Builds My '78 FJ40 "44" (15 Viewers)

[Solace in Solitude]

That's some big ears

Yeah... he was a huge, skinny JackRabbit!!

 

[handcannon]

I meant to post this picture and ask if anyone knows what is in the center of it... what is that?

View attachment 1258479

Female jackalope. Assuming female since antlers are not visible.

Don

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Today, I drove 44, dirty with two dogs worth of hair inside, to my ophthalmologist appointment.

As I was leaving the appointment, a young lady flagged me down.

She said, "this is a LandCruiser, right?".

I replied, "Yes and it's considerably older than you are". She was twenty-something.

She pointed to a silver looking FJ Cruiser and said, "I always wanted an FJ40, but have an FJ Cruiser... It's nice, but it's not real".

I was astounded that she knew what an FJ40 was... and that she recognized her ride's failings.

She then asked if it was ok for her to snap a picture.

I said, "You bet and smiled all the way home".

I guess I need to drive around town more often... 44 doesn't get noticed much in the bush.

 

[DSB345]

Smart young lady! You planted a seed

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Yeah, she was definitely a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day in Vegas!!

 

[sggoat]

Today, I drove 44, dirty with two dogs worth of hair inside, to my ophthalmologist appointment.

As I was leaving the appointment, a young lady flagged me down.

She said, "this is a LandCruiser, right?".

I replied, "Yes and it's considerably older than you are". She was twenty-something.

She pointed to a silver looking FJ Cruiser and said, "I always wanted an FJ40, but have an FJ Cruiser... It's nice, but it's not real".

I was astounded that she knew what an FJ40 was... and that she recognized her ride's failings.

She then asked if it was ok for her to snap a picture.

I said, "You bet and smiled all the way home".

I guess I need to drive around town more often... 44 doesn't get noticed much in the bush.

I think I posted a comment in another thread about this--went to the local Toy dealer to pick up some touch up paint for the wife's (new) 2014 Camry. Coming out of the parts dept., I find three folks standing around the 77 snapping pics like crazy. Is this really a Toyota? What yr is this? How long have you had it? How many miles does it have? This is an awesome car!, This is a bad a***ed truck!
I did the same thing you did--it lasted several days. I absolutely love the comment your lady made---"It's nice, but it's not real"
There has to be a modification to someone's sig line in this comment---like: "If you drive something other than A Land Cruiser, it's probably nice, but it's not real", or some such

 

[ginmtb]

Recently I had a 20 something woman drive next to me in her old school Suzuki samurai give me the thumbs up multiple times. Also, just saw a 20 something driving an old CJ5. Maybe there is hope for that generation lol.

 

[Honger]

"It's nice, but it's not real."

Now there's a quality woman. If I weren't happily married with children I can see now that the FJ40 would be a great tool for filtering and selecting for an appropriate wife...

"What's that?!" or "Why do you drive that old thing?!"... NEXT!
"This is a LandCruiser right?" or thumbs up in traffic... we have potential!

As it is my wife loves the 40 project. She likes how the boys enjoy it with me... she likes that it makes me happy and gives me fulfillment... and she can't wait to ride it around with no top on (the 40, not her). So I'm set! But a young man could do worse than to buy a 40 and use it as his litmus test for wife material.

 

[120mm]

Scientific studies have shown that women do not normally notice cars, even high end "Super" or "Hyper" cars.

It's men that notice cars. Normally.

For some reason, though; women notice and respond positively to vintage Mustangs (especially convertibles), pre-SUV 4x4s and Rat Rods. (Women notice and respond negatively to Corvettes, btw. Too many creepy guys in them?)

I floated the idea of getting an FJ40 to my wife, last week, and she was completely on board with that, which kind of shocked me, since she used to view my Series 80 as competition. In fact, she shocked me by suggesting we become a "two Land Cruiser household" and ditch her Jeep.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Scientific studies have shown that women do not normally notice cars, even high end "Super" or "Hyper" cars.

It's men that notice cars. Normally.

For some reason, though; women notice and respond positively to vintage Mustangs (especially convertibles), pre-SUV 4x4s and Rat Rods. (Women notice and respond negatively to Corvettes, btw. Too many creepy guys in them?)

I floated the idea of getting an FJ40 to my wife, last week, and she was completely on board with that, which kind of shocked me, since she used to view my Series 80 as competition. In fact, she shocked me by suggesting we become a "two Land Cruiser household" and ditch her Jeep.

That is an opportunity which should not be wasted - we rarely ever get a positive input on owning a second Cruiser and as a suggestion it almost never comes from the spouse . It seems there is a much higher percentage of women/men partners that are somewhat jealous of the obsession and time spent with such a vehicle - my own wife often says I spend more time with that old rusty truck than I do with her ...let alone money spent on keeping them going .

