Hey everyone, new nut job here...

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BackwoodsFJ

BackwoodsFJ

Joined
Mar 27, 2026
Threads
1
Messages
28
Location
Maine
Figured I'd pop in and say 'hiya'.

I'm about to embark on an ultra-low buck 'build' of this old 1973 40-turned-45 I've had hidden out back for a while now. Got it with all the plans for a fire breathing mudbug, then a big old string of injuries happened. Ouch. All my toys have sat for the last 12 or 15 years for it. I'm getting a little better as I go, and feel like I can probably build another truck now.

Don't get hurt. It sucks the life out of you...

My avatar pic is of the day we went and pulled it up onto the trailer. It uh... Doesn't look that nice anymore.

I'll grab some updated pics of this old troll when I get ready to haul it up front. It's all snow and mud down there right now.

I did take a battery down to it's nest yesterday, and found out that the few minutes I spent putting penetrating oil down the plug holes last fall was time well-spent. It turned over fairly easy considering how many years it's sat. I pushed pause there, I don't want to turn it anymore til I prime the oil pump, and get some fresh coolant in there. The engine oil looks new, but I should probably change that too. haha.. 15 years.

Here we go.

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That picture was taken the day we hauled this poor old truck home. I wish it still looked that nice...
 
It's in the single digits out there right now.

Either way, the first order of business when it warms up a bit will be to get back down there and get the rims/ tires back on there. We stole them for a rotted-out Chevy that I grabbed super cheap for it's LS. The idea was to LS swap this truck, but unless there's something seriously wrong with the six, it's staying put. It was backed in there under it's own power, I really want to drive it back out under it's own power. Fingers crossed, once they warm up enough to bend.

Here's a couple 'it's still too dark in the woods for pictures' pics of the sheet metal. The flash keeps going off on me, and my fingers were too cold to change the camera settings. Besides a couple small dings here and there, plus 15 years of woods grime, these parts are all pretty nice. The hood and doors on the truck now are really decent, and the ones that came with it are in as good of shape, if not a little better. The red hood has an offset prop rod, so I'm guessing it's a newer one? I'll take a closer look at this stuff later today...

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This too...

Stainless fuel tank. Someone saved me a little work there.

All in all, this thing is pretty rough, but I've started with worse. Way worse.

It was a chopped-down mongrel to begin with, so I have less than zero worries about 'ruining' any originality, or anything like that.

Like I said before, I've been out of the building game for almost two decades. Injuries on top of injuries. This will be an awfully nice change of scenery for me.

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Pighead said:
Bezel.
Click to expand...
Bezel?

Edit: It does seem to be mounted upside down, if that's what you meant. haha.. This truck is (so far) 100% untouched by me, save for getting the firing order correct, making sure that it ran and drove, and then parking it out back with all the other projects after a botched surgery or two. The PO put new fenders, lights, mirrors, and a few other pieces on the front end....

If I can get the rims and tires mounted up today, I should be able to drag it out tomorrow morning when everything re-freezes. Gotta love springtime...
 
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Anybody have an idea what the wheelbase should be (should have been?) on this rig? I just got back from another looksee, and I don't know as I can even physically FIT 37's on the back, without them hitting the rear cab corners.

The plan when I bought it was to name this thing the FJ Shorty, but it seems that one's been taken a few times now.

I'll run back down with a tape measure, and get a WB measurement now. She's SHORT.
 
My 'doing it alone with a slippery tape measure on lug nuts' reading was 103", plus or minus a half... Which lines up with the available 104" WB frames.

Hmm. This is getting interesting. I'll see if I can find and then read the frame numbers next.
3_puppies said:
I haven't seen one of those gas pedals in a very long time
Click to expand...
I know, right? I've had a pile of cars with aftermarket pedals, but these are the 'real deal' JC Whitney catalog sandrail pieces from the mid to late 70's, from what I can tell. This thing's been off the road since 1988, at least that's what the state inspection sticker on the windshield says. It's actually got a complete set of those pedals, I couldn't run the clutch with steel-toe boots on. The interior is SO tiny in this thing.
 
