Ive been commenting and asked a couple questions since I picked up a 11/69 FJ40 last month, lurking even longer than that as I looked for one. I live in CT and have been a 40 fan since I was a kid when my great-uncle had one. He plowed with it and let it rot, but I still thought it was awesome. Life long Toyota fan, I grew up in a mostly brand loyal family, owning pickups, two Ravs, old and new 4Runners, a Sequoia, celica, a brown minivan that wouldnt die and my mother still has a mint TRD MR2.
I went to school for Mechanical Engineering. I actually did an internship at Toyota Motor Sales in Torrance CA back in 2007 which was a great experience. I worked in the Quality Engineering Department for Corporate Accessories and it was unbelievably insightful. That is when Toyota just overtook GM in sales. Now I design Rail Service and specialty handling equipment for a company in a very niche market... Think automotive lifts or engine hoists, but for trains, and turntables. I spend most of my time in Solidworks which I explain to people is like building with legos in 3D. Our manufacturing is on site so I have access to some fun toys like a waterjet.
Through college I had a 96 Tacoma which I lifted to fit bigger wheels and tires and did a few other small things to like bumpers. The truck was bomb proof and I regret selling it, but I had money in my pocket and the taco went towards a comfortable daily driver. I spent a lot of time on pirate and TTORA when I was driving that, drooling over long travel kits I couldn't afford. Then I had a '73 blazer for a few years with a ridiculous built 454, too much motor for a truck that was basically a land boat. Sold it to get liquid when I bought my house and got all my money back... three years of free fun!
Fast forward to the present, I found a running and driving 11/69 FJ40 in MA for about the money I was looking to spend. It has some issues but it runs and drives so I can enjoy it while I work on it. F motor with 3 on the tree. No power steering. PO lifted it, put axles out of a later 40 with front discs under there and some bigger tires on toyota wheels. It is all there, but the body needs work. Floors, rockers and the corners are all covered over.
My plan: Drive it for a while and see what I do and dont want to do.
I plan to do small things until winter (either this winter or next) when I can take it apart. My father is building a big 3 car garage at his house and I will have access to the lift when its done.
-Needs upholstery. Im leaning towards doing an SOR kit myself with new foam. Did the same thing on my Blazer and it came out great
-Fixing gauges, wiring issues, figuring out what has and hasn't been done. Speedo isnt working, temp gauge is pinned right, etc
-Just put a cast 2F valve cover on there to replace the leaky steel one.
-Replacing rusty HW as I go.
-Going to remove that silly roof rack and repair the roof.
-Cleaning and painting misc parts.
Bigger projects Im leaning towards:
-After pricing out the repair panels and looking at time involved, I think I'm going to just order and aluminum tub. I know I will end up chasing rust and in the North East it would nice never to have to worry about it again. It would also be a big step in turning body work around in one off season rather than getting into a multi year project (Ive been reading build threads haha).
-I'm also going to make a rear bumper/spare tire carrier. The factory carrier rotted out the corner pretty bad which is now covered with diamond plate. Whatever I do, I want to keep round tail lights rather than the rectangular ones of the later models.
Beyond that, getting the motor running nice. The 3 on the tree is growing on me. No need to change, its not a DD.
So thats me. Thank you everyone for the help so far, this seems like a great community!
I went to school for Mechanical Engineering. I actually did an internship at Toyota Motor Sales in Torrance CA back in 2007 which was a great experience. I worked in the Quality Engineering Department for Corporate Accessories and it was unbelievably insightful. That is when Toyota just overtook GM in sales. Now I design Rail Service and specialty handling equipment for a company in a very niche market... Think automotive lifts or engine hoists, but for trains, and turntables. I spend most of my time in Solidworks which I explain to people is like building with legos in 3D. Our manufacturing is on site so I have access to some fun toys like a waterjet.
Through college I had a 96 Tacoma which I lifted to fit bigger wheels and tires and did a few other small things to like bumpers. The truck was bomb proof and I regret selling it, but I had money in my pocket and the taco went towards a comfortable daily driver. I spent a lot of time on pirate and TTORA when I was driving that, drooling over long travel kits I couldn't afford. Then I had a '73 blazer for a few years with a ridiculous built 454, too much motor for a truck that was basically a land boat. Sold it to get liquid when I bought my house and got all my money back... three years of free fun!
Fast forward to the present, I found a running and driving 11/69 FJ40 in MA for about the money I was looking to spend. It has some issues but it runs and drives so I can enjoy it while I work on it. F motor with 3 on the tree. No power steering. PO lifted it, put axles out of a later 40 with front discs under there and some bigger tires on toyota wheels. It is all there, but the body needs work. Floors, rockers and the corners are all covered over.
My plan: Drive it for a while and see what I do and dont want to do.
I plan to do small things until winter (either this winter or next) when I can take it apart. My father is building a big 3 car garage at his house and I will have access to the lift when its done.
-Needs upholstery. Im leaning towards doing an SOR kit myself with new foam. Did the same thing on my Blazer and it came out great
-Fixing gauges, wiring issues, figuring out what has and hasn't been done. Speedo isnt working, temp gauge is pinned right, etc
-Just put a cast 2F valve cover on there to replace the leaky steel one.
-Replacing rusty HW as I go.
-Going to remove that silly roof rack and repair the roof.
-Cleaning and painting misc parts.
Bigger projects Im leaning towards:
-After pricing out the repair panels and looking at time involved, I think I'm going to just order and aluminum tub. I know I will end up chasing rust and in the North East it would nice never to have to worry about it again. It would also be a big step in turning body work around in one off season rather than getting into a multi year project (Ive been reading build threads haha).
-I'm also going to make a rear bumper/spare tire carrier. The factory carrier rotted out the corner pretty bad which is now covered with diamond plate. Whatever I do, I want to keep round tail lights rather than the rectangular ones of the later models.
Beyond that, getting the motor running nice. The 3 on the tree is growing on me. No need to change, its not a DD.
So thats me. Thank you everyone for the help so far, this seems like a great community!
