MONYP1T build thread

[Box Rocket]

This is WAY unorthodox for me to be doing this and if moderators feel this is inappropriate than please feel free to delete or move this thread.

But I get PM's constantly asking me about my old FJ40 (even though I sold it 5 years ago). I guess I had a fairly active web presence with it when I owned it and the new owner doesn't bother too much with "web wheeling" so updates and current condition of the truck is basically unknown. But since I get questions so often about it I thought it would make sense to do a basic "build thread" or something similar to a ROTW write up about my old 40 so that those that are curious can hopefully find the info that I am asked about so frequently.

Hope that's ok, and it's pretty wierd to be doing this for a truck I don't own anymore. Oh well. Take it or leave it.

Ok, I'm starting at the top. I purchased my 1976 FJ40 (I'm referring to it as mine for the sake of this thread, but as I've already said, it was sold over 5 years ago now) .....so I purchased my 40 in 1995 and it was basically stock with some white steel wheels and 31's. At the time it had a rebuilt 2F and stock drivetrain. Here's a photo a few weeks after I bought it.

I drove it this way for about a year until I got married in 1996 and it was our only vehicle. Then one day my wife and I were playing in the hills very near where the above photo was taken and I broke through all of the leaves of one of the rear spring packs. After limping it home and knowing it needed new springs I started shopping. I had no idea what I was looking for and the aftermarket options at the time are nothing like what they are now. I ended up with some 2" Rancho springs just for the rear. Yep front stayed stock. It was the coolest stinkbug in town. It wasn't long until I knew I needed to change things or my teeth would be rattled loose. I started hearing about Old Man Emu. Did some research and picked up a full set of OME springs, and talked to a local shop about doing a shackle reversal for me. Also picked up some Rancho RS5000 shocks to go with it. I had the springs installed and the shackle reversal done and then needed tires. I got a set of 33" BFG ATs and some new chrome wheels. It was stylin!. I got this all done just prior to the very first Cruise Moab event and I had also been working with a few local cruiserheads to get a new club started. They are the ones who told me about the event in Moab so I registered, having no idea what to expect. Let me tell you, to see how Rising Sun handles Cruise Moab year after year and how it's grown and improved since that very first event is mind boggling. They have done something truly amazing! Anyway, here is a couple photos of my 40 from that first CM with the setup I just described.

I learned a lot at the first Cruise Moab. The biggest thing I came away with was the stock steering was not great on Moab slickrock. Power steering had risen to the top of the mod list. Along with larger tires, gears and at least one locker as soon as money would allow.

Somewhere in here I blew the motor and in the process of having it rebuilt I found out that the PO who I bought it from had reused the old pistons when they rebuilt the motor. Brilliant. Rebuilding the motor used up any mod money I had, but I saved up again and finally got the Power Steering (the now standard Saginaw conversion). I did my research on lockers and found the ARB to be the best option since the truck was still my daily driver. Since I'd be into the diffs anyway, I decided to go with 4.88s. And about that same time I made the jump to 35" tires. I remember at the time, people questioned whether or not you could actually wheel with 35's and OME springs. I guess I had a hair more lift with the shackle reversal and 2" extended shackles but I had the truck that way for quite a while. The rear locker opened up a whole new world to me. I ended up wheeling for a couple years with this drivetrain setup and it worked great for what I was capable doing. I started running 4+ trails and having a blast. Truck was still my daily driver.

Along came Cruise Moab again. Time to test out the new gears a locker. Oh, and I'd added Safari Snorkel by now, mainly because it looked cool.

New setup with 35's, 4.88 gears and rear locker on Metal Masher during CM '98 (I think).

 

[Box Rocket]

By this time, the body on the truck that I thought was very clean when I bought it had proven to only be a bondo job and it was rusting badly and really falling apart. I had spent lots of time and money by this point at a local shop called Cruiser Outfitters when they were still a full service Land Cruiser repair and fab shop. I took the truck into them to have the tub reskinned and maybe a few other things done. As we tore into the body as we pulled everything apart, we realized that the original tub was in aweful shape and would take more work than it was worth. It was cut off and went into the scrap pile.

My old tub sitting in the trash.

My truck stripped down completely with the chassis sitting bare.

So we found a donor truck that had solid tub rails and door frames to start with and did a full reskin on that tub, including the front floors. Here's that tub after all the skins had been removed and waiting for new sheetmetal. The floor and wheel wells were formed from a peice of 14ga. and the outer skins were a peice of 16 ga. The rear channel was also replaced.

Along the way, we found that my windshield frame was also badly rotted, as were the front fenders, the bib, all 4 doors and it turned out the hood was also a rusty mess covered with bondo. The frames of the topsides were full of holes too. So all of that was tossed. The only peice of my original body that was useable was the fiberglass cap from the hardtop. I went on the search for new parts. I found some topsides and doors locally. Bought new front fenders. Found a windshield frame and bib out of state and was back in business.

