1973 Toyota FJ40 Build.....Long Road Ahead

[Sully73FJ40]

Well after much debate, much research, and many questions, I have decided to go ahead and tear my 73 down, and build it back up. I got my hands on this 40 after much conversation and a fortunate trade (one of my quads for this 40). Anyways, long story short, PO bought it to restore with his son but never did exactly that. Now onto the nitty gritty. I am not sure what my plans are for this 40 but I am hoping to educate myself and be educated on these amazing machines. I fought with idea of tearing it down or just fixing what could be fixed and going on, well I decided to say heck with it and tear it down. Best way to learn right? As I go through this build, I would highly appreciate any advice or tips from you all, so please feel free to put as much input into this build as you can, as I will truly appreciate it. Below are a few photos of my 40 prior to tear down.....

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Alright, first thing on my list was to remove the dang bumper and the rear spare tire carrier... The spare tire carrier came easy but whoever welded on that dang Texas ranch style hunting adventure crocadile hunter type front bumper welded solid as I went through almost 5 metal cutting wheels in order to cut it....

 

[Sully73FJ40]

continued....

Alright well decided to cut the main part of that front bumper off, leaving the support part still welded onto the frame.... After a couple hours of trying to break the welds I said hell with it and relaxed.. The family friend in the photo took about two minutes to cut both off using the same angle grinder....

 

[Sully73FJ40]

pictures of where its at now....

some more pics...

 

[HAMBURGLAR11]

nice work

i just came across your build .i am in san anton also if you need help or have any questions let me know. looks like you are making quick work of your rig. keep the pics comin. by the way Sweet Tacoma! you wouldn't by chance wanna trade hoods? i also have a silver tacoma. pm sent

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Ham,

Thanks, I am sure I will need any advice and help I can get. Thanks for the compliments on the Tacoma, but I'm gonna have to hold onto my hood . Anyways, I sent you a pm back

 

[subzali]

could you rotate some of your pics please?

 

[pkbirdog]

That was a crazy front bumper. Good luck with the build, im doing one also and looking forward to see how your comes along.

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Lol yea, Texans seem to mount some crazy stuff to their vehicles. Thank you, and I'll have to find your thread so I can track your build... Hope your build goes well!

 

[piecemeal]

It looks like a diving platform. I have a slightly smaller version. X2 on pic rotation. subscribed

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Alright I apologize for the pictures being sideways, I uploaded those from my phone last night and just wanted to get a post up before the lion attacked for having the laptop lighting up the room while she was sleeping. I will post the rest the right way from here on out.....

On another note, sold those flimsy doors to a gentleman who just happened to have a set of mint condition no rust full hard doors. Getting the doors for 300, so 140 out of pocket : ) gonna run up to Austin and pick them up Saturday, then back to continue tearing down the 40.

 

[waiting for time]

Nice rig, interesting front and back.
Still looks like a better starting point than mine.
Good luck and lots of fun on it.

Subscribed.

 

[DSRTRDR]

are you going to have different colored rear fender flares again ?

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Sorry its been a while since I have updated this thread, I guess I kind have been deep into the mix of life lately.. Anyways so far this is what is going on....

I have removed the tub from the frame, and am planning on cleaning it really good here in the next week or so and applying rust bullet with the rust bullet black shell.

Also I will be picking up a good tub on Saturday and hopefully taking it and the rest of the parts that I had sand blasted and primed by blast the past into the body/paint shop. Im hoping to make it to the body shop before they close Saturday.

Ive decided to go with 6h9 Olive Grey as the paint color of choice. I am still debating if I am going to have the bottom of the tub and inside of the tub Linexed or not.

I was also going to purchase 4 inch springs from a gentleman that was local, but with his wisdom, the warranty part became a concern. So with that said, I just placed an order for a 4 inch Hellcreek lift with steering stabilizer kit.... I must say Tom at Hellcreek is great to work with. I decided to opt out of the Hydro shocks that he sales due to the fact that I bought Bilstein shocks from a gentleman.

What shackles are you all running? I really would like to go stock height, and the width of the hellcreek springs are 3 inches from bushing to bushing on the outside. Is there really a need to replace the pins? or Shackles?

I also purchased a 4speed tranny and a split transfer case out of a fj60. I am still trying to do research on how to install. Any advice?

I also purchased a front axle from the same guy that has already been converted to front disc brakes. With this said is there anything that I need to buy regarding the master cyclinder?

I will try to update with some pics in the next couple of days. Hopefully I might have this finished out by Summers end, but then again I guess the projects never end right?

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Here is a list of what has been done so far:

-- Removed the old tub, Thank you Kevin

-- Purchased another tub from a gentlleman in Dallas

--Dropped off that tub to Scott to have new rear quarter panels, sill, and what not, thank you Scott for the welding

--took everything to Stan at blast the past for sand blasting, thank you Stan

--Cut that hillbilly front deer hauling bumper off, thanks Terry for the help

--Pressure Washed the frame really well

--Applied Rust bullet with black top shell to frame (My better half did most the work)

--Installed 4 inch hell creek springs, $OR greasable anti-inversion shackles, greasable pins, Thanks Chris and Joe(mainly Joe)

--Installed Bilstein Shocks that I purchased from a fellow mudder for little to nothing pretty much new

--Purchased, blasted, and painted 5 stock steelies and had my 33x10.50 wrapped around them

--installed a new front bumper

--went ahead and installed my spare tire carrier that I purchase from Dirt worx

--all the bolts that have went back in have been the full flange gold cad kit that Dave Workman sells here, great kit, easy

I'm sure there are things that I am missing on here and what not but today the chassis was moved to the paint shop. I decided to go ahead and have it painted the sahara tan color which you can see below. I've got new autometer gauges, new oem fuel tank, new wiring harness, and the list goes on and on. Now that I have found this Ih8mud app for the iPhone I hope to update much much more often. Its been a long time since I have but anyways looking forward to posting more...

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Here are some more pics

 

[nspctr1]

Dude, thats looking good. You oughta paint the axles and shafts while its tore down.....

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Thanks Kevin, painted the Axles, but need to touch the bottom side up when I get it back. What do you think about the color on that apron?

 

[Sully73FJ40]

Here are don't updated pics. The tub is just sitting on the frame as my painter lost his lease due to owner selling and had to move the rig. The black fj40 sitting next to mine Is a fellow mudders project

 

[Sully73FJ40]

I got my windshield seal in yesterday along with another gasket or two. Also waiting to hear back from Mark so I can gladly send him a check for a Dashman box. Ordered the correct adapters for my autometer gauges should have those in soon. Also waiting to hear back from a fellow mudder on getting connectors for my switches.

On another note still waiting to receive my OCD top, however I might have found another source for OEM style tops. If someone has or will please shoot me the dimensions of the 7 windows that would be greatly appreciated so I can send those to a gentleman