Quest for the perfect FJ40. The Ultimate FZJ40 Build...

[LandBruiser69]

To start this story I will first take you back to August 24, 2011..

This is the day I started the conversation with the previous owner of this FJ40 about purchasing. In my mind, it was a long shot to purchase this beauty because the seller was all the way in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had certainly done crazier things... But to drive over half way across the country to pick up and old 1969 Land Cruiser, not knowing any history of it was kind of questionable...

This is where IH8MUD comes in! Fortunately, due to way too much time on these forums, I had met a couple friends!! One of these friends, Tom (Alaska60) here on mud just so happened to live in SLC! I messaged Tom and told him the story and he was there that night checking out my dream 40!!! Basically, his advice was "Come get this thing! It is CLEAN!" So there it was, my decision was made. I had to somehow get out to Utah and pick this beauty up. I picked up the phone and called my brother to ask if he was in for an adventure... his reply was "what are you up to now Nick?"... Yes I have a reputation... LOL.

September 7, 2011...

Preparation for the journey to Utah begins... Yes, my brother decided to tag along... We will be limited on time as he needs to be back in MD only 5 days later for work. We pack everything tonight in his 2011 Trail Teams FJ Cruiser and get ready to sail off in the morning.

September 8, 2011...

The Journey begins. We head out in the morning from Maryland. Our plan, to drive straight with only stops for gas, and to be in SLC in 32hrs... More to come...

 

[LandBruiser69]

Some of the first/original photos of the Cruiser....

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]

September 9, 2011...

We arrive into SLC, Utah around 9PM and meet the seller as well as our new to us beautiful 1969 FJ40. Tom meets us there to grab the truck and also has another surprise for us! He has called AAA to have the vehicle towed from the sellers place to his shop so that we can get the vehicle ready for transport on the Uhaul front wheel dolly. It's about 2AM when the AAA tow truck finally shows up and we are off to Tom's house to turn in for the night after dropping the new girl off to his shop. We hit the bed about 3AM. I can hardly sleep due to my excitement of finally owning my dream FJ40! The next day our plan is to work on the FJ40 to ensure it is tow worthy, then head into Moab!

 

[LandBruiser69]

Photos from pick-up and transport to Tom's shop...

 

[LandBruiser69]

Sept 10, 2022...
We get the FJ40 road ready, remove drive shafts and free up the rear brakes. Off to Moab!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

The road to Moab!!! Towing the 40 with the FJ Cruiser definitely went way better than we had expected. It did an incredible job!

 

[LandBruiser69]

It was truly exciting having 3 different decades of cruisers along for this trip! Moab never disappoints!!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

Especially Moab at night!!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

Moab was a blast! We are now homeward bound!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

A few fun stops but we were short on time and Maryland was over 30 hours away. The push was hard headed home as we had to be back to work in 2 days!!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

Alright.... I know, you all are saying, "Its 2023 man!! Catch us up!!! What's the current status??" Well, I am just going to say that you will have to hang tight a little longer... I will however fast forward you almost 10 years... This was when I decided to get serious about the restoration and finally figured out what I wanted from this FJ40.

In retirement, my goal is to travel the world in this FJ40. Knowing what I have learned from my past trips, goals for this build will be what I like to call the 3 "R's"...

Reliability: Extremely important to keep repairs and future costs low as well as not having issues when i frequent remote areas.

Readily available Parts: When traveling the world, I will need to ensure all parts on the rig are readily available, easily replaceable, and/or have redundancy when necessary.
Range: When I travel, the more remote, the better for me. So we will be keep the rig as light as possible without sacrificing anything mentioned above. It will also have a huge reserve of fuel.

Keeping all these items in mind, the quest was on to find the best parts as well as the best partner to help me design and build this rig if I was going to have any hope of it being built quicker than 10 years from this point... This is where Jason Harris from Ozark Overland Outfitters comes into the picture. It didn't take long from the day I met him and started following his work and having conversations with him to realize he was the man I wanted helping me with my Dream expedition FJ40 build.

I guess at this point in time, I should warn any of you FJ40 purists out there this will not be your typical OEM off the frame restoration back to original spec. Instead, Jason and I have vowed to make this one of the most reliable, capable, beautiful, and powerful FJ40's in the country... On February 6, 2020, My FJ40 would find its way from Maryland to Missouri to meet Jason at Ozark Overland Outfitters. This is where the transformation begins...

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]

It wasn't long after the 40 reached Jason's shop that he got started on it... Here are a few progress photos from April of 2020!!

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]

Here you can see all the work he did cleaning up all the original steel. Also cutting out to make room for the extended range tank that would go under the seats in the girl. All blasted and taken down to the metal to patch the million and one holes the PO put into her as well as some of the additional mods we would make such as deleting the turns on the front fenders and cleaning up the dash quite a bit for the more modern but tasteful updates she would see.

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]

 

[LandBruiser69]