Builds Goat. A 1967 survivor FJ-45 LWB

[cppilot]

Sometimes I wonder why I get up, fill my coffee cup and sit down at the iPad and pull up ih8mud. Now I know why, Great people with a love for cruisers (FJ45's to be specific), a great forum and THIS......TRUCK... The love affair will always endure!

When I think of art, this it...

Beautiful FJ45 LPB

Congratulations!

 

[whitey45]

Nolan,

That rear license plate bracket looks to be original, a very rare piece. It was originally located under the bed with brackets. You can see the mounting holes. It was moved to the homemade rear bumper. Also the rear reflectors and brackets intact, rarely see those as well.
Merry Xmas to you! And what a way to start the new year!

 

[wngrog]

Yes, ole Earnest was a happy man when they rolled this baby out of the Toyota house in May. Winter had been brutal and he knew one of those new 4x4 trucks would be the answer to surviving the next one in North Dakota

 

[wngrog]

But Arizona was calling his name so he packed up his belongings and drove Route 66 nearly 1600 miles to the desert mountains of central Arizona

The ole 45 has a range of about 250 miles so stops were frequent but gas was cheap in 1974

Not many roads were paved in those days but the 45 ate up the last few miles into the Gila National Forest with ease

Earnest traveled light in those days

 

[Doctor do Little]

But Arizona was calling his name so he packed up his belongings and drove Route 66 nearly 1600 miles to the desert mountains of central Arizona

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The ole 45 has a range of about 250 miles so stops were frequent but gas was cheap in 1974

View attachment 1599401

Not many roads were paved in those days but the 45 ate up the last few miles into the Gila National Forest with ease

View attachment 1599402

View attachment 1599403

Earnest traveled light in those days

View attachment 1599404

Those were the days, my friend,
We thought they'd never end,
We'd sing and dance forever and a day;
We'd live the life we choose we'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way. ----- great pics.
La la la la la la,
Cheers Peter

 

[73fj]

Now when you get a deer you can throatsumbitchinayer!

Very cool find man.

 

[wngrog]

Earnest ran into a little trouble when he stopped in the Navajo reservation to poop. When he got back to the truck the welcome committee was not happy with him.

Being a wise man, as was shown 6 years earlier when he purchased the Goat (greatest of all time) Cruiser, he was able to talk his way out of this jam.

Turns out he had to trade one of the vertical bars from the headache rack to use this road through the reservation. He left it off all of these years as a reminder not to trespass on the reservation

That said, since I don’t have reservations here in Mississippi, if you have one of these bars I would love to replace it.

 

[n0rth]

Such a good find, looking forward to seeing updates on Goat.

 

[wngrog]

Details at this point get a little sketchy. Sifting through the papers it looks like the last insurance cards were issued in Arizona in 1997

Fast forward even further to 2013 this truck shows up on EBay in Texas. Tom was not the winning bidder but a week after the auction closed the seller contacted him and off he went to pick it up.

He took it to @Texican up in Bonham and Butch got it running and stopping. Maybe Butch has some details he can share.

From there @JasonH was storing it for Tom and tinkering with it on the side. He rebuilt the big glass carb I know. Again, maybe he will jump in and let us know what he did

 

[cbmontgo]

Yessss.

 

[JasonH]

I kept it at my house for a few months. I couldn't quite come to a deal with Tom, but I was happy to work on it and drive it around my neighborhood a bit. I rebuilt all of the wheel cylinders and replaced some brake shoes that were soaked. At some point I went through at least one of the knuckles, although I can't remember what I got done. Maybe I just wanted to see a ball and claw axle. I took those rear lenses off and glued them together. They were broken and I didn't want to lose any of the pieces. New fuel pump, carb rebuild... Little stuff. Just enough where I could drive it around the block.

 

[wngrog]

Wow that’s really cool. I’ve never seen those either. I guess I need to do the other so I too can see that.

 

[45Kevin]

Very nice find indeed.

I'm pretty sure there are two missing bars from the headache rack.
Awlteq makes 'em.

 

[DomSmith]

Very nice find indeed.

I'm pretty sure there are two missing bars from the headache rack.
Awlteq makes 'em.

But you’d have to leave them out in the snow for about 5 years to get them to match.

 

[wngrog]

But you’d have to leave them out in the snow for about 5 years to get them to match.

Funny you say that. I worked pretty hard finding old stuff to blend in with my Project Patina 40 but if I had to buy New I’d just get raw metal and after 18 months it has all blended right in

 

[wngrog]

Very nice find indeed.

I'm pretty sure there are two missing bars from the headache rack.
Awlteq makes 'em.

Thanks a bunch. I just messaged @Awl_TEQ and asked him for 2 rusty pieces of metal.

I wonder if anyone has ever asked him for rusty parts?

I’m about to unload it and get some
Detailed pictures this morning. Im so excited to dig a bit deeper and see it all.

 

[Pauciflora]

G'day Wngrop, Lovely photos on the first page. Post card quality. Please keep them coming. Cheers, Ben

 

[middlecalf]

I’m about to unload it...

How much you asking for it?

 

[wngrog]

Took it all around the farm this morning. The old Goat runs like a top thanks to the fine mechanical skills of @JasonH on the carburetor rebuild

Made a trip to the dump with piles of Christmas trash that piled up in my absence. My dad said I look like Lamont now from Sanford and Son

Tossed it in 4WD and climbed around the hills then introduced it to my wife.

My favorite photo spot

 

[wngrog]

Nothing too exciting here but I’m documenting the first trip around Tilda Bogue