It's been 3 weeks since I purchased my 1973 FJ55 Land Cruiser (AKA Mr Rusty). I purchased this from Facebook, mostly because of childhood memories of my Dads 75 FJ55. We took a lot of camping and family trips in that old cruiser. I bought Mr Rusty with the plan of slowly fixing it up over the next few years. My plan is to use this thread as a means to record my process and obtain advice from other FJ55 owners.
Here are the basics:
1973 FJ55 Land Cruiser
1F stock engine (except the carburetor)
3 speed manual transmission shifts gears with only minor persuasion needed
Transfer case shifts freely, but has a bicycle inner tube as a sling to hold the lever in the 2WD high position.
Mr Rusty rolls quite well for having been sitting in a field for quite a while.
Mostly original inside and out.
Rust in all the usual places. I seen better, but I've also seen worse.
Non Running engine (more on this later)
The body is fairly straight if you don't count the rust.
I found some sort of power steering unit under a pile of cardboard behind the back seat. (I'll send pictures later on as I may need some help identifying what it is)
There are a lot of interesting details about Mr Rusty that I learning and I will try to share these when I have more time and/or information. Right now the plan is to repair/fix the things that are not working. I am interested in keeping most things stock but will modify if it becomes too difficult due to lack of available parts. I think the biggest issue is going to be the rust, but time will tell is suppose.
Here are the basics:
1973 FJ55 Land Cruiser
1F stock engine (except the carburetor)
3 speed manual transmission shifts gears with only minor persuasion needed
Transfer case shifts freely, but has a bicycle inner tube as a sling to hold the lever in the 2WD high position.
Mr Rusty rolls quite well for having been sitting in a field for quite a while.
Mostly original inside and out.
Rust in all the usual places. I seen better, but I've also seen worse.
Non Running engine (more on this later)
The body is fairly straight if you don't count the rust.
I found some sort of power steering unit under a pile of cardboard behind the back seat. (I'll send pictures later on as I may need some help identifying what it is)
There are a lot of interesting details about Mr Rusty that I learning and I will try to share these when I have more time and/or information. Right now the plan is to repair/fix the things that are not working. I am interested in keeping most things stock but will modify if it becomes too difficult due to lack of available parts. I think the biggest issue is going to be the rust, but time will tell is suppose.
FSM on here somewhere
