Reverse Jerry-Rigging a 1973 FJ40 to operation (1 Viewer)

[40LandCruising]

This is a build thread for a 1973 FJ40. May of 2016, My dad and i purchased a 1973 FJ40. I found it in GA on craigslist, knew it was a great deal and told my dad if you want this call now(I was in school). A 40 had been his dream car since high school and spending an excessive daily amount of time on Craigslist, i knew 40s weren't everywhere and especially not for a good price. He called the guy and left a voicemail and it turned out we were the first people to call(it had been posted 13 minutes earlier). THe guy called him back and they got to talking, my dad went to college in GA and one of his good college buddy's coincidentally knew the owner. The owner said since we knew him he'd hold the cruiser. We had another one of my dads college friends and his brother(who had owned a 40 and my dad had tried to buy repeatedly) go look at it. They gave it the go ahead and gave the owner a deposit. A couple weeks later my dad drove down there and pulled it back on a u-haul trailer with our truck. We drove it that night and immediately knew there was work to be done. It swerved back and forth when you drove it, had death wobble, and the exhaust was running through a cherry bomb glasspack and letting out right under the front seats. Who doesn't love exhaust poisoning??

 

[40LandCruising]

This is the first day we had it. We were super excited. As you can tell POs had done a lot of stuff to it. Much of which was jerry-rigged horribly and some good. The entire rear part of the tub, starting at the rear of the door jamb had been replaced. Good metal and good welds, but whoever did it added a weird divider behind the seats, creating a mini bed and small storage compartment behind seats. We plan to remove divider and fashion some jump seats from who knows what(school bus seats, military surplus Humvee seats, who knows??)

 

[40LandCruising]

Here is the view of the "bed"

 

[40LandCruising]

This is the after

This is the before of the suspension and steering

 

[40LandCruising]

This is the new exhaust, clean and simple and out of the way of rocks I hope

 

[40LandCruising]

Do y'all think it'll clear 35s? The tires on it are bald 31s.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I've no experience with 35s... But you have a lot of room and a lot to work with.

Welcome and enjoy the fun that ownership brings!!

Edit: in your last pic, the rear tires seem to be forward too far... Are you sure you have your rear springs oriented correctly? It could be the angle of the picture...

 

[Mr Cimarron]

This is the afterView attachment 1380388 View attachment 1380387 This is the before of the suspension and steering

The after is much better looking. I don't know what is happening in the before pick. Keep it up!

 

[40LandCruising]

@pngunme, I see what your saying. The springs are on the factory hangers. Would it make a difference which end of the spring is forward and which is back? also it could be since the entire back of the tub has been replaced the wheel wells are in a different place.

@Mr Cimarron, thank you! you could definitely say it was very sketchy and unsafe before

 

[40LandCruising]

I potentially have a contact who has the same bolt pattern as the FJ with 35s, if so im going to do a test fit. If they fit a local tire shop can do $180 apiece installed Mud Claws by cooper for 35x12.50r15.
The next order of business is the wiring. The headlights worked when we bought it but no more so i have some work to do with a test light! And the turn signals do not work as well, hazards work however so thats a good sign.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

@pngunme, I see what your saying. The springs are on the factory hangers. Would it make a difference which end of the spring is forward and which is back? also it could be since the entire back of the tub has been replaced the wheel wells are in a different place.

@Mr Cimarron, thank you! you could definitely say it was very sketchy and unsafe before

I have no actual experience, with hanging springs... Only what I've read... And, it appears, there is definitely a "right" way and a "wrong" way.

@ginmtb's thread describes the tribulations he faced and corrected. Help! Are OME spring backwards?

 

[ginmtb]

I have no actual experience, with hanging springs... Only what I've read... And, it appears, there is definitely a "right" way and a "wrong" way.

@ginmtb's thread describes the tribulations he faced and corrected. Help! Are OME spring backwards?

Tribulations? It was just an opportunity to "practice." In the infamous words of Allen Iberian, "we're talkin' practice!"

 

[40LandCruising]

Thanks @pngunme for pointing me to @ginmtb thread. It proves to be helpful i believe. I will look at flipping the springs around.

 

[Tin basher]

35s will fit but tend to rub on front fenders when wheeling
The rear will be pretty tight the way the wheels are fitting in the wheel well
I have the same springs as you have and had the same problem with the shackle angle I moved the front perches back to gain some wheel base and get away from the front of the wheel wells
Not the way I would do it on a decent truck
It still rides like a buck board even with longer shackles at a proper angle
I found it was better on 33 s than 35s for driving it around and off road not geared low enough for technical wheeling on 35s
Honestly mine has a Chevy v8 in it the six might be better
Looks like a pretty solid truck to start with

 

[40LandCruising]

@Tin basher, thanks, i can honestly say this thing is geared like a tank. Top speed is 40 maybe. I'm going to try flipping the rear springs to change the wheel location. And i'm going to test fit some35s, and ill post some pics on how that goes.

 

[Tin basher]

Is it a three speed transmission ?
I believe they are slightly lower than 1.1 in top gear
And have a better low range in the transfer case than the 4 speed that would help with the bigger tire

 

[40LandCruising]

Yes @Tin basher, 3speed with 4.11 gears

 

[40LandCruising]

So it runs extremely rich, enough so to where the exhaust pipe has a thick black layer and it shoots black stuff when its cranked. I suppose its just a carb adjustment but i'm not sure exactly.

 

[40LandCruising]

Haven't done much to the 40 lately, ive been invested in my eagle scout project but that is soon to end and i can focus on the 40 again. I daily Drive a 1999 Silverado and blew out the brakes last Sunday so i have been driving the 40. It has to be warmed up or it backfires and wants to die. I plan on rebuilding the carb as it definitely needs to be done and i am going to replace the choke switch because it gets stuck in certain positions. Otherwise it has been fun to drive but very cold in the 30degree mornings. Anyone have any thoughts on replacing the carb with an aftermarket weber or something or just rebuilding whats on there?

 

[greenbeasty]

Lots of good feedback on Trollhole's replacement carb. Really helpful fella, Vendor on here, and not to far away from you. Mauldin SC, close to Greenville / Spartenburg. I like the stock look under the hood, breather and all.