62 fj40 doors on an 81?

[peteinjp]

Hey all- I have a bj44 here in Japan and will slowly be building it up in the way that I like. Its a keeper for me and will be my daily for as long as I can manage to keep it going... Any how I love the early style trucks and if I didn't need to have rear seats and luggage room I'd be searching for a 60's rig. Since that can't happen I'm leaning towards making my own truck- an "early" MWB. That said the first thing is to replace/fix all the rust on the current rig. I'm looking at a couple sets of early doors to replace my rusted out ones. One set is from a 62 fj40. I know that strikers and limiters will need some type of fabrication. Are these very early doors dimensionally the same i.e. will fit up to my late model hard top? Also do these early doors share the same parts as later early doors i.e. 63 on. Cruiser corps sells winders etc for 63 on so I am wondering if indeed there are internal differences between 62 and 63-74 doors.

I'm also looking at a set of 69 doors so basically I'm just sizing up the differences in terms of part availability and fit. I noticed that the 62 doors have the top weatherstrip attached to the body vs the one piece strip that is used on the 69. Is there a difference in the bod in terms of holding the weather strip or does it just glue on? Other things to consider?

Thoughts appreciated.

Best!

Pete

 

[Cruiser Corps]

No difference in the doors between 62 and 63.

Thanks for thinking of us!
Happy New Year from America.

 

[peteinjp]

Happy new year from Japan! I did notice that the 62 doors that I am looking at do not have weahterstriing across the top of the doors. The top door bar is thinner than the 69 doors. Presumably that 62 doors set has the strip glued to the body. Is that strip still available (i couldn't find it on cruiser corps store front) and if so how does it attach to the body? Is the panel above the door any different than the one on my 81?


Pete

 

[Living in the Past]

I don't think I would try to fit a early bug catcher vent window door on later model. 69 will be a lot closer. The header above the doors is shorter on the early corrugated tops making the door a little taller. The handle and parts on the pre 63? is different than the later doors. 62 doors could also have the sliding window handles instead of crank handle. Parts would be very hard to find. I do think the limiters would be in the right location. Other than the stirkers the 69 doors should fit fine.

 

[peteinjp]

Thanks for that info. These 62 doors- for sale by Giraffe- look great- very clean. They do have window winders etc. I am a little concerned about fitting them to the 81 hard top.

I love the older style handles and stuff- in the end I'm looking at rebuilding a set to last another 30 years or more so I'll need just about everything in terms of winders etc.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/445002-early-fj40-doors-no-rust.html

Best!

Pete

 

[peteinjp]

Just got word that these door were off a corrugated side truck. Is that a definite "no" on the fit for a later 40 side?

Pete

 

[Living in the Past]

If it was me it would be no. Besides the door being a little taller it was designed to fit a different windshield angle. Take a look at post ten in this thread it will give you an idea of how the doors will not fit tight in the front Your windshield is at the angled to fit the top in the picture. These doors are designed to fit the windshield. Of course if you installed the earlier windshield it would be different.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/395671-newbie-alert.html

Where are you located? How about some pictures of your BJ44. Different markets are going to made it easier or harder to find things.

 

[peteinjp]

I think I see what you mean. If I got the windshield it would fit but I'd still have issues with the height. Too bad the doors are very very cool. I love the details on the old stuff. The little handles on the bug catcher windows and stuff like that.

Yeah- i need to start a thread with some pics of my rig- a chronicle. I'm almost over the hump in terms of having caught up on all the maintenance that has not been done for the past 20 years. Then I'll have time to get a thread started.

Here is a pic from a sept- looks different now but it should give a hint as to my location.


Pete

 

[Living in the Past]

I don't believe the height would be a issue. The door height is a issue because of the piece in the top that fit above the doors is different. Not much to it on the early models. You would probably want a 63 or later model top since those had defrost vents. But they also didn't have the padded dash which would block the vent opening in the windshield. The hold up attachement would be different too but should be pretty easy to ever come.

