MAR FJ40
SILVER Star
Five years into my resto, I've finally decided to start a thread so I can quit spamming the "What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week?" thread. 
MARFJ40 is a April '76 U.S. spec FJ40. Mar is what my dad goes by now. His name is Lamar, but my niece, first grandchild started calling him Mar and it stuck.
I'll start with a little background on its history (sorry in advance for all the lengthy story but its relevant to me) - I'll post up plenty of pics (i have >1,200 of them. ha)....
I'll never forget the day I got off the school bus in '77 ( I was in kindergarten) and there was this really cool "jeep" at the end of the road where my Mom or Dad would pick me up to take me the rest of the way home. To my surprise they both got out of it. My mom said I asked her "is this is ours?". When she said yes, I started jumping up and down. We have a cool "jeep"! Woo-hoo. Haha it was later in life that i realized that it was/is actually not a jeep at all, but in fact the seemingly indestructible, reliable iconic FJ40 4x4 that most all of the folks reading this thread will know and understand.
My dad drove the Forty daily until sometime around my senior year in HS when he decided it was time to get a new truck. I learned to drive in the Forty, well sort of. My dad had a tractor and I probably "learned" more driving it than the 40 with a "tractor" motor. I could sit in his lap on the tractor so understanding how to use a clutch and run through gears was mastered there. In any event it was the first road vehicle I ever drove. For many years after I graduated and moved to Knoxville for college (go Vols!), the Forty would only see days driving out to my grandmother's farm to work on the land, for a hunt and the occasional errands my Dad would run.
I bet I heard my mom say to my dad "get rid of that old jeep, it's just taking up space in the driveway" about 20 times over the years. When I heard it I always said, don't ever get rid of it, one day I'll have the means to "fix it up". Well sometime in the mid 90's I came home on school break and the Forty wasn't in the driveway. To my surprise, my dad had given it to my older sister and bro in law. Thank goodness it was still in the family! I told them if they ever decided to get rid of it to let me know first.
My bro n law changed a few things over the years; New wheels, rancho shocks, 2" lift and a hell for stout bumper. Most everything else remained OEM. I think I left out my dad replaced the OEM carb with a weber somewhere along the line. The trusty Forty remained reliable through those years. I am glad my niece and two nephews got to grow up with their grandad's Forty around.
Sometime around late 2019 I let them know I'd like to buy it from them and restore it. At that time, it was mainly just sitting in their driveway. They told me I could just have it, but I gave them some money for it. The way I figured it, they had put money into it so they shouldn't have to give it away. They did cut me the deal of the century.
Sometime right before the COVID fiasco really hit around March of 2020, I drove to TN (I'm in TX) and picked her up.
As she sat:
After a nice pressure washing, she was ready to head to TX - What's up with the upside down bezel?
She has arrived in TX!
As she sits today:
I plan to document the rest as I go with a lot more pics. I drove her "as is" thru the summer of 2020 and took her down to the frame in Oct of 2020. This forum and the vendors we all trust and know have been invaluable to me. Rarely does a day go by that I don't head to this section of mud and learn something new or see something that puts a smile on my face.
I need to head back out to the shop because she is calling me. My ultimate goal is to get her done, back on a trailer to TN and get my dad behind the wheel of his new old FJ40 while he still can. All for now...
Regards...Brian
MARFJ40 is a April '76 U.S. spec FJ40. Mar is what my dad goes by now. His name is Lamar, but my niece, first grandchild started calling him Mar and it stuck.
I'll start with a little background on its history (sorry in advance for all the lengthy story but its relevant to me) - I'll post up plenty of pics (i have >1,200 of them. ha)....
I'll never forget the day I got off the school bus in '77 ( I was in kindergarten) and there was this really cool "jeep" at the end of the road where my Mom or Dad would pick me up to take me the rest of the way home. To my surprise they both got out of it. My mom said I asked her "is this is ours?". When she said yes, I started jumping up and down. We have a cool "jeep"! Woo-hoo. Haha it was later in life that i realized that it was/is actually not a jeep at all, but in fact the seemingly indestructible, reliable iconic FJ40 4x4 that most all of the folks reading this thread will know and understand.
My dad drove the Forty daily until sometime around my senior year in HS when he decided it was time to get a new truck. I learned to drive in the Forty, well sort of. My dad had a tractor and I probably "learned" more driving it than the 40 with a "tractor" motor. I could sit in his lap on the tractor so understanding how to use a clutch and run through gears was mastered there. In any event it was the first road vehicle I ever drove. For many years after I graduated and moved to Knoxville for college (go Vols!), the Forty would only see days driving out to my grandmother's farm to work on the land, for a hunt and the occasional errands my Dad would run.
I bet I heard my mom say to my dad "get rid of that old jeep, it's just taking up space in the driveway" about 20 times over the years. When I heard it I always said, don't ever get rid of it, one day I'll have the means to "fix it up". Well sometime in the mid 90's I came home on school break and the Forty wasn't in the driveway. To my surprise, my dad had given it to my older sister and bro in law. Thank goodness it was still in the family! I told them if they ever decided to get rid of it to let me know first.
My bro n law changed a few things over the years; New wheels, rancho shocks, 2" lift and a hell for stout bumper. Most everything else remained OEM. I think I left out my dad replaced the OEM carb with a weber somewhere along the line. The trusty Forty remained reliable through those years. I am glad my niece and two nephews got to grow up with their grandad's Forty around.
Sometime around late 2019 I let them know I'd like to buy it from them and restore it. At that time, it was mainly just sitting in their driveway. They told me I could just have it, but I gave them some money for it. The way I figured it, they had put money into it so they shouldn't have to give it away. They did cut me the deal of the century
.Sometime right before the COVID fiasco really hit around March of 2020, I drove to TN (I'm in TX) and picked her up.
As she sat:
After a nice pressure washing, she was ready to head to TX - What's up with the upside down bezel?
She has arrived in TX!
As she sits today:
I plan to document the rest as I go with a lot more pics. I drove her "as is" thru the summer of 2020 and took her down to the frame in Oct of 2020. This forum and the vendors we all trust and know have been invaluable to me. Rarely does a day go by that I don't head to this section of mud and learn something new or see something that puts a smile on my face.
I need to head back out to the shop because she is calling me. My ultimate goal is to get her done, back on a trailer to TN and get my dad behind the wheel of his new old FJ40 while he still can. All for now...
Regards...Brian
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