Builds Mississippi Delta Beast - 1974 FJ-40 Rescue and Rehabilitation (1 Viewer)

[wngrog]

A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me about a guy at a gun store that has a couple of FJ40 doors in the back corner. He asked about them and the guy said he had a Land Cruiser than he bought in 2004 and was looking to sell it.

I rode over one day after work......he was about 40 miles from my house and on my work route, and talked to the guy.....

He's no Cruiser guy. Bought it because it looked good. Told me he was big into military stuff and had a Willy's Jeep and a Toyota Jeep. Both painted desert tan. Not a good paint job according to him (and according to the fairly rust free doors that had the gaskets painted over) in his shop.

I asked if I could go look at it and he gave me directions to his house and I took off.

Diamond plate. God I hate it. I almost walked away but then I looked a bit closer.........

Hmmmm.....still has the Aisin carburetor. That's a good sign.

Would it be a non-Cruiser guy's truck if the bezel was correct?

80,000? 180,000? 280,000? All wear points tell me the former..........

Pretty complete and unmolested........OEM white peeking out.

The rust is not alarming. Other than the surface rust and what I can tell from looking in the wheel wells, I think its pretty solid.

I'm in. I ask about the hard top. It's still around but at another house so I pay the man what he is asking and tell him I will see him in 2 weeks with the money if he installs the top and gets it running.

He agrees, i give him a sizable deposit and leave.

 

[wngrog]

Fast forward 2 weeks and as he promised I was able to drive the FJ-40 on to my trailer and bring it home 40 miles to the east of where this thing has lived, more or less, since 1974. He bought it from the original owner who used it on his hunting property.

UZJ100 tow vehicle. Works great for short hauls.

Unloaded and ready for a bath and inspection

Anyone that has rescued and rehabbed as many Land Cruisers as I have.....this is the best part. Uncovering the contents of the glove box. 3 Trojans. I am assuming the PO got through 3 of a sixer. Good on him.

A closer look at the motor......not terrible. Some unknown electronic ignition and a electric fuel pump were added.

A good pressure wash uncovered a bit of the OEM white but no surprises.

Jump seats are MIA but the OEM seats looked and felt real nice. Sadly there is one tear in the drivers seat or they would be good to go

More OEM white.......this floor looks good.

Mid-Morning Day one.......clean. No surprises. It runs and idles great but any load you put on it it bogs down unless you floor it.

Bad gas. Old carb. Still a solid 1.5F with no leaks. Exhaust is quiet. No leaks. I'm happy.

I pop the top off and take it for a spin.

 

[wngrog]

I have a full stable at the time, so I bought this truck to save it from a slow demise of non-use and get it back on the road/trail.

I tossed it out to a couple of my friends that I had it and it was available as-is and immediately got a couple of potential buyers.

Currently I need to finish a FJ-55 project and my FJ60 needs a motor so the tiny profit I had built into the flip is going right into the Cruiser fund.

So, by the end of the day I have a buyer and he is a Cruiser guy. That's a big bonus.

Problem is, he is an exec with a big business deal in the works and small kids and wants the truck but needs it ready to go at his Mississippi Delta duck farm by fall. Hence the name.

I fix the bezel first.....

Peek under the diamond plate and sho nuff....that was just added for "looks"

Ole girl looks nice.

 

[MScruiser]

Nice find. I think I've got a set of jump seats too...def need reupholstering though...

 

[JackA]

Sweet. The whole experience of buying old Cruisers is so fun. Just to put them back into service.

 

[cbmontgo]

Peek under the diamond plate and sho nuff....that was just added for "looks"
Ole girl looks nice.

Badass. One of the few.

Solid 40.

 

[wngrog]

So before we even talked he had named the truck the Mississippi Delta Beast. He's a big duck hunter and has all the usual duck hunting vehicles on his farm in Greenwood Mississippi but he flies in from Atlanta and rents a car to get to the property. He is looking for a good reliable truck for the farm and to run to town in and not look like a clown in a rental car.

So after we spoke in person he asked me if I would be willing to do the work on his 40 to get it reliable and ready for season. I agreed and I made a nice plan.

I made up a list of things this thing needed and some things I wanted it to have. Brian, the new owner said he was happy to put a little cash into it to make it right as well as the necessities to make it reliable.

First thing first, is to tear out the interior so I can get to the fuel tank. From below I can see holes in the floor so I know the tank needs to come out at a minimum.

Years of sitting with the top off and crap getting under the tank and this is what happens.

Nasty. Actually, nasty as fxxx. I took one look at the tank and added a new OEM one to my already massive order with @beno

I truly believe the only way to get these things running right is to start over with new parts after they sit up for years with bad gas.

After discussing my thoughts on this truck with the owner, I decided to do some small metal patches and use filler like I did on Project Patina. It has held up really well and I know how to do it.

