FJ55 newbie

[hairy_apple]

Awesome, thank you. Looks like the blue one is VERY original then. Looks almost just like Arnold.

Another question. The rear windows won't budge on either of them. I opened up the panel on the back and sprayed some PB blaster on all the moving parts i could see. The motor does make a "clunk" sound like it's trying to work but things are too stuck to move. IS there a way to get the window down without tearing apart everything in the tailgate?

I got the carpet and foam crap out of the blue beast and found that there are original rubber mats down there for all of the truck. It is cut or ripped across the transmission hump but not that big a deal. Very excited about how much stuff isn't missing. I thought I was missing a ash tray from one of the doors but found it under the seat.

The few little things that are missing or broken on the blue one "Bucket" seems to have to steal for the nice one. I'm very happy with both of them.

Hopfully going to pick up and engine or two this weekend and have it running. Going to pull out the radiator and gas tank tomorrow and take them down to get boiled and painted.

 

[PabloCruise]

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?

Orange was a factory color. I think they called it Pollux Orange?
Search for some paint code threads here in the 55 section and in the 40/55 section. It is a wicked cool color! Seems like a lot of them popping up right now!
Check out this part of the Cool Cruisers website: Cruiser Color Codes
They had this posted here, it looks like Pollux Orange ran from '72 to '75.
Color Code 304

Hope that helps!

PS: not sure about the column shifters, but I think they did!

 

[PabloCruise]

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.

... 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.

Sounds like you better not go wheeling w/o your GF to bail you out!!! Ha!



Just kidding. She sounds like fun. If you both like the idea of an orange Piggy, you should definitely go for it! Highly recommended! Unless of course you want to go Panther Pink (Mopar color), the only color a Pig should be painted!

 

[hairy_apple]

That girl is a natrual at anything with a motor. She was keeping up with me on an quad her first trip to Sand Mt. Same thing with my cruiser. Drove it on Fordyce for a few hours and did awesome her first time wheeling. A few weeks later she bought her pickup and even with stupid high gears she drives that thing like a champ. Right after she pulled Bucket out of the mud, she drove down and stopped in the bottom field, shifted back into 2x4 and spun a little doughnut... it made me laugh. Although I pretty much knew I was going to marry her when I went to her house for the first time and her dad had a 69 FJ40 sitting in the driveway.. same year as mine. We're actually getting married in June.. at Sand Mt. 100% her idea.

Anyway, back to the Piggies... took the foam and carpet out of the blue one and was VERY happy with what I found under it. No rust on the floor. Sweet original looking rubber mats. Still filthy... I just havent' had time to pull the seats out yet. I'm going to strip the inside down and climb in there with soap and water and just scrub everything clean. Then go hit every freakin' latch, switch, ect with some PB plaster. Lots of dust and grit everywhere.

And then just for fun a photo of the whole group all together.

 

[hairy_apple]

OK... couple of questions/requests. First... tools that go on the bottom of the rear seat. Can I get a picture of what goes there? Are any of them the same as the 40 tools? I have a lot of the tools that came with my 40.. don't have them in it anymore becuase I have the hilift and more tools then I have at home most of the time. I assume there one of those is the lug nut wrench, the spare tire crank?, jack handles? The jack looks like there was a spot on one of the inner fenders for that.... just trying to figure out what I need to have all the parts it came with.

And... what's up with what looks like 3 fuel lines? Two go into the engine bay, one is capped off and the other goes to the carb like I'd expect a fuel line to do. The third is on the driver side and seems to go into a fender? What the heck is going on? "Bucket" has a aftermarket fuel tank and a v8 so it wasn't any help.

 

[onemanarmy]

Can't really help you with the fuel lines, but the rear window clunk sounds like a a broken plastic gear. Mine did the same thing. It's not THAT hard to get to the mechanism and check the gear.

 

[Pighead]

Under the rear seat is where the big hand crank goes, the hand crank works for lowering the spare tire AND turning the engine over by hand. Also the jack handle extensions go under the rear seat. Traditionally, the bottle jack goes under the driver's seat.
We need a pic of your fuel lines to answer that other question...

 

[PabloCruise]

June wedding at Sand Mtn, sounds awesome!

Congratulations!!!

3 fuel lines: fuel supply, fuel return line, vapor recovery line from vapor separator to charcoal canister up under your hood.

 

[hairy_apple]

Ah, smog stuff... that makes sence for the one that looks like it venting into a fender right now. I kinda figured out that that is what the random looking lines on the head that have been cut and pinched off are too. My 69 FJ40 for sure did not have those.

