My First Cruiser: Keep It Stock (1 Viewer)

[thisoldcruiser]

Hello everybody!

Starting this thread to document my first FJ40. A little background on me: I am a 27 year old software engineer by trade. I have tinkered with electronics and mechanical objects for as long as I can remember and although I am far from a grease monkey, I have never found a device (mechanical or otherwise) that I couldn't take apart and (eventually) re-assemble. That being said, my knowledge of vehicles is far from that of a master mechanics', so this forum is a great source of information, along with plenty of YouTube hours.

It has been a dream of mine to own a land cruiser for years now. I am glad to be able to start my journey with this 40 - the idea of a go-anywhere, do-anything, no-frills utilitarian truck that you can fix anything on yourself is so appealing to me, and is exactly what I love so much about these old Toyotas.
My goals for this truck are pretty simple: Keep it as close to stock as possible, preserving it [and/or] returning it to stock where necessary, while upgrading any areas of concern to future-proof it. At the same time, I do not plan to keep it a driveway queen: this is now officially my new beach buggy, and I plan to wrench on it and drive it out to the dunes as much as possible during the warmer months. Unfortunately I think the frame-eating salty roads we have here in the northeast will keep it off the road during those colder times, as much as I love the thought of of drifting it through piles of snow. With all that being said, this leads to some big decisions regarding the truck: keep it a soft top or go to a hard top? repaint it? etc. etc. I am planning to address these big decisions as I go along; for now, I just want to enjoy the ownership of this beauty.

Back to the truck: As far as I can tell from my research and from the VIN plate, my FJ40 started off it's life as a July of 1976 short wheelbase hard top production model. The truck was sold to me out of Arizona, but it looks like it may have been a California model, as I am pretty sure it has the emissions-required cooling fan in the front-right side of the engine bay, in place of the engine fresh air intake tube. The seller claimed I would be the third owner, but that guy was so full of s*** I have come to question everything he's told me. That's a story for a different day.

When I first received the truck, the truck driver had no idea how to operate a manual transmission, let alone a truck that was 49 years old. So it was my job to climb on up the trailer, and after figuring out the parking brake (post-stalling out about 5 times), I was able to gingerly back it off the trailer. After receiving the truck, it took me a few weeks to get it registered and titled in New York State, during which time I noticed some quirks. When driving it off the truck, everything functioned okay - minus the front-left headlight, which required me to give it a good punch or two before it'd kick on, and the gauges - of which, only the speedometer and odometer were functioning...

Let's get into the cons first of all, as there are.. um... quite a few of them:

• Truck has been repainted - not sure if it was to cover rust or for one of the PO preferences; I've taken a magnet to probably 90% of the exterior and it stuck well. =
  • I believe the truck was originally painted freeborn red, as whoever painted over it didn't bother to strip any of the paint down first.
    • Thinking that I want to return to this color one day...
• As mentioned above, electronics issues galore. From the gauges to the headlights.
  • I checked the fuses and a few had been blown. After replacing them, the only one that keeps blowing is the 20A heater fuse, but I think there are deeper issues that I need to find. I haven't turned on the heater once.
• There is bad rust under the rear driver and passenger's side drain sill, on the left and right side of the tailgate.
• Non-original tailgate. Probably an SOR or CCOT replica, non-dropdown tailgate.
  • Question for down the line: do I want to install the ambulance half doors, or a dropdown replica tailgate? Open to suggestions for both.
• The swing-out spare tire carrier is bolted down - after un-bolting it, it turns out that it indeed was bolted down for a reason, as the carrier swung out while test-driving. That was not-so-quickly bolted down again (seriously, it was a bitch to get that bolt back in), and noted as a project for another day.
• The occasional drip of oil was present while it was sitting for the few weeks before being registered, but nothing major; more on that later on.
• The seller included a Bestop soft top, which I installed a few days before Father's day.
  • A lot of the holes for this top were already drilled in the body, and the bracket that goes on top of the windshield that the soft top slides into was already installed, which indicated to me that the PO had the same top on this before. This did make install a relative breeze.
  • While the top is definitely nice, I am not completely in love with it, and am considering changing over to the TROA top or going back to a hard top. The bestop does look pretty good when all folded up, but it definitely feels more Jeep-y.
    • I think one of the POs really wanted a Jeep but instead they got this lol, I think the TROA tops are closer to the original factory soft tops. That is, if I decide to stick with the soft tops.
    • Anyone have any thoughts on going to hard top vs soft top? Please share!
• A good amount of rust/chips in the wheel-wells. One of the POs likely sprayed under there with some type of Rhino liner or linex and it hasn't held up so well. AFAIK those need to be re-applied yearly for protection, and it seems the PO neglected to keep up with that maintenance.
• Came with a Bestop fold and tumble rear jeep seat in the back. While I think I may keep this for the time being as I have a young son, when he gets older I will go back to the OEM fold down jump seats in the back.
• Tires are probably at least 3 years old if not older. Probably have about a year or so of driveability though.

