Well the time has come to start the build thread that I have been prepping for over 3 years now. After years of reading, researching, and tons of questions, I was able to lay the plan out. This provided me with a good idea of what parts I would need, and after buying up most of the parts I could lay my hands on in the 3 surrounding states, I have acquired the majority of what I will need thus far. I have had plenty of 40's over the last 20+ years but they have always been minimal builds, just to keep them running or the occasional engine swap, never a frame-off.
A few years ago I bought my brothers 40 that I helped him buy back in the 1990's. It had been sitting unused in his garage since 2001. I towed it to my workshop before he could change his mind. It sat in my workshop for about a year while I tried to figure out the plan for it. This plan would be the first for a DD and weekend trail rig combined.
This tub unbeknownst to me had a lot of patching done buy one of the PO's and then covered by about 500 lbs of bondo . With my very limited bodywork skills I decided that for a DD rig this was not going to be the best platform to start with so I started my search for a decent platform (tub). In the meantime, I was out purchasing random 40 parts wherever I could find them. I figured even if I don't need them I could use them for trading, bartering, selling, etc.....to get the parts I would end up needing eventually. I was not having any luck finding a tub that was both good and affordable until I started looking at old threads in the MUD classifieds and I found a member in Northern California who listed a tub for sale but he said it was already gone. However, he had another tub/rolling chassis available (06/1966 - titled as 67). After he sent me lots of pics and of course bartering on a bunch of misc parts we inked the deal. These pics are prior to shipping to Wisconsin.
In comes the "Forsaken 40"
There is a very interesting story behind this 40. The PO that I purchased it from never titled it and got it as part of a trade I think. It was scavenged for parts before selling to me. The PO before him did title it, owned it for a little more than a year, did nothing with it so again it sat. That PO got it from a friend of his in exchange for some automotive work from what he told me. He had always liked it but was never able to buy it. The PO before him was the man who owned it for the better part of 40 years. That man was Bob Bruce Bradford (below).
Sadly, on August 24, 2017 Bruce passed away (RIP). Bruce was born in Gridley, California, on Aug. 18, 1948. He moved from Lynwood, California, to Fort Jones in 1979. He spent many years on the road driving truck to support his family. At one time Bruce was a volunteer firefighter for the Scott Valley Fire Department. He enjoyed riding his Harley, spending time with family and friends, and loved playing Santa for the local children in the Scott Valley area.
I was able to speak with Bruce's son who just turned 40 last year. I was hoping that he would be able shed some light on what Bruce's vision was for this FJ40. Although his son told me that he actually never saw the 40 move (in 40 years), the story is that Bruce was building it into a desert racer of sorts. Pics of the modifications Bruce did will be forthcoming. His son also told me that Bruce was friends with the guy who started Advance Adapters. In fact, they had done some type of racing together .
Transportation
After inking the deal and making a down payment on the chassis/tub I started the search for reasonable transport. That was really frustrating. I checked out all the usual transport options including USHIP. I was bombarded by transport companies working through USHIP, like 20 calls/emails a day. It was transport overload. I was expecting about $1500 for transport but the quotes were all over the spectrum from 900-3600. The one thing they all had in common.........not one of them would confirm when they could pick it up or when it would be delivered??????? WTF. Some said if the "package does not steer or brake" we are not interested. Others said "if we have to winch it on, no thanks". Meanwhile I have a down payment tied up and no clear plan of how or when I can get it out of the PO's way. So I started looking deeper into the 900 quote (Ameri-Transport) IIRC. They were nice on the phone, they even spoke English which was a bonus but they were not able to guarantee a pick up date without an 8 week window. I read some past customer reviews from other transport companies, ouch. Horror stories, of prices changing without notice, delivery times delayed by months, even drivers holding cars hostage until additional "cash" is handed over. I ended up working out a deal with a customer of mine to relay the delivery. He had a flatbed coming from Lincoln, CA to Nebraska. He would unload in Nebraska and put on another flatbed for the trip from Nebraska to Wisconsin. All in for the relay, with someone I trusted was $1200. The driver even called me every day to let me know how everything was going .
