Montina and The Blue Plate Special

[sogafarm]

Montina (Montana patina) is my new 1975 FJ40 bought from a fellow mudder from Montana. Shipped her to Georgia last weekend. She’s all original with the usual rust spots along the rear sill and and rear body. One of the previous owners addressed with some filler and primer which is fine for a start. Engine is the 2F with what looks like a new aisin carb. It’s been desmogged with headers. Under chassis is in solid shape and the front floor pans are good shape minus one small rust through spot on the drivers side. 416 dune beige looks to be original. Plans are to get the engine in proper running order and tuned. Then I will address the door and top seals before I move on to suspension, tires, and chassis.

Most recent pic for comparison:

 

[sogafarm]

Last weekend i fired Montina up and took her for a short shake down cruise around the farm. Tough starting so addressed that first. The term bucket full of bolts is appropriate for the sounds coming from everywhere as expected from a mainly original 50 year old cruiser but I couldn’t be more excited to be back in an old cruiser again after having owned fj60’s in the past along with my 80 series that’s in fantastic shape. I changed the oil with a new Toyota big oil filter. Used 15/40 t4 diesel oil. I bought a diehard battery and changed out a leaky fuel line. Ordered a new reduction starter, air filter, and fuel filter from cruiser corps.

View attachment 3444607

 

[sogafarm]

I adjusted the timing and discovered the dizzy was loose so got everything adjusted to approximately 10 degrees advanced which seemed to be the sweet spot. I checked the spark plugs which were Bosch and they where a bit dark with oil deposits but gapped properly. I had an old ngk set in the tool box so I cleaned those up and gapped them to .039 inch approximately and cleaned them up with some sand paper and installed them to replace the Bosch units. Montina really liked the ngk’s and fired right up. I took her for a short cruise with the dog and on the way back to the shop she died on me so we went for a walk instead and towed her back with the kubota. I put the battery on charge over night and then trickle charged the next day with the new battery. The new 2f repair manual came in the mail from SOR and the title and a replacement door handle came in from the seller.

 

[sogafarm]

I put in another order with Cruiser Corps for a 50 amp alternator, voltage regulator, valve cover gasket, and a couple of rattle cans of dune beige to temporarily cover up the primer. I will do a valve adjustment and adjust the carb mixture next. The throttle linkage seems to be sticky and I have to pull the gas peddle back with my foot to bring it back to idle. Otherwise it acts a poor man’s cruise control for now. I noticed some missing grommets around the linkage so am looking for a source to replace those before i do the idle air mixture adjustment and valve adjustment. This week I plan on installing the new starter and alternator hoping it will help out with slow cranking.

 

[JackA]

Nice 40. I would cut that hideous front bumper off asap.

 

[sogafarm]

Its on the to do list. I am looking forward to getting the PTO winch in functioning order. I haven't had time to mess with it yet. I'm trying to decide on tires now. I really like the Falken wildpeak at3's on my Tacoma in 31x10.5x15 and that way I would have plenty of spares. I have bfg at's on the 80 series but they tend to pick up gravel too much.

Nice 40. I would cut that hideous front bumper off asap.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Looks good, same year as mine! Just flip the front bezel and switch out those rear lights for the proper tail lights and it will be looking a little better.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Also, stock front bumper is still available from Toyota and relatively inexpensive, at least it was a couple years ago.
Mine is also Dune Beige, for reference, here is my front end with the new front bumper and license plate holder, but everything else was refurbished/restored.

 

[sogafarm]

I can’t tell exactly if this is an oem aisin carb or a foreign spec unit but looks brand new. Also trying to decifer the hodgepodge of custom plugs. Being from Montana there is an ac plug going to a water line heater it looks like. Also found a 300 Winchester mag shell in the glove box. I bet it was used as an elk hunting truck at some point. Seller said it was from a ranch and had been sitting for three years.

 

[sogafarm]

Thanks! It’s all on the honey do list. Yours looks really nice!

Looks good, same year as mine! Just flip the front bezel and switch out those rear lights for the proper tail lights and it will be looking a little better.

Also, stock front bumper is still available from Toyota and relatively inexpensive, at least it was a couple years ago.
Mine is also Dune Beige, for reference, here is my front end with the new front bumper and license plate holder, but everything else was refurbished/restored.
View attachment 3444660

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

Also, stock front bumper is still available from Toyota and relatively inexpensive, at least it was a couple years ago.