Now for the good parts:

• Not the original, but it does have the 2F engine, as well as the 4-speed transmission and the 3-speed transfer case.
  • The truck drives straight, has all 4 gears and got all the way up to 68 mph according to GPS (speedo only said 60)!
  • All gears worked, and the transfer case functioned in 4Hi and 4Lo.
    • I broke the transfer case shifter knob trying to get it out of 4Hi when testing it - as it turned out, I just had to do some donuts to relieve the pressure built up in the transfer case enough to shift it back to 2wd. Fun lesson, and that wasn't an OEM knob anyway. Will probably replace with an aftermarket hard ball one.
    • Sometimes, there is a little trouble shifting into reverse, as I can still feel the clutch plates spinning when I go to drop down shifter.
• The frame is pretty much rust free. The body as well is mostly rust-free from what I can tell. Like I said above, the truck has been re-painted and underneath it was definitely sprayed with some type of lining to try to protect from rust; one of my goals will be to either patch this spray job up if possible, or strip it down and use something a lot stronger and less textured, like fluid film or noxudol 700.
• It's possible the rear half of the body may have been replaced at some point as it is in extremely good shape.
• Recently serviced Holly carburetor, new clutch, new exhaust system, newly serviced brakes belts, hoses, and a new battery. New steering stabilizer.
  • These were all the sellers claims; while I took them with a grain of salt, and the battery is definitely older, most of these do seem to be true.
  • Probably will replace the Holly carb down the line, but it seems to be running really well as of right now.
• Came with a Haynes complete service manual, a bottle of clutch fluid and a bottle of oil as well as a bottle jack and some craftsmen wrenches.
• Factory steel wheels with hubcaps and spare tire (also w/ factory wheels and hubcaps).
• Bucket seats which I think are probably much more comfortable for my body type (6' tall) than the OEM seats which look like they would make me sit a lot closer to the steering wheel.

After finally getting the truck registered we gave it it's proper first drive -- driving up to the diner with me and three buddies piled in. After the diner, we took it on the highway for the first time, going down to the beach to check out the off-roading capabilities, and finally returning back to my house. The next morning I woke up and was informed that there was a puddle under the truck; I went and investigated and sure enough there was more than a few cups of oil all over my recently pressure washed driveway. I was a bit upset but not surprised, after all the truck just turned 49 this month. I drove the truck to a friend's house for the 4th of July to show it off (got called a Jeep there for the first time of I am sure what will be many!)

I believe I have tracked the leak down to its source: the parking brake cable is shot. I also suspect leaks from my transfer case and from inside the parking brake assembly, so I ordered a kit from Valley hybrids (see Speedo housing leaks? Valley Hybrids dual seal rear extension housing kits. - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/speedo-housing-leaks-valley-hybrids-dual-seal-rear-extension-housing-kits.1206896/) to repair and upgrade my parking brake cable and assembly and see if that helps with the large leaks. The smaller leaks will have to wait...

That is all for now, thanks for reading! Will check back in when the Dual Seal Rear Extension Housing Kit is here. Obligatory pics below:

 

[centerlineseal]

Welcome to 'MUD, ... now, ... keep your checkbook handy!

 

[SteveH]

Thanks for the intro write-up. Good on you for keeping it stock-ish. That rig has a lot of potential. I love the stock, '76 cooling fan under the hood (likely needs a swift kick to get it to work). Keep updating this post as you go.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Looking pretty good. Although not original, the paint color is attractive IMO. I don't believe rear fender flares are OEM. I'd remove them and go with a hard top.
Tailgate is better than ambulance doors IMO. Why do you think the tires have a limited life span? They look good from a distance and are appropriately sized.

 

[pb4ugo]

Congrats on the 40 and welcome. It looks good. I would get it running, driving and stopping reliably. Check or change all the fluids and tackle your major leak. Baseline it and start a list, then pick your battles. Download free Factory Service Manuals. The tires should have date codes on them. I would avoid winter driving. With that said, I'd put some sort of tailgate on it. I don't run a top, except for a bikini top. Pick your projects. I try to avoid big repairs during the summer so I can drive it. I save big repairs for the winter months.

 

[brian]

Looking pretty good.
Tailgate is better than ambulance doors IMO.

They are superior in everyway

 

[charliemeyer007]

I like my 76 top with ambi doors - I don't hit my head. And the front recessed door handles don't snag on the brush. Do like the direct shift 4 WD selector over vacuum.

Looks like a nice rig - may you have many happy trails.

 

[rainingagain]

Welcome! You will be surprised how many parts are still available from Mr T.

 

[thisoldcruiser]

Welcome to 'MUD, ... now, ... keep your checkbook handy!

Thanks! Somehow there is already a hole in my wallet...