John McVicker said:
And for a very good reason.🙈🙈🙈
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Hey now... You mean this isn't a proper accelerator pedal for a non-VW motor vehicle? hahaha...

I'll be fabbing up a lot of custom parts for this one, pedals included. Maybe these pedals belong in my 510... Oh wait, that already has some.
 
So is a 40 series that has a 45 back cab grafted in?
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This is mine with a half top I picked up from Virginia several years ago.
This is a fiberglass body, (Malotte), with the half top. Lift hatch was welded and filled to the top.
 
That rear door still works, and even stays up there on it's own!! The miracles never cease around here...

Now to go gut out all the parts, acorns, mouse nests, cutting torch hoses (THAT'S where I left those hoses!!! 15 years of 'who stole my spare hoses?' later....), and whatever else is residing in there. I found one of the original? front snatch hooks, that was under the seat.

I'm guessing the vacuum booster is an add-on, but I'm not sure. It had working brakes when I got it. There's two five gallon pails of brake parts in the cab, some new, some were 'good used'. I took whatever he wanted to throw in the bed, and smiled bigger with each armload he brought outside.

I mess around with a lot of things, so I'll be making my own 'upholstery' for the headliner and maybe some different seats. I had planned on adding a stereo system, but eh... I don't know. We'll mainly be using this thing to tool around the back trails, so maybe I should. The oak overhead console had (still has) a Pioneer super tuner tape deck from like 1984 in it. I wonder if it still works... It did.

I'd really like to add a cage to this build, but the interior is SO tiny. I don't have any plans of ever 'beating' on this truck, I also 'know me'. A cage would interfere with the roof console. Hmm.

There's a set of what I was told were the original white wheels on the bed, they've got some minor rust showing now, but still look good. There's a set of trim rings, but no centers that I see yet. Lots of leaves (and deer ticks) to dig through. Plus whatever parts fell on the ground as the boards rotted through. The red windshield frame lost that battle, and the glass broke when it did. The frame still looks nice though, and I sure do like to play with Lexan...

Oh, the 'spare' doors are the same blue as the firewall. Maybe the spares were the original doors, perhaps? The PO said he planned to make some half doors from them. They seem WAY too nice for that. We'll see what happens there.
 
Shark56 said:
So is a 40 series that has a 45 back cab grafted in?View attachment 4111077
View attachment 4111078
This is mine with a half top I picked up from Virginia several years ago.
This is a fiberglass body, (Malotte), with the half top. Lift hatch was welded and filled to the top.
Click to expand...
It is! They did mine with what the PO called the 'beer cooler door option'. Easy cooler access from the seat! haha.. From what I can tell so far, mine's all steel, besides the roof and front fenders. I added a pic of where the roof was cut down and re-mated together.

Edit: I think mine has the original rear of the 40 tub grafted on, and the lower rear doors were just replaced with a panel.

Mine has a ton of filler in the back panel under the hatch, but from what I see, it's all cosmetic. Just to smooth things out.

Do you happen to know the wheelbase of yours? I think mine's a bit longer, but the rear tires are still scary close to the cab corners.

I like the looks of yours. More fuel to get me going on this thing!
 
BackwoodsFJ said:
It is! They did mine with what the PO called the 'beer cooler door option'. Easy cooler access from the seat! haha.. From what I can tell so far, mine's all steel, besides the roof and front fenders. I added a pic of where the roof was cut down and re-mated together.

Edit: I think mine has the original rear of the 40 tub grafted on, and the lower rear doors were just replaced with a panel.

Mine has a ton of filler in the back panel under the hatch, but from what I see, it's all cosmetic. Just to smooth things out.

Do you happen to know the wheelbase of yours? I think mine's a bit longer, but the rear tires are still scary close to the cab corners.

I like the looks of yours. More fuel to get me going on this thing!
Click to expand...
Stock 40 frame length, I think they were about 90 inches hub to hub.
MIne has a shackle reversal so that has lengthened the wheel base a little. Never measured it.
 
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