Thought I would make this thread to document my latest 40 build. I bought this Costa Rican 1978 bj40 in the fall of 2011. I actually found the truck in 2010 listed on Craigslist in Cost Rica. (Back in those days I used to window shop Craigslist in other countries simply to drool over the diesel offerings we never got.) This listing was different however, because the description stated the truck was actually in Tennessee.
It was driven up from Costa Rica in 2010 by a French Canadian lady and her German shepard. She was living in Costa Rica when her visa expired and she couldn't get it renewed. The 40 had been her transportation in Costa Rica and she had the engine rebuilt while she had it. Instead of parting with the little 40 she decided she would drive it back home to Quebec.
I called the Canadian number in the description and got a French answering machine. I left a voicemail and soon got a return call, apparently the 40 popped a radiator in Mississippi and blew the head gasket. She had the radiator brazed and the head gasket replaced but only made it to Tennessee before it quit on her again. Having lost hope in the Toyota, she flew home and left it with a mechanic in Knoxville.
After getting the full story I told her I'd like to buy it. She told me she'd call the mechanic, and call me back with the specifics for picking it up. Well, apparently the shop had closed, and the number was disconnected. I forgot about the missing 40, but told her to get in touch if she ever found it.
Fast forward about 8 months and I get a call from her, apparently the 40 was at a wrecker shop in Soddy Daisy (and had been for 6 months ) they had picked it up as an abandoned vehicle. The wrecker shop guys decided to rummage through the 40 one day and discovered her phone number inside. At this point the wrecker shop had $1000 in storage fees (max allowed allegedly) for storing the 40.
I borrowed a truck and trailer and drove about 4 hours up to Soddy Daisy. The 40 was pretty darn rough compared to the photos I had seen nearly a year before. The body was full of bondo and the truck had the typical South American modifications. I called the lady up and we agreed on 1k dollars and paying the 1k in storage to buy the 40.
I was pretty pleased with myself at the time and figured the frame and drivetrain was worth the 2k I had in it.
How it looked when I picked it up.
When I got home with the 40 I found a bird nest in the spare tire carrier with 6 little birds inside it. The girl I was dating at the time spent the next few weeks rearing those damn birds in my house until one by one they all died off.
I drove the 40 around the neighborhood from time to time, it was anemic and pushed oil into the coolant but never overheated or got coolant in the oil.
One day on my way home from work, about 300 yards from home the left rear wheel fell off. I pulled into a parking lot and walked home to get another vehicle and some tools. The truck had the wrong lug nuts and they had wallowed out the wheels and became loose which caused the wheel studs to break. I spent the next couple of hours replacing the wheel studs in the rain. While at the parts store picking up the wheel studs I'd bought a new fuel filter for the 40 with the hope of getting some more power out of the old B engine. (Thinking it could be partially clogged.) When I finally got home that evening, I figured I might as well spin the new filter on while I was still in my work clothes and already wet from working in the rain. I didn't know much about diesels at the time and didn't fill the fuel filter with diesel before installing it. I simply thought I could leave the engine running and it would prime itself. Well problem is I don't have a flat spot on my property and the parking brake was inoperable. Chocking the rear wheel with a rock, I hopped out to have a look under the bonnet. A few minutes later the chock apparently sunk in the wet yard and the 40 took off down the hill. I was barely able to slap the door closed to keep it from wrecking the house before it was out of reach and rolling down my drive. The 40 ended up on its side causing some damage to the already pitiful body. The part that hurt my feelings the most was the borrowed windshield glass I had picked up earlier that day from @Michael B. I borrowed it to use as a template to have a new glass cut for my other 40. (It was destroyed of course.) Well, I spent the rest of that evening righting the overturned 40 with my other 40..in the rain. It was sketchy as hell looking back at it because it was on such an incline.
I removed the damaged top and the 40 sat just like this for years and years on the back burner.
