Rehab of 1964 Toyota Landcruiser, FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[Wapiti1]

Hello All,

I am in the process of rebuilding the drive train of my 1964 Landcruiser FJ40 . I am installing a small block chev 350 and a four speed tranny. I would like your advice on what carburetor to use (presumable 4 barrel with two primary and two secondary,) and what aftermarket intake manifold. I have rams head exhaust manifolds. Likewise before this rehab I installed a power steering system and would like to upgrade that to a better systems, what parts would you recommend?

I will need a deeper {thicker) radiator to handle the larger volume of water and would like to know what radiators work best with a chev 350 for as near as possible to do a drop in on the mounting brackets of the Cruiser. If mounting brackets need to be made this can be done. The tub is separated from the frame and engine train. The frame will be cleaned and repainted or coated. Your thoughts on coating?


Is there a way to put in a larger gas tank under the passenger seat, and if so which one? The tub when installed will be 2 inches higher that original placement because of need to accommodate the transmission . Or put in a second gas tank somewhere under the tub and if so what type and location and gas filling hook up and transfer of fuel .

I am leaning toward bucket seats and would like to know what works best.

You help and consultation will be greatly appreciated.

TOM

 

[DangerNoodle]

I wouldn't do a body lift. It isn't necessary at all. Good placement of the engine should set all that up fine, Advance Adapters has a pretty good writeup on correct engine placement. If you are looking for a carb, any four barrel should work. EFI is also a really nice upgrade to have, though.

Do you have power steering currently? If so, what is it? Lots of possible options, depending on what you have.

I've seen a lot of guys use the stock radiator with SBCs, as long as they have a good fan and shroud, it seems to work. I believe that you can get factory sized aluminum 4 core radiators if you are looking at a new one.

Powdercoating is a great option for the frame, but it can get a bit pricey, up to you. I would recomend it.

There are plenty of ways to stick a new tank under the seats. I built my tank out of 1/8" 5051 aluminum. Currently holds about 28.5 gallons.

Lots of aux tank possiblities as well.

Tons of seat options are available. I'm currently running Corbeau Baja RS in the cruiser, super comfy and they support me really well when wheeling.

You can see my tank in here.

Sounds like a fun project! Good luck!

-Noodle

 

[pb4ugo]

DangerNoodle's recommendations are pretty much spot on. I've been running an sbc since the mid 80's using a stk rad with a straight fan and a good shroud. Proper engine placement helps on cooling. You don't want it to close the firewall. The air needs to flow around it. Check AA and use the search function on this site. Also check faqs at the top of this section. At 1st I ran the stk 4 speed and tcase and it currently has a sm420, Dana 20 tcase. My street 40 has a nv4500, 40 stk case. They all fit under the Trans hump without any body lift. I will say im not familiar with the 64 hump, maybe its not as tall as a 72 or 75. What axles are going to run? I think a 64's frt end would have a ball and claw frt axles. We all like pics.

 

[Skreddy]

To the intake/carb question: For a SBC, I really like a well tuned quadrajet on an edelbrock performer manifold. This doesn’t add extra height like some combos will. A properly set up q-jet is responsive, easy on fuel (relatively speaking) and will dang near run upside down.

 

[Wapiti1]

I wouldn't do a body lift. It isn't necessary at all. Good placement of the engine should set all that up fine, Advance Adapters has a pretty good writeup on correct engine placement. If you are looking for a carb, any four barrel should work. EFI is also a really nice upgrade to have, though.

Do you have power steering currently? If so, what is it? Lots of possible options, depending on what you have.

I've seen a lot of guys use the stock radiator with SBCs, as long as they have a good fan and shroud, it seems to work. I believe that you can get factory sized aluminum 4 core radiators if you are looking at a new one.

Powdercoating is a great option for the frame, but it can get a bit pricey, up to you. I would recomend it.