Very nice cruiser in the picture. Hard top 44s are not very common. I see some from South America that have a locally made top but a factory FJ44 hard tops are rare at least outside the JDM. Curious I have read over the years how hard it is to keep older vehicle registered in Japan. Seen pictures of old 45 pictures and LV just over grown and rusting away. Could no longer get them registered but the owners refused to sell. Is yours registered? Is it hard to keep it registered? Here in Arizona if a vehicle has at least three wheels and can move on it's own you can get it registered pretty easy. JDM got lots of things we never got. A nice LX diesel model with the five speed would be nice to have. Toyota USA short changed us over here.


John

 

[Living in the Past]

Thought you might enjoy the pitures in this thread. Hard top over the front and soft on the back. Too bad there weren't better pictures from the front and side.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj25-owners-group/192737-1963-rhd-fj43-vancouver-craigslist-2.html

 

[a.greenspan]

a)Very nice cruiser in the picture. Hard top 44s are not very common.
I see some from South America that have a locally made top but a factory FJ44 hard tops are rare at least outside the JDM.
b)Curious I have read over the years how hard it is to keep older vehicle registered in Japan. Seen pictures of old 45 pictures and LV just over grown and rusting away. Could no longer get them registered but the owners refused to sell. Is yours registered? Is it hard to keep it registered? Here in Arizona if a vehicle has at least three wheels and can move on it's own you can get it registered pretty easy. JDM got lots of things we never got. A nice LX diesel model with the five speed would be nice to have. Toyota USA short changed us over here.


John

John,
a hardtop was an accessory for the BJ43 in Europe / cost for the hardtop was 1980 ( if I remember correctly)
4500 DM
DM $ ratio at this time was 1,81 for one $ )
Hardtop was complete fibreglass/white.
In Japan are a lot vintage car clubs , don`t think it`s a problem to register vintage cars.
Example: Austin Healey Club of Japan.
Austin Healey Club of Japan

Cheers
Peter

 

[peteinjp]

So - if i can get the windshield as well then I should be ok. Hmmmm. But- I'm not sure which angle your talking about...? It looks the same to me from the front.

I'll ask if the windshield frame is still available


pete

 

[Living in the Past]

Hardtop was complete fibreglass/white.


In Japan are a lot vintage car clubs , don`t think it`s a problem to register vintage cars.

The top may be something Toyota did for export. I believe the full fiberglass tops are what I seen from South America. The steel/fiberglass top like the Fj40 seem to be rare in the 43/44 wheelbase.

I know here in AZ you can get historical plates and collectors insurance and by-pass emissions. But anyone who is looking for a DD doesn't want to go this route since there is use and mileage restrictions. The vehicles I remember seeing didn't look like they belonged to a collector but more likely farmers who used them as work trucks. Maybe Pete will let us know how it is in Japan as far as keeping older vehicles on the road as a DD.

So - if i can get the windshield as well then I should be ok. Hmmmm. But- I'm not sure which angle your talking about...? It looks the same to me from the front.

I'll ask if the windshield frame is still available


pete

The angle I'm talking about is the side of the windshield after Toyota did away with the vent in the bottom of the windshield in mid 65 the frame got narrower at the top. Part of the reason the top won't fit the windshield in the link I posted. It's was more than just the welded on soft top bracket preventing the top to fit correctly. I doubt you will find a new OEM windshield with the vent in the bottom. Toyota hasn't made a cruiser that used them in over forty-five years. Does your BJ44 have a padded dash? if it does the padded dash will block the vent in the bottom and not be worth while. Plus the wiper motors are completely different. Used windshield frames can be found in the US with out a whole lot of problems if your really want to go this route.



John

 

[peteinjp]

If Giraffe has the windshield frame to match the doors I was thinking of getting both. But only if it would fit my hard top and door frames. My dash pad has been removed already because the PO hacked it so badly to put in some funky compass/inclinometer set.

Keeping stuff on the roads here is not a big deal. Its just that the Japanese have a different idea about maintenance. Basically it seems that they just don't do it. THey fix stuff when it breaks and when lots of stuff starts breaking they just throw it away and get a new thing.