To be continued:
A few years ago I bought my brothers 40 that I helped him buy back in the 1990's. It had been sitting unused in his garage since 2001. I towed it to my workshop before he could change his mind. It sat in my workshop for about a year while I tried to figure out the plan for it. This plan would be the first for a DD and weekend trail rig combined.
This tub unbeknownst to me had a lot of patching done buy one of the PO's and then covered by about 500 lbs of bondo . With my very limited bodywork skills I decided that for a DD rig this was not going to be the best platform to start with so I started my search for a decent platform (tub). In the meantime, I was out purchasing random 40 parts wherever I could find them. I figured even if I don't need them I could use them for trading, bartering, selling, etc.....to get the parts I would end up needing eventually. I was not having any luck finding a tub that was both good and affordable until I started looking at old threads in the MUD classifieds and I found a member in Northern California who listed a tub for sale but he said it was already gone. However, he had another tub/rolling chassis available (06/1966 - titled as 67). After he sent me lots of pics and of course bartering on a bunch of misc parts we inked the deal. These pics are prior to shipping to Wisconsin.
In comes the "Forsaken 40"
There is a very interesting story behind this 40. The PO that I purchased it from never titled it and got it as part of a trade I think. It was scavenged for parts before selling to me. The PO before him did title it, owned it for a little more than a year, did nothing with it so again it sat. That PO got it from a friend of his in exchange for some automotive work from what he told me. He had always liked it but was never able to buy it. The PO before him was the man who owned it for the better part of 40 years. That man was Bob Bruce Bradford (below).
Sadly, on August 24, 2017 Bruce passed away (RIP). Bruce was born in Gridley, California, on Aug. 18, 1948. He moved from Lynwood, California, to Fort Jones in 1979. He spent many years on the road driving truck to support his family. At one time Bruce was a volunteer firefighter for the Scott Valley Fire Department. He enjoyed riding his Harley, spending time with family and friends, and loved playing Santa for the local children in the Scott Valley area.
I was able to speak with Bruce's son who just turned 40 last year. I was hoping that he would be able shed some light on what Bruce's vision was for this FJ40. Although his son told me that he actually never saw the 40 move (in 40 years), the story is that Bruce was building it into a desert racer of sorts. Pics of the modifications Bruce did will be forthcoming. His son also told me that Bruce was friends with the guy who started Advance Adapters. In fact, they had done some type of racing together .
Transportation
After inking the deal and making a down payment on the chassis/tub I started the search for reasonable transport. That was really frustrating. I checked out all the usual transport options including USHIP. I was bombarded by transport companies working through USHIP, like 20 calls/emails a day. It was transport overload. I was expecting about $1500 for transport but the quotes were all over the spectrum from 900-3600. The one thing they all had in common.........not one of them would confirm when they could pick it up or when it would be delivered??????? WTF. Some said if the "package does not steer or brake" we are not interested. Others said "if we have to winch it on, no thanks". Meanwhile I have a down payment tied up and no clear plan of how or when I can get it out of the PO's way. So I started looking deeper into the 900 quote (Ameri-Transport) IIRC. They were nice on the phone, they even spoke English which was a bonus but they were not able to guarantee a pick up date without an 8 week window. I read some past customer reviews from other transport companies, ouch. Horror stories, of prices changing without notice, delivery times delayed by months, even drivers holding cars hostage until additional "cash" is handed over. I ended up working out a deal with a customer of mine to relay the delivery. He had a flatbed coming from Lincoln, CA to Nebraska. He would unload in Nebraska and put on another flatbed for the trip from Nebraska to Wisconsin. All in for the relay, with someone I trusted was $1200. The driver even called me every day to let me know how everything was going .
To be continued: