FJ55 newbie

[hairy_apple]

I've had my 40 for 10 years now and know it inside and out, but I am going to go check out a 55 (actually a pair of 55s) this weekend and was wondering what I should look for. I know it's got a little rust in the fenders like most cruisers seem to, is there anywhere else that I should check for? Any other problem areas I should check for?

Are there body parts avalible for these like there are for the 40's? Are parts hard to come by? One is all stock and the other has a SBC and a auto trans... that one is rusted out and it kinda "comes with" the stock one. From talking to the guy, the stock one sounds in good shape overall other then the motor is blown up "F" and the rust in the fenders. Both are 1973.

Hum..... I think that's all for now.... I am going to check them out sunday and I'm really hoping I like what I see becuase I've wanted a 55 for a while. I wish I could have found a three on the tree one... but it's not a deal breaker.

 

[v8slrtorana]

Here is a link to body panels
https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-...unts-floor-supports-rockers-rear-corners.html

 

[hairy_apple]

Beauty...

Beast

 

[Gonzo55]

Better take why you can find, rare is rare,. Having A parts truck is gold

 

[hairy_apple]

There are actually three of them... he's got a 75 parts truck too. Thinking about all 3... The rust bucket runs, has a 283 and a auto trans. The blue one is all stock but has a rod through the block. I am thinking about just restoring the blue one really nice and making the running rust bucket into a trail/camping truck.

Both are really complete. I'm excited. Hopfully going to be able to pick them up in the next week or so... have to wait for the weather to clear up. I have no desire to tow a land cruiser over Donner summit in the snow.

 

[romegadave]

Really is cool Hairy.....I live in an area where they really are rare so when I see a 40 sitting besides the others I have to drool at it too. Good luck!

 

[PabloCruise]

Cool opportunity!

What is the '75 like?

 

[hairy_apple]

Ugly but not horible. It could be fixed up nice if someone wanted to. He got it to put it's body onto the rust bucket. It has the motor in it but it's pretty much just a long block. There is some rust but not nearly as bad as the rusty one I'm getting with the blue one. I just couldn't afford all three or I might have grabbed the 75 too... I figrue it's going to cost me about $300 each to tow home. There is a CHANCE that he's got a friend with a semi who will bring them to me on his way to Sacramento next week... if that works out I might take all three.

 

[PabloCruise]

Whoa! 3 Pigs at once!
My wife would $*%#!!!

 

[riderjgs]

Been there, done that. Thankfully, she didn't.
There's no such thing as too many pigs when you're doing a project and need parts.

 

[hairy_apple]

My soon to be wife (June) is pretty awesome about things like this. She actually owns an 82 Toyota pickup that she wheels. I jokingly told her I was buying a "his and hers" set of FJ55s she said "as long as I get the running one, you can have the pretty one". It made me laugh. Plus, I tollerate a whole bookshelf full of differant kinds of paper in our house (graphic designer), so she can put up with another land cruiser or two.

 

[hairy_apple]

OK... couple of questions. I'm having a hard time finding any good pictures of the inside of pigs how they are original/restored. Trying to figure out what the things look like from the factory inside. Anyone have any good pictures they can share?

Also, the orange I keep seeing pictures of... factroy color? What years? My GJ and I both really liked it when we saw it and my FJ40 is orange so we were thinking it would be fun to have the 55 orange too.

And... did the 55's never come with colum shifters like the 40's did?

 

[remy1974]

And... did the 55's never come with colum shifters like the 40's did?

Sure did I have a 1970 that I picked up with the colum shift has no motor in it, but I have an F out of my 40 that I can slid in it to keep the 3 on the tree

 

[hairy_apple]

Hum, that kinda makes me want to convert the nice to one have a colum shift if I can find the parts. I LOVED that about my 40 and was sad I had to get rid of it when I got the 350/SM420. I am torn between keeping the blue one 100% original or making it more drivable (disk brakes mini truck PS) and doing stuff like the colum shift to make it more "cool". I used to love when I'd let someone drive it and they would sit there and look at me like... uhh... there's a clutch but I thought it was an automatic... what's going on. hahaha. None of my friends in HS could figure out how to drive my 40.

 

[hairy_apple]

Wooooo..... long day. Got up at 6:30 this morning and checked the weather and road conditions and was a happy camper when Donner summit had no chain restrictions and the forcast was partly cloudy. It was finally time to go get my piggies.

