Oh great, another new guy...

[Cale Anderson]

Hello! I've been reading forums on here for years but never really got around to registering, until now.
I'm up in Alaska and finally found an old 40. There's a handful in MN but there all rough and gold-plated, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, been working on the restoration for the last year and a half and I've made decent progress I think. I know how you guys love pictures so I'll try and track down my photos from my old phone from when I first bought it. Until then here's a few snapshots in the meantime.
Check out the modified rear latch! The ball bearing really makes it smoooooth.

 

[ColoradoFJ40]

Welcome to the club. Brace yourself for all the opinions on the floor insulation.

We are gonna need more pics. Just sayin.

 

[Shep59]

Welcome aboard! Lots and lots of wisdom and tech tips here..Nothing like another cruiser head!!

 

[Cale Anderson]

So, I've reached a crossroad guys. I know a lot of you will disagree with this but I don't want to daily-drive a 45-year old, carbed, inefficient, stinky, noisy 2F. I've went to great lengths to waterproof/insulated the interior so this FJ can be driver anywhere and anytime, comfortably and reliably. I'd really like a 1fz-fe because there even more reliable but the length of the drivetrain is an issue. It's not going to be an off-road FJ anymore we so I don't care about flex or a manual trans. A V8 would be ok but it's wide and I don't know if a 3.4 would be enough. I can't find an affordably priced 4.0. I want to stick with Toyota.
So, do you think the drive train and suspension could be directly transplanted (with plenty of fabrication, of course.) Into my '75 FJ?

 

[Living in the Past]

75 looks like a 74. One the year month of production? Drivetrain looks really long for a SWB FJ40.

 

[Tancruiser]

I have no wisdom other than to say never call it an fj there are people out there that take it kinda personal and make sure the bezel thingy is on correct other than that welcome to the addiction.

 

[Cale Anderson]

Haha, yeah I'm expecting some "criticism". I bought an upholstery book and that's what they said to use, along with jute felt. I'm not a purist by any means and I like what I like so I'm probably going to make certain people queasy when I tell them what I did to the hardtop. My phones dyin so the explanation will have to wait til later. Also, those seats are giving me hell! I'll explain that later too. More pics, as requested.

 

[Cale Anderson]

75 looks like a 74. One the year month of production? Drivetrain looks really long for a SWB FJ40.

I think it's a late 74 because it has a lot of threshold -year parts. No ambulance doors or disc brakes but it has the 2F and 4 speed. The vin plate says Jul 75.

 

[Cale Anderson]

75 looks like a 74. One the year month of production? Drivetrain looks really long for a SWB FJ40.

That's the drivetrain for the 80 I'd like to use. I haven't pulled mine yet.

 

[Cale Anderson]

I have no wisdom other than to say never call it an fj there are people out there that take it kinda personal and make sure the bezel thingy is on correct other than that welcome to the addiction.

Haha, I understand. I guess I'll call it a 40 from now on? Bezel thingy...not sure what you mean exactly?

 

[White Stripe]

It sounds like your trying to transform it into a fjcruiser but retain the fj40 body.

 

[Tancruiser]

What year of mini van did those seats come out of?

 

[Cale Anderson]

What year of mini van did those seats come out of?

Ouch...a Honda SUV. I like my seats, comfy. The originals didn't come with it.

 

[Cale Anderson]

It sounds like your trying to transform it into a fjcruiser but retain the fj40 body.

A resto-mod, yeah pretty much. Some new, some old.

 

[Cale Anderson]

A resto-mod, yeah pretty much. Some new, some old.

 

[Cleg]

The exterior paint combination is interesting.
Kind of a mix of Hi Visibility and Camo.

 

[Tancruiser]

I'm kinda liking the jungle camo look.

 

[Cale Anderson]

I liked the original mustard yellow. Someone at some point did not, apparently. I don't know what they were thinking with lime green. I'm thinking dark brown or dark green with gray wheels, white top and white headlight surround. Thoughts?

 

[Cale Anderson]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the roof and seat details from yesterday. I don't really care for the soft tops. I know I'm the minority on this. Don't get me wrong, if I were in a warm state there would be no top no doors and fold the windshield but I'm in Alaska. I welded the top permanently and waterproofed everything. I also redesigned the door jambs to accept a more efficient weather stripping so it doesn't leak a drop of water. The truck is a lot quieter now, only a few creaks from the suspension and I haven't even upholstered it yet.

 

[Cale Anderson]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the roof and seat details from yesterday. I don't really care for the soft tops. I know I'm the minority on this. Don't get me wrong, if I were in a warm state there would be no top no doors and fold the windshield but I'm in Alaska. I welded the top permanently and waterproofed everything. I also redesigned the door jambs to accept a more efficient weather stripping so it doesn't leak a drop of water. The truck is a lot quieter now, only a few creaks from the suspension and I haven't even upholstered it yet.

So the seats came out of that Honda SUV like I was saying, they were the rear seats and they went over the driveshaft hump. I didn't notice this when I pulled them out at the junkyard but when I tore them apart I realized everything had been engineered around that. I had to build a new seat frame and modify the mounts to fit mine and that proved to be a pretty tall challenge. The amount of cables and linkages hidden is those seats is mind-boggling.