This crate was a 3b I bought from @wileycoyote for it many years ago to replace the B engine. The 3b turned out to be rusty as hell and wouldn't start, so I sold it a few years later.
A few years back I got bored and tried to start it.
It was driven up from Costa Rica in 2010 by a French Canadian lady and her German shepard. She was living in Costa Rica when her visa expired and she couldn't get it renewed. The 40 had been her transportation in Costa Rica and she had the engine rebuilt while she had it. Instead of parting with the little 40 she decided she would drive it back home to Quebec.
I called the Canadian number in the description and got a French answering machine. I left a voicemail and soon got a return call, apparently the 40 popped a radiator in Mississippi and blew the head gasket. She had the radiator brazed and the head gasket replaced but only made it to Tennessee before it quit on her again. Having lost hope in the Toyota, she flew home and left it with a mechanic in Knoxville.
After getting the full story I told her I'd like to buy it. She told me she'd call the mechanic, and call me back with the specifics for picking it up. Well, apparently the shop had closed, and the number was disconnected. I forgot about the missing 40, but told her to get in touch if she ever found it.
Fast forward about 8 months and I get a call from her, apparently the 40 was at a wrecker shop in Soddy Daisy (and had been for 6 months ) they had picked it up as an abandoned vehicle. The wrecker shop guys decided to rummage through the 40 one day and discovered her phone number inside. At this point the wrecker shop had $1000 in storage fees (max allowed allegedly) for storing the 40.
I borrowed a truck and trailer and drove about 4 hours up to Soddy Daisy. The 40 was pretty darn rough compared to the photos I had seen nearly a year before. The body was full of bondo and the truck had the typical South American modifications. I called the lady up and we agreed on 1k dollars and paying the 1k in storage to buy the 40.
I was pretty pleased with myself at the time and figured the frame and drivetrain was worth the 2k I had in it.
How it looked when I picked it up.
When I got home with the 40 I found a bird nest in the spare tire carrier with 6 little birds inside it. The girl I was dating at the time spent the next few weeks rearing those damn birds in my house until one by one they all died off.
I drove the 40 around the neighborhood from time to time, it was anemic and pushed oil into the coolant but never overheated or got coolant in the oil.
One day on my way home from work, about 300 yards from home the left rear wheel fell off. I pulled into a parking lot and walked home to get another vehicle and some tools. The truck had the wrong lug nuts and they had wallowed out the wheels and became loose which caused the wheel studs to break. I spent the next couple of hours replacing the wheel studs in the rain. While at the parts store picking up the wheel studs I'd bought a new fuel filter for the 40 with the hope of getting some more power out of the old B engine. (Thinking it could be partially clogged.) When I finally got home that evening, I figured I might as well spin the new filter on while I was still in my work clothes and already wet from working in the rain. I didn't know much about diesels at the time and didn't fill the fuel filter with diesel before installing it. I simply thought I could leave the engine running and it would prime itself. Well problem is I don't have a flat spot on my property and the parking brake was inoperable. Chocking the rear wheel with a rock, I hopped out to have a look under the bonnet. A few minutes later the chock apparently sunk in the wet yard and the 40 took off down the hill. I was barely able to slap the door closed to keep it from wrecking the house before it was out of reach and rolling down my drive. The 40 ended up on its side causing some damage to the already pitiful body. The part that hurt my feelings the most was the borrowed windshield glass I had picked up earlier that day from @Michael B. I borrowed it to use as a template to have a new glass cut for my other 40. (It was destroyed of course.) Well, I spent the rest of that evening righting the overturned 40 with my other 40..in the rain. It was sketchy as hell looking back at it because it was on such an incline.
I removed the damaged top and the 40 sat just like this for years and years on the back burner.
This crate was a 3b I bought from @wileycoyote for it many years ago to replace the B engine. The 3b turned out to be rusty as hell and wouldn't start, so I sold it a few years later.
A few years back I got bored and tried to start it.
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