Got them back about 3:30... I was going to wash them out and start checking them out a little more but I'm just sooooooo freakin' tired I'm going to eat dinner and watch a movie and play with them more tomorrow.

Blue Beast. It's got a little more rust then I would have liked, but it's all very fixable and overall SUPER clean (minus the actual Nevada dust). It's got a Weber carb which kinda sucks becuase I just sold my Toyota carb for dirt cheap a few months ago. It's got stock looking floor mats under that wierd foam/carpet stuff. It's got the rear heater, everything seems to be there. The glove box is kinda messed up, but the rust bucket has a nice glove box so I'll just swap them out. Some kid jumpped on the roof and dented it at some point, but it looks easy enough to pop back out. I can't believe how TIGHT all the switches, shifters, steering, ect are. I didn't check the milage but I have a feeling it's not very much. I think once I get a new motor in it, it should be very easy to get on the road and looking pretty good. VERY happy right now.

 

[hairy_apple]

Rust bucket... wow it's ugly. But it's a gold mine of parts. I'm going to pretty much strip this of any good parts and replace put them into a box and put them away for parts for the blue one. I'll replace them with Napa generic stuff and probally build this into a beater camping truck. As horible as the body is... the frame and drivetrain looks awesome. The floorboards are also all solid so the seats aren't going to crash through onto the road. I'm actually pretty happy about this one too. It's not pretty at all but has a ton of good parts and will make a fun trail truck.

 

[scrapdaddy]

What did you have to do, go back and get the other one. Towing vehicles can wear you out real fast. Good job.

 

[hairy_apple]

No, actually the guy I bought it from was super cool and towed the second one back for me for his fuel plus $150... totally worth it. It was a long day just getting one towed here, having to have gone back would have been brutal. We towed them down together.

Then got my big 2x4 Ford stuck in the mud at my house and my GF pulled the Ford, the trailer and the pig on the trailer out of the mud with her 82 Toyota pickup and made it look easy. Made me laugh alittle as the 92HP truck saved a combined weight of over 10K. Don't know how much a 55 weighs but that Ford is about 6800lbs, trailer and pig added and it was heavy.

 

[hairy_apple]

Spent most of today doing housework and didn't get to start cleaning out the pigs like I wanted to... however, I did get them both started.

The blue one fired almost right away and I kept shooting a mist of starting fluid into it to keep it going for a few seconds and it rattled like crazy but ran even with a rod throught he block. You really can't kill a cruiser... even with a hole in it's engine is till wants to run.

The "bucket" I took some more time on becuase it has a good 283 and I didn't want to make it a bad 283. We checked the oil and trans fluid and water and everything looked ok so we gave it a shot. Same thing... couple of turns and it coughed and wanted to start. Couple more tries and it started and ran for a second or two... and once it started and the fan started spinning all that Nevada dust got blown into our faces. Ha ha. So I went and got some fresh fuel and we desided to see if it would run on gas in the tank. It took a little bit to get it all cleaned out and running, but sure enough, it's running pretty good now. It's running pretty rich and was smoking a lot at first, but the smoke went away after it ran for a while. Temp held nice and even at 190. I stuck the trans into reverse and it moved backwards. Stuck it in drive and it went forwards... so I desided to go for a little spin around the field and see how it runs/drives....

... got about 15 feet forward before I found out that that part of the yard was still a swamp. I got the bucket stuck the first time I drove it. To make it better, I couldn't get it into 4x4. I pulled off the boot and the linkage is just really crappy. I can' t tell if it was redneck built and just isn't working or if it's broken. GF pulled me out of the mud for the 2nd time in two days and I drove around the property a little and was pretty happy with it all in all. It's sooooooo ugly but I really think that it runs better then my 40 right now.

Going to wash them both really well tomorrow and clean them inside and out and check all the other fluids on the bucket and then Imight take it for a little drive around our road and see how it does.

 

[Ming89FJ62]

OK... couple of questions. I'm having a hard time finding any good pictures of the inside of pigs how they are original/restored. Trying to figure out what the things look like from the factory inside. Anyone have any good pictures they can share?

Also, the orange I keep seeing pictures of... factroy color? What years? My GJ and I both really liked it when we saw it and my FJ40 is orange so we were thinking it would be fun to have the 55 orange too.

And... did the 55's never come with colum shifters like the 40's did?

Congrats on your good fortunes - here's a link to Arnold who came home very original

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-...ty/191837-december-potm-ming89fj62s-78-a.html