in for his asking price. He agreed and so I got a parts rig too. The Landcruisers were on a dairy farm, thats where the build thread title comes from, that and a lack of funds for this build. I came back one week later loaded up the FJ40's and moved them about 5 miles away to my sister's house where they sat for the next 10 mths. Two weeks ago I was finally able to go and get the Landcruisers and make the 5 hr trip back home with them. The first 2 pics below are of the 71' as it sat on the dairy farm the day I picked it up the last pic is where it sat at my sister's for nearly a year. I forgot to mention, the month stamped on the Vin tag is May a 1971, so it's one month older than I am!
Here are a few more recent pics of them after getting them home. I still need to sort through all the parts that came with them, and clean all the mouse and chicken poop out of them... Did I mention chickens were using them as a coop?
The engine turned over by hand. We pulled the spark plugs and inspected them, they looked good. We poured a little bit of oil down each hole. Pulled the valve cover and everything looked really clean, no gunky buildup or anything.
I am a newb when it come to Landcruisers, i wasn't sure if the motor was original or not, I posted a few pics on another thread and members here quickly identified my motor as a 2F. Thanks to them I was able to get the right cap and rotor, we filed down the points, had spark...a little bit of gas down the carb and it fired right up....
So I knew the 71' had some rust issues. The rear sill and floor need replaced. But there are some other areas that I had overlooked during the initial first inspection that will need attention as well
Yes that's the plan. Someone painted over the original white paint, I was thinking of stripping it back down to the original paint if possible, and patching the rusted out areas and then try to blend them to match the original patina if possible. I'd really like to make it a driver rather than tear it apart and have it sitting for a long time. I have a new set of tires and wheels I bought for it with last year's tax return. I went with 235/85R16 Yokahoma Geolander MT's on some smoothie steel wheels I got from Summit Racing. The carb needs rebuilt, it's a gm Rochester 2barrel, which brings me to my first question. Is it worth rebuilding, or should I go with something else?
Here's a pic of the tire/wheel combo, I bought these specifically for the 71' but borrowed them for my 91 pickup temporarily until I get a new set of 31'x10.50's for my pickup. So far I have put about 2000miles on them and I'm really happy with them, the road noise isn't that noticable, they handle well in corners and wet pavement, and I've driven a little bit in the snow where they also did well. Can't wait to get these on the 71' where they belong!
Today's project, get the 71' under some shelter! We have already had snow here on September 29th so I want to get them under cover. I should have spent the extra money and bought the heavy duty tarps, I probably will do that next payday.
^the snow we got last month
The second I got one end of the tarp cable tied to the frame, the wind picked up from zero mph to about 15mph ...I thought for sure I was going to be flying a giant kite!
^three generations of Toyotas:
71' FJ40, 87' 4Runner and 2nd owner 91' Xcab pickup with 123,000 original miles...
Wow its been a year and 1 day since my last post...this thread isnt dead yet lol! So alot has happened in the last year. Last January I moved to be closer to my fiance (which ironically was in the same town that I originally purchased the FJ40 which was now 5 hrs away at my parents house). I got married and then in September we ended up moving again, but back to where my Landcruiser was being stored. The new house we are renting has a nice two car garage that I will be using as my shop. Its nice to finally have a place to work on it out of the weather! Here is a pic of the 40 seeing the light of day for the first time in a year and I finally got the new shoes on her...I'm really liking it!
I had a slight mishap in transporting the 40 down to the new house...one step forward and two steps back as it were...the bib WAS in really good shape with just surface rust on the backside...not sure if this can be straightened out or not? I was thinking of removing the lower reinforced area by drilling out the spot welds then maybe I could straighten it. I dont have a torch, Im sure some heat would help...any suggestions or should I just add a new bib to the list of patch panels I need to get?
Well I made a little bit of progress this weekend. I got the front and rear seats out and removed the gas tank. I also was able to finally remove the hardtop. The hardtop is in pretty good shape overall. I tried to take my time and soak all the bolts with PB Blaster, but still managed to break some off. The fiberglass top has one hole the PO drilled in it that will need to be repaired, but the hardtop sides are both in really good condition. The inside of the tub is in a little worse shape than I had originally thought, especially under the toolboxes on the drivers side and in the rear wheel wells I found some rust holes after removing the roll bar. There were however no "new" surprises in the rear floor and sill .
I'm starting to change my mind on some areas of this build. I'm leaning towards more of a restomod build. I'm also thinking of going with Bud Built 3/16" thick rear quarter panels and building my own rear sill out of some thicker 2" square tube and make my own floor panel.
Ive been going back and forth on whether to keep the 2F or do a chevy swap...finally made a decision...picked up this 5.3 with 4L60E out of a 2002 chevy Silverado.
Wow, its been almost 2 years since my last post! Sorry jesus888 , not much to report. I recently got the 2F motor pulled out and removed the front fenders, side aprons and the hood, but other than that nothing very exciting has happened. I keep going back and forth on how I want to proceed with it. I have been lurking on the Hardcore Corner section of this forum for awhile where there are alot of cool FJ40 to FJ45-ish converted builds. This has got me considering going that route. I have another FJ40 donor frame that I could cut up to use to lengthen my current frame to get the shortbed pickup length I would need. I recently missed out on a running FJ80 (no title) for a $1000 on marketplace. But due to the deep snow at the time I couldnt get access to the car trailer and lost out on it. That would have been a cool platform to build off of, kinda bummed.
This winter has been dragging on, I didnt get nearly enough firewood to keep the shop heated this year. Im looking forward to some warmer weather hopefully soon!...I did pick up a used oxy/Acetylene torch setup and a sheet metal sheer for the shop...The torch has already came in handy on some rusted bolt removal
Well another 18 mths has gone by with no real progress. We moved again last December, and I just barely got the 40 moved down to our new house today. I had to downsize from the nice size shop to a 1-1/2 car garage lol. I really wanted to build a 45 Extended pickup out of this project, but don't think that will be feasible with the space I have to work in. If anyone is in need of a 2F engine and is within driving distance of Tri-Cities Washington come and get it, I need the space!
Today I reinstalled the hard top side panels, doors, rear lift gate, front fenders, aprons, and the hood in an attempt to free up space in the garage.
My wife's Wrangler looking a little jealous of the 40
I want to start doing some body work on it soon. I'm thinking about getting some Budbuilt rear (3/16" thick) quarter panels and making my own rear sill and floor. It's time to finally start making some progress on this!
I know the feeling of slow progress but these things take time. I would be interested in your engine if it’s Available. I’m down in pdx area. Let me know thanks.
I know the feeling of slow progress but these things take time. I would be interested in your engine if it’s Available. I’m down in pdx area. Let me know thanks.
Hello FJ80oregon, I have one gentleman who is interested in the engine that is ahead of you, If he changes his mind I will definitely let you know, Thanks!
...I thought for sure I was going to be flying a giant kite!
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Sorry jesus888 , not much to report. I recently got the 2F motor pulled out and removed the front fenders, side aprons and the hood, but other than that nothing very exciting has happened. I keep going back and forth on how I want to proceed with it. I have been lurking on the Hardcore Corner section of this forum for awhile where there are alot of cool FJ40 to FJ45-ish converted builds. This has got me considering going that route. I have another FJ40 donor frame that I could cut up to use to lengthen my current frame to get the shortbed pickup length I would need. I recently missed out on a running FJ80 (no title) for a $1000 on marketplace. But due to the deep snow at the time I couldnt get access to the car trailer and lost out on it. That would have been a cool platform to build off of, kinda bummed.