Well I jumped in and bought an FJ45LV that had been sitting in a field in Montana. I am a carpenter / general contractor and I build houses pretty much hands-on in all parts of the job. Being more of a wood guy and having been mentally scarred by a moped project when I was 10 years young I have always been shy about metal and grease. So I had the 45LV shipped down to Proffitt's in Salt Lake so they could get it to drive and make sure it has brakes and lights. Further down the story I'll post the pictures of the body and I hope to get some input from ye all.
The PO (3puppies) also had some good axles and disc rims and John at Proffitt's had suggested the upgrade. Here they are in the back of the 45LV.
So actually we went a bit beyond the initial "let's get her running". The Proffitt's boys installed those axles from late 70's/early 80's FJ40s, added disc brakes, dual master cylinder, a 2 inch lift with reverse shackles and spiffy new 33x 10.5 tires. The motor ran but barely, so they overhauled it and got it running really nice. Two weeks ago I had a free weekend and a hallway pass
and I went to go pick her up to drive her back to the colorado rockies.
Man would you look at that! Here she is strutting new legs!
John was great, he showed me how to drive the three on the tree and I was off on the road. I wanted a quiet one to get used to my new ride. I chose 73 that goes from Tooele to Lehi. She was purring down the road, ah what a feeling back in a landcruiser! I had one for 15 years as a daily driver and had to sell her "Lola was her name" when things got rough after the 2008 stock crash. Look at this happy truck. That 50 miles an hour turns out to be about 44 actually. Since I have no seat belts and a straight driveshaft pointing at my heart, that's just fine.
Life is good in a landcruiser with great views all around.
Things got interesting. It can get lonely driving by yourself some 500 miles in a slow vehicle that still looks like it came right out of the field where it sat for 17 years. It was last registered in '96. But this was no ordinary trip, this was a getting acquainted trip. Somewhere near the entrance to a nature preserve and canyon on the left I see a small fire burning right next to the road. It must have just started, so I call 911 and report it as there was a bit of wind fanning the flames in the direction of that natural area. Not every day that this happens, what's next?
I catch some late dinner in Provo and I am tired. I realize that I drove 5 hours to the denver airport at 4am this morning and all in all the miles are wearing me down, the plan was to camp along the way and so we shall. But first I get a phone call from the BLM fire investigator, "Can you tell me anything about that fire? Any one with four wheelers on a trailer around?" "No sir, It had just started but there was no one there and I did not stop, I did not see anyone who could have started it."
I hop my full belly back on to the bench and take off for highway 6 into the mountains. John said the gearing was good for keeping the speed up on all the hills I would encounter and she did great. Ah, trucks are stopped here, great, I'll catch a nap on the front bench. Wow this is nice, front benches are awesome for a quick nap. The fold of the bench tucked me in and I napped a good hour. Yeah time to roll again! The night time is for trucking and I am feeling good going down the road in my new truck. I'm thinking I want to write a bluegrass song.
I made it all the way to Wellington by 3am and then drove out into the desert many miles to find a quiet spot. Down goes the tail gate and the back was long enough with the seat up to keep all 6 feet stretched out and then I passed out in the quiet darkness. The sunlight woke me up the next morning and I could see where I was. Nothing but a dirt road and sandy rocks around me. I find a sign a bit further up and a guy in a shiny new toyota truck stops and asks if I need help, well yes, I can't make out what this faded map says (and I don't have my glasses). He pulls out a chamber of commerce guide pamphlet complete with a detailed map and hands it to me, "Here is all the info you need, and here is my card, if you get stuck call me" Wow that was really nice and the timing was perfect.
I had more perfection that morning in the middle of nowhere as I needed to take care of #2 and I had no TP. Yikes, there is no grass or anything else here, this is going to be messy. There is a military ammunition box bolted to the floor in the back, it's the first time I look inside and look at that, there is a pack of TP in here! How did they know back in 1996 they would save my butt in 2012?
I took that dirt road down the Buckhorn draw into a canyon with great views of red rock cliffs, cave paintings and a swinging bridge. Then the phone rang, fire investigator Blake again, more questions, are you sure you did not see anything else? I wonder what happened to that fire, but I did not ask. I hope they got it in time.
to be continued...... he he there is more in store. I just wish I had taken that picture but we'll get to that.
Done and wrote it. See part 2 below and you'll find the answer.
The PO (3puppies) also had some good axles and disc rims and John at Proffitt's had suggested the upgrade. Here they are in the back of the 45LV.
So actually we went a bit beyond the initial "let's get her running". The Proffitt's boys installed those axles from late 70's/early 80's FJ40s, added disc brakes, dual master cylinder, a 2 inch lift with reverse shackles and spiffy new 33x 10.5 tires. The motor ran but barely, so they overhauled it and got it running really nice. Two weeks ago I had a free weekend and a hallway pass
and I went to go pick her up to drive her back to the colorado rockies.Man would you look at that! Here she is strutting new legs!
