78 FJ 40 project Frank

[alabamatacomaguy]

Ole’ Blue, Looks like she barely fits under the garage door.

Nice looking rig!

Thanks it'll have some your decals on it once I get some time out there and find time to put them on

It does barely fit with some room, I aired down the tires the first time in to be sure but it's got a few inches. I wouldn't have gone with 4 in I think around 2 is enough but I think I'll keep it that way. It does have some axle wrap type issues I'll need to address once I start driving it more.

 

[SMG]

Sorry, should have read your earlier post about fitting in the garage.

Looks great! Love the stance. Keep the updates coming.

 

[raymond2335]

It was done by a previous owner my guess is at least ten years ago. The fluid in the radiator is now green not the red Toyota stuff that's expensive. Heck that bottle might cost more than the overflow bottle for a 60 I bought on here. It looks pretty decent I cleaned it up with magic erasers and elbow grease.



I had a couple questions I was hoping to get help with.
My thermostat bolt that's broke if anyone's dealt with that and how they would recommend going at the problem of getting the broken bolt out. And the best way to get the remaining bolt without breaking it to? Could I unbolt the whole thermo housing from the motor? I need to look into it more, hopefully I don't have to replace it or take it to a machine shop and have them take out the broken bolt. I would like to get in there sooner than later as the current thermostat most likely isn't working or there might not be one in there at all. Who knows with previous owners.

Ive done many broken off bolts.... The sure fire way to get it out is to find a friend with a welder, FIRST..... then remove the other bold=t and the housing... Get yourself a larger then original nut, weld it onto the broken off stud, (inside of the nut of course) and while its still hot, slowly back it out. My brother is a welder and has literally welded his way out of a 1" hole to extract a broken off manafold bolt. Experience is only aquired after you need it.

 

[raymond2335]

Sorry, get yourself a nut, as large as will fit in the space on top of the broken shaft.... and proceed. The larger nut provides more torque and the heat from welding usually breaks the stuck stub free..

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Sold frank this afternoon. Bittersweet since I dreamed about fixing this truck up for years and could never get the time to do what I wanted so I found a finished one. It’s new owner is a recently retired guy looking for a project to finish. Even his trip to come see the 40 sounded like an adventure. He flew his own small plane over on Saturday to take a look and then after a short test drive and look around and under he had to get back in the air as the small airstrip he was using isn’t brightly lite. He planned it out and came today in a rental car and left with a uhaul full of replacement parts I spent years collecting to use on it and a 40 in tow. He mentioned he had built a small plane or two and restored one I think he said. He is in a better position than I to get this 40 back to life with his tools, space, time, and skills. His goal sounded similar to many of ours, he was going to make it a nice stock 40 to keep and enjoy. He was also similar to a lot of us as Toyota’s have taken over our garages and our family’s choice of vehicle. While he followed me driving to the storage unit where the roof cap was kept I saw several people look from their newer model Toyota 4wds. I kept thinking that’s mine your looking at but now it’s his. A guy walked up and gave praise on how good it looked as we loaded up the top. It was funny to say “it’s his he just bought it from me” then the guy admiring it mentioned how bad he wanted one. I’m glad the buyer will finish it and enjoy it, I hope it brings him as much fun as it did me the last 3.5 years. I’m almost scared to see how good of a job he will do fixing it and how much I’ll be kicking myself for selling it.

.

 

[TheHardWay]

 

[Rainman]

Nice write up for a bitter sweet experience. It brings up sadness I felt when I had to sell my one and only FJ45 years ago. Sounds like your story will end up with a Cruiser you'd be proud to be a part of. I found out a few years ago, the 45 is still in the exact same shape as it was when I sold it way back in the '90s.