My brother's FJ40 - a possible build

[dasgeek]

Warm weather for clean up.

Today the tempurature was in the mid 70s. Not bad for Arkansas in January.

Took advantage of the warm weather to clean up the hard top and doors. The hard top has sat outside for twenty years. It was very dirty but seems to be in fair shape. it has some rust and the top seal will need to be replaced at some point. All the windows and seals are good.

The doors are in better condition. They have been stored in a garage. Eventually I will replace the weatherstrips, window seals, arm rests and interior trim panels.

Somebody add some arm rests at some point. I kind of like them.

I plan to put the hard top and doors on for a couple of months so I can drive the FJ more. Won't see many warm days like today.

I also may have to rattle can those stripes away until I can afford a proper paint job.

 

[ccasteel]

Nice looking rig. I'm with everyone else here. Set your mind on fixing it up and keeping it. You'll never regret it.

BTW, I dig the stripes. Before you paint over those, put the top on and take some good pictures. I may want to duplicate those.

Sent from some technology I haven't figured out how to use yet.

 

[craner8]

I'm a lurker here. Don't own an FJ40, own a CJ8. Sorry to hear about your brother. Keep it. No need to sell and can't replace it because he owned it (guess you've already decided to keep it based on the messages). Take that great pic of your brother and superimpose it on clear plastic and put it some where on the 40 as a tribute to him, he'll always be there. Maybe to the right of the glovebox. Just a thought to incorporate it on the build. Like the color and sticker combo too.

 

[dasgeek]

BTW, I dig the stripes. Before you paint over those, put the top on and take some good pictures.

People seem to love them or hate them. I will post pictures once I get it back together. I am hoping to get the top back on this weekend.

Take that great pic of your brother and superimpose it on clear plastic and put it some where on the 40 as a tribute to him, he'll always be there.

That is a great idea.

 

[DSRTRDR]

keep the truck

don't paint it, it looks to be in really good shape as is

 

[dasgeek]

Updates

I originally planned to make regular updates to this thread, but unfortunately sloth had a tight hold on me over the last six months.

I am going to catch up on the last six months with the next few posts.

In my last update from January, I said I was going to put the top and doors on for a few months. I had a couple of friends over to help with the top. We put the weather strips on and lowered the hard top into place. I could not get it to settle in the way I wanted and the weatherstrip kept slipping out of place. I did not want to tighten the hard top down due to some rust in the top's channel. I want to clean up the channel a bit before I put it on again. I decided to forget the hard top for the time being.

I continued to get the FJ40 out on warm days in February to see if any seals would go bad or any other components would fail. Well, I did not have to wait long. One warm day I was driving down a busy street and lost the brakes completely. These trucks are hard to stop without brakes and without an e-brake. I limped it into my trusted shop and left it there. It needed a new master cylinder. I decided to get a list of things fixed while it was going to be in the shop.

The fan blade needed to be replaced (cracks). The radiator had also been pushed into the fan at some point, so I decided to replace the radiator with a new aluminum one. My FJ40 did not have a fan shroud, so I wanted to find one.

I call CruiserCorps (great guys) to place an order. I ordered a radiator, fan blade, fan shroud, fuel pump, headlights, seat belts, and some other odd and ends.

I felt good about the order but I was about to learn a valuable lesson that every FJ40 owner learns…..which I will cover in my next post.

 

[dasgeek]

OK, so I am not so good at posting updates.

First Lesson of working on my FJ40

Nothing ever fits the way you expect it to fit. All these trucks are different and Toyota will make changes on the factory floor.

When I got my order from CruiserCorps, I took everything down to the shop that had my FJ40 and left it to be installed. The next day I got a call from the shop. The fan shroud would not fit the new radiator. The radiator outlet interfered with the shroud. I decided I would get a metal shop to modify the shroud to fit. While the shroud was being modified the shop started on the radiator, fan blades and hoses. That's when I got another call from the shop. The fan blade would not fit either. I had a fan clutch and the fan blade I got was for an FJ40 without a fan clutch. I returned the fan blade to CruiserCorp and tried to source the correct fan blade. I spent a lot of time trying to find the correct part. Finally found the fan blade and picked up the modified fan shroud and took them to the shop. Next day, another call from the shop. The fan blade will not fit inside the modified fan shroud. So, I just had him install the new fan blade and leave the modified fan shroud out of the truck. I have $125 into the used part and $165 on the metal work to make it fit the aluminum radiator. I guess I will sell it. I looked at ArkansasLarry’s fan blade and it is a little different than mine. I am not sure where he got it. If I can find a fan that will fit I would like to keep it.

For know I have the modified fan shroud up for sale: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj40-fan-shroud-modified.733535/

 

[dasgeek]

Here are a few pictures of the modified fan shroud and fan blades.

The fan blade on the left was the blade I took off the truck. The blade on the right was the only replacement I could find and it is a little larger in diameter than the older fan blade.

