Well my journey here was not what I would have expected. I probably never would have gotten near this world if not for some chance situations over the past 18 months.
TL
R I lucked into a great 1971 FJ40 and hope I get to see all of my plans come to fruition. It's a long road, and I'm here to learn and figure out what I can do with what I have.
Short of it - I have a deep passion for off road adventures and have been introducing my four boys to it over the past decade. I am also a techie and love all the advances that have been made since my first foray into this world with a 1990s era HMMWV (for those who know) in the military. My first civilian off road toy was a 2008 Tacoma TRD Sport. It was just a toy at the time, but boy did it make things easy. Flash forward a decade later and I upgrade to a 2018 Tacoma TRD Pro. I wish I still had that beast, but it was totaled when a teen in a Mustang rear ended me at 55 MPH. Transitioned into a 2017 4Runner Limited for a few years before I caught sight of the new Bronco and ended up with a 2023 Badlands that I intended to hand down to one of my sons. Sadly, with the addition of our fourth son, we had to trade it in on a bigger vehicle. All of those vehicles kept me from picking up older vehicles because I prefered and enjoyed the tech and advancements made through the decades. That, and why buy a $10,000ish vehicle that you're going to do about $10,000-$15,000 of work and upgrades on anyways, when you can just buy something newer that does it all out of the box and comes with a warranty to boot.
Which brings us to now. I was going to wait until all of my kids were out of car seats and then pick up another Bronco, but my in-laws (who I go off roading with a lot) kept sending me beater toys to pick up for sub $10K. All of them wranglers. While I can appreciate a good wrangler, they're not for me. I'm a picky person who, if I'm going to spend any time or effort in, wants to find the diamond in the rough so to speak.
Out of no where, one of my in-laws sends over a 1971 FJ40 Land Cruiser that appeared to be in excellent shape. The photos showed very little rust on the exterior, body was in great condition and it had been garaged for 15+ years by the previous owner. It had undergone an engine swap to a GM350 small block, driver and passenger seats swapped for captains chairs (not sure make or model) and included '75ish hardtop (needing a lot of TLC) and full doors (needing light TLC), OEM rear seats (also in need of TLC), a Besttop bench seat, misc. parts including TBI conversion kit and brand new steering damper. Odometer reads 72,283, but after closing on the deal the previous owner lets me know it hasn't worked the entire time he's had it. That did not bother me primarily due to what I intend to do long term. Asking price was $9,999.
I knew it would need a lot of work, but after a quick search, the asking price (as long as it was in good working order) was a steal and what I was saving on the upfront price I could put into the TLC to get it into a daily driver and reliable off road toy. Putting about 15 miles on it, I've identified all of the areas I believe need immediate attention. So, picked it up on Aug 30th and in the past month and a half I've accomplished the following:
Steering - Replaced gear box with remaned part, upgraded front tie rods and drag links with HD parts from SOR, installed Old Man Emu steering damper, new Pitman arm.
Clutch - On my 3rd trip for a quick joy ride, slave clutch cylinder gave out on me so I ended up replacing the entire clutch kit with a brand new one from CCOT (master and slave cylinders and lines).
Brakes - Doing a rebuild on the drums (again, kit from CCOT) plus the master sensors.
Fuel System - Some of the filters looked OEM and the rubber lines were in bad shape, so replaced the entire line from about 6 inches from the tank to the carb with Summit Racing steel braded AN-6 line, 3-stage filter system (100 micron pre-pump, 10 micron post pump, and 20 micron in the carb body). I'm going to leave the aftermarket Mr. Gasket pump and the QuadraJet carb in there for now.
Wheels and tires - Previous owner did not rotate or keep these in decent shape and I'm not sure if the wheels on there are OEM or not (can someone verify from below photots for me). Replaced with Vision Manx 2 Overland 355 6x5.5 and Kenda Klever AT2 33x125R15 tires.
The reason for the fuel system and brake work were due to things happening when driving around. After the engine would get warmed up, it would stall as if it was starving for gas. The pump and both external filters were located in the engine bay and pretty much on top of or next to the exhuast and headers. They've now been relocated to below the driver and passenger seats attached to the body (I'll get pictures of that uploaded later).
After replacing majority of the steering components and wheels/tires, the first drive ended up with some clunking in the driver sides rear drum. Further inspection showed some bad rubber brake lines and not knowing the last rebuild on them, just decided that was the safer route.
Baring any more major issues, I'm going to enjoy it for a bit into fall while I let the bank account recover a bit. Then in Nov/Dec time frame, going to do the following:
Off road uprgades:
Full Old Man Emu 2.5" lift replacement
Wiring Harness complete replacement (as of now, none of the internal nobs or levers work apart from the 4x system. Will have to do a lot of tracing to figure out what is what and what needs TLC and what needs replacement).
I want to add a few skid plates and rock sliders as where I go has some narly rock obsticles.
Repace front bumper with OEM winch capable with a WARN winch
Track down and locate OEM Spare tire holder
After that, we'll see. My goal is to enjoy for the next 3-5 years, save up and then start a full restoration project. I'd love to do a complete frame up restoration to near OEM or period correct parts (yes, including swapping back to either the 1F or 2F engine) and then take it to classic car shows and events. Until then though, just enjoy and tinker with everything and get it into an enjoyable crusier.
For those who have made it this far into my novella, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it. Any advice, tips, tricks, or just wanting to talk, pipe in. I enjoy feedback and am always open to learning what I can.