John was great, he showed me how to drive the three on the tree and I was off on the road. I wanted a quiet one to get used to my new ride. I chose 73 that goes from Tooele to Lehi. She was purring down the road, ah what a feeling back in a landcruiser! I had one for 15 years as a daily driver and had to sell her "Lola was her name" when things got rough after the 2008 stock crash. Look at this happy truck. That 50 miles an hour turns out to be about 44 actually. Since I have no seat belts and a straight driveshaft pointing at my heart, that's just fine.
Life is good in a landcruiser with great views all around.
Things got interesting. It can get lonely driving by yourself some 500 miles in a slow vehicle that still looks like it came right out of the field where it sat for 17 years. It was last registered in '96. But this was no ordinary trip, this was a getting acquainted trip. Somewhere near the entrance to a nature preserve and canyon on the left I see a small fire burning right next to the road. It must have just started, so I call 911 and report it as there was a bit of wind fanning the flames in the direction of that natural area. Not every day that this happens, what's next?
I catch some late dinner in Provo and I am tired. I realize that I drove 5 hours to the denver airport at 4am this morning and all in all the miles are wearing me down, the plan was to camp along the way and so we shall. But first I get a phone call from the BLM fire investigator, "Can you tell me anything about that fire? Any one with four wheelers on a trailer around?" "No sir, It had just started but there was no one there and I did not stop, I did not see anyone who could have started it."
I hop my full belly back on to the bench and take off for highway 6 into the mountains. John said the gearing was good for keeping the speed up on all the hills I would encounter and she did great. Ah, trucks are stopped here, great, I'll catch a nap on the front bench. Wow this is nice, front benches are awesome for a quick nap. The fold of the bench tucked me in and I napped a good hour. Yeah time to roll again! The night time is for trucking and I am feeling good going down the road in my new truck. I'm thinking I want to write a bluegrass song.
I made it all the way to Wellington by 3am and then drove out into the desert many miles to find a quiet spot. Down goes the tail gate and the back was long enough with the seat up to keep all 6 feet stretched out and then I passed out in the quiet darkness. The sunlight woke me up the next morning and I could see where I was. Nothing but a dirt road and sandy rocks around me. I find a sign a bit further up and a guy in a shiny new toyota truck stops and asks if I need help, well yes, I can't make out what this faded map says (and I don't have my glasses). He pulls out a chamber of commerce guide pamphlet complete with a detailed map and hands it to me, "Here is all the info you need, and here is my card, if you get stuck call me" Wow that was really nice and the timing was perfect.
I had more perfection that morning in the middle of nowhere as I needed to take care of #2 and I had no TP. Yikes, there is no grass or anything else here, this is going to be messy. There is a military ammunition box bolted to the floor in the back, it's the first time I look inside and look at that, there is a pack of TP in here! How did they know back in 1996 they would save my butt in 2012?
I took that dirt road down the Buckhorn draw into a canyon with great views of red rock cliffs, cave paintings and a swinging bridge. Then the phone rang, fire investigator Blake again, more questions, are you sure you did not see anything else? I wonder what happened to that fire, but I did not ask. I hope they got it in time.
to be continued...... he he there is more in store. I just wish I had taken that picture but we'll get to that.
Done and wrote it. See part 2 below and you'll find the answer.
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I need to jump in the Green river as soon as I can, so I drive on wondering about the noise. This is not really the place to stop and the engine runs well and the gauges are all indicating that things are still ok. I get to Green River and ask for directions to a spot to jump in. The clerk at the convenience omits the state park right by the freeway and directs me to Hastings road. This turns out to a be a fortunate turn of events. I turn left on Hastings and follow a couple of slow cars, actually just as slow as me. After seeing many private property signs I see two cop cars and then a sign saying "Desert Rock". Some cars are turning off to the right, but I continue on to the sandy bend in the river. There are lots of cars and people and it is Saturday after all. I park and jump into the river, this feels good and the caked substances dissolve into a muddy sludge around me. As I look around I notice there are only young people here, no families, and lots of tattoos and piercings. This is unfamiliar to me but I am intrigued and a bit further up someone is standing in the middle of a gathering, he is wildly gesticulating and screaming. I carefully go to check it out. 
and that would not be my thing anyway so I get back to my truck and open the door. I have to figure out what the noise is about and I still have a long way to go and I like to drive at night. The guy camped beside my truck says "hey was this just temporary parking?" I worry if it was ok to park here, but he says "My friend wanted to pose with your truck for me to take pictures of her." Surprised I say "Sure go for it". I close the door again as his girlfriend comes from behind his camping trailer clad in a leather bikini with a studded leather sash. She has a really cute face and voluptuous curves. My mouth just about dropped wide open as she hugs my truck and acts like an experienced model doing a professional shoot. The guy eggs her on and soon she is draped across the hood upside down with her big brown eyes staring into the camera, her studded leather sash slightly dropping over her hips. 
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