Build Diary 07/1969 40 (1 Viewer)

[rusty musket]

Ok so I probably should have started out with a better introduction about myself, I live down in San Diego and am a Navy man I have good fabrication and weld skills and am very mechanically inclined (I'm so smart I can build skyscrapers from Legos) anyway I am a new owner of an FJ40L 7/69. Well not really new but officially mine, my father bought it back in 74, 75, or 76. I remember when it was really nice and full of life. when me pappy still had it some drunkass plowed into the rear end even the HT side panels were trashed. The rear of the vehicle was and still is mangled. As the pics show you can see what was done to remedy the accident. As time always tells, Pappy passed and his son became the new owner of that old truck that took us everywhere.

So, its been sitting in the driveway for 2 years and in that time I sandblasted, primed and painted most of the front end body parts. Went off to Afghanistan for a year and now back home with my wife and 2 brand spakin new daughters.(I got into brewing beer which is great and highly recommended). While sitting in the garage drinkin a home brew I was pondering over the process of refurbishing that old cruiser. It was a pretty scary thought but then I started doin more research and i think ill be ok. A frame off restoration is what i want to do but at the moment i dont have the time but i do need to do something before this thing falls all the way apart.

From what my dad said he replaced the panels with panels off a 75 w/ matching ambulance doors, I dislike them and would like to get rid of them. At first I wanted to replace them with the right hard top panels (69 era) but now another change has come to me, I want to replace them with the OEM soft top... I think.

Upon further inspection, one of the Data plates reads FJ40L. Now i have been searching high and low for what the L means. Some people say it means left hand drive and some say factory soft top. Through my 3 day extensive research I have found more stuff saying soft top, but nothing concrete. Can somebody please help me with this? If it is a soft top I will be getting rid of the fiberglass top, side panels, ambi doors, hinges, glass, everything I dont need for a soft top.

I would really like to get this issue squared away before I do anything else. Oh and one more question, in the last picture is some bolts that are bolted to the top of the rear wheel wells. I think some are for the jump seats but what are the others for?
Cheers to another rebuild
Thanks,
Carl

 

[Poser]

Welcome.

The four bolt heads pictured threaded into the top of the inner fender in the aft section of the tub were used to secure a factory soft top bow bracket.


The four holes, two with bondo oozing through were used to secure the top pivot bracket on the spare tire carrier.

 

[subzali]

A factory hard top FJ40 will read "FJ40LV" - "V" for "van". If it's missing the "V", that's how you know it's a factory soft top. To go back to a factory configuration you will also want to get the OEM soft doors. Looks like a great project!

 

[69LC]

Welcome and thanks for your service.

 

[rusty musket]

Those are the two best answers I have heard in a long time, I am overflowing with joy and happiness, I love you guys WOOOOOHOOOOO! Soft top here I come, now where can i find one...HAHHA.

YESSSSS!!!

So I know exactly what i will do now. I am going to start with the rear quarter panels rear sill and left side wheel well top. I can fabricate the sill myself prolly take two hours. The other body parts i think i will get from CCOT or ill take a drive up to SOR and see what I can get from them. Anybidy ever deal with them on a face to face basis (other then online business)?

for the rear sill I have some 2x2x1/4" angle. A little overkill maybe?

If you had the stainless sheet would you fabricate the quarters and bed and wheel wells from it?

 

[bikersmurf]

Those are the two best answers I have heard in a long time, I am overflowing with joy and happiness, I love you guys WOOOOOHOOOOO! Soft top here I come, now where can i find one...HAHHA.

YESSSSS!!!

So I know exactly what i will do now. I am going to start with the rear quarter panels rear sill and left side wheel well top. I can fabricate the sill myself prolly take two hours. The other body parts i think i will get from CCOT or ill take a drive up to SOR and see what I can get from them. Anybidy ever deal with them on a face to face basis (other then online business)?

for the rear sill I have some 2x2x1/4" angle. A little overkill maybe?

