'Little Sister' 1961 FJ40 FST (1 Viewer)

[west aussie]

you know the song.

"...little sister dont you do what your big sister done..."

1 FJ40 10127. 2 chassis numbers younger than project rusty. arrived today. basketcase... but oh so nice!

 

[treerootCO]

Very cool! Subscribed...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/who-has-the-oldest-earliest-fj40-faq.68576/page-5

 

[hdjtachtig]

Amazing!

 

[west aussie]

my favourite bit so far. believe these to be the screws for the tyre pressure plate; rusty has them also but for the sticker to be here it seems the plates were never fitted

 

[andrews520]

You might own the two oldest 40s in AU... Great find.
Will it run?

 

[west aussie]

not yet! (original block tho)

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

I find it interesting that the original bits seem to remain with/near the vehicle no matter how forlorn they are. Is it that they were taken down at some point to be fixed and just haven't made it to the short list in the last thirty years or so?

 

[fhawk5]

WOW !!!!!! BEEEEAUTIFUL >>>>>

 

[pardion]

Nice, parted out an early 40 years ago and it had a 4-speed tranny with a 1-speed transfercase, looks like a later model 3-speed and t/c came with the deal.

 

[cult45]

Love the roof west! Keeps that scorching WA sun from stripping the skin off ya, 20 layers at a time.

 

[catskinner]

Cripes westaussie, wonder what year she made that cross country voyage?

Most importanly is the colum shift assembly still there and in working order

 

[cult45]

Yes! Is the column shift assy. in place??

 

[Indestructible 47]

Well, at least such a nice find goes to you west aussie, I bet many people are very jealous.
be following this one.

 

[west aussie]

thanks everyone. and i will get to those few questions in a bit.

i guess every landcruiser has a story so here goes!

early last year whilst trawling through the rural press clearing sales i tripped over an fj25 coming up at a clearing sale a mere 1500 miles or so from me. in south aus on the eyre peninsula. couldnt believe my eyes, did some sleuthing, tracked down the vendor and gave him a call. he was more than helpful, sent me photos and numbers as requested. i offered him $1500 sight unseen but he declared he was letting the auction take its path and fair enough. i confided in aussie25 and told him to go down and buy it. he was at least as far away as me tho from another angle. at the very last minute i grabbed 2 good mates, enough emu bitter to see us through, cartrailer, slim dusty cds and away we charged....to buy this:

 

[west aussie]

sorry about that im a technospaz.

i took $2500 of rare as purchase money hoping like hell to only spend the $500 part. this wasnt well advertised. there were 4 bidders including myself and i was spectacularly outbid. went for the best part of 5k. fair money i reckon; unmolested original paint rates very high in my book. we swallowed our pride and bought some crab nets at the auction for $6; no point wasting the journey.

this 25 was pretty good; a lot rustier on the other side. standard front crossmember issue. that cab is not a b&d original; vendor told us he had that made in a panel shop from an old truck cab. it is very well done and suits the b&d doors well. came with wrong carb, loose mc in the cab and orig starter motor in bits in a bucket. had a large chunky trafficator unit ive not seen before and interestingly 2 bucket seats not the standard 1 bench 1 bucket.

we made a point of meeting the new owner (proud as he was too!) and helped him load it. we poked and prodded the old 25, compared notes, swapped numbers. he a top bloke. and i have his permission to post this and a current resto pic in the count thread; i will do that shortly.

and so we trundled the 1500 mile home via streaky bay races and smokey bay wreckers (both of which i reccommend) and tried the crab nets without success. met a lovely girl on the way home....

 

[west aussie]

kept in touch with the new owner. not long after project rusty turned up he tells me he bought a 61 from a wrecking yard for parts. im interested. tells me the chassis number and im very interested. he wanted the carby, starter, flywheel, and a few other bits and told me i could have the rest. i sent him the last rust pitted fj25 crownwheel in existence in australia and a single solitary 23mm wheel nut. deal done. did i mention he a top bloke?

then it took me over 6 months (and help from a couple of friends) for an interstate truck crew (that owed me a favour) to get this on a free backload to my parts. was worth the wait though! up till then i had only seen a crappy old pic on my tappatalk phone. was so much better than he led me to believe! and so it arrived a couple days ago:

 

[cult45]

Nice yarn young fella, and shame about the 25! She's a proper SWB ute that one.

 

[nuclearlemon]

View attachment 1046787

fixed

awesome yarn

 

[Aussie 25]

That is a great looking25, good to see it has gone to a good home.
The new 40 looks good. May be the oldest one , it will look good sitting next to its mate.

 

[Archie 1962 FJ25]

Again a great thread slipped through my radar. congratulations Henry.