Picked this up today. 1965 Fj45 barn find

[SHREG]

Got a call from a friend yesterday. Said he found a Cruiser in a farmers barn. I got him on teh phone and he says "its pretty clean, even the pickup bed is rust free".... I said, "hold the phones....did you say "Pickup",... 12 hours later and its in the garage..

1965 LandCruiser Fj45 shortbed. 80k miles all original. The fella i purchased the truck from is named Roy. He is a great living American, WWII vet, Merchant Marine. He has some great stories, drove this rig from Montana to Minnesota when he was a spry 78 years old. He also shared a couple of old war photos with me. I could have listened to his stories all day. He hand painted the rig a few years back, for the 4th of July parade.... Great guy.... this rig is namned in his honor... will see him again next week around a camp fire... lookin forward to it...

Ill be lurking here now for info, plan is to do a resto.... wanna make it look like the other 65 pictured... thinkin baby blue or mint green....

cheers

 

[67azcruizr]

that is great! congrats

 

[gtfour43]

Awesome! Nice find

 

[Michael Hanson]

Roy would prob. help you restore it. MIke

 

[kellyo]

Looks great. Nice score.

 

[Cruiser Corps]

SWEET!

 

[SHREG]

Thanks all, yeah, Roy could probably do the resto. Broke my heart, asked if his kids wanted this thing he said "all they want is the money, i want to find a home for it"... fn kids these days..... He saw the pics of my 65 Fj40 and he was blown away... I told him i would send him updates of the resto...

 

[Scott Parsley]

Awesome story. You must have good Cruiser Karma.

 

[My wife said no FJ!]

Very cool...bet he feels better knowing it went to a good home, and not some flipper how will paint it and sell it.

When you say resto, you mean back to bone stock like the day she was made?

Looking forward to more pics as the progress gets underway

 

[The Red Camel]

Nice to see a great old truck go to a great home....... I think 99 percent of us would like you to keep it stock. When I pick up my fj45 im keeping it stock........no chevy under my hood, never,

 

[The Swede]

Lucky dog.

 

[SHREG]

Rest assured, this will be bone stock... my body guy said were gunna keep it like it was intended to be... As for replacing the mighty F135?... NEVER... this will not be a Land BLAZER.... she will remain true to her roots right down to the oil bath air filter.... I may do some mods for safety sake like rear disk breaks etc... Stopping is good...

Took it for a spin tonight... Prolly 20 miles round trip, needs a tune up and rear breaks...I also need to shore up the steering... shes loose... Im getting so many positive comments on Roys paint job i may just leave it alone... no shame in just maintain/enjoying for a few years....

Driving these old trucks just makes me smile... this one is special. Im going to see Roy again next weekend, i may just frame that picture of him for old times sake... He certainly left an impression on me..

Dream come true...

 

[3_puppies]

steering slop is probably in the center arm.

nice find!

 

[The Red Camel]

I would agree with the drum brake issue, pads and rotors make sense and I would do the same. That truck looks so soild for the age.

 

[Living in the Past]

Great looking 45. Wonder how the paint was before Roy hand painted? Any possiblility get is rubbed out to the original paint? I also doesn't to see why original drums brakes can't be safe. Depends on use. If you keep it original it's won't make a good DD if you drive it in the city disc brakes or not. Had problem with my 68's brakes until I finally took the time to rebuild them. Haven't problem since. I do plan on upgrading them to disc brakes but I also plan on more mods then I've already done. Other original cruisers I own wouldn't even consider converting to disc brakes. Drums brakes are fine for a original cruisr classic.

 

[krzyabncanuck]

What a great cruiser / story.

Sad his kids did not want anything to do with it though. But better it went to someone who could appreciate it.

 

[67azcruizr]

I also doesn't to see why original drums brakes can't be safe. Depends on use. If you keep it original it's won't make a good DD if you drive it in the city disc brakes or not. Had problem with my 68's brakes until I finally took the time to rebuild them. Haven't problem since. I do plan on upgrading them to disc brakes but I also plan on more mods then I've already done. Other original cruisers I own wouldn't even consider converting to disc brakes. Drums brakes are fine for a original cruisr classic.

drum brakes or disc brakes............................not a huge concern

single circuit or dual circuit system......................much bigger issue

Daily Driver or not, a dual circuit is going to be safer. most of the time driving a car on a regular basis keeps the vehicle in much better condition.

the main justification for switching to disc brakes is in maintaining a drum system, both with finance and labor.

if you do opt to stay single circuit just make checking the system regularly a priority. my only single circuit vehicle (a '59 FJ25) has completely restored master cylinders, wheel cylinders, slave cylinder (from White Post) and brand new brake lines

may just be me but I'm not into rebuilding cylinders via kits, OEM or aftermarket, with 50+ year old cylinders on a single circuit system

 

[Living in the Past]

drum brakes or disc brakes............................not a huge concern

single circuit or dual circuit system......................much bigger issue

Daily Driver or not, a dual circuit is going to be safer. most of the time driving a car on a regular basis keeps the vehicle in much better condition.

I totally agree with regular helps keeping them in better shape and dual circuit offer more safety but not as much as big a issue is made of it. Funny how all these old cruiser have survived with single ciruit brakes but now they only safe with dual circuit. Depends on use. No way would I every think of changing my 1970 brakes to dual circuit. My 68 only because driving down steep hills off road. FJ45 wii go dual but I plan to use it around town and the highway. FJ25s and other early FJ40s I have will stay single.

 

[SHREG]

I inspected the rear breaks today. Very serviceable. I did some minor adjusting and she rolled, and stopped allot better. I will inspect the fronts on Monday.

No daily driver duty, i figure this one will get me a load of wood on occasion and carry gear to the marina...I too believe a well maintained drum break system can be very dependable... just have to keep an eye on it..

 

[Hogan]

Nice find Greg, can't wait to see it. Post up some more pictures.