I had everything sandblasted and the tub was linexed inside and underneath along with the underside of the front fenders. At the same time I figured it was worth making a few other changes. I had a family style rollcage built by Cruiser Outfitters. I still think this is one of the best looking cages around for FJ40's and it's too bad these aren't made any longer. I added some front fender protection and some extra bracing for my rear tire carrier that doubled as rear corner protection. I bought a brand new Warn 8274-50 for a steal. I think I paid $800 for it, that's almost half of what they are now. I also traded my stock transfercase and transmission for a freshly rebuilt SM420 and 3-sp transfer case. This took my crawl ratio to something like 82:1 which was going to be awesome.

Sorry I don't have more pics of the reskin and fab work during this stage. Cruiser Outfitters really did an outstanding job. Actually I have pics but they are all prints and I don't feel like scanning them all.

This gets us close to the point the most people are familiar with it.

 

[Box Rocket]

Other tidbits were added during this extensive build up at Cruiser Outfitters. I had them build a seat cradle as part of the roll cage and put in some Procar Rallye Bucket seats. I swapped out the stock turn signals for some 70 series ones. Added a tachometer......

I wheeled it this way still with OMEs and 35's for a couple years then upgraded the suspension again. I went with 5" Alcan springs and 37" MTRs. This setup was absolutely perfect for me. I could still very comfortably daily drive the truck and I was able to wheel it very hard and it was totally reliable. In all the years I owned the truck I never had a breakdown on the trail except for shearing the bolts on the PS box at the end of the Rubicon.

The rest of the mod list included...

Mean Green Alternator
DUI distributor
Optima Redtop
Custom sliders
CO2 tank OBA
rear Tuffy storage boxes
Tuffy center console.
Specter Tiger top Softtop
Hella 4000 lights on front bumper
Rancho RS9000 shocks
Custom skidplate
Ubolt flip kit.
Custom rear bumper/tire carrier.
Conferr rear bench seat.
Grant steering wheel
F/R ARB lockers
Smurfields

So here we go with pics......

Mean Green alternator

Single Optima Redtop

DUI dizzy and plugwires

ARB compressor mounted at the firewall on passenger side.

Power steering pump on custom bracket that allowed me to still run the factory smog pump for emissions

Tach mounted to rollcage

Switches for lockers and lights in the stock radio location

 

[Box Rocket]

Conferr rear bench seat (tube with spare axles bungied in front of it)

Front d-rings added to Man-a-Fre winch bumper

Man-a-Fre ubolt skid plates

Franken-skidplate

"Nacho" RS9000 shocks

CO2 tank

 

[Box Rocket]

Grant Steering wheel

Custom covered Procar seats

Rear bumper Phase 1 with integrated reverse lights

These bars were originally meant purely to support the tire carrier (solid bar stock) but they ended up being the best rear corner protection.

Kaymar hilift bracket (sorry pic is sideways)

70 series turn signals

 

[Box Rocket]

Saginaw Power steering.

Warn 8274-50

Good shot of front end using Man-a-Fre winch bumper and brush guard.

Front fender protection detail

Custom sliders

 

[Box Rocket]

Finally some "full body shots" These were taken just before I sold it to show the buyer. Paint color is SpectraMaster Green. I picked it from a PPG swatch book.

 

[Box Rocket]

With the softtop

Sides up

Bikini top, rear duster and soft doors

Hardtop

 

[Box Rocket]

And a few wheeling pics...

My wife on the Rubicon

Old Sluice Rubicon

Cat Canyon

Upper Helldorado -Moab

 

[cruiserjunkie]

Adam thanks for posting I remember seeing your rig before and watching it tackle anything it wanted more impressive being sua maybe one day my springs will flex like that

 

[Krazyfj]

Nice rig, what color is that?

 

[Box Rocket]

Nice rig, what color is that?

One of the most common questions I get asked. Answered it in post #7. PPG SpectraMaster Green.

 

[goneloco]

Thanks Adam,

That is exactly the Cruiser I want. Good looking and tough as nails.

Thanks for spending the time and posting

Cheers

 

[AlexJet]

I like your build. Looks very nice...

How did you mount your mirrors? Have you drilled into the body? Any close-up pictures?

 

[fj404life]

Love the license plate frame on the back.
"Speed Kills(?)-Drive a Land Cruiser and Live!" LOLOL
Sweet truck...nice work!

 

[whats the deal]

Is there another one in the works?

 

[REZARF]

I think this is a cool idea Adam.

I was actually stoked thinking you were buidling up a 40 again!

 

[Box Rocket]

I like your build. Looks very nice...

How did you mount your mirrors? Have you drilled into the body? Any close-up pictures?

Yes I drilled the cowl to mount the mirrors.

for the rest of you....I guess I could say that "technically" there is another build in the works. I've been amassing parts for a while. I have a frame, springs, axles, fuel tank, steering parts, and a few other odds and ends. When my budget allows it I'll be on the lookout for a good drivetrain. I'm planning on using a 3FE, SM420, Orion. I'll also be on the lookout for a useable body. This is definitely a LOOOONG term project.

 

[Sloan]

Hey do you have any photos or can you describe how you mounted the rear seat?

 

[Box Rocket]

Hey do you have any photos or can you describe how you mounted the rear seat?

The seat has a flange on each side that rests on the top of the wheel wells. There are two holes in each flange, and it's bolted through the top of the wheel wells.