ROTW MDH33’s 1973 FJ40
Wow, my turn already! I was hoping to get more mods finished so I had more to share. Oh well, here’s some details anyway.
I’m Martin Huber, I live in Evergreen Colorado and I’m a member of the Rising Sun 4x4 Club.
Here we go, my ROTW thread for Feb 11, 2008.
I’ve had this FJ40 for about two years. It’s the third one I’ve owned, the previous two were a ’78 with SOA on 35’s that I rolled back in 1993 (RIP), and the other was a stock ’73 that I had to sell while commuting in college (1996). I moved to Colorado in 2005 and picked up an ’85 FJ60. The 40 came around not long after. I use both the 60 and 40 as daily drivers, but the 40 gets all the weekend trail duty as well. It was a strong runner when I purchased it, and it has continued to be a very reliable rig. I haven’t had to do much to it mechanically and have focused most of my attention on making it a little more trail friendly.
My ’73 40 is equipped with a ’77 2F mated to the stock three speed trans and TC. It has a non-usa spec ’69 2 barrel, MSD ignition and a Man-a-fre 6 into one header. All the smog stuff has been removed. I also added an Aussie Locker in the rear. Everything else is pretty much stock aside from the lift, early split hood, Recaro seats, and ’78 rollbar.
I am running a 4” Downey SUA lift with 1.5” shackles in front and 2.5” shackles in the rear. I replaced the ubolts and added ubolt skids and stainless break lines when I was working on the lift. Current tires are Super Swamper LTB’s, 34x10.5-15 on stock steel rims. It rides down the road happily at 65 but is more at home on the trail.
Less text, more pictures!
Here’s a pic of the day I bought it. It had a mismatched hardtop and street tires which I quickly removed.
I replaced the tires with some 31” AT’s and took the top off. Ready for summer.
It came with a Bestop that I used for awhile after removing and storing the hardtop. Here’s some pics from the Rising Sun Triple Bypass run, still sporting the 31’s.
2007 was the first year I attended Cruise Moab. Prior to departing, I did the suspension work, a full brake job, added the 34’s and replaced the Bestop with an Ehsan Pakistan OEM replica soft top that I bought from Sputnik. Here’s some photos from CM ’07.
In 2007 I lead the first Rising Sun “40’s Only Run”. Hopefully we’ll make it an annual event. I admire All Landcruisers, but wheeling with a crew of 40’s can’t be beat. It seems that there are fewer 40’s on the trail every year as they either succumb to rust or become garage queens. Cheers to all those who drive and wheel their 40 and keep them on the road and trail.
Future projects on my to-do list: Rebuild/replace the TC. Add a 4 speed trans. Mount a factory PTO that I have, which will include modifying the header and exhaust. Add an auxiliary fuel tank. Repair some rust and repaint.
Thanks for reading.
Wow, my turn already! I was hoping to get more mods finished so I had more to share. Oh well, here’s some details anyway.
I’m Martin Huber, I live in Evergreen Colorado and I’m a member of the Rising Sun 4x4 Club.
Here we go, my ROTW thread for Feb 11, 2008.
I’ve had this FJ40 for about two years. It’s the third one I’ve owned, the previous two were a ’78 with SOA on 35’s that I rolled back in 1993 (RIP), and the other was a stock ’73 that I had to sell while commuting in college (1996). I moved to Colorado in 2005 and picked up an ’85 FJ60. The 40 came around not long after. I use both the 60 and 40 as daily drivers, but the 40 gets all the weekend trail duty as well. It was a strong runner when I purchased it, and it has continued to be a very reliable rig. I haven’t had to do much to it mechanically and have focused most of my attention on making it a little more trail friendly.
My ’73 40 is equipped with a ’77 2F mated to the stock three speed trans and TC. It has a non-usa spec ’69 2 barrel, MSD ignition and a Man-a-fre 6 into one header. All the smog stuff has been removed. I also added an Aussie Locker in the rear. Everything else is pretty much stock aside from the lift, early split hood, Recaro seats, and ’78 rollbar.
I am running a 4” Downey SUA lift with 1.5” shackles in front and 2.5” shackles in the rear. I replaced the ubolts and added ubolt skids and stainless break lines when I was working on the lift. Current tires are Super Swamper LTB’s, 34x10.5-15 on stock steel rims. It rides down the road happily at 65 but is more at home on the trail.
Less text, more pictures!
Here’s a pic of the day I bought it. It had a mismatched hardtop and street tires which I quickly removed.
I replaced the tires with some 31” AT’s and took the top off. Ready for summer.
It came with a Bestop that I used for awhile after removing and storing the hardtop. Here’s some pics from the Rising Sun Triple Bypass run, still sporting the 31’s.
2007 was the first year I attended Cruise Moab. Prior to departing, I did the suspension work, a full brake job, added the 34’s and replaced the Bestop with an Ehsan Pakistan OEM replica soft top that I bought from Sputnik. Here’s some photos from CM ’07.
In 2007 I lead the first Rising Sun “40’s Only Run”. Hopefully we’ll make it an annual event. I admire All Landcruisers, but wheeling with a crew of 40’s can’t be beat. It seems that there are fewer 40’s on the trail every year as they either succumb to rust or become garage queens. Cheers to all those who drive and wheel their 40 and keep them on the road and trail.
Future projects on my to-do list: Rebuild/replace the TC. Add a 4 speed trans. Mount a factory PTO that I have, which will include modifying the header and exhaust. Add an auxiliary fuel tank. Repair some rust and repaint.
Thanks for reading.
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