Any FJ40s in Milwaukee/Madison area?

[webelk6]

Ah, I see Pilgrim Tub is the one from CoolCruisers.com. I had seen that before. Not sure I'd pony up 4 or $5k though.

Paul is done with ccot. He is on his own now.
Where is this cruiser located? I found one today near Burlington. A buddy of mine told me about it. I knocked on the guys door. A 74ish fj40 with a plow. I made him an offer(complete truck stored inside), and he says to me(older guy), "How am I going to plow my driveway?" Unreal..
It was white and ready.

 

[SliderJack]

Well, I bought one! Brought home a bunch of spare parts today, need to go back and pick the truck up. Hope to find a trailer tomorrow and pick it up.

It's a 78, unfortunately it doesn't have a top, so that will be one of the first things I look for.

I'll try and post some pics tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked! It's going to be an adventure!

Get ready for all the questions...

 

[woody]

awesome, now post some pics!!

 

[SliderJack]

awesome, now post some pics!!

Thanks! Made it home before the rain. Haven't had time for taking pics so I'll post some the PO sent.

 

[SliderJack]

stock color was tan, very cool. That's my favorite for an FJ40 so I'll likely return her to that color.

hard top, radiator, windsheild are definite needs but I'm sure this thing will be a mone pit for a long time to come.

Like to get her running and maybe drive a little to check things out. Then I'd like to tear her down. I'm anxious to remove the body and strip and treat the frame.

Need to search and see if there are any plans out there for bulding a rolling stand for the body.

I'll probably do a rebuild on the motor. Have to balance cost but at least should open her up and check things out. Supposedly a recent head/valve job was done.

PO had the hard top but sold it. He said it was on while he did the bodywork but I think I'd like to get one and install it to make sure everything lines up before I go too far. By eye it looks like the drivers top rail bows in a little.

You guys see anything or have any suggestions, feel free to blast away.

I remember reading about some rust treatment product good for frames? POR? Need to find out about that.

Plan on sandblasting a lot of the smaller parts. Need to decide/research on the best way to treat parts after getting to bare metal. Friend mentioned Summit has a line of paint that is a bit less expensive. PO included a can of PPG but it's half gone and not sure it's right color/finish.

Time to start using the search function and doing some reading...

 

[SliderJack]

Paul is done with ccot. He is on his own now.
Where is this cruiser located? I found one today near Burlington. A buddy of mine told me about it. I knocked on the guys door. A 74ish fj40 with a plow. I made him an offer(complete truck stored inside), and he says to me(older guy), "How am I going to plow my driveway?" Unreal..
It was white and ready.

That other FJ was in Richmond Illinois, right on 12 in town, bright purple house--can't miss it.

funny, I was driving home from picking up my FJ and decided to stop since I was passing by. Guy was there and sure enough, FJ was still there. Gave me a story about losing his phone. I don't know. anyway, it's still there and supposedly still for sale. He was asking $3500 but said he'd take $2800. Lots of bondo, and bad panels, but did have extra half doors, extra glass and some other parts. Foot wells were pretty solid but rear wasn't good.

Anyway I stopped by and he said, yeah, still for sale. I said, dang wish I would have known, pointed to the trailer and said I just picked that up today...

Wanted to see what he had for extra parts. Not sure his half doors would fit my year.

 

[SliderJack]

Got her running and driving last night. Was tough to get the huge grin wiped off my face while I was tooling around in the dark.

 

[PhilC64]

Nice job! That one has been on CL here for awhile. I saw the 40 in Richmond earlier this year. Definitely not worth it. Lots of frame rot on it.

I have a top and sides available if you're interested

 

[SliderJack]

Making some progress.

Got a top. Looks like I'll probably need to remove the glass and replace the seals. They're pretty weathered. Top is very weathered but underneath metal is clean. Top is from an early model, think I might have a problem mounting to windshield frame but hope to make something work without buying a different bracket.

Got a 60/40 bench seat. Hope to fab some brackets to make it work. Thought the bench would be a nice option. Wife and I enjoyed one years ago... Might keep the buckets though and restore them as well. Considering making patterns from the originals and doing my own upholstery.

Managed to separate the frame from the body.

Should get the motor and trans pulled tomorrow. Compression is low in cylinder 2, likely going to tear the motor down and check things out. Probably do a rebuild but want to keep cost to a minimum but still do it right. Probably going to desmog.

Start stripping and cleaning up the frame shortly. Need to strip a lot of the body work yet too.