Sarge

 

[Honger]

I floated the idea of getting an FJ40 to my wife, last week, and she was completely on board with that, which kind of shocked me, since she used to view my Series 80 as competition. In fact, she shocked me by suggesting we become a "two Land Cruiser household" and ditch her Jeep.

Move quickly sir...

 

[120mm]

That is an opportunity which should not be wasted - we rarely ever get a positive input on owning a second Cruiser and as a suggestion it almost never comes from the spouse . It seems there is a much higher percentage of women/men partners that are somewhat jealous of the obsession and time spent with such a vehicle - my own wife often says I spend more time with that old rusty truck than I do with her ...let alone money spent on keeping them going .

Sarge

Move quickly sir...

In the words of Sir Conan Doyle, "The game is afoot."

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

I floated the idea of getting an FJ40 to my wife, last week, and she was completely on board with that, which kind of shocked me, since she used to view my Series 80 as competition. In fact, she shocked me by suggesting we become a "two Land Cruiser household" and ditch her Jeep.

I still think it is trap! Watch your "6"!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

So... I feel wordy this morning... There's a surprise.

Dianna is completely supportive of 44 and oftentimes seems to prefer I spend more time with 44 and more time in the great outback of the Big Empty. But, she insists my SPOT be actively tracking and that I SPOT "check-in" every night and every morning.

Our 40 is named 44 because we bought her for me for our 44th anniversary...

We had a 1930 house with a nice shop on a huge lot, in a little town named Smithville, TX (movies Hope Floats and The Tree of Life both shot there) and within one year of my second retirement, we moved to Vegas... I owed Dianna a move and she wanted to be near her younger sister, after 40+ years apart and our elder daughter lived here as well.

We also learned that we could sell in Smithville and use less than half of the sales price to pay cash for this townhouse. Property taxes dropped from $6k/yr to $700/year and utilities from $550/mo ( summertime) to < $150/mo. So, the move made economic sense as well... And we didn't want to mow lawns anymore either...

This move eliminated everything that "I was about"... I fished the Texas coast and did a lot of wood working and 'suddenly' I found myself in a strange new environment, a 1200 sq ft townhouse, with a two car garage... No room for my tools and no room to 'grow' and no need to build wooden 'stuff'.... And access to a few hundred million acres of MY public land playground.

We can't afford to give casinos all our money and frankly it's boring... So, I was looking for something to be passionate about... I joined Habitat for Humanity and quickly learned my back issues were worse than I thought and the work exacerbated it.

I was tearing my Tundra up on rough roads and one day mentioned I was thinking of buying an old jeep... Dianna said "buy what you want, you're going nuts and taking me with you".

Tommy, my son-in-law said, "buy an FJ40" and I said, "What's that?"... That's how much of a "car guy" I was...

I looked around for a while and found 44 in Sherman, TX... Hired an inspection, reviewed a lotta pictures, bought her and had her shipped to Vegas.

I bought her with the intent of using the hell out of her... I was naive enough to disregard the need to learn auto mechanics and didn't realize I would need to learn to maintain her myself.

The first several times I drove her, I had to resolve mechanical issues (wire fell off the starter, fuel filter sucked air, causing her to die under load, vapor lock, etc.).

History: My Father was an alcoholic who loved to work on his car/truck and always enlisted my help (as a child), so he could (in my opinion) cuss and yell and scream and berate and hit me or beat my dog with his belt, simply because he had no patience and was a very mean man, when he was drinking... Which was most of the time. I remember installing new exhaust on his '59 Chevy 9-passenger station wagon, when I was 11... I could work under it, with no need to jack it up... So I did all the work, while he drank and screamed at me... And beat Tippy... So, I equated mechanical work with bad memories and never had any desire to repeat those experiences.

But, I quickly came to the (obvious) realization that I needed to be able to understand what did what, so I would be able to bail myself out of potential situations, if I wanted to visit remote locations. I took auto mechanics in high school, so I had a 40-something year old basis to build upon.

I paid for peace of mind with things I couldn't do myself, for whatever reasons (engine rebuild: no room, no tools, no experience, no time (66 years old at the time) or inclination to spend the time, a desire to be sure it was done right); bought a new rear harness; paid Riley to rebuild (and show me how) 44's knuckles (I was quite intimidated); etc.)... And spent my time learning everything I could about how to maintain 44 and resolve issues that might arise.

I'm no expert... But, I can get by... And more importantly for me, I found I really enjoyed the empowerment that accompanied doing things myself.

So... I get a lot of thumbs-up when driving the highway, to and from remote locations... A lot of "nice jeep" from guys in the know, at gas stations (which I frequent)... And this most recent, "that's a Landcruiser, right?" from this very personable young lady.

Our world would be a better place if only more people could experience the rush we get from our 40s!!

I'm not anti-other-TLC-models... I'm just very pro-FJ40... I feel like the FJ40 broke the mold!!

 

[CarDude]

So... I feel wordy this morning... There's a surprise.