If you had the stainless sheet would you fabricate the quarters and bed and wheel wells from it?

I drove down to SOR once. Neat place, with tons of neat stuff. The guys there really questioned my sanity... Having driven my 40 there from Canada. For a company that specializes in land cruisers, they didn't seem to have that much faith in them. From there I went to Pheonix, Arizona, and then back to Vancouver, BC. Fun trip.

 

[DPV7070]

Carl, welcome aboard. I live in San Diego as well. Let me know if you go back to the OEM soft top configuration as I'm looking for another set of hard doors. Anyways, let me know if you need any help with anything.

 

[rusty musket]

Carl, welcome aboard. I live in San Diego as well. Let me know if you go back to the OEM soft top configuration as I'm looking for another set of hard doors. Anyways, let me know if you need any help with anything.

Thanks for the welcome aboard, you got first dibs on the doors if i decide to get rid of them.
Carl

 

[Roboosfj40s]

Welcome from one Vet to another. I was Army Airborne but my brother was a Submariner. You mentioned stainless for quarters and other? My front fenders are completely stainless. The PO had them done and who ever done them did an excellent job and I had a 71 here that the quarters were S.S. but then again we are 7300 miles away lol. I thinking of using angle for my sill as well. Again Welcome to the insanity!

Rob

 

[rusty musket]

Welcome from one Vet to another. I was Army Airborne but my brother was a Submariner. You mentioned stainless for quarters and other? My front fenders are completely stainless. The PO had them done and who ever done them did an excellent job and I had a 71 here that the quarters were S.S. but then again we are 7300 miles away lol. I thinking of using angle for my sill as well. Again Welcome to the insanity!

Rob

Airborne whoooaaaa. lol
Yep I think since I have access to stainless i will fabricate most of the parts from that. i figure if my dad put it through what he did for the past 35 or so years and it ended up the way it is then ill put some SS on it and maybe it will last twice that. Cut my costs down for sure. SO i guess ill use 1/8" for the bed and 14 gauge everywhere else. this is gunna be a fun pain in the @$$!

 

[rusty musket]

I am trying to make a pattern for the quarter panels, wheel well tops and have run into a snag. My quarter panels are all full of bondo and out of whack and the tops of the wheel wells are jacked up too. I tried making an accurate as possible pattern, but that is just not gunna cut it. Does any body have the correct radius measurement of the rear quarter panel bend?

 

[high country cruiser]

Welcome

Please post pics of your progress..

 

[rusty musket]

Please post pics of your progress..

As soon as i make some real progress i will be sure to post some pics

 

[high country cruiser]

Where are u @ in San Diego?

Just curious,

You will make huge progress w/ just labor and grinding wheels/primer-paint
and sweat and beer.

 

[rusty musket]

Just curious,

You will make huge progress w/ just labor and grinding wheels/primer-paint
and sweat and beer.

Grinding SS with wheels is about the most suckiest time consuming thing to do ugh I hate it but i know it is in my future If i could just get my hands on a plasma cutter ill be golden.

Its gunna take more beer then wheels

Funny you bring that up, I was out there sanding some rust spots and rattle can prime and rattle can OD green and of course you guessed it a beer.

I also got some patterns cut out for the wheel wells

 

[shootrj2003]

Rusty Musket,
For the rear quarter bend radius ,I just worked a piece of cardboard on the flat, between the frame and body after stripping it of hingges and other obstructions and traced the curve then gave it to the sheet metal guy to work out on the bender-it came out perfect.I was able to trace the side wheel wells on mine onto a sheet of cardboard also after taping it to the side.I used 16 ga. cold rolled,14 ga. ss should make it pretty bullet proof if you can get it great!I 'm gonna cut it out myself[the wheel wells and bottom edge] and hand form the flange ,I bought weld on flange for it but I think it will invite rust later and I don't know of a tool that makes the flange[=anybody can chime in here who might know of something] but I could be wrong,I am a blacksmith not a auto body guy so I gets out my hammer and a bender and does it that way.I did it before but on much lighter steel and it's time consumining and requires a deft touch with a hammer.except for that part it's been easy and cheap to make.