The fuel return line is for what though? It's not hooked up to anything, there is a bolt and a hose clamp in it right now. The truck has a weber carb and again my 40 didn't have anything like that hooked up when it was stock so I'm not sure where it went or why it's there.

I did notice that it had the ablity to be cranked by hand.... I think that would be scary with that engine. I'd like to try it though... it's at least cool that it can. Toyota really put a lot of thought into making Land Cruisers are invincible as a truck can get... I'm impressed everytime I work on them how well they were designed overall.

 

[Pighead]

The Fuel return line went from an outlet on the stock carb back to the fueltank.
There's a vapor separator in the rear quarter panel that had a line running to the charcoal canister...it's a good thing to keep these hooked up.
The random looking lines on the head that are cut and pinched (6 of them?) are probably the remains of the air injection rail. They can be removed, maybe, and the holes plugged with NPT plugs from the hardware store or OEM plugs from Toyota.
I have started my Pig several times with the hand crank...sometimes just to win a bet that I could, once or twice because I had to.

 

[hairy_apple]

http://s423.photobucket.com/albums/pp311/hairy_apple/?action=view&current=VID_20120321_153907.mp4

Pig wallowing in the mud... Runs pretty good.

 

[hairy_apple]

The rear vent looking things on around the rear marker lights... tough to get? The marker lights themselves?

I am pulling all the good parts off the rust bucket to put into a box and save if the blue one ever gets damaged and needs anything. I pulled all the door skins, window cranks, tail lights, turn signals, and I was going to pull off all the marker lights but am having a heck of a time getting the marker lights off... the bolts are so rusted I think they are just going to break. I PB blastered them and am going to let it sit overnight... but if I'm wondering if they are worth removing to save.

I am just going to replace all the stuff I am taking off with NAPA stuff as the bucket is going to be a beater wheeler. I just want to make sure I have extra parts for fixing the blue one up and don't want to wreck nice stock stuff offroad.

 

[PabloCruise]

The marker lights are the same as 40 lights I believe.
I have been trying to find a set of those vents myself, if you come across an extra pair!

 

[onemanarmy]

The front marker lights are not the same as 40s, the 55 lights have a flat base, and the 40 lights have an angled base

 

[hairy_apple]

Woo... long day to get it but I have a new motor for the blue beast. 400 Miles give or take round trip. My only issue now... I had no way of getting the motor out of the back of my truck so it's at my parents house until I figure something out. I think I may spend this weekend building an engine hoist instead of actually working on my cruisers.

 

[hairy_apple]

After we played with the rust bucket the other day I havne't been able to get it to start again. I kinda suspected fuel issues as it's been sitting for who knows how long and then we drove it around with only a gallon and a half in it I figured there was a very good chance I just got crap plugged up in the filter or fuel pump. Pulled off all the fuel lines today and everything seemed OK so put it together and tried to start it. I was for sure getting fuel to the carb. Still wouldn't start. Coughed and sputtered like it kinda wanted to, but won't start.

It started raining so I was about to give up and just for the heck of it I pulled a spark plug out... I'm amazed it started at all as fouled as the plugs were! Tomorrow I'll go get some new plugs and wires and I bet anything it starts right up.

Sorry for the bad cell phone picture.. but you get the idea. Pretty black and gunky.

 

[hairy_apple]

Replaced the plus and wires today, beast started right up and ran nice. Took it for a little test drive... and ran out of fuel 400ft from my house. Nieghbor towed me home with is tractor just as my GF got home and got to have a good laugh. At least I know it starts and runs and seems to work pretty good overall. Engine bay and motor cleaned up pretty nice too.

 

[PabloCruise]

Replaced the plus and wires today, beast started right up and ran nice. Took it for a little test drive... and ran out of fuel 400ft from my house. Nieghbor towed me home with is tractor just as my GF got home and got to have a good laugh. At least I know it starts and runs and seems to work pretty good overall. Engine bay and motor cleaned up pretty nice too.

At least you are working out these kinks close to home!

 

[hairy_apple]

Ha ha, yeah. Took "Bucket" for another test drive today. This time we went a couple of miles around the neighborhood. Thing runs awesome. LOTS of power. I was worried maybe the motor was tired after I played with it alittle, but the choke had been stuck partly closed and I discovered that today and fixed it. Lots and lots of power. The steering was tight. The brakes... eh, well land cruiser drums.. I didn't expect much from them. But they work.

I am happy.

 

[Ming89FJ62]

I am happy.

Kind of like a "Pig in S*&t"