RevISK
SILVER Star
build an adventure trailer?
Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build)
- Thread starter Roastchestnuts
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- Thread starter
- #1,882
Maybe. I know I have seen. couple of cheeper project vehicles around me that I might try and get to fix up. maybe fix up and sell.
- Thread starter
- #1,883
yeah. I think this is the move. maybe save up for a year and get another land cruiser is the move.
RevISK
SILVER Star
There you go.
FJBen
SILVER Star
I feel pretty qualified to answer about a 55
. They are cool as heck, but come with a some serious issues on the body/parts front that way. Drivetrain wise we know it’s the same, but man do they rust like no other and finding or repairing body parts is hard.
You will miss having the top/doors off. 100%.
But…super cool!
Finally…
Have you been to the 55 section on here? Holy crap it’s weird there. They are buried on the bottom slightly above the stout section….woody tried to hide them. They usually stick to themselves but every so often one those Gollums gets lost and infiltrates the shire.
This is how it starts in 55 ownership
Years later when people ask if it’s done
it’s almost done! You are so close to finishing it!
- Thread starter
- #1,886
see your comment really makes me want to do it! maybe I like weird odd ball stuff (I do). I have always thought it was wierd that the 55 section was kinda hidden. also random side note the 2f I have came out of a fj55. the bell housing motor mount bracket on the passenger side was a 55 series one. I do know the 55s are had to find repair panels for.I feel pretty qualified to answer about a 55
They are cool as heck, but come with a some serious issues on the body/parts front that way. Drivetrain wise we know it’s the same, but man do they rust like no other and finding or repairing body parts is hard.
You will miss having the top/doors off. 100%.
But…super cool!
View attachment 3870175
Finally…
Have you been to the 55 section on here? Holy crap it’s weird there. They are buried on the bottom slightly above the stout section….woody tried to hide them. They usually stick to themselves but every so often one those Gollums gets lost and infiltrates the shire.
This is how it starts in 55 ownership
View attachment 3870162
Years later when people ask if it’s done
View attachment 3870168
it’s almost done! You are so close to finishing it!
View attachment 3870169
also the stout would 100% be a vehicle I trade for. I think that would be such a cool vehicle to own but I really need at least 1 4x4. Although I wonder if a 22r swap with the 5 speed and transfercase would be feasable on one. I know nothing of the front suspension and how that would all come into play with a 4x4 mod though. I suspect youd have to find a 80s solid front axle set up or build your own. would be a way cool project though.
This quote is my hesitation - "You will miss having the top/doors off. 100%." In an ideal world I would have lots of money for lots of busted projects to have fun fixing hahahaha. Love the lord of the rings analogy haha.
The good news is my wife actually wants me to get some sort of project. I think she appreciates that I have something to tinker with and have a goal with. She did really like the idea of a volkswagen camper bus. And she likes the idea of the 55 series.
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You go through cruisers faster than I tackle a simple project. A pig would be super cool, I love them, but keep the 40 and polish up the Zupup!
- Thread starter
- #