 

[Roboosfj40s]

Airborne whoooaaaa. lol
Yep I think since I have access to stainless i will fabricate most of the parts from that. i figure if my dad put it through what he did for the past 35 or so years and it ended up the way it is then ill put some SS on it and maybe it will last twice that. Cut my costs down for sure. SO i guess ill use 1/8" for the bed and 14 gauge everywhere else. this is gunna be a fun pain in the @$$!

Here is a pic of the old 71 I bought here in the Philippines haa haa, it was cheap and had a Isuzu diesel in it and a 5 speed tranny but drove like a freaking tank. The front fenders and quarters were stainless but I dont have the radius measurements. Sold it to a couple that has a farm and needed good transportation plus it was 2 wheel drive anyway lol! Check out those front fender flares haa haa!

 

[Living in the Past]

Welcome.

The four bolt heads pictured threaded into the top of the inner fender in the aft section of the tub were used to secure a factory soft top bow bracket.

A factory hard top FJ40 will read "FJ40LV" - "V" for "van". If it's missing the "V", that's how you know it's a factory soft top.

I'm sorry to say but on the early FJ40 this doesn't mean it came from the factory as a soft top. From around 1966 thru the 1977 model all hard top models were made to take the soft tops. Just as the soft top models could fit a hard top. As for the V that would mean a hard top model. Problem is most early model numbers were only stamped L for LHD but no V on the hard top models. I did a quick check of three of mine all hard top models and all only had the L no V. Probably the quickest way to check is look for the dash light just to the right of the pocket door (glove box) and see if it has a thread hole on the ends of the dash for the safety straps. Eyebolts go into the holes but have to be removed to install hard doors so I now they wouldn't there now. Either hard top model or soft top will except the factory soft top bows. I have a 68 hard top that I run a OEM style soft top as well as the original hard top.

Glad to see your restoring your father's old 40. I just wish my son was more interested in my 68 I bought in 1974.

 

[rusty musket]

Shootr
I kind of understand what your talking about. I had to cut the rear 10 inches of the top part of the wheel well out in order to get a half ass good template to trace, the measured the rest of it with a tape it turned out pretty good. Im not gunna worry about the flanges, if i can jig it up properly i might be able to weld it solid but then again it is SS and that stuff doesnt like to stay where you tell it to, lol. To form the quarters with out a machine will be a chore to say the least but through my online browsing i found a guy who was fabbing his own quarters, he tacked it up to where the bend starts then he rigged up a ratchet strap and just kinda pressed it around the corner slowly and tacking as he went along. the final product looked really good. He was using cold rolled 16 or 18 gauge.

Roboos
Now those are what i call fender flares WOW!!! That is awesome, I dont think i could do that to mine though LOL. You in Manila? My cousin moved out there too.
So whats with the Philipines?

Living In the Past
Well dang it that sucks, Ill have to go check that out in the morning. Either way its getting a soft top I have made up my mind. Thank you for the brief lesson, that will come in handy when I visit the junk yard one of these days. Heck i might even win a bet or two. lol

 

[65swb45]

You can try looking for other visual 'cues' of factory soft top [FST] like three pairs of vertical holes in the rear sill, 10mm holes in the face of the dashboard just inboard of the 'A' pillars, etc.

Looks kind of like tlc dino's cruiser when it came into the shop a few months ago, with a later model hardtop and ambi doors grafted on to it. You will note that the lower half of the doors do not close flush to the body. There is a reason for that.

Anyways, you are welcome to stop by my shop when you are in L.A. Might want to call first, as I some times head out to the desert for land use meetings on short notice.

Best

Mark A.