Here is the new radiator in place with the new fan blade sans modified shroud:

 

[dasgeek]

While the radiator was out I painted the grill and tried my best to refurbish the Toyota logo on the front grill. I got a decent result:

 

[sterling]

Sorry for your loss. Ditto on what every one has said so far.
No amount of $ for that 40 will replace the great memories it has made and will make in the future.

Keep the stripes

 

[dasgeek]

Sorry for your loss. Ditto on what every one has said so far.
No amount of $ for that 40 will replace the great memories it has made and will make in the future.

Keep the stripes

Thanks, I am keeping the truck and am trying to catch up on the last year and a half of repairs.

 

[dasgeek]

Another catch up post – May 11, 2013


Once I got the FJ40 back from the shop, I needed to make the vehicle little more comfortable and safe so I can take the kids out in it. I installed the seat belts I received from CruiserCorp and the new seat covers from Spector Off Road. I also installed a new bikini top for some shade. After spending some time cleaning the interior and treating the mats and other rubber and plastic with 303 vinyl protectant, I was surprised at the good condition of the vinyl after many years of exposure.

It is actually starting to look like a FJ40 again.

 

[dasgeek]

Another catch up post – April 2013


So I spent a lot of the month of April 2013 clearing my brother’s house (terrible job for anyone to have to do). I was keeping the FJ40 in my brother’s garage so after a day of clearing and sorting, I would reward myself with a nice drive in the Land Cruiser. This was my standard pattern for a few weeks. One day while I was working at the house, I got a call from one of my other brothers. He told me that he and my other brother wanted to give me their share in the FJ40 in appreciation for the work I was having to do with the house and estate. I was very excited to hear this and decided to take the FJ40 out for a spin and go up the hill to my house and tell my wife. So about half way up the hill, I hear a loud screech and smell burning rubber for just a second. I turn around and get back to my brothers house. I pop the hood and confirm my concern. The air pump had seized. I was considering a desmog at some point so I contacted Jim Chenoweth and ordered a pulley, cap and plug set and an EGR block off plate from him. In the meantime I buy a smaller belt and skip the power steering pulley so I can still drive the rig while waiting for parts.

The first pulley I got was not the correct size, so Jim had to fab the correct one for my set up.

 

[dasgeek]

Another catch up post – July 2013

After replacing the air pump with a pulley and removing the air rail I spent a lot of July 2013 driving the FJ40 as much as I could and reading IH8MUD the rest of the time. One of the things I have been wanting to improve on the FJ40 was the dim lighting. I just do not feel like other cars can see me. While researching this I came across a group buy being put together by Chamba and Dancar for some Australian LED tail lights.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/gauging-interest-in-group-buy-40-series-led-tail-lights.745302/

I joined the group buy for the LED tail light. I also noticed that a set of SOR tail light guards had been posted in the classified section, so I snagged those also.

I used the factory wiring harness and added plugs to it for making all the connections. The tail lights would not fit into the inside of the SOR tail light guards because of the welding bead on the inside of the guard. I used a Dremel tool to ground down the bead about half way into the guard from the back. This allowed the LED tail light housing to slide into the tail light guard and be held in place by just pressure.

Very happy with the results:

These are super bright and still look like they fit the FJ40. Not OEM but a great upgrade. I will try and make an on/off comparison photos soon.

 

[Weber Sarge]

I've got the same set but with my own guards , get a lot of comments about how bright they are - excellent upgrade for sure .
Sarge

 

[SSCR]

Coming along great! Wish I would of got a set of those led tail lights


...via IH8MUD app

 

[dasgeek]

Coming along great! Wish I would of got a set of those led tail lights

I think I saw that a new group buy may be brewing. Keep an eye out. Or maybe send a message to Chamba. He is a total gent and should reply quickly.

 

[dasgeek]

Catch up post – March 2014


One thing that I have been wanting to know is how much gas this truck is burning, but my odometer was stuck. Only the tenth of a mile number would spin. A quick search on IH8MUD turning up this great procedure by mud member baas.


https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fixing-the-stuck-odometer-with-pics.463766/


So I finally got around to fixing the stuck odometer.


While I had the cluster out of the truck I repainted the gauge needles with some restoration paint that I got off of eBay. The thread by bj40green with everything you need to know about gauge clusters.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/clusters-gauges-speedo-odo-meters.544543/

Here is the paint and grease I used on the needles and odometer:

I also ran some EL wire around the inside of the cluster for more light based on a post by amaurer.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/af...into-stock-cluster.289513/page-3#post-4548612



Just stock lights:

With EL wire turned on:

End result:

I was very happy with the result of the gauge refresh. The level of light coming from the guage at night is just right with the EL wire added.

I also learned that I am getting about 10.6 MPG from the FJ40. Now I can rebuild the carb and see if it improves my mileage.

 

[77TLCFJ40]

Very nice work and documentation!

 

[dasgeek]

Catch up post - June 2014

I needed to get the FJ40 out of the garage I was using to store it. So I finally put the hard top and doors on it. It took me about six hours. I really like driving the Fj40 with the top on it. It is not as hot as I thought it would be and it looks more like a Land Cruiser.

Next up, those stripes are coming off.