Another example- an possibly the genesis of this approach is houses. Any house over 25 years old automatically has 0 value. It is much much harder to find a old house here than it is in the U.S. I think this might be because in the past quality woods were limited to the upper classes- Shogun/Daimyo and temples etc got the good stuff and the farmers and regular folks got pine. Well these houses are built with massive beams and no small framework in the walls. As the pine beams age they warp and the doors don't close right- (remember they all are sliding doors) or close at all. The house that we rent is about 50 years old and the landlord never thought about renting it. No one wants to live in these old houses. Old stuff seems Poor and Dirty. And it often is because people have expected to tear it down and thus have not put (or wasted as is often said) $$$ and energy into it. Historically speaking things have been made with natural materials here with the expectation that the materials hold up for a certain length of time and then the item needs to be replaced.

Western technology has been adopted here very well. The 40 series is an excellent example of western tech in Japanese hands. Generally speaking western tech of old purported the idea of being built with materials that can be maintained and to last forever. While the tech has been imported the IDEA of "building to last" has not. When i say building to last I mean not to last 10 years but to last as long as it is maintained. If you expecting a car to last 10 years Would you pour $$'s into a car that is 7 years old? Only enough to keep it going for 3 years right. Then after 10 years there is so much stuff that will need to be fixed soon that its better to buy a new car. The brake fluid probably has not been changed even once. Give it a good flush and you'll be finding leaks in a wheels cylinder- its pitted and its indicative of all the parts it the brake system.

Another factor that plays heavily into all this is that generally people here have no clue as to how to do quality work by themselves. They can not find out for some reason. They do not search for the info or a good way. Try to find a mid level MIG welder here. Nothing- you can find a cheapo POS or a super fancy pro model but there is nothing like a 180a 220v 2 phase machine. All the pro stuff is 3 phase. Generally speaking people are very very good at what they do- but the idea of a jack of all trades does not exist. So having pro repair a pile of work that has been neglected costs alot of money. Buy a 25 year old car and fix everything- you had better be rich- or have the ability to do it yourself.

So the short answer- NO it is not difficult to keep a car registered here as long as parts are still available for that car. That is one reason I bought a land cruiser instead of a mistubishi jeep. The 40 is widely used around the world in places where people do fix stuff and so there is a demand for parts and still a supply. The Mistu- well not so much. The "inspection" that everyone says is so expensive in Japan is not jst an inspection. It also includes conpulsory insurance and maintenance. As soon as your car needs a new master- that is NLA- your SOL. In the U.S. you can use stuff from another model car if it fits the bill. Here basically you are supposed to fix the car as it was designed and engineered. This is working under the assumption that only an engineer could perform the calculations to say - yes it is safe to use this Master Cylinder with this system. In reality if you do the work yourself no one knows or cares if you use the original part of something else that will work just as well.

The days of driving a machine that is 40 years old is coming to an end. In the end the pace of technology has outstripped the previous notion of built to last. Buy yourself a new land cruiser- sure you can throw out or find a way around many very specialized parts- custom make stuff. But look at the 40. It had a run of 40 years or so right. Will there be support for current models in even 15 years? What I'm getting at in this mini essay is that we too will be just the same. We also have the idea now that a new car is good for about 10 years then it starts getting difficult to keep. The difference is that no one will be lamenting seeing an old lexus just "wasting away" in a field.

I'm not good at short answers for these types of questions......


pete

 

[Living in the Past]

A short answer is the early windshield will not fit the later top. It too wide. It could I guess be make to work. The header piece on the I'm guessing will be to low for the doors

The vehicle thing I guess I'm all wet. I remember hearing years ago The US goverment had to go to the Japanese goverment to convince them to let US made vehicle that couldn't pass the safety and emission brand new. We also get a ton of low mileage engines from Japan. The reason I was told after a couple year these vehicles (Japanese made) could no longer pass inspections and were parted out. Back in the ninties I almost scored a set of 60 series cable lockers axles from a guy who was a pilot for a major airline that flew to Japan. He didn't seem to have a problem finding them used. Could this be a major city thing about failed tests. Here in AZ only the Phoenix and Tucson areas have emission tests

 

[peteinjp]

Well in the 90's the 60 series trucks were more than a few years old. . Also there was lots of $$$ with the bubble so many folks bought new cars at the drop of a hat. There was also a push to rid the larger city of diesel engines. That could be what happened. In that case it was not the inspection but actually the registration that was no longer possible.

Pete