Well, it looks like its my turn for the ROTW. I bought my 1967 FJ40 about two and half years ago. My dad had one when I was kid and I thought it was coolest rig ever. I remember cruising around with the top and doors off. I vowed from then (even though I was only 5) that I would own one some day. Well, fast forward 22 years and I finally bought one.
Here is a list of what it had when I bought it:
• Chevy 350
• Three speed trans/transfer (both converted to floor shift)
• Shackle reversal
• Hardtop and hard doors
• Power steering
• Original PTO winch (although the winch itself was broke)
• Front disk brakes
• A really sweet flat black rattle can paint job – even better than maco!
• 4” lift
In hindsight, I should have looked at more trucks, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but hey it was a learning experience right? The only experience I had working on automobiles was restoring an old Porsche 914 when I was 13 with my pops, but even then I just polished and cleaned stuff more than wrenching. I figured the FJ40 would be a relatively easy projects to learn on, and so far its been pretty straight forward.
After I bought it, I found mud, what a savior, than I found the Seattle Cruiserheads, which helped fuel my future mods – plus they’re a great bunch of guys to shoot the breeze with and drink beer!
My neighbor at the time did some body work on the cheap for me, fixed a crushed rear quarter panel and repaired the rust on the rear sill – he did a crappy job but I guess you get what you pay for. He also laid a coat of epoxy primer on it that turned it to a “rosy red”. After a few months I bought a house and had a two car garage to work in. I eventually painted it back to the original blue (or something close to it). It was fun learning how to paint and I think it turned it out pretty good.
During this time I was having overheating issues, boiled over a couple times. I installed a new radiator and a Taurus fan from camcruiser. This helped, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the motor and trans. After a lot of reading and positive reinforcement from the Cruiserheads, I bought a newly rebuilt 350, an sm465 and an adapter from Classic Cruisers. I began this work last March, and had it pretty much wrapped up in August. I had never done something this extreme before, but it was pretty rewarding when it fired up the first time!
I’m still fixing some brake issues, I recently learned what a pain in the ass drum brakes are, so I’m in the process of installing rear disks. While I’m in there I’m hoping to install an Aussie locker, but we’ll see – I’ll have to scrounge for some fine spline inner axles too. Other things I’ve done: Roundeyes headlights, reupholstered the front bench seat from SOR, installed new gauges on the dash and replumed all the brakes lines (including a new brake booster and master cylinder).
So here I sit two and half years later, hardly taken it offroad…..but I’ve learned a lot and had a blast doing it! I have to give some props to Andy and the rest of the Cruiserheads, there were a couple times when I was ready to either A) torch the truck or B) toss it on craigslist and be done with it. I’m really glad I didn’t do either of those things, I ‘m pretty happy with it now and look forward to beating the hell out of it on the trails in the near future!
Here is a list of what it had when I bought it:
• Chevy 350
• Three speed trans/transfer (both converted to floor shift)
• Shackle reversal
• Hardtop and hard doors
• Power steering
• Original PTO winch (although the winch itself was broke)
• Front disk brakes
• A really sweet flat black rattle can paint job – even better than maco!
• 4” lift
In hindsight, I should have looked at more trucks, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but hey it was a learning experience right? The only experience I had working on automobiles was restoring an old Porsche 914 when I was 13 with my pops, but even then I just polished and cleaned stuff more than wrenching. I figured the FJ40 would be a relatively easy projects to learn on, and so far its been pretty straight forward.
After I bought it, I found mud, what a savior, than I found the Seattle Cruiserheads, which helped fuel my future mods – plus they’re a great bunch of guys to shoot the breeze with and drink beer!
My neighbor at the time did some body work on the cheap for me, fixed a crushed rear quarter panel and repaired the rust on the rear sill – he did a crappy job but I guess you get what you pay for. He also laid a coat of epoxy primer on it that turned it to a “rosy red”. After a few months I bought a house and had a two car garage to work in. I eventually painted it back to the original blue (or something close to it). It was fun learning how to paint and I think it turned it out pretty good.
During this time I was having overheating issues, boiled over a couple times. I installed a new radiator and a Taurus fan from camcruiser. This helped, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the motor and trans. After a lot of reading and positive reinforcement from the Cruiserheads, I bought a newly rebuilt 350, an sm465 and an adapter from Classic Cruisers. I began this work last March, and had it pretty much wrapped up in August. I had never done something this extreme before, but it was pretty rewarding when it fired up the first time!
I’m still fixing some brake issues, I recently learned what a pain in the ass drum brakes are, so I’m in the process of installing rear disks. While I’m in there I’m hoping to install an Aussie locker, but we’ll see – I’ll have to scrounge for some fine spline inner axles too. Other things I’ve done: Roundeyes headlights, reupholstered the front bench seat from SOR, installed new gauges on the dash and replumed all the brakes lines (including a new brake booster and master cylinder).
So here I sit two and half years later, hardly taken it offroad…..but I’ve learned a lot and had a blast doing it! I have to give some props to Andy and the rest of the Cruiserheads, there were a couple times when I was ready to either A) torch the truck or B) toss it on craigslist and be done with it. I’m really glad I didn’t do either of those things, I ‘m pretty happy with it now and look forward to beating the hell out of it on the trails in the near future!
