Fj40 1974 intro (1 Viewer)

[Selloutrr]

Hello,
I recently purchased a Dec/74 FJ40 in Washington State and drove it back to Southern CA in 4 days. It's been mechanically gone through and runs like a dream. It's original 1.5F engine (included) developed a crack in the head and was swapped for a 12k 2F w/ 4 speed on the floor. The tub has rust in the rear corners and pan. However a replacement Tub was included in the purchase. My plan is to drive it for a bit, then pull it completely apart and do a full frame up restoration.
I would like to add a mini box power steering (only want to go to 31" tires max) as well as fit it with a PTO winch.

It runs beautifully my only real issues out side of rust at this point are; the windshield wiper motor burnt up while in use.. I'm going to try to clean and rebuild it. If not swap to a blue bird and modify the mounting plate. My other issue is that the heater (under dash on tranny housing) blows hot air at all times. Maybe I just don't know how to properly turn it off but it blows hot all the time in all positions just some hotter then the rest.
Between the heater and the engine heat with it 105 degrees out (live in the desert) it's brutal!

Thank you,
Mark

 

[Adog]

Mark,
Welcome to the madness. Nice rig and thanks for the pics. There should be a heater valve on the passenger side firewall hooked to a cable from the dash. Close that and no more heater. Valve can stick open. Have fun with the 40, I see a lot of newer stuff under the hood.

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

Nice rig. Hot all the time is one of the hallmarks of Cruisers. One of the first things I did was put a valve on the water line going to the heater. My mechanic told me to do that back in about 1979.

 

[Selloutrr]

Thank you, If I close the valve will it effect engine temp? At the moment though hot in the cab the engine temp sensor runs stable at just left of the 1/4 (first line).
I'll have to post more pics and itemize the upgrades in the engine bay. Its core is stock but the rest is not.

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

Thank you, If I close the valve will it effect engine temp? At the moment though hot in the cab the engine temp sensor runs stable at just left of the 1/4 (first line).
I'll have to post more pics and itemize the upgrades in the engine bay. Its core is stock but the rest is not.

Never a problem for 20 years on our '78 and doesn't seem to be a problem on the '82.

 

[Selloutrr]

I noticed last night when I take it out of gear (neutral) and my foots off the clutch it has a high pitch sort of cricket chirping sound. Lightly press the clutch pedal and it goes away. Is this normal or did the clutch throw a bearing?

 

[Yamabalu]

Welcome. More photos !

 

[Selloutrr]

More pics

 

[Selloutrr]

Pics cont.

 

[Selloutrr]

Quick question. I'm getting conflicting answers in Google search results.

If I wanted to replace the the current 12/74 front driver/passenger doors with '75 or newer (the ability to lock them with a FOB is appealing) will the fit?

Also the rear tube has some rust issues so I'll be replacing it can I swap to a 75 and use my existing hardtop fill mounting holes and add ambulance doors? The idea of not having to deal with moving a spare tire, and opening 3 doors everytime the kids want to sit in the back is appealing. Otherwise I think I'll return this FJ to OEM stock and move the parts to spare frame and buy a later body.

 

[drnekFJ40]

It is a decent 40...I like the color-looks like magnetic grey on mine

 

[Selloutrr]

Very cool FJ! Yes I think the bones are good the rest shouldn't be more then a few months to get this FJ restored. I went with a '74 because I couldn't find a '75 that wasn't beat to death or being offered for a reasonable $ (not to burst bubbles but sentimental value doesn't translate to monetary gain). In CA any gasoline vehicle pre '75 is emissions exempt.
The plan is to start the first weekend of November for a full frame off restoration. Mid October I plan to go back up to collect the new rear tub and original 1.5f engine. I'd like to get back before it snows in the passes.
The plan is to pull It apart media blast and inspect for rust. Address any issues I don't have replacement parts for and prep everything for paint.
Then replace all the rubber and seals, badging and stickers. At the same time since this FJ came with almost a complete second FJ in parts I'm going to pick up a '75 frame and transfer most of what is currently in this one to the new frame and finish rebuilding / restoring the original parts and put them back in. Most likely I will paint this '74 Heath grey and leave it stock the second one brown? Tbd and bastardized it a bit more like a trail toy. Lift, brush guards, etc.
At this point I would love to find a '74 correct PTO winch but $1800 just seems ridiculous to me. kind of like a $300 rear license plate holder The rest of the parts are pretty reasonable. By my calculations I should end up with two FJ's for around $4200 additional $ plus my labor. Before you call bull**** I'm setup to weld, media blast, and paint so that saves a lot of $$$$ otherwise it would easily add $15-20k to hire out.

 

[Selloutrr]

Some more pics of some of the parts it came with. The original 1.5F engine and a replacement 3/4 tub. And some engine compartment pics.

 

[Selloutrr]

The tub was looked at today and will be getting glass bead blasted at 90 PSI along with the rest of the spare body panel next weekend and treated with a coat of grey primer by a professional shop automotive/marine company in the NW. The cast Iron head is going to be professionally repaired as well, before transporting them down to CA. Once I get the parts down here I'll correct any trouble spots and prep for final paint. Pretty up the engine back to OEM and rebuild it.

While performing a general service on the FJ40 for the first time last week. I was given a bit of a shock. The Parking brake was leaking and totally toasted - oh well new Rebuild kit for $90. I changed the oil and only 1.5qt drained out... WT*?! it took 7.6qt to refill it. Yes I inverted the front end almost 3 feet in the air to drain the pan.. what a silly design. IDK if the previous owner failed to fill it all the way or it burned all that oil in 2000 miles. I can't recall ever seeing colored smoke, but it's something to keep an eye on. In addition we dialed in the Weber Carb and noticed the engine is not firing properly on cylinder 2 and possibly 6 which explain why it gets occasional back fires through the carb and the loss of power going up hills. I'm going to do a compression test this weekend, I just ran out of time. The valves are moving properly and the timing is good. So at this point I'm fearing the worst. If a piston seal has failed and I need to pull the engine the restoration is going to start sooner then planned. I've got a good amount of play in the Manual steering box too. I'm going to play adjusting it but It might need to be rebuilt as well. The only issue is the hot water shut off valve is frozen open so it's hot air all the time. Hopefully I can pull it off soak it a cleaner and unstick it - I know it's not likely but it's worth a shot before dropping $120 on a replacement.

 

[Selloutrr]

Not that it's super interesting to anyone else but I'll share anyway. The Engine was taken to the machine shop / engine guy today. What he lacked in communication skills he made up in ability by the look of his work. Sadly the old 1.5F engine cylinder head had already been repaired and it failed. In addition someone had cross threaded the bolts and broke the air intake manifold and that will need to be replaced as well.