My friends hate on me for the rivets but it works. Also, if the owner ever decides to have new metal welded in there is no lost work.

Trapped mud is what kills these things (and the stupid glue Mr Toyota used) on the floors. I use a minimal expanding auto grade foam to fill in all the gaps caused by rot and to keep mud from getting trapped in there. My 2016 4Runner has in in a lot of cavities and I think it is the poo.

Drivers side had a bunch of pinholes. I moved one patch from the top that the PO made to the bottom and used some liquid metal to fill in the gaps.

The black color of all the rust is due to a liberal treatment with some really great Rust Converter I use. I am 5 cans into it so far......

Rust Converter Aerosol

 

[wngrog]

This morning I finalized the prep on the floors. I scuffed and sanded and wiped it down with acetone and water. Let it dry and then my buddy Louis @under_psi brought up a couple of gallons of bedliner, a $27 Harbor Freight spray gun and some masking tape and we went to town on this bitch.

I had never used a spray gun with bedliner but Lou was an old pro. The only bad deal was that my air compressor does not have a regulator so we were pumping out bedliner at 100PSI and not 40 PSI so we had a lot of cleanup to deal with.

 

[wngrog]

 

[under_psi]

Still sprayed on nicely. The Beast looks better in person too.

 

[wngrog]

I took a break for lunch and Lou headed back home. I went back out and worked it over with a couple of cans of black spray paint. I had covered all the metal with the rust stuff and it was time for paint on the roll bars, frame, springs and bumpers.

Some of the first parts to arrive were body to hard top gaskets from @Racer65, hood bumps and a overflow bottle. As luck would have it, I had a rough but able holder for the overflow bottle and a cap.

 

[wngrog]

The motor on this truck is leak free and the hood area is amazingly unmolested. I pulled the battery out and got my first surprise. For some reason someone at some time put a huge ass 3/16 plate on the OEM battery holder and then put the OEM holder onto the tray. Of course the bolts were rusted tight and stripped so I had to cut it out of there.

Out with the old....I will replace it with this holder after I clean up the fender area and yank the electric fuel pump out and replace the mechanical pump with an OEM one from @beno

This truck has a electronic ignition and distributor on it. Not sure the brand but it stays.

I have to patch that fender hole. I could not see it when the battery was in there. No big deal.

Anyone know the brand of this distributor?

The last thing on the list for the day was removing the old ass old air assist shocks and replacing them with some OEM style shocks. I had these on the shelf for my Pig but went ahead and slapped them on this here 40......

That's the day. I have about 19 hours into it at this point. Its a good start. I will let the boxes collect this week. Hopefully I will have some updates as parts arrive and I get to spend a little more time with it.

 

[wct49]

solid work. good stuff.

 

[OGBeno]

Tilda Bogue Cruisers is now a reality.

 

[JackA]

Fun stuff

 

[pmccraney]

Excellent.

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

I had never used a spray gun with bedliner but Lou was an old pro. The only bad deal was that my air compressor does not have a regulator so we were pumping out bedliner at 100PSI and not 40 PSI so we had a lot of cleanup to deal with.

I hope that stuff didn't splatter all over the person spraying!!

 

[wngrog]

I hope that stuff didn't splatter all over the person spraying!!

I'm still picking it off me.

 

[wngrog]

I got a little time on the 40 today after work. Sadly, only one box of goodies arrived in the mail. @Cruiser Corps got me the corner badges and gaskets. I spent more time digging around for the tiny 6mm nuts since they never come with any. I really, really need to buy a bag of them

Since I have tons of parts on order to rehab the engine bay, I decided to go ahead and pull all the hoses and the one belt. The PO has a tiny thin belt on that barely worked. I dug around in my stash and found the right one (used) and made sure @beno is sending me the correct one.

I got the electric fuel pump out and then the old manual pump. I have a new Manual pump, OEM toyota oil filter and PCV and bushing ordered. As you can see by the coloring on all the metal, the rust protection has set up nicely. I also patched the fender.

I drained the radiator and flushed it. I think it is good. I am trying not to have to buy one. I never really got the truck hot so I can't tell if it has any pinholes but I got the water and crap out of it. It is truly amazing to me that people run straight water in their trucks. It freezes here. Stupid.

 

[wngrog]

As you can see on the thermostat housing, they have done some nasty home-brew on the bolts holding them together. The one that is still in the housing feels like it is going to snap. Of course it is the one that does not pass through. I went to my F engine I pulled out of Project Patina and sure enough, that one is good so I pulled it and will clean it up good and put it on this truck and kill the booty fab. Thermostat, O Ring and hoses on the way via @beno

The overstay on the radiator and the non-black mesh, OYOTA emblem......and especially the chrome bezel were killing me so I cracked open the bib and went to work with rust converter and paint

Correct to color bezel......

Rust Converter applied. Radiator painted. Waiting on my new TOYOTA emblem from the Turk and will put it all back