AZMoonshadow
SILVER Star
Really great!!! I love the First person viewpoint.
Road Less Traveled (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mark Jennings
- Start date
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C6H12O6
SILVER Star
Easily, the best thing I've seen on the internet in weeks.
Cromagnon
SILVER Star
Very nicely done!
FJBen
SILVER Star
Very cool! I enjoyed it.
Blue77FJ40
SILVER Star
I absolutely LOVE it. Having experienced the described timeline, I can appreciate the all too true comment, "I don't remember much of the '70s".
I will be watching it again.
I will be watching it again.
Ackcruisers
SILVER Star
Great storytelling...and video production work. I owned a 1969 FJ40 and drove it to Colorado from Massachusetts twice. It never let me down.
- Thread starter
- #28
To all of you that have viewed the video, my daughter passes on her “thank you” for the complements and thumbs up. Her next project is.....finding ‘gainful employment’.....(lol).
We have owned the FJ40 in the video since 1992. My wife is actually the one who found it.....outside the Lea County Sheriffs Office in Hobbs NM. So the story is....a Lea County Sheriff bought it new, we think in Santa Fe and used it as a hunting rig. Supposedly towed it behind a PU camper for a number of years. He added a home made 2” lift using Chevy shackles and other unidentifiable pieces. He also went to a Rochester I barrel, a Saginaw power steering box, a Man-A-Fre 2nd fuel tank and gun racks.....several gun racks.
We bought the 40 from a deputy that bought the rig from the Sheriffs widow, it had been stored at the local airport in a hanger for several years after the sheriff died. Anyway the deputy only owned it for a couple of years but didn’t have time/money to fix it up like he wanted.....so he sold it.....$2500 to me.
At the time, my oldest son just turned 15 and we taught him to drive that 3 on the tree on the oil field roads in the Southeast MN desert.
My wife drove the 40 daily, dragging kids to school, game practices and other errands from 92 through 2000. When my daughter was born my oldest son drove it to the local community collage pretty much daily. The broken piston happened on his watch. We are not sure of the 40’s mileage, somewhere north of 100k that’s for sure......the odometer hadn't worked since I bought it in 92 ..... stuck at 78k if I remember correctly.
In the 8 years before the piston drama, I replaced the home made 2” lift with a skyjacker 2” kit and replaced all of the Chevy spring mounts with Toyota parts, replaced the cracked exhaust manifold and kept it tuned and oil changed so mom had a reliable car on a daily basis. It was just part of the family....that’s why when the engine went south I never had the heart to sell it. Like a pair of old boots you just can’t throw away......in fact I think sometime in 2000 I had bought the rear valance and the C-channel behind it, from Toyotaas NOS, to replace the rusty one under the rear doors. The box and parts sat in the rig for 17 years.
From 2000 through 2017 it actually did serve as a tool shed....behind the house.....until I finally decided to do something with it.
I think the something we did was pretty awesome....and keeping all of the Sheriff’s mods....except the gun racks...keeps that 70’s theme alive....plus adding vintage
AC and disk breaks adds a touch of modernness....yes we kept the 3 on the tree. And my wife can double clutch that sucker into first on the fly. How awesome is that!
We finished the restoration in late 2018, on the 40’s 50th......and through 2019 and 2020.....this is my wife’s daily driver.....I only get to keep it clean and running (I actually like that honey-do, lol).
I have a Hone O-Drive that I just finished overhauling (finder syncro rings was a challenge; hint, they’re Ford parts) and am in process of building another transfer case with the Hone extended output shaft. So stay tuned for that upgrade (another 70’s themed upgrade......lol).
Thanks again
MMJ
We have owned the FJ40 in the video since 1992. My wife is actually the one who found it.....outside the Lea County Sheriffs Office in Hobbs NM. So the story is....a Lea County Sheriff bought it new, we think in Santa Fe and used it as a hunting rig. Supposedly towed it behind a PU camper for a number of years. He added a home made 2” lift using Chevy shackles and other unidentifiable pieces. He also went to a Rochester I barrel, a Saginaw power steering box, a Man-A-Fre 2nd fuel tank and gun racks.....several gun racks.
We bought the 40 from a deputy that bought the rig from the Sheriffs widow, it had been stored at the local airport in a hanger for several years after the sheriff died. Anyway the deputy only owned it for a couple of years but didn’t have time/money to fix it up like he wanted.....so he sold it.....$2500 to me.
At the time, my oldest son just turned 15 and we taught him to drive that 3 on the tree on the oil field roads in the Southeast MN desert.
My wife drove the 40 daily, dragging kids to school, game practices and other errands from 92 through 2000. When my daughter was born my oldest son drove it to the local community collage pretty much daily. The broken piston happened on his watch. We are not sure of the 40’s mileage, somewhere north of 100k that’s for sure......the odometer hadn't worked since I bought it in 92 ..... stuck at 78k if I remember correctly.
In the 8 years before the piston drama, I replaced the home made 2” lift with a skyjacker 2” kit and replaced all of the Chevy spring mounts with Toyota parts, replaced the cracked exhaust manifold and kept it tuned and oil changed so mom had a reliable car on a daily basis. It was just part of the family....that’s why when the engine went south I never had the heart to sell it. Like a pair of old boots you just can’t throw away......in fact I think sometime in 2000 I had bought the rear valance and the C-channel behind it, from Toyotaas NOS, to replace the rusty one under the rear doors. The box and parts sat in the rig for 17 years.
From 2000 through 2017 it actually did serve as a tool shed....behind the house.....until I finally decided to do something with it.
I think the something we did was pretty awesome....and keeping all of the Sheriff’s mods....except the gun racks...keeps that 70’s theme alive....plus adding vintage
AC and disk breaks adds a touch of modernness....yes we kept the 3 on the tree. And my wife can double clutch that sucker into first on the fly. How awesome is that!
We finished the restoration in late 2018, on the 40’s 50th......and through 2019 and 2020.....this is my wife’s daily driver.....I only get to keep it clean and running (I actually like that honey-do, lol).
I have a Hone O-Drive that I just finished overhauling (finder syncro rings was a challenge; hint, they’re Ford parts) and am in process of building another transfer case with the Hone extended output shaft. So stay tuned for that upgrade (another 70’s themed upgrade......lol).
Thanks again
MMJ
Awesome video. I think she gets it.
Congrats to your daughter, from one Coug to another.
Congrats to your daughter, from one Coug to another.
I’ve still not been able to get this video to play!!!
Ackcruisers
SILVER Star
For those who had trouble viewing, here is the link. Copy it into your browser.
Last edited:
Michael B
SILVER Star
That was awesome!! Thank you very much for sharing it!!!
