Builds It was the Prospector's Idea (2 Viewers)

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Joined
Sep 11, 2017
Threads
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777
Location
Bozeman, MT
Been looking for a new project to start with my son, the Prospector. It was his idea. He said FJ40, first gen Scout, or Willys. (He likes all things old and probably would've been more happy born in a hundred years earlier). I was open to any of those, but preferred a 40 over the others and luckily we found one within our budget. This is our first 40. Not our first old car though. So hopefully we haven't jumped off the deep end. But we'll find out I guess. I wouldn't say this is a "Build" thread. But we figured we'd share what we have. We're excited to learn all about our new rig and go for a proper first drive.

It's a '71. We found it semi-locally in MT. F engine serial number matches the age of the VIN, so it appears it's original to the vehicle. It's been sitting a while but has been fairly maintained. Rust in common places. Oil everywhere else. Runs and drives, all lights work, 4 wheel drive appears to work. Idles crappy. I don't know much more about it. It appears we're missing some parts, but seems like there's plenty here to work with. We intend to keep original, but have no plans for a restoration. Just a cool rig to add to the pack and enjoy.

Here's some photos. It was an adventure getting it home. Loading it and towing in the dark over a snowy mountain pass. Makes for a good first start to our adventure.

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Nice find! Paint the bezel white, give it a tune up and drive it!
 
Nice find! Carb rebuild, plugs, valve adjustment and checking timing get many of them purring. Been there, done that! Welcome, we all love photo’s, keep em coming!
 
Nice! That'll be a fun project.
 
dang, i thought you said it had some rust, that's almost new. and straight panels, my goodness. excellent find. as an after thought, wasn't 71 the year that they transitioned to a dual brake system. if i have any suggestion it's to make sure yours has it. otherwise if any part of the brake system leaks or breaks you will have no brakes. Your son will become a pro at adjusting brakes, they worked great when adjusted although you might notice a slight decrease in braking power when we run through a crk. Darn that looks nice
 
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Nice looking FJ40 & better looking than many as a starting platform.

Good luck with the build.
 
Once you have some time to really look it over, and maybe even drive it a bit, you ought to make a list of all the projects you want to do to it and post that. Then we can nag at you for not getting them done fast enough...or, you know, post hints and things we figured out when doing similar stuff.

How did you find this one? I've got a friend who's about half serious about getting his own 40 this spring, so I've been keeping an eye on craigslist but haven't seen much.
 
Once you have some time to really look it over, and maybe even drive it a bit, you ought to make a list of all the projects you want to do to it and post that. Then we can nag at you for not getting them done fast enough...or, you know, post hints and things we figured out when doing similar stuff.

How did you find this one? I've got a friend who's about half serious about getting his own 40 this spring, so I've been keeping an eye on craigslist but haven't seen much.

We've got a list of basic things to check out: carb, compression, points, fluids, etc. But not much of a wish list just yet. The Prospector has an eye for detail and will definitely be a stickler for stock replacement parts. I won't be able to sneak in some ricaro seats, but maybe he'll bend for a radio. I didn't have much time to look at it before it got dark on me and I loaded it up on a trailer. So still finding little surprises here and there. Mostly good surprises. I'll be sure to post up so you can follow us as we stumble through this. :)

We found this one on Craigslist and jumped at it. (I may be obsessed with Craigslist. But just cars, not all that other junk on there). The owner said it was listed several months ago at a much higher price and didn't have much interest. This time it was listed, it fell in our price range. I'm sure like most folks looking, you get the best thing you can find in your price range. The biggest factor for us was that it was a running/driving rig. I like the romance of a time capsule barn find. But that wasn't necessarily what we wanted this time.
 
This is how you start a project,,
with complete vehicle. ,perfect.
I hope you paid project prices also. 😁.
It scares me when people post up pics of parts vehicles and junk trucks
With the dreams of fully restoring it. , these things aren’t cheap to fix up.
Great starting point.
 
Was that the one listed on the Missoula Craigslist?



Maybe it was a 69 I'm remembering.
Yep. Missoula CL. I don't recall that it came up when surfing Bozeman CL.
Did you call on it? Owner mentioned someone in Stevensville.
 
Yep. Missoula CL. I don't recall that it came up when surfing Bozeman CL.
Did you call on it? Owner mentioned someone in Stevensville.
No it wasn't me, I don't really figure that I need another 40 at the moment.


A troopy might be nice though!
 
No it wasn't me, I don't really figure that I need another 40 at the moment.


A troopy might be nice though!
Craigslist challenge accepted. :poof:
Listed in Highwood?


Looks like the same one my buddy texted me about last week.
The same.
Oddly enough, I've lived in MT for most of my life. Had never been to Highwood before. :meh:
 

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