SOLD '78 FJ40, Survivor from NorCal (1 Viewer)

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Year
1978
Vehicle Model
  1. 40 Series
Location
United States
Mileage
75000
Color
Olive
It's got matching olive doors on it now, more rusty around the bottom than the green doors, you can have either set.

All new OEM Toyota parts within 5k miles:
  • Steering except for the box (could use a seal).
  • Brakes, all components and hoses (DOT 4 fluid), booster from a 4Runner
  • Clutch, master, slave and all soft lines
  • All coolant lines, thermostat, water pump, original radiator disassembled, core rodded out
  • Front end rebuild including e-locker and rare long-body Asco hubs.
  • Seat covers and better, original seat bottom foam.
All original including most of the bolts. I have turned almost every bolt in 12 years and drilled and tapped quite a few. Almost all are OEM and correct.

I estimate it has about 75000 miles on it, but that cannot be confirmed. The PO swapped out the cluster at some point. I would estimate that I have about 10000 miles on it between '06 and '10 and about 500 miles since then. It's in the garage and has been for 3 years.

It has a tool bag with the jack crank, but no other tools, original jack and rods where they are supposed to be. I have the original window sticker and tons of receipts from the original owner. There's even a picture of him in my ROTW thread. It was originally sold in Walnut Creek and lived in Livermore until 2006 when I bought it.

The front two 33x9.5 BFG ATs I bought new right around when they stopped making them, maybe 2013? The other three I pieced together from various places. All are almost full tread. One was flat for awhile and has some sidewall cracking, not the newest ones though. I've been driving around on it. :meh: (Date codes on the oldest two, the rears, is '97) The big tires stuff nicely off-road with just a tiny bit of rubbing on the tub in the back at full flex. It runs 65 to almost 70 on the freeway pretty nicely due to the big rubber. It will also come with an old pair of Big-O brand 33x9.5s for spares.

The original-paint olive doors are rusty around the bottom. I have a pair of green barn doors that are very straight and mostly rust-free, if you would prefer.

You can compare the rust from the original thread I posted back in 2007 to the pics I took in 2018. The hood has plenty of surface rust and one hard top side has some bubbling rust. The patches I did in the rear sill need a do-over and the sill needs to be replaced eventually. In the pic of the driver's rear tire you can see some rock damage to the area behind the running board, but you could get it perfect with a hammer and some dollies. There is a crack in the windshield frame above the hinge on the driver's side. Looks like the PO was pulling himself in by the windshield top. It hasn't gotten worse since I've owned it.

The rear step and the other running board are now installed. The plastic mirror heads could use to be replaced. They don't last very long.

It has an e-locker in the front. The bump stops are extended by about an inch to keep the e-locker actuator from contacting the oil pan. I always intended to install a cable-locker conversion kit. It has a lock-right locker in the rear. It's ok on the street, but noticeable. Awesome off road. The e-locker switch is an oem-style knob on an original flasher switch in an original hole by the lighter. I made the controller from relays from a circuit diagram found on the forums.

It has an h-41 and a 3-speed case, so 4.92 x 2.12 x 4.11 = 42.87 vs 3.55 x 1.95 x 4.11 = 28.45 final drive ratio stock. That's right about a 1.5x lower ratio than stock as it sits. 1st gear is very short when driving it on the street, just enough to get it rolling. I don't mind it. The 3-speed case is a bit whiny, but not bad. It has one of Georg's t-case savers on it that you can see in the ROTW thread and it has the 2wd-lo mod which is great for backing out of the garage.

It has a tach in the dash which is the biggest sin against bone stock. It's well done and in a good spot. The AM radio worked and I'm pretty sure still works. It may have a fuse out. The antenna needs replacing. The dash pad does not have any cracks. It is the original. The door limiters are perfect and have all the original hardware. The doors have bronze bushings and the spare tire hinge plastic bushings have been replaced with OEM parts. The window felts need to be replaced.

As far as I know the wiring harness is perfect. Every circuit works, including the carb cooling fan. The exception is the seat belt buzzer. I recall it worked before, but it isn't working right now. It needs a new motor for the washer pump to work as well as tubing and the hood squirter.

The seats are recently recovered over very nice original foams. All the belts are OEM and nice. The jump seats need attention. One needs a hinge welded, but it's not broken yet. The headliner has been out of it since I have owned it. It never bothered me. There's a pic of what it looks like in the ROTW thread.

The lights are all Hella brand with regular bulbs. The driving lights are not hacked into the harness. They are wired with a relay to the high beams with no switch in the cab other than the normal high-beam switch.

The '78 2f will pass CA smog. It's not the original motor, but is bone stock and lower miles than the body. It has the CA-only TR manifold.

I have clean title in my hand. If you love it, make me an offer. I want it to go to a good home.
The one on the left is for sale. The one on the right is not. :)

IMO, the perfect patina of the front bumper is worth the price for just that part.

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I'm getting ready to pull my manifolds - found a raisin size hole in the ex mani. Pray for me!
 
I'm game. Can you steer me in the right direction? UPDATE Did an interweb search and found JB-Weld Hi Temp putty stick, and a good Youtube how to video, so I'm going to give that a try. Thanks for the tip Eddy!
 
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Bump. I've been driving this rig around getting it ready for a trip to the smog man, er, lady. I fixed a broken port on the VCV, and finally figured out to where this port on the HIC routes.

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And the bottom hose from HIC connects to the smaller (front) port on the side of the insulator baseplate.

It should have been obvious, but I wasn't seeing the port on the insulator. This connection is not in the emissions manual as far as I can tell. The rest of the spaghetti monster I was able to map to the emissions manual without too much trouble. I replaced a few crusty vacuum lines too.

The smog lady said that my crusty air intake tube was going to fail visual, so I'm ordering a new one from City Racer and then it should pass without much trouble.

$14k obo. Please make me an offer. 2 years for sale and somehow my GF still hasn't left me. She's loving the 80 though.
 
Looks like the long saga of the most-viewed FJ40 for-sale thread in mud history is finally coming to a close.

I'll let the buyer chime in if he wants. I'm finally going to be someone's P.O. I hope it goes well. ;)
 
So bummed I couldn’t make this deal workout at my end but Happy for the new owner. They’re getting a sweet rig !!!!!
 
The end of an era. :(
 
I've been without a running cruiser for over 10 years now and couldn't be more excited to call this one mine. Thanks Ed! The new chapter in this cruiser's life will consist mostly of weekend camping trips with the dogs. I'll start a thread to share some of the adventures down the road.
 

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