Hi y’all. First build thread here. I’ve been into 4WD Toyota’s for the majority of my driving life. I’ve had a total of 7 or so, including a few 4Runners, a pickup and a couple of 80 series.
Anyway, after more than a decade of lusting for a 40 series I am finally the proud owner of a 1966 FST. She’s a project for sure, but I’m in love.
This project will be pretty dang slow unfortunately. Due to having a young family, pursuing a Master’s degree and working full-time resources (time & money) will be tight.
I have been fortunate so far to have the help of local and some distant cruiser-heads. Both in their willingness to share knowledge and more fortunately donate some parts they don’t need freely.
The first few posts will be in quick succession as I’ve wavered on starting a build thread and quite a bit has happened since I obtained it in late January.
Can’t start a build thread with the obligatory first pics from the ad. So here goes:
She seems to be very solid. Can’t find any substantial rust anywhere. At some point a PO sprayed the underside of the body and the frame with some sort of bed liner and painted the body white.
The original color seems to be that gorgeous spring green color. At some point I’d like to go down the arduous path of removing the crap white paint and revive the green underneath. That will obviously come later as my primary goals are getting it running and driving so I can enjoy it.
With that said, my first task was to get her running. I noticed that the cap, rotor, wires and plugs all seemed to be newish. However the coil looked to be original and I determined it was not firing so it got replaced. For good measure I replaced the points and condenser.
After many attempts before and after replacing those parts (and having the distributor 180 out) she finally fired up! Amazingly I started filming right in time to catch the first start.
She's alive! The first start of my (new to me) 1966 FJ40 after who knows how long. The fluid you see at the end is the fuel pump telling me it works. 🤣
youtube.com
For good measure I took a couple more videos, reconnecting the fuel line and playing with the distributor in between.
I have to give a shout out to @tucker74 and @Unoman among others for putting up with my relentless texts with questions and comments about the strange awesomeness that is the 40 series.
I also need to give gratitude to @Goforth for the outstanding generosity he has shown me by donating literal BOXES of parts to the cause on top of the massive knowledge obtained from his 67 restoration recently.
Thanks @scoobiedubes! I’ve actually gotten quite a bit of inspiration from at least one of your threads already. Thanks for the warm welcome. And you are most definitely correct about this site. Been spending the last several years over in the 80s section. Happy to be here in the 25 section now as well.
The wife graciously released some cruiser funds (after being placed on a freeze for buying the damn thing) and so the project is officially moving forward!
After establishing that it does indeed run, I turned my attention to marking sure it stops and shifts. I threw in a few things it’ll need in there as well to capitalize on the cash flow.
Made a little progress this weekend thanks to the holiday. Rebuilt the clutch and brake masters and attempted to rebuild the slave to no avail. The piston seems to be frozen inside and I can’t seem to budge it. Any input on things to try would be much appreciated.
As part of that first big parts purchase I scored a new (to me) turn signal collar and switch as well as the threaded pin for the shifter from @hyhpe. Unfortunately, some asshat decided to weld on their own collar and destroy the pins on the back of the steering wheel. Sucks because the wheel is in great shape otherwise. I’m not sure if those pins are easily replaceable or if I’m screwed. Any suggestions here would also be much appreciated. Additionally I’m going to have to find a clever way to rerun the horn wire down the column.
Pin in the middle should push out, its spring loaded and should be connected to the horn seat.
Cancel pin could be drilled out and a new pin glued or taped in.
Use baling wire or stiff electrical wire and run it up the column from the exit hole for the horn wire, then you can attach horn wire to baling wire and pull horn wire down, can also be done in reverse method, go from top and try to find wire at exit point.
Looks like the horn seat is long gone and all that’s left is the nub of the pin.
I was also able to dig and pull of the turn signal cancel pin. I suppose I could go ahead and find a replacement pin. Would need to figure out how long it needs to be though.