There are plenty of ways to stick a new tank under the seats. I built my tank out of 1/8" 5051 aluminum. Currently holds about 28.5 gallons.

Lots of aux tank possiblities as well.
View attachment 2858455

View attachment 2858457

Tons of seat options are available. I'm currently running Corbeau Baja RS in the cruiser, super comfy and they support me really well when wheeling.

View attachment 2858461

View attachment 2858468

You can see my tank in here.

View attachment 2858467

Sounds like a fun project! Good luck!

-Noodle

View attachment 2858469

Thanks for your reply. First picture: What is the black diamond metal on the outside of the unit driver door area? I am not familiar with that. Also: I noted the welded bracket on the floor board to the door area. Is there any kind of bracket or brace on the other side (bottom) . This area rusted out and I removed the rusted material and need to reinsert new material (probably an angle iron) and cannot remember what if anything was on the underside. ( sorry but this project has been delayed 20 years.

What intake manifold is suggested? Carburetor should be a quadra jet but do not know which model number. Do you have that? Of course the carb has to match the intake manifold. Throttle connections will probably have to be created.

Radiator, one person in this thread suggested an aluminum core radiator but did not specify the make model or year from which to get the core. The radiator input port needs to be the same size as the engine exit port next to the water pump.

Your pictures show very high quality rehab. Congratulations on your work.

I had to do a 2 inch body lift because the 64 floor cap would not allow the tranny to be inserted. Would a later year floor cap work and bolt in okay?

What bucket seats did you use? ie from what automobile, nice.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Thanks for your reply. First picture: What is the black diamond metal on the outside of the unit driver door area? I am not familiar with that. Also: I noted the welded bracket on the floor board to the door area. Is there any kind of bracket or brace on the other side (bottom) . This area rusted out and I removed the rusted material and need to reinsert new material (probably an angle iron) and cannot remember what if anything was on the underside. ( sorry but this project has been delayed 20 years.

What intake manifold is suggested? Carburetor should be a quadra jet but do not know which model number. Do you have that? Of course the carb has to match the intake manifold. Throttle connections will probably have to be created.

Radiator, one person in this thread suggested an aluminum core radiator but did not specify the make model or year from which to get the core. The radiator input port needs to be the same size as the engine exit port next to the water pump.

Your pictures show very high quality rehab. Congratulations on your work.

I had to do a 2 inch body lift because the 64 floor cap would not allow the tranny to be inserted. Would a later year floor cap work and bolt in okay?

What bucket seats did you use? ie from what automobile, nice.

The diamond plating is the trailer I was pulling it around on before it was running.

The welded angle iron on there was some PO special that got removed before I lined the tub.

Intake, I would suggest a single plane 4bbl. I've been fighting some lean cylinder issues with my dual plane intake (even with EFI), which got solved with spacers. I would go single plane if I did it again.

You can find hoses to match pretty much any size, even if they are different, it may just take some hunting. That would be pretty low on my list of concerns.

Thanks! This was a super rushed build, I did it in less than 2 years, really more like a year with covid parts delays. Definitely some room for improvement, but it's not a show rig. I'm coming up on 2 years of ownership of this rig as of early January.

I would modify the hump before a body lift. That's pretty easy metalwork, and it will look so much better in the end, rather than a body lift. Body lifts look tacky, IMO.

The seats are aftermarket Corbeau seats. BAJA RS.

 

[Skreddy]

For intake, an edelbrock performer is hard to beat on a stock to mild SBC.
I believe later trans humps are taller to clear shifters: maybe late 74 and up?
For radiator, aluminum is good if you not after appearing correct (black). I would find one with the biggest tubes possible. Like a 2 row with 1”+ tubes. I run an aluminum 2 row with 1-1/8” tubes in my chevelle with a 600+ hp big block and even in 90 degree summer traffic it does not get hot. Granted, not a very similar comparison, but I think 2 big tubes are better than 3 or 4 small ones.