I bought an FJ25 and I love it.....

[c2dfj45]

Not sure I really needed a 25 in my life but then again, how do I know I don't NEED a 25 in my life?

This truck has been around.....@Foxfab was its caretaker but now 'Odie' has a new home in sunny FL.

Delivered today.....got to crawl around it and drive it. Seems like an old friend as I poured over the pics of it since I bought it.....it was a long 2 weeks and I studied all the pics I could find. I wanted Odie to have an enclosed transport down to FL so we had to wait a little bit.....

So what's the plan with Odie? Not sure just yet. It's a great truck....seems very original and has a lot of the things that make 25s so cool. The last thing I wanted was a project where I was chasing unobtanium.....there are a few things I will search for.....(who has a bench rear seat collecting dust in their parts stash for me?)

Off the truck and in the driveway for a couple 'new born' pics.

@foxfab had some cool spare parts(and some stock ones) that were stashed inside......we unloaded those and removed the back window. BEAUTIFUL top on this thing. Going to do some cleaning on it with my detailer to get it looking good. Probably will seal it with some ceramic coating for material to help keep it clean.

Went for a drive.....really cool. @foxfab gave me some driving tips with the 4 speed(start in 2nd)....experienced a bit of, 'if you can't find them, grind them'......need to work on retraining my brain how to drive really old stuff. Forgot how much manual brakes suck. Shocked with how nice the truck drive. Runs great....smooth and it actually moved down the road pretty well. With all the cool noises and things going on, it's more a piece of equipment than a truck.

The stash of stock parts......and some aftermarket(truck has a lift on it....OEM springs were included too. Wish there was a rear bench seat in this pic

 

[c2dfj45]

I knew I had crossed paths with @fabfox before.....I seemed to remember buying something from him. As we started chatting about the FJ25, we were talking about the badges that he reproduced for it. Then it dawned on me.... I had bought a FJ45LV badge from him for my LV. It's so nice I never installed it. It sits in my office.....I stare at it daily which is weird.

Cool badge.....

Cooler badge.....

I love Tupperware containers in glove boxes of 40s......always good stuff in them.

Not so much in this one......and unfortunately one of the pieces isn't it where it should be....

Like right here....

I've seen where some of these had a switch on the dash for turn signals.....this unit was factory? I see it's a Toyota part....

 

[c2dfj45]

Hopefully this brings me some good luck........might need it at some point.

This may be the coolest heater I've seen.....Denso unit. And it works. Amazing. @foxfab says he's seen 3 of these(including the restored one on ebay). Amazing to me that it's still with the truck. Also....look at those floor boards....so clean.

Popped the rear side curtain off the top. Way cool.

 

[c2dfj45]

Would like to have a few words with the person or persons that did this......@foxfab had a chunk of dash that we can use for a patch. This will be one of the first things we fix. Interesting to note.....there are no speakers. Weird.

SO COOL that one of these is in my collection now....not original but that's cool....this one is nice.

Vintage go-pro mount....hope I can find a matching one for the passenger side

Kind of a bummer to have a hole drilled thru the VIN....LOTS of holes on this old truck.

 

[c2dfj45]

Front crossmember made me pause for a second....haven't seen one like this(haven't really seen too many 25s to be honest)....

Fuel leak on the seam.....will pull the tank, have it cleaned and sealed. There's a loose baffle in it too....really annoying rattle from it. Hoping the sealant they use for the tank will help hold that in place. Looks like there is some kind of rivet or something on the top of the tank that maybe holds the baffle? Not sure. Need to dig in deeper....I was full ADD looking at all the neat stuff on this truck.

One year at SEMA the 1958 truck was there....I think TLC owned it then. This had to have been 04 or 05 maybe. I think it was for Toyota introducing the FJ Cruiser. There were a pile of cool Land Cruisers there.....saw the Mega Cruiser there for the first time. I probably didn't leave the Toyota display for 4 hours. Ha.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Actually more of a survivor.....one of the few that was running, driving and mostly unmolested when picked up (buggery done by a previous owner). Back in the day when I thought every one had to be saved, all it really needed was to be driven. This rig likes to run, take it out and have fun.