Researching a 2.5" lift. Like the looks of 33x12.5 mud terrains on 10" wheels. Might be a while down the road for that...

 

[webelk6]

Wow.
Moving quickly. DO NOT SANDBLAST ANY BODY PARTS. YOU WILL WARP THINGS(ask Phil about the bezel I gave him.) Plastic media is best , or soda. Altho you can blast the crap out of the frame and axles.
As far as how far you want to go- take stuff to the powder coater in Delavan, plating parts to Racine plating. Seats recovered by Geneva upholstery.(material buy from aatlisx) Move quickly on signals and the like(cdan) before they are discontinued. In fact, make a list, call him and you can just cross off the things . Then the real quest begins.



I think your spare tire carrier is wrong for that year.

Just found out the my 4/75 frame off is in the Green Bay showroom. Not sure if it is yet, but that dealer bought off of the guy I sold it to. Nice. Turns out it was purchased there in 1975...
Good luck and pm me with any questions, or just put em on here, altho I have not been on here alot as of late.
Best
Scott

 

[SliderJack]

Wow.
Moving quickly. DO NOT SANDBLAST ANY BODY PARTS. YOU WILL WARP THINGS(ask Phil about the bezel I gave him.) Plastic media is best , or soda. Altho you can blast the **** out of the frame and axles.

Thanks! Yeah, I haven't sand blasted before. When I was going to college I stripped an entire engine compartment of a 65 Mustang with a drill and a wire wheel. More time than money back then, funny how things haven't changed. Little more money now, but not much.

I borrowed a small blast cabinet from a friend. Hope to try it out tomorrow. Need to see if my air compressor will handle it. Found 2 good size 240volt compressors locally, might make the purchase since I'll probably be blasting, grinding, and painting. Need to do some small parts like brackets and see how the sand blasting goes. Then decide what I want to do with the frame. Friend mentioned a place in Butler called U-Spray where I can use their equipment. worry about the mess at home but also worry about transporting things in the weather--doing it outside probably isn't much better.

Ordered some Picklex 20, the flash rust on the replaced panels have driven me crazy since I saw pictures of the project.

Remove the motor and strated tearing it down a little.

Motor is going to need a rebuild, rebuild carb, new radiator, etc. Need to crunch the numbers and just consider a different swap. Diesel might be cool, chevy v8 might not be much more expensive (and less weight than the 2F?) but definitely leaning towards keeping it stock. Would like to get her rebuilt and enjoy it for awhile. I can always swap something else down the road.

Thanks again!

 

[SliderJack]

I think your spare tire carrier is wrong for that year.

Yeah? Wouldn't surprise me.

Figured out the other day I probably got the wrong top too, 1978 had the pop-out side windows? Sigh, those would have been cool. Didn't even know the pop-out windows existed. I thought I had read that the tops didn't change throughout the years. Oh well, not a huge deal but the windows might have been nice, especially in the summer.

pretty cool about your restore!

 

[webelk6]

Yeah? Wouldn't surprise me.

Figured out the other day I probably got the wrong top too, 1978 had the pop-out side windows? Sigh, those would have been cool. Didn't even know the pop-out windows existed. I thought I had read that the tops didn't change throughout the years. Oh well, not a huge deal but the windows might have been nice, especially in the summer.

pretty cool about your restore!

I saw the bench seat set up and assumed it was pre 74. However finding out it is a 78, that is the right carrier. I would only blast "chunky" parts. No body parts. You can take the hinges to a machine shop and get the pins pressed out. Buy new pins from $or.

I would also put a new timing cover gasket if keeping it stock. They tend to leak there.
Scott

 

[webelk6]

Thanks! Yeah, I haven't sand blasted before. When I was going to college I stripped an entire engine compartment of a 65 Mustang with a drill and a wire wheel. More time than money back then, funny how things haven't changed. Little more money now, but not much.

I borrowed a small blast cabinet from a friend. Hope to try it out tomorrow. Need to see if my air compressor will handle it. Found 2 good size 240volt compressors locally, might make the purchase since I'll probably be blasting, grinding, and painting. Need to do some small parts like brackets and see how the sand blasting goes. Then decide what I want to do with the frame. Friend mentioned a place in Butler called U-Spray where I can use their equipment. worry about the mess at home but also worry about transporting things in the weather--doing it outside probably isn't much better.

Ordered some Picklex 20, the flash rust on the replaced panels have driven me crazy since I saw pictures of the project.

Remove the motor and strated tearing it down a little.

