1975 FJ-40 Rehab (I swear it's not a restoration)

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Joined
Jan 19, 2006
Threads
12
Messages
556
Location
Carson City, NV
Well, if one Land Cruiser is good, more is better, right? In the midst of my boredom waiting for the machine shop to finish my 1FZ for the 80 series last spring, I got an itch. I started kicking around the idea of a 40, but had no definite direction on what I wanted. I would casually browse FB marketplace and 'Mud Classifieds looking for something that needed me to bring it home and love it. Started showing them to my wife, saying things like "I could fix that" and "wouldn't it be fun to have a vehicle we could cruise in the summer with the top and doors off?" Wore her down slowly, over time, you see. Made it *Her* idea...like the 80 was!

In early May, this thing popped on Marketplace about an hour away. Dude wanted waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money for it so I sorta dismissed it. The wife kept showing me the ad saying that "this one looks decent" but I wasn't too interested. On Mothers Day weekend, we decided to message the seller and see if we could take a look. He agreed, and on Sunday we drove out to Fallon, NV to see it in person. While it was crusty in the FB ad, it was worse in person. Rust EVERYWHERE. My magnetic flashlight just falls off the side of the vehicle on much of the tub because there is so much body filler. The floorboards are only sorta still there because someone did a DIY bed liner in the tub years ago. Early model 75, so 4 wheel drum brakes. The good: Other than being de-smogged, and a terrible header and exhaust, it was surprisingly all there. Not too much butchery for a 50 year old vehicle.

Whats weird is that other than the knuckles, it wasn't covered in grease and not leaking profusely underneath. I figured it was just out of oil everywhere. It sorta ran on 4.5 cylinders, but missed under load and bucked and hesitated. Brakes pull to the left hard when applied. Steering is sloppy and loose as is expected. Had nearly new 33's on some bullet hole wheels and matching spare, and the interior was pretty decent, considering. Looks to have a Spectre or Man a Fre carpet kit in it. Someone had it painted at one point and they covered all the holes in filler, and only masked things sorta near the part lines....

A deal was struck, and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a green money pit, to go with the black hole of an 80 series. Perhaps this one will be called the green nebula, or the booger, or the worm hole..time will tell.

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Once I got it home and looked it over more, things continued to get worse. It surely needs a whole new suspension, as the bed frame rear shock extensions just won't do! And check out that awesome dual exhaust. The header is 3 into 2 and they never merged it into one. It's got a pair of old cherry bombs and these little turndowns that make it sound like an old e-type jag when it is running on all 6...

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The rest of it was dirty, neglected, and smelly, but it's all there shockingly. It's amazing that all the lights somehow worked, the heater/blower/wipers/washer work, and it had a mid-90s pioneer cd player hacked into the dash. Someone self-tapped some pioneer deck speakers (Remember those old oval ones?) into the roll bar right over the front seats. The stereo only worked if I pulled the deck out of the dash and squeezed it just right.

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I began to poke around slowly, only working on things here and there as I was also trying to get the 80 series going. Had to chase down the previous owner and have the title signed properly (the seller was just "flipping" it). The PO turned out to be a GREAT dude. He is a Doctor of some kind and this was his dads vehicle, he drug this thing around from Northern NV to Las Vegas, tinkered with it thru med school, and struggled to ever get it to pass smog in Vegas. I found receipts totaling over $10k in the glovebox (not counting the ones that the mice turned into confetti) for gasket/seal replacements, tune ups, and oil changes at various places down south. He *tried* to keep it going, but as it wasn't a daily, it wasn't a priority and he was busy doctor-ing and raising a family. The story is that his new HOA didn't like it parked outside and he sold it. The seller bought it from him, marked it up a bunch, and then I beat him back down to reality and bought it.

Anyway, the PO gave me a box of old parts for it he found when we met to sign the title papers. All the original hinges/hood latches, the bars that you put on the door hinges to hook straps to when the doors are removed, original keys, a bikini top, and various other things. Real nice of him to do that.

The first thing I wanted to address was the headlamp switch that you had to talk to just right to get the lights working. Turns out it was a mess of wiring.... Someone retrofitted a later model headlamp switch and the connections weren't the best. I got in touch with Matt at Vintage TEQ and he set me up with a proper switch and pigtail



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I tinkered with it here and there over the summer, replacing all the interior light bulbs, replacing the missing light for the heater control lever, and cutting out the hole in the awful aftermarket dash overlay for the light for the heater control knobs.