Thanks for the intro write-up. Good on you for keeping it stock-ish. That rig has a lot of potential. I love the stock, '76 cooling fan under the hood (likely needs a swift kick to get it to work). Keep updating this post as you go.

Will do, you just added another item to my list for the weekend: check if that cooling fan works.

Looking pretty good. Although not original, the paint color is attractive IMO. I don't believe rear fender flares are OEM. I'd remove them and go with a hard top.
Tailgate is better than ambulance doors IMO. Why do you think the tires have a limited life span? They look good from a distance and are appropriately sized.

Thanks for checking it out! The tires do look good from a distance but to answer your and @pb4ugo question about the tires, the date code indicates they were manufactured in 2013. When inspecting them up close there is a large amount of tread remaining, but there is definitely also a good amount of dry rot. I took some pictures to share with the group. Going to get them replaced asap now that I know they're a dozen years old. Can't believe they went 60 on NY roads without exploding.

Congrats on the 40 and welcome. It looks good. I would get it running, driving and stopping reliably. Check or change all the fluids and tackle your major leak. Baseline it and start a list, then pick your battles. Download free Factory Service Manuals. The tires should have date codes on them. I would avoid winter driving. With that said, I'd put some sort of tailgate on it. I don't run a top, except for a bikini top. Pick your projects. I try to avoid big repairs during the summer so I can drive it. I save big repairs for the winter months.

Appreciate the warm welcome! It seems to run drive and stop reliably so far, will continue testing on that front. Going to bring it to the local mechanic and have them give it a once-over, change all the fluids, and let me know from a more experienced perspective what all any major and minor issues are, so I can decide what to tackle myself and what I'll need to bring to a professional. I've got the '76 Owners manual downloaded along with the Chassis & Body Repair Manual for 75-83 FJs, to go along with the Haynes complete service manual that came with it.
I considered a bikini top briefly before installing the Bestop, still might get one as I like the convenience of it as compared to a full soft top -- the only thing holding me back is the amount of rainfall we get where I live, as obviously the full soft top offers a bit more protection from the rain than the bikini top.
Good idea on saving big repairs for the winter months, going to do the same.

Looks like a nice rig - may you have many happy trails.

Thank you! Can't wait to get it on the trails!

Welcome! You will be surprised how many parts are still available from Mr T.

Not surprised at all to be honest, one of my favorite YouTube channels lately has been Proffit's Resurrection Land Cruisers and he is always highlighting which parts on his rigs are still OEM Toyota to this day. I know a few years back they discontinued a bunch of new old stock parts, so I am just glad that there are still some things you can get OEM on a 50-year old rig!

Looks like a drop down tailgate is the way to go - what's your brand recommendations @Devils Paw 80 @brian @pb4ugo ? I know aqualu has some nice reproduction tailgates with & without internal storage space, any other you guys run?

 

[thisoldcruiser]

Here are some more pics of the oil leaks -

Originally, I thought that it was my master cylinder leaking, as when I popped the hood the first reservoir of brake fluid was completely empty. After topping it back off and driving it on the 4th, it is still full. I figured it could also be the parking brake so when I got the chance I traced the parking brake cable and sure enough it was shot. Also looks to be leaking from the parking brake housing; fingers crossed my transfer case isn't also leaking...

 

[Living in the Past]

I'd remove them and go with a hard top.
Tailgate is better than ambulance doors IMO.

They are superior in everyway

With a hard top ambulance doors are the only style that allows the back to open with the spare tire carrier closed. Without a top the barn doors allow one side to open with the spare carrier closed. Getting stuff out of the back that against the back of the front seat is more difficult with tailgate open. Tailgate makes a great table or seat. All three styles sold in the US have there plus and minuses.

 

[Unimogguy]

Nice 40. I would avoid the biggest mistake I see many people make with older vehicles…they try to do to much. Classically known as “while you’re in there”. Keep the 40 running and driving while you make repairs. Many 40’s have been taken apart in a garage with BIG ambitions only to be sold off as parts. When it’s apart and you aren’t getting to enjoy it you start to lose the desire to work on a project that is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[wchevron]

Congrats on your purchase. I have that same soft top. Not the best looking thing but I like the fact you can fold it and the frame down fully and be a full convertible. I'm in RI so same weather pattern. I'd get a bikini top also. Just bought one and haven't put the Bestop top on yet this season and may not. For most of the summer my '40 is my daily driver. If its going to rain I take my other car to work. Truck came with a hard top and ambulance doors. I'll drive it up until November or so and will take it out in April or May, depending on the weather (basically if all the road salt is gone). I like having the hard top in the cooler months.
I agree with what @Unimogguy said. Don't get into any heavy projects in the summer if you can avoid it. Just enjoy driving it. I had a pretty good oil leak last summer. Just kept a pan under the truck to catch it. Once late fall came, brought it to the mechanic and had a bunch of work done. Which turned out to be more than I bargained for and ended up being at his shop for 2 months. Glad that happened in the winter when I didn't care how long it took.