It still is!

 

[sterling]

Saw that in the classifieds looks solid and a great starting point, well bought sir!

Love the color, I would be tempted to temporarily rattle can that primer for now to see what she looks like.
Nice to add another 40 to GA

 

[sogafarm]

Saw that in the classifieds looks solid and a great starting point, well bought sir!

Love the color, I would be tempted to temporarily rattle can that primer for now to see what she looks like.
Nice to add another 40 to GA

Yeah thanks I'm stoked! I've been looking for one in my price range for years and there are none to be found in my neck of the woods. I'm lucky to have a buddy in the paint and body business in the neighborhood and has his booth and shop set up nicely. I'll definitely be using him in the future. For now I don't want to worry about scratching Montina up around the farm roads and will just address the mechanicals and make her a dependable farm truck. Of course that will probably be short lived and will want to make her purdy at some point in the near future. For now its the rattle can treatment. After getting my '94 FZJ80 baselined and looking good, it sure is nice to have a run around cruiser that I can easily and most importantly cheap parts as a new project. I'm amazed with the aftermarket cruiser supporting businesses for the 40 series. They really are a fantastic resource and its so much easier to work on the old 2F with my clumsy big hands. The FZJ engines are really tight to work on and way more complicated.

 

[sogafarm]

Took a break from working on Montina yesterday with some grilled steaks and veggies. Today got the starter, fuel and air filters. Fast shipping from Cruiser Corps.

 

[sogafarm]

Installed the new reduction starter, air filter, and fuel filter. Fuel line had a big rot spot right next to the crappy filter that was on it. Replaced the before and after fuel lines and the fuel filter. Air filter was straight forward as expected. While installing the new starter, the bottom bolt stud came out and started to strip the threads. I cleaned up the threads with a battery brush on the block and used some PB blaster and another bolt to clean and rework the threads on the stud well enough to get it to catch and was able to use again. While connecting the wires back I discovered the little wire from the dizzy was not connected and I had to splice on another tab for the small bolt on the dizzy. I also sanded down the ground wire connector and reinstalled it on the upper starter bolt. I primed the fuel line a bit and Montina fired right up. The reduction starter works great with no more slow start. Took Montina for a short ride and wow the power difference was very noticeable. It was a break through moment. Now waiting on the new alternator and voltage regulator to arrive on Thursday and will hopefully solve the battery charging issue.

 

[sogafarm]

Checking some other things off the honey do list, I took off the huge front bull bar. I had to grind down some welded bolts holding the lower bolts of the bumper. Looks like someone just cut and welded the bulbar to the original bumper. I will be replacing with an OEM bumper. Removing the bumper probabley saved about 75 lbs. While I had better access, I lubed up the pto zerks and got the release handle to pull out but still can't get it to free spool. I must be missing a step. The PTO shaft spins freely though. I also need to order another v-belt from Napa. Big difference between the original starter and the new reduction starter. Turns over a lot faster. Montina's loving the new air and fuel filters. I'm going to buy a new choke cable to maybe eliminate the sticky throttle. Have a stuck and stripped bolt holding the bezel on so bare with me with the bezel flip, lol.

 

[sogafarm]

Washed the cruiser yesterday. After following some of the patina builds from @wngrog I used some of his CLR techniques to shine up Montina. Booger approved. Sprayed some Fluid film over the rear deck rust areas. I also managed to get the choke cable working by spraying some lithium grease and working it back and forth. Fires right up now. The new reduction starter is awsome. Tomorrow the new 50 amp alternator and voltage regulator should arrive from Cruiser Corps as well as some Dune Biege 416 rattle cans to cover up some of the primer. I also managed to grind off a stuck screw holding the bezel and flipped it.

 

[wngrog]

Nice job

 

[peesalot]

Good luck on the bezel screw, had to drill 2 of mine after pb blasted for 2 days, easy enough to put a nut on the back.

 

[sogafarm]

Good luck on the bezel screw, had to drill 2 of mine after pb blasted for 2 days, easy enough to put a nut on the back.

I soaked it for several days with the PB Blaster but had to get it done with the cutoff wheel on the grinder. I'll get some replacement screws and switch them all out. On another note, does anybody have any experience with a Ramsey PTO winch and how it operates? I greased up the zerks and the release handle slides in and out easy enough but it still won't enable free spool. I would like to do an overhaul but haven't had any luck in the search on it.