Builds Freeborn In The USA Build (1 Viewer)

[newmexicokid]

So I had a guy call me the other day with this FJ40. He bought a handful of cars and it was one of them. I wasn’t interested but I told him I would help him sell it. He called me back a month later and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. My almost 14yr old and I have started looking for some sort of truck for him to eventually drive. He’s a can-do type of kid so we’ve been looking for something for him to fix up. As you can guess we decided to keep it. So here we are Landcruiser #2. We call it Freeborn in the USA. Now the F Bomb has a little twin. Its build date is July 1977. Here’s what it looked like when we brought it home.

 

[newmexicokid]

It has a few non original things. It’s been repainted at some point in a not quite original color. Close. It has some sort of plate welded to the front. Ugly torch cuts. Those fog lights. The bezel and the frosting on the cake…sweet aluminum panels. It looks like they wer installed over the rust but they certainly didn’t help it out. Some sweet upholstery with matching headliner and sun visors. The crew made short work of the aluminum.

 

[newmexicokid]

It has a jiffylube service sticker under the hook from 1994. It had all the gearboxes done. It’s marked 65k miles. So about 7k miles since 1994. Not sure how you qualify as a barn find. So it has typical rust that I’m sure we’ll get around to. We started prepping it to try and start. I don’t think it’ll take much. Updates to come.

 

[newmexicokid]

So I’m not sure if those fender flares are factory or not. We were just going to remove them but this is what they looked like underneath. Is this what they looked like under the OE flares? Any ideas?

 

[PiratelooksatFJ40]

Love it! Lucky kid - good luck with the build, and keep us posted

 

[B y r o n]

Doesn't look like anything that can't be fixed. Enjoy the time spent together with it.

 

[Living in the Past]

So I’m not sure if those fender flares are factory or not. We were just going to remove them but this is what they looked like underneath. Is this what they looked like under the OE flares? Any ideas?

Not sure any factory fender flares were ever sold outside the JDM. Plus those were later than 77. There were actually parts of the tub and metal like the rest of the tub.

 

[rt66cruiser]

Hey guys I want to introduce myself me and my dad are going to work on this land cruiser together until I’m 16 and able to drive it. The plan is to put tall skinnies on there and make the interior nice. I’m going to drive us to high school every day.

 

[newmexicokid]

Removed the bezel for paint. Not sure if the Toyota badge on the top is stock in some country? Serious holes punched and interesting hardware. I think it’s ugly but it looks like they did a good job.

 

[jembourbe]

Are those snaps on the bezel? Like to snap a cover over the radiator in the cold?

 

[-MaTTi-]

Removed the bezel for paint. Not sure if the Toyota badge on the top is stock in some country? Serious holes punched and interesting hardware. I think it’s ugly but it looks like they did a good job.

View attachment 3355006

View attachment 3355007

That’s not original placement, the hardware is taken from the same badge, but it should be mounted on the grill.

 

[newmexicokid]

Are those snaps on the bezel? Like to snap a cover over the radiator in the cold?

They are snaps. I suspect to use some sort of cover like you’re saying. I didn’t see a cover anywhere.

 

[newmexicokid]

That’s not original placement, the hardware is taken from the same badge, but it should be mounted on the grill.

Do you think the hardware is still available anywhere? It wasn’t in great shape. They did a really nice job of putting the badge on there but it’ll look so much better when we move it inside.

 

[Polecat]

Do you think the hardware is still available anywhere? It wasn’t in great shape. They did a really nice job of putting the badge on there but it’ll look so much better when we move it inside.

I'm sure you can track it down somewhere, but the retainer is no longer available from Toyota.

Badge part # 75321-90300.
Retainer part # 75312-60020. (NLA)
Nut part # 90179-04004.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, All 5 of my childrens first cars were fj40 s and 62s. They learned a lot about cruisers. Have fun and make it pleasurable.

 

[newmexicokid]

First project for the boy. Pulled off all the wheels. Busted the tires. Cleaned the crap out of the wheels. Primed and painted the wheels gray. Installed some tires we had laying around. Discovered the spare on our truck was most likely an original tire as the date was from 1977. Then the boy stole one of my hubcaps to see how cool it looked. Inspiration. Starting our little FJ40 family. Also removed the top and bezel and took for paint.

 

[120mm]

Cool rig. Look forward to watching the build

 

[newmexicokid]

Started in on the buffer today. Started by pushing it outside and cleaning it again. He washed it last time before removing all the aluminum stuff. Used this compound and a green medium foam pad from Harbor Freight. Incredible results I think. I’m anxious to see it after the wax. He was focused on the hood and front fenders then lost interest after that. Short attention span. I think he takes after his mom…please don’t tell her I said that.

 

[newmexicokid]

Really shines. Can’t wait to see it out in the sun. Bummed to see the paint wasn’t faded Freeborn it’s justice been repainted a different color. You can see the difference in one of the pics. The VIN tag says Freeborn so we’re not changing the name of the thread.

 

[EStein]

That’s great results! So much work!