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I also spent some money with Cruiser Outfitters replacing all the rear taillight lenses and gaskets, converted to a vacuum advance distributor with pertronix, and did a full tune up with cap/rotor/wires/plugs. Replaced the parts store fuel filter with a factory one, and fabbed a little bracket to mount it like the factory would have. Probably silly considering my future plans for a Sniper conversion, but it was a fun little project. That all made a marked difference in drivability, however it's still not great.

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After the tune up it mostly ran right at idle, and I could hear a pretty good knock from the front of the engine. It went away with the belt removed, and lo and behold, the water pump was SHOT. Another call to Cruiser Outfitters, and I had everything to convert to a later style setup with a fan clutch, new lower hose coupler, all new hoses and clamps, and a thermostat as well. I removed what was likely the ORIGINAL 1975 water pump- it had the TEQ markings and the brown paper gasket still. Shocking that it lasted 50 years. Old one broken bolt, and I got lucky... it was on the thermostat housing and after a little heat, a little penetrating oil, and a little persuasion...she backed right out.



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I added a retro looking radio and some cheap amazon speakers, mainly just to have something in the dash. I'm not impressed that the PO cut the dash to fit a radio, but whatever. I also replaced the shifter knobs with new OEM, and 3d printed a cupholder for the little console with a file I found online.

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My wife volunteers to run the local Pop Warner cheer and football program, so that leaves me unsupervised for several nights each week in the late summer and all thru fall. One afternoon I was in Home Depot and they had a milwaukee polisher...and I have an old vehicle with chalky paint. A few hours later and I proved that you can indeed polish a turd.

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At some point in the past, the bezel was painted silver (and installed upside, obviously). you can see that in some of those first photos. I used a can of Cygnus white spray paint and repainted it quick and dirty in the garage. Another call to Cruiser Outfitters had me a H4 headlamp conversion with harness, and I popped for all new emblems too, because its not a restoration.

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It won't be winning any awards anytime soon, but it looks way less terrible now. I still have lots to do so my Wife can drive it easily (although she steals it now just fine).

I spent far too much time getting the dome light to work. Pulling a wire through the windshield frame wasn't fun. I used a string and a shop vac to get the pull started, and then ran a new wire...only to find the original wire bundled up under the dash. Someday i'll pull that original wire back up... The hard top is not original to the vehicle, and someone did a s*** job of making the dome light work. Unfortunately, the only way to improve that is to disassemble the top...and that is a project for another time. For now, the dome light works as it should...even if it's not quite original.

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The front turn signal/marker lights have bothered me since day one. At some point in the past they were hacked together and someone added ground wires. The drivers side was broken and poorly epoxied together inside the pedestal, so it sat crooked. When they painted it, they didn't mask them very well (they should have just removed them!) so they had green paint all over them.

Well, @cruiseroutfit and the boys at Cruiser Outfitters ran a holiday sale an I picked up some OEM turn signal assemblies. A quick 'mud message to @82FJ40EVV and I had some bitchin 3d Printed TPU base gaskets to go with them. I spent a few minutes un-****ing the last guys work, and put it all back to factory as it should be. You can see the Japan market Toyota Horns I installed to replace the inoperative originals, and I also installed new OEM hood latches. Because it's not a restoration.

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So that brings us up to date. Ive done a few other little things in the time I've had it- new door panels, window regulators and cranks, some minor electrical stuff, and general cleaning. The carb needs to be rebuilt- I have the Keyster kit here from Cruiser Outfitters. I'm really hoping it'll improve how it runs so I can put off the Sniper swap until next winter. I just know the sniper project will snowball into waaaaay more stuff than just slapping a sniper on it. It'll mean a new fuel system, a Trimeki Header and full new exhaust, and who knows what else. I also plan to swap to disc brakes and add power steering to it this year so it's easier for my wife to drive- although she steals it just fine now.

I'd like to get the hard top and doors off this summer, if I can find a good way to store them. A friend of mine gave me a nearly new set of Kayline soft doors and a matching white bikini top for it that I'm stoked to put on. He used them for one summer ages ago when he had a 40, and as he puts it, sold that vehicle 3 wives ago! He remembered they were stashed in his garage when he heard I'd bought this pile and was kind enough to give them to me.

