Build FJ40 in a barn

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C6H12O6

C6H12O6

SILVER Star
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Joined
Dec 23, 2004
Threads
145
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2,071
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
Short intro: I've had a longing for a 40 since helping my uncle drive one home 25 years ago. Owned a built-up 80 for 11 years, and now own a 100. I've been casually looking for a 40 for years, then made the mistake of going to the Rubithon with the same uncle. I warned my wife that I'd probably come home talking about wanting to buy a 40. Her response was, "You've been talking about buying a 40 for 20 years. Thanks for the warning."

Fast forward to last weekend. I pull into the parking lot at a funeral service and see a 40 in the parking lot. Decent shape. I was casually stepping off some measurements, and an old guy attending the service says, "I've got one of those I'll sell you if you want it." We start chatting and he claims it's a 1975, in great shape, but been sitting for 20 years. I asked about rust and he said it was rust free. I asked him how much and he said $5K with a bit of hope and disbelief in his voice.

I went out today and found it to be a 1974 that was not quite as advertised, but still a maybe, particularly since he sounds like he'll come quite a ways off the $5K starting point. We didn't talk money today, but here are some pics for your survey and opinions.
 
The good:
The body is in super solid shape. A couple small dings, but no real body damage, no major rust, especially in the normal spots. A tree fell on it at one point and took out the original hard top (it's been sitting upside-down outside for a long, long time and comes with the truck), so the one in the pics is a replacement. No rust in the bad spots on the top. Everything seems solid and it hasn't even been bolted down to the body. It comes with a (supposedly) complete set of new weatherstripping. Rear deck is dirty, but free of rust. Rear sill is solid. Body for a filthy barn truck is a solid 7-8/10.

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The body is where most of the money and time gets burned IMO, from the looks of it its solid. See if he'll come off the price some, if it needs engine or drive train work. I'd be on it like a chicken on a june bug!

In the first pic I see a motorcycle tire in the back ground, wonder if he might have an old bike in there too. Might be worth asking about. Boy a old Flat Head, Knuck or even a Pan Head stored back would be a great bonus.
 
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The Bad:
Pretty much everything else. Engine bay is a mess. Lots of rust. The F engine supposedly had the head done, but no history. The truck belonged to his wife's dead ex, so she remembers the work being done, but no details. Wasp nest in the carburetor, every bit of rubber rotted, missing a cap on the rusty master cylinder, no fluid in the clutch master, no coolant in the radiator, etc. Oil looked dirty, but ok. No visibly major oil leaks, but everything was so filthy, it was hard to tell.

I'm not too worried about the mechanical stuff, as the motor will likely get replaced with a 2F anyway. The 4-sp. shifts fine, but the clutch pedal feels terrible. Not just stiff, but crusty. The transfer case won't shift. No time to dig into that at all. Bright side is that long-term plans are for a H41 and an Orion, so I'm not too heartbroken over the poor state of stock parts. Other than the fact that I won't be able to drive it until I get that all sorted out, the mechanical stuff doesn't scare me off.

The frame rust, on the other hand, terrifies me. It varied from none in spots, to just spots of surface rust, to scaly orange rust. No delaminating that I could see, and no cracks that I noticed in the normal spots. The underside is so filthy, that it's hard to get a great look in most places, but the bad spots look bad enough that I'd probably be better off pulling the body off and having the frame really gone over, but I don't know if I've got the space pull that off right away.

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None of the rusty spots on the floor were even visible from underneath. There was a little surface rust in a couple spots underneath, but not as bad as some I've seen. Honestly, most of the really gross stuff looks like it just needs to be power washed. There was a wire wheel in the truck, and none of the rust anywhere appeared to be bottomless when scuffed up a bit. Some of the paint would flake off a bit, but Everything looked solid underneath. Nothing a little Simple Green and POR-15 wouldn't take care of.

The only real body rust looked like the faintest of rust specks on the doors under the paint, and some pitted old stuff that looks to have been prepped and painted with something to seal it off when the top was replaced. You can see the black along the seam in a couple spots, but for sitting since 1995, it doesn't look like it's spread or continued at all.

There is a little active rust along the lower edge of the passenger door where the weatherstripping has worn away, but nothing through the metal. Driver's seat frame looks bent. Not a deal breaker.

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If you don't end up buying it because you're scared of the few things you've pointed out, make sure and post the info for someone else on here and I guarantee it'll be sold in a matter of hours if not minutes. You have a good one on your hands there.
 
Man, what a bunch of enablers! Thanks for the support, guys. We'll see. My plans for the truck are a solid trail truck. I'd like to keep the rust at bay and get it solid mechanically, but I'm not looking at a factory-perfect restoration. I'd probably keep the original motor if it was a 2F, but since the F will probably need to come out, I'm open.

End stages plan, version 1.0:
Better crawl ratio
SOA
35" tires
Disc brakes up front
Power steering

That will all take a while, so I'd like to get it to the point where I can drive it an enjoy it a bit on the way. The engine seemed to turn a bit when the owner grabbed the fan and tried to turn it. Oil was full and the guy said they drove it into the barn when they parked it 20 years ago. It hasn't been registered since 1995, so it's been there a while. Tires are dry rotted with a couple flats. It's going to need to be trailered home and somehow pushed up my steep driveway into the garage. Not sure how I'll manage that in the state it's in.

Just need to figure out how much to offer him to start off the negotiations and how high I'd be willing to go. I mean, I'd probably go to $5K, but since it doesn't sound like I'll have to...
 
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That's about what I was thinking. I told him today I didn't want to give him a lowball offer and insult him, and he told me to think it over and make him an offer and that the worst he could say was no. He sounds like he really wants to get it out of the barn and free up space for his Harley addiction. Obviously, I want the best deal I can get. I'll give him a call in the morning and see how it goes. Then, I need to figure out how to get it home. And clean the garage. And buy a gallon of Simple Green and some shop vac filters.
 
So you want to hack what appears to be a decent survivor into a trail truck?
This isn't the one for you.
 
You have a terrific example of a survivor there. The Orion is not needed, it already has a good TC and it will retain more value with a Toyota TC. Clean it up, fix the mechanical items that require attention, brakes, steering, engine, and drive it and enjoy. Even with the drawbacks of the old F engine, it is a tractor engine and with basic care will run for a long time. Adding a 2F is nice but will add no value to the truck. As I said, my opinion, you have an excellent survivor in that red truck and it deserves good care and attention.

If you want a trail rig that you can cut up, find another rust bucket that is past its prime and make it a trail truck. Remember, it is only original once!
 
Did hard top trucks come with the footman loops like that or is this a FST that got a hard top put on it? Definitely looks to be in decent shape but will need a not insignificant amount of immediate attention. There's nothing inherently wrong with the F that requires it to be pulled for a 2F if you can get it running.
 
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