Well, I've been feeling the need to be driving a 55 for awhile, almost since the orange and white truck ( "creamsicle" as my daughter called it) got laid over (see pics) and then dismantled. My 40 is a great truck, a great wheeler and a sharp truck but it ain't a 55. Been looking for the right 55 for some time now and just bought what I think will be a great one.
Here's the for sale blurb that was in the (not 55) vehicles for sale section of MUD's classifieds: https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-fj56/730849-73-fj55-mid-tn.html. When I contacted Wallace I found he had bought a 60 from me years ago (Matt Bascom's ex-green truck). Small world but our history made it easy to make a deal with Wallace. Paid for the truck waited a week or so for the transporter to pick it up and it arrived here in PA Saturday evening.
The truck appears to be at least as good as Wallace represented it. With a few pumps of the gas pedal the V8 lit right up, sounds great and has more power than my 40 with the hi-po 2F and 4.88 gears. Only drove it a mile or so before putting it in the garage but it is solid. Drivetrain seems real good and no bad noises anywhere. The V8 install is very well done- I'm impressed with the craftsmanship, and using the Marks adapter means plenty of room at the distributor and having the tranny and transfer in the original position.
The seats (original bench) appear to have been reupholstered with cloth at some point. Not bad looking, showing some wear but better than most 55 stock seats. Dash is excellent gauge cluster very clean, entire dash is nice. Nice set of gauges mounted cleanly under the dash. Nothing hacked up anywhere. The entire floor is lined with sound deadener and I guess that's one of the reasons this truck seems so solid. The mat on the firewall is in excellent shape. Headliner has some tears in it but is workable. All the rubber mats are in place and the cargo area has a Specter carpet liner. Door and cargo panels excellent, hard to believe and the glass is pretty good. The dome light even works!
The rear window works with a jumper, I'll need to look at the switches and see where the problem is. I'll get that working no sweat. All other windows go up and down nicely and all the door locks work. Body is excellent- all the flat panels (doors, hood, quarters) are straight and unmolested. there are a few dings here and there and one big dent in the driver rear door but that can all be fixed.
It has Saginaw power steering (never saw it on a 55 before) that feels great. Exhaust system good shape.
It's going into the body shop tomorrow. My next door neighbor runs his own shop and he is slow right now so he's going to fix the body work and paint it. red and white now, I'm going with orange and white. The front fender bottoms were redone and are nice. the front uppers need some attention but not a lot. Some odd rust in the rear door rockers but it's minor. All body mounts look great. Supposedly this truck came to Tennessee from CA but I can't substantiate that. It has a late September 72 build date.
Hoping to have this old girl back and on the road by the end of June. of course that plan depends on my body guy so stay tuned and see how it works out. I'm just glad to be back in the ranks again! Gary S
Here's the for sale blurb that was in the (not 55) vehicles for sale section of MUD's classifieds: https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-fj56/730849-73-fj55-mid-tn.html. When I contacted Wallace I found he had bought a 60 from me years ago (Matt Bascom's ex-green truck). Small world but our history made it easy to make a deal with Wallace. Paid for the truck waited a week or so for the transporter to pick it up and it arrived here in PA Saturday evening.
The truck appears to be at least as good as Wallace represented it. With a few pumps of the gas pedal the V8 lit right up, sounds great and has more power than my 40 with the hi-po 2F and 4.88 gears. Only drove it a mile or so before putting it in the garage but it is solid. Drivetrain seems real good and no bad noises anywhere. The V8 install is very well done- I'm impressed with the craftsmanship, and using the Marks adapter means plenty of room at the distributor and having the tranny and transfer in the original position.
The seats (original bench) appear to have been reupholstered with cloth at some point. Not bad looking, showing some wear but better than most 55 stock seats. Dash is excellent gauge cluster very clean, entire dash is nice. Nice set of gauges mounted cleanly under the dash. Nothing hacked up anywhere. The entire floor is lined with sound deadener and I guess that's one of the reasons this truck seems so solid. The mat on the firewall is in excellent shape. Headliner has some tears in it but is workable. All the rubber mats are in place and the cargo area has a Specter carpet liner. Door and cargo panels excellent, hard to believe and the glass is pretty good. The dome light even works!
The rear window works with a jumper, I'll need to look at the switches and see where the problem is. I'll get that working no sweat. All other windows go up and down nicely and all the door locks work. Body is excellent- all the flat panels (doors, hood, quarters) are straight and unmolested. there are a few dings here and there and one big dent in the driver rear door but that can all be fixed.
It has Saginaw power steering (never saw it on a 55 before) that feels great. Exhaust system good shape.
It's going into the body shop tomorrow. My next door neighbor runs his own shop and he is slow right now so he's going to fix the body work and paint it. red and white now, I'm going with orange and white. The front fender bottoms were redone and are nice. the front uppers need some attention but not a lot. Some odd rust in the rear door rockers but it's minor. All body mounts look great. Supposedly this truck came to Tennessee from CA but I can't substantiate that. It has a late September 72 build date.
Hoping to have this old girl back and on the road by the end of June. of course that plan depends on my body guy so stay tuned and see how it works out. I'm just glad to be back in the ranks again! Gary S