Holy cow time flies, Mike at the 2005 Coal Miner:

 

[c2dfj45]

Actually more of a survivor.....one of the few that was running, driving and mostly unmolested when picked up (buggery done by a previous owner). Back in the day when I thought every one had to be saved, all it really needed was to be driven. This rig likes to run, take it out and have fun.

Holy cow time flies, Mike at the 2005 Coal Miner: View attachment 2752181
View attachment 2752183

Cool pics for sure. Mike was telling me that you guys think this truck was from the NE originally possibly......maybe due to the heater? He had mentioned something about the mines in PA needing them. Something also about a father and son restoration being done on it before you had it.

It's a cool old truck for sure....I was showing it off to one of my buddy's who has a shop near mine....Mike had told me about the lug nuts being different on the spare vs. the wheels. We were both in amazement that the truck still had it's original lugs after all this time.

I'm sure this truck has an interesting story to tell

 

[xtremeVA]

Congrats...great looking 25 and it's found a great new home.

(agree on the radio...yikes...at least it looks like a dash rib wasn't cut to install that ugly thing)

 

[c2dfj45]

Congrats...great looking 25 and it's found a great new home.

(agree on the radio...yikes...at least it looks like a dash rib wasn't cut to install that ugly thing)

I really want to build a back bench for it and was thinking about how you made your ribs for your replacement panels.....might do the same.

The ribs in the dash were unharmed so that's good.....and there was a new piece of dash included with the ribs....so it won't be that bad to replace. It needs to go soon......I can't stand looking at it. Ha.

Hope your project is coming along!

 

[middlecalf]

Such a cool rig! Other than the usual maintenance things, only thing I might do right away is put the original (? looks like a 25) bumper back on.

 

[c2dfj45]

Such a cool rig! Other than the usual maintenance things, only thing I might do right away is put the original (? looks like a 25) bumper back on.

One of the reproduction bumpers came with it....so that will go on at some point. Even have the original bumper brackets.

As much as I don't want to, I think I may do an adapter to put on a small brake booster so I can run power brakes....If I want to use this thing, I want brakes. Florida is a HORRIBLE place to drive without good brakes. I saw an Aussie guy that had a cool bracket to get the booster off the rib. I haven't had manual brakes on a car for a LONG time....we always build in power systems to our trucks. Fully reversible so no feelings will be hurt. We'll see.

 

[c2dfj45]

I think this might be my favorite thing on this old truck....so cool that it's still there. Amazing.

Was sticking a little....fixed it with the vice. Works perfect now.

 

[Razr23]

Let me know about that brake job. I'm working on my brakes lol. As for the radio, the original was mounted underneath the radio on a plate. I'll see if I can get a better picture of where the speaker was.

 

[c2dfj45]

Let me know about that brake job. I'm working on my brakes lol. As for the radio, the original was mounted underneath the radio on a plate. I'll see if I can get a better picture of where the speaker was.

View attachment 2756615

Mine is only a few hours with a mig welder away from not having a radio in it

 

[kunzma]

I never considered an FJ25 until I saw this one for sale. It has that "it" factor. Enjoy. I am envious.

 

[c2dfj45]

I never really thought about a 25 until that auction listing crossed my path. I'm pretty sure I had never heard of that auction site it was on.

Here the old dude is enjoying life in the air conditioned shop.....getting a feel for its new home I like sitting in it when I should be working.....

 

[c2dfj45]

Guess there's no warranty on the paint

I think it looks even more beautiful now after some quick work with a power washer....I counted 4 colors on this rig. Green, grey, red and dark blue. The blue is really weird and only around the rear of the door openings and on the steps. May do some light sanding to see if I can uncover the layers and mystery.

 

[Razr23]

I'm going to drill two more mounting holes on the passenger side for one more mirror.
I'll never find a rear view mirror lol so I think I'm just going to modernize that part.

 

[cruisermatt]

Drooling.. drive it up to Orlando for the grand opening party in October?

 

[Razr23]

I see your hood goes to the right a bit too