New to FJ40 Scene (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter FloridaLife
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NVM, found it, post #59.
Early hood.
FloridaLife
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- #203
I was over at cruisermatt's shop and his 1971 has it too, and on the YouTube Channel "Mike Restores an FJ40" the 1971 he was working on had it too.
So you are saying that cruisermatt's, and mine, and the one that Mike restored all had their hoods swapped for an earlier model hood, and that the 1971 FJ40's did not come with the chrome "hood spear"?
FloridaLife
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- #204
I did another search, specifically for images of 1971 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser and although I did not look at every image, a quick review showed that about 17 out of 20 did in fact have the hood spear, including a 1971 advertisement for the FJ40. So I'm guessing it came on all of them and some people removed it when repainting. I was just curious if it was optional, or if it came on all of them?
And I was curious if it was some unpardonable sin to remove it.
Thanks
FloridaLife
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- #205
Almost all of these have it, and the 1971 advertisement does too:
images of 1971 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser - Google Search
www.google.com
I'm just wondering if it is a sin to remove it?
brian
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71s had it, 72s didnt..my mistake.
It's your truck, do as you please.
FloridaLife
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- #207
See this pic
FloridaLife
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- #209
Thank you.
pb4ugo
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I think split hoods had the spear.
FloridaLife
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- #211
Split where? Looking at the top and the underside with it sanded down I don't see a split, but I may have overlooked it.
I kind of like the clean look without it. But then again looking at some online when they have a good paint job it doesn't stand out so much.
Your's looks like the correct hood for your year. Split is the seam down the center where the 2 pieces are mated together. Sometime late 71 for the 72 model year, the hoods are stamped as one piece.
The early split hoods did not have the rubber bumpers on the aprons; they just have some cusions on the front bib. Do your aprons have the bumbers or the holes for them? I think the prop rod is in a different spot also? Not 100% on that.
Do you not like the hood spear? Personally, I like it better than the later hoods. It's just the right amount of chrome haha.
pb4ugo
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In the 3rd Pic of your 1st post shows it has a split hood. Look at the seam going down the center. It's a 2 piece hood.
FloridaLife
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- #214
Interesting. I thought that was just a rusty line coming down from the mounting hardware for the chrome piece. Once it was sanded down I definitely did not see a split. I'll check with the paint & body guys.
FloridaLife
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- #215
Thanks for the information. Mine has both the rubber bumpers on the aprons, as well as the cushions for the front bib.
When it first arrived I thought to myself "Wow, that chrome piece on the hood REALLY stands out, maybe a bit much, and I don't remember other FJ40's I've seen having that." However, I'm thinking now it was because the paint was so badly faded and oxidized that it caused my eye to immediately go to the chrome spear. Doing a Google search last night for images of just 1971 FJ40's it looked to me like if one had old faded and oxidized paint them the chrome spear stuck out like a sore thumb, but if the paint was good then the chrome piece did not stick out like a sore thumb.
As far as like or not like, I am kind of on the fence. I am just used to seeing FJ40's that do not have them. In my younger days I liked chrome. Once the paint is done the only thing shiny will be the stainless steel bolts on all the hinges and the pull hooks / latches, so maybe that 1 piece won't be too bad.
pb4ugo
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I think the spear is NLA, I wouldn't pitch it. I think the split hood has a different profile than the 1 piece hoods, but I could be wrong. It's your vehicle, you do what you want. I think the hood & spear indicates it's an older 40. Similar to apron marker lights and the wipers being on top of the w/s frame. Personally, I think It's sort of cool.
brian
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They are completely interchangeable, but yes the split hoods are just a bit lower profile across the front edge.
They also have fewer, but longer length louvers than the one pc hoods.
FloridaLife
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- #218
Thank you. I think mine was built right in one of those time-frames where things were changing. It's a '71 with a build date of Dec '70, and I know the build dates just 7 months later had different window seals. That could be when they made the change in the hood too.
The one thing I know for sure, is that this waiting on the paint and body shop is driving me crazy. It's like a kid waiting on Christmas. I can't push or rush them because I'm getting a great price, but it keeps getting pushed to the side to knock out quick collision jobs.
FloridaLife
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- #219
Hmmm. Interesting.
Skreddy
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I know a few people who have said these same words and they always end up unhappy. Do you think this shop will suddenly stop taking insurance jobs? You’re already setting a precedent that you’re ok being pushed aside for more profitable work.
If they’ve started anything on yours, there’s a time window that primers, etc. can be covered over without reprepping them, which takes time and costs money so it is often skipped, which leads to paint failure later on.
It’s your 40 and your agreement with the paint shop but I wouldn’t let my project get continually pushed aside.
As for hood spear, etc.; if there’s no seam on your hood, the paint shop filled the seam. My thoughts are that the hood is fairly flimsy on these and that seam being filled is going to quickly crack.