I want to scrape all the Bedliner/undercoat/crap off the front frame rails when I do the PS swap, and build a bumper and install a winch- mainly because it just looks right. I have other vehicles for wheeling that requires a winch, but an old 8274 just looks good on the front of a 40!

I'll surely be in touch with my dealer, uh, I mean, my friend @cruiseroutfit for a whole new suspension too this summer. Its currently got a worn out lift on it from the 80s-90s- probably the cheapest stuff they could find back then. Maybe swap to some City Racer 16" steelies and pizza cutters too- they look just right!

For now:

Does anyone know if its possible to convert to the euro mirrors simply by drilling and installing some riv-nuts in the doors? These factory mirrors are barely holding on, as the screws are stripped/broken and they don't hold position well. I've seen the windshield hinge mounted mirrors that work with both a hard top and soft top/no top, but they all look pretty cheap to me. My current thought was to install those euro mirrors unless somebody has a better idea.

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Awesome!!
 
So that brings us up to date. Ive done a few other little things in the time I've had it- new door panels, window regulators and cranks, some minor electrical stuff, and general cleaning. The carb needs to be rebuilt- I have the Keyster kit here from Cruiser Outfitters. I'm really hoping it'll improve how it runs so I can put off the Sniper swap until next winter. I just know the sniper project will snowball into waaaaay more stuff than just slapping a sniper on it. It'll mean a new fuel system, a Trimeki Header and full new exhaust, and who knows what else. I also plan to swap to disc brakes and add power steering to it this year so it's easier for my wife to drive- although she steals it just fine now.

I'd like to get the hard top and doors off this summer, if I can find a good way to store them. A friend of mine gave me a nearly new set of Kayline soft doors and a matching white bikini top for it that I'm stoked to put on. He used them for one summer ages ago when he had a 40, and as he puts it, sold that vehicle 3 wives ago! He remembered they were stashed in his garage when he heard I'd bought this pile and was kind enough to give them to me.

I want to scrape all the Bedliner/undercoat/crap off the front frame rails when I do the PS swap, and build a bumper and install a winch- mainly because it just looks right. I have other vehicles for wheeling that requires a winch, but an old 8274 just looks good on the front of a 40!

I'll surely be in touch with my dealer, uh, I mean, my friend @cruiseroutfit for a whole new suspension too this summer. Its currently got a worn out lift on it from the 80s-90s- probably the cheapest stuff they could find back then. Maybe swap to some City Racer 16" steelies and pizza cutters too- they look just right!

For now:

Does anyone know if its possible to convert to the euro mirrors simply by drilling and installing some riv-nuts in the doors? These factory mirrors are barely holding on, as the screws are stripped/broken and they don't hold position well. I've seen the windshield hinge mounted mirrors that work with both a hard top and soft top/no top, but they all look pretty cheap to me. My current thought was to install those euro mirrors unless somebody has a better idea.

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I have the door hinge mounted mirrors on my ‘75. The look and function pretty good, I really like the stamped metal backing and gasket. You can get the telescoping arms and the mirrors new from Toyota. Here’s what mike looks like like:
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They transfer easy to half or full doors, and work great with the windshield up or down.
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@Aloha Jen Thanks- I'll look into those. I also see City Racer has some OEM windshield hinge mounted ones that would be good in the summer with no doors. Got the PN for those arms handy?
 
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@Aloha Jen Thanks- I'll look into those. I also see City Racer has some OEM windshield hinge mounted ones that would be good in the summer with no doors. Got the PN for those arms handy?
I don’t have the part number for my telescoping arms, they came with the truck when I bought it. I just cleaned them up and painted stainless steel to match.
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But I have seen them available from Toyota and there are aftermarket choices. City Racer has the windshield arm like you mentioned, but with a mirror combo for sale like this if you weee doing no doors:
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That looks great for a rust bucket:). You're plugging along. Your wife might even let you drive her 40. The windshield hinge mirror works great. I picked mine up in the classified section, they're cott repop arms with Toyota Mirrors. I usually run the top off and need to get into tight places, so I fold them forward out of the way. Fyi, frt and rear turn signal assemblies are grounded by the housings, which eventually fails. It's common to add a ground wires to them. Here's my 75 with the Mirrors.

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