Dianna is completely supportive of 44 and oftentimes seems to prefer I spend more time with 44 and more time in the great outback of the Big Empty. But, she insists my SPOT be actively tracking and that I SPOT "check-in" every night and every morning.

Our 40 is named 44 because we bought her for me for our 44th anniversary...

We had a 1930 house with a nice shop on a huge lot, in a little town named Smithville, TX (movies Hope Floats and The Tree of Life both shot there) and within one year of my second retirement, we moved to Vegas... I owed Dianna a move and she wanted to be near her younger sister, after 40+ years apart and our elder daughter lived here as well.

We also learned that we could sell in Smithville and use less than half of the sales price to pay cash for this townhouse. Property taxes dropped from $6k/yr to $700/year and utilities from $550/mo ( summertime) to < $150/mo. So, the move made economic sense as well... And we didn't want to mow lawns anymore either...

This move eliminated everything that "I was about"... I fished the Texas coast and did a lot of wood working and 'suddenly' I found myself in a strange new environment, a 1200 sq ft townhouse, with a two car garage... No room for my tools and no room to 'grow' and no need to build wooden 'stuff'.... And access to a few hundred million acres of MY public land playground.

We can't afford to give casinos all our money and frankly it's boring... So, I was looking for something to be passionate about... I joined Habitat for Humanity and quickly learned my back issues were worse than I thought and the work exacerbated it.

I was tearing my Tundra up on rough roads and one day mentioned I was thinking of buying an old jeep... Dianna said "buy what you want, you're going nuts and taking me with you".

Tommy, my son-in-law said, "buy an FJ40" and I said, "What's that?"... That's how much of a "car guy" I was...

I looked around for a while and found 44 in Sherman, TX... Hired an inspection, reviewed a lotta pictures, bought her and had her shipped to Vegas.

I bought her with the intent of using the hell out of her... I was naive enough to disregard the need to learn auto mechanics and didn't realize I would need to learn to maintain her myself.

The first several times I drove her, I had to resolve mechanical issues (wire fell off the starter, fuel filter sucked air, causing her to die under load, vapor lock, etc.).

History: My Father was an alcoholic who loved to work on his car/truck and always enlisted my help (as a child), so he could (in my opinion) cuss and yell and scream and berate and hit me or beat my dog with his belt, simply because he had no patience and was a very mean man, when he was drinking... Which was most of the time. I remember installing new exhaust on his '59 Chevy 9-passenger station wagon, when I was 11... I could work under it, with no need to jack it up... So I did all the work, while he drank and screamed at me... And beat Tippy... So, I equated mechanical work with bad memories and never had any desire to repeat those experiences.

But, I quickly came to the (obvious) realization that I needed to be able to understand what did what, so I would be able to bail myself out of potential situations, if I wanted to visit remote locations. I took auto mechanics in high school, so I had a 40-something year old basis to build upon.

I paid for peace of mind with things I couldn't do myself, for whatever reasons (engine rebuild: no room, no tools, no experience, no time (66 years old at the time) or inclination to spend the time, a desire to be sure it was done right); bought a new rear harness; paid Riley to rebuild (and show me how) 44's knuckles (I was quite intimidated); etc.)... And spent my time learning everything I could about how to maintain 44 and resolve issues that might arise.

I'm no expert... But, I can get by... And more importantly for me, I found I really enjoyed the empowerment that accompanied doing things myself.

So... I get a lot of thumbs-up when driving the highway, to and from remote locations... A lot of "nice jeep" from guys in the know, at gas stations (which I frequent)... And this most recent, "that's a Landcruiser, right?" from this very personable young lady.

Our world would be a better place if only more people could experience the rush we get from our 40s!!

I'm not anti-other-TLC-models... I'm just very pro-FJ40... I feel like the FJ40 broke the mold!!

Hitting the like button was not enough love the post.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Hitting the like button was not enough love the post.

Why thank you!!

 

[DSB345]

From the land of yuppies, I see many people by cars to drive around and their garage is spotless. No cabinets, shelves or tools hanging. They pay to look good. However, my garage, well, lets just say it's functional I get a kick out of my neighbors. They ask me why are you restoring that old Jeep, I tell them, you will never understand. I also tell them it's the best puzzle I've ever put together.

 

[78fj40mg]

From the land of yuppies, I see many people by cars to drive around and their garage is spotless. No cabinets, shelves or tools hanging. They pay to look good. However, my garage, well, lets just say it's functional I get a kick out of my neighbors. They ask me why are you restoring that old Jeep, I tell them, you will never understand. I also tell them it's the best puzzle I've ever put together.

Well said Dave! How did they respond to the puzzle statement?

 

[DSB345]

Puzzled

Well said Dave! How did they respond to the puzzle statement?

 

[120mm]

I still think it is trap! Watch your "6"!

Not to further hijack pngnme's thread, but pillow talk last night migrated to power steering conversions. Seems she saw the Petrolicious short called "The FJ40 is a Rugged Companion". And took notes.