My 45 lives again

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Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Threads
146
Messages
582
Location
Laguna Niguel, Calif.
I have had this jewel since about 1984 and it has survived all 3 of my boys driving her to High School. Millions of tons of you name it cargo. More desert trips with 3 quads in back stood up like refrigerators that I could ever count. This is the second time I have refurbished her. Photos today and the truck has been in the shop 13 months now. Please enjoy.

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3 boys? still in one piece, that is an awesome ride to drive to school.
 
Color is Dion blue from '66 or ,67 Toyota color chart. I don,t recall the number. good catch on that hole. I put a '79 2F in it long ago and customized the air filter intake for the snorkel in the photo below. That is what the hole is.

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Lets see some more pics of that thing from over the years! Awesome heritage with that truck. My parents bought a $1200 1979 4 door baby blue VW rabbit that survived all three of us boys as 16 year old drivers through the early 2000's, it never skipped a beat. Probably the best investment they've ever made from a cost vs. use standpoint. Needless to say, none of us treasured that car like this FJ45 is being treasured in its retirement! Thanks for sharing.
 
Is this the same 45 that was Royal blue at the Calico cleanup, circa 2007?
 
Humorous anecdote for the readers. @calico kid and @Wasabi organized a cleanup of Mule Canyon behind the ghost town of Calico back in 2007 that ended up drawing 700 volunteers. My friend Morgan and his then wife Beth had just bought a new FJ Cruiser and were excited to take it camping, but couldn’t leave L.A. until dark. He expressed concern about finding our camp in the dark, and my reply was “Don’t be ridiculous! Just ask around where the blue FJ45 is parked!” That satisfied him.

So I roll onto the dry lakebed where camp is at around 2pm and THE VERY FIRST THING I SEE IS ANOTHER ROYAL BLUE FJ45! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

So with a goofy grin on my face I go over, introduce myself to Rick, and tell him the story about Morgan.

It was an epic weekend. Mickey Rubicon was there, and after a couple of keg stands, had us in stitches with a monologue that included something about carpool lanes being the first step on the road to communism!
 
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Those old wagon wheels had had it. I like them but they were bent from years of use and abuse. I got 4 nice factory wheels and covers. I know the covers are modern. Also dug out a rubber set I bought from some one here years ago to set up the "Bug Catcher" wind wing. Some other goodies too.
Enjoy.

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Hadn’t seen the plans for the rubber seals before. Looks like from 1998? Very cool. Anyone have a guess as to what the 33.7-deg callouts are for on the 90-deg inside corners?

On edit: never mind, I see in the notes that the 45-deg is the back side join angle and the 33.7-deg is the front side. Good to know when cutting these to fit. I have two kits awaiting install. Thanks for posting!
 
Got a surprise. Shorter shackle layed up.

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I had that happen on my trail 40 about 25 years ago. Since I was happy with the length of my aftermarket barbell shackles (removable bolt on both ends) I welded a half inch rod near the top of each shackle that would hit the shackle hanger before the shackle could roll over the inversion point.
 
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