Motor is going to need a rebuild, rebuild carb, new radiator, etc. Need to crunch the numbers and just consider a different swap. Diesel might be cool, chevy v8 might not be much more expensive (and less weight than the 2F?) but definitely leaning towards keeping it stock. Would like to get her rebuilt and enjoy it for awhile. I can always swap something else down the road.

Thanks again!

Oh ya. New freeze plugs too.
I will think of more stuff as you progress.
If you get into the plating- call this place. Bring EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, very cost effective. Less than $150 it cost me
Commercial and Industrial metal finishing by Wisconsin Plating Works Racine, Wisconsin

 

[webelk6]

Yeah? Wouldn't surprise me.

Figured out the other day I probably got the wrong top too, 1978 had the pop-out side windows? Sigh, those would have been cool. Didn't even know the pop-out windows existed. I thought I had read that the tops didn't change throughout the years. Oh well, not a huge deal but the windows might have been nice, especially in the summer.

pretty cool about your restore!

Thanks. I came up with another. TAKE AN UBER AMOUNT OF PICTURES!

 

[SliderJack]

Thanks. I came up with another. TAKE AN UBER AMOUNT OF PICTURES!

Yeah, way ahead of you. Been taking lots of pictures. hopefully enough to figure out how it all goes back together.

Took the steering box and linkages off yesterday. Need to get my shopping list together for the saginaw power steering swap so I can submit it for possible Christmas present list.

Sent a PM to Jim C about a carb rebuild to find out cost. Would like to do it myself and learn a bit though.

Need to find out about the distributor I have.

Noticed weird goo that looked like JB weld on the intake last night under the bakelite shroud. chipped and wire brushed most of it off, couldnt' see a hole or crack so maybe just a spill? Bakelite shroud is a mess. PO or one before him cracked it all to hell. No gaskets between it and the carb either. Hope I can find the bakelite piece.

Off to get a 46mm socket tonight at Northern Tool. Bent over the retaining tab and have been soaking it with PB blaster. Hoepfully it comes off nicely tonight. Should have broke it loose before putting on the stand, but oh well.

Need to call a machine shop and get some ideas/pricing on checking out the head and clean/prep the block. Used Borchardts a life time ago.

 

[SliderJack]

Tried the blast cabinet last night. Either the glass bead that was in there was too fine or air compressor isn't going to cut it. Hope to pick up some Black Beauty or similar tonight.

It's my birthday tomorrow and my wife keeps asking what I want to do, if I want to go out and do something. Ha, didn't have the heart to tell her I just want to play with my FJ! That frame needs to be stripped and painted!

Picklex 20 came yesterday. Need to treat the replacement pieces the PO put on the tub.

 

[webelk6]

Tried the blast cabinet last night. Either the glass bead that was in there was too fine or air compressor isn't going to cut it. Hope to pick up some Black Beauty or similar tonight.

It's my birthday tomorrow and my wife keeps asking what I want to do, if I want to go out and do something. Ha, didn't have the heart to tell her I just want to play with my FJ! That frame needs to be stripped and painted!

Picklex 20 came yesterday. Need to treat the replacement pieces the PO put on the tub.

See if you can get green lightening media. Awesome stuff. Comes in 50lb. bags. I subbed a blast job to porto blast on a tank job I did this summer. Unreal how that stuff cut.
Go the Jim C route.
I also noticed you have a stock radio. Nice.
You may want to hire out the blasting of the frame, and paint it yourself. I have a killer system for the paint for that.
believe it or not- even tho people slam them- cruiserparts.net did me good on some obscure parts.
Is that half tub aftermarket? Looks like an IPor product.
Try and salvage all of your heat/defrost tubes. I am pretty sure they are discont.
Scott

 

[SliderJack]

Great Birthday

Son and I tore the 2F apart.

Domed pistons.

 

[SliderJack]

Should I bother with trying to separate the intake and exhaust manifolds? Have the three piece exhaust manifold, didn't look like much of a seal between the pieces and some blow by.

Do you guys sand blast things like the manifolds? I worry about not getting all the sand out, but then these are sand-cast parts, right? Just blow them out good? but I worry too about sand blasting the axles or even the cankshaft pully on the motor. Seems like you probably don't want certain surfaces to get blasted or sand to go where it doesn't belong. Is taping something off like the knucles and axle vents good enough?

Still think I need a bigger air compressor. Got a little done in the blast cabinet this past weekend with new sand. I have a 3.5hp 25gal compressor, but it's a bit tired I think. missed out on a good 240v 60gal deal, but I'll keep looking I think.