TL
R I lucked into a great 1971 FJ40 and hope I get to see all of my plans come to fruition. It's a long road, and I'm here to learn and figure out what I can do with what I have.Short of it - I have a deep passion for off road adventures and have been introducing my four boys to it over the past decade. I am also a techie and love all the advances that have been made since my first foray into this world with a 1990s era HMMWV (for those who know) in the military. My first civilian off road toy was a 2008 Tacoma TRD Sport. It was just a toy at the time, but boy did it make things easy. Flash forward a decade later and I upgrade to a 2018 Tacoma TRD Pro. I wish I still had that beast, but it was totaled when a teen in a Mustang rear ended me at 55 MPH. Transitioned into a 2017 4Runner Limited for a few years before I caught sight of the new Bronco and ended up with a 2023 Badlands that I intended to hand down to one of my sons. Sadly, with the addition of our fourth son, we had to trade it in on a bigger vehicle. All of those vehicles kept me from picking up older vehicles because I prefered and enjoyed the tech and advancements made through the decades. That, and why buy a $10,000ish vehicle that you're going to do about $10,000-$15,000 of work and upgrades on anyways, when you can just buy something newer that does it all out of the box and comes with a warranty to boot.
Which brings us to now. I was going to wait until all of my kids were out of car seats and then pick up another Bronco, but my in-laws (who I go off roading with a lot) kept sending me beater toys to pick up for sub $10K. All of them wranglers. While I can appreciate a good wrangler, they're not for me. I'm a picky person who, if I'm going to spend any time or effort in, wants to find the diamond in the rough so to speak.
Out of no where, one of my in-laws sends over a 1971 FJ40 Land Cruiser that appeared to be in excellent shape. The photos showed very little rust on the exterior, body was in great condition and it had been garaged for 15+ years by the previous owner. It had undergone an engine swap to a GM350 small block, driver and passenger seats swapped for captains chairs (not sure make or model) and included '75ish hardtop (needing a lot of TLC) and full doors (needing light TLC), OEM rear seats (also in need of TLC), a Besttop bench seat, misc. parts including TBI conversion kit and brand new steering damper. Odometer reads 72,283, but after closing on the deal the previous owner lets me know it hasn't worked the entire time he's had it. That did not bother me primarily due to what I intend to do long term. Asking price was $9,999.
I knew it would need a lot of work, but after a quick search, the asking price (as long as it was in good working order) was a steal and what I was saving on the upfront price I could put into the TLC to get it into a daily driver and reliable off road toy. Putting about 15 miles on it, I've identified all of the areas I believe need immediate attention. So, picked it up on Aug 30th and in the past month and a half I've accomplished the following:
Steering - Replaced gear box with remaned part, upgraded front tie rods and drag links with HD parts from SOR, installed Old Man Emu steering damper, new Pitman arm.
Clutch - On my 3rd trip for a quick joy ride, slave clutch cylinder gave out on me so I ended up replacing the entire clutch kit with a brand new one from CCOT (master and slave cylinders and lines).
Brakes - Doing a rebuild on the drums (again, kit from CCOT) plus the master sensors.
Fuel System - Some of the filters looked OEM and the rubber lines were in bad shape, so replaced the entire line from about 6 inches from the tank to the carb with Summit Racing steel braded AN-6 line, 3-stage filter system (100 micron pre-pump, 10 micron post pump, and 20 micron in the carb body). I'm going to leave the aftermarket Mr. Gasket pump and the QuadraJet carb in there for now.
Wheels and tires - Previous owner did not rotate or keep these in decent shape and I'm not sure if the wheels on there are OEM or not (can someone verify from below photots for me). Replaced with Vision Manx 2 Overland 355 6x5.5 and Kenda Klever AT2 33x125R15 tires.
The reason for the fuel system and brake work were due to things happening when driving around. After the engine would get warmed up, it would stall as if it was starving for gas. The pump and both external filters were located in the engine bay and pretty much on top of or next to the exhuast and headers. They've now been relocated to below the driver and passenger seats attached to the body (I'll get pictures of that uploaded later).
After replacing majority of the steering components and wheels/tires, the first drive ended up with some clunking in the driver sides rear drum. Further inspection showed some bad rubber brake lines and not knowing the last rebuild on them, just decided that was the safer route.
Baring any more major issues, I'm going to enjoy it for a bit into fall while I let the bank account recover a bit. Then in Nov/Dec time frame, going to do the following:
Off road uprgades:
Full Old Man Emu 2.5" lift replacement
Wiring Harness complete replacement (as of now, none of the internal nobs or levers work apart from the 4x system. Will have to do a lot of tracing to figure out what is what and what needs TLC and what needs replacement).
I want to add a few skid plates and rock sliders as where I go has some narly rock obsticles.
Repace front bumper with OEM winch capable with a WARN winch
Track down and locate OEM Spare tire holder
After that, we'll see. My goal is to enjoy for the next 3-5 years, save up and then start a full restoration project. I'd love to do a complete frame up restoration to near OEM or period correct parts (yes, including swapping back to either the 1F or 2F engine) and then take it to classic car shows and events. Until then though, just enjoy and tinker with everything and get it into an enjoyable crusier.
For those who have made it this far into my novella, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it. Any advice, tips, tricks, or just wanting to talk, pipe in. I enjoy feedback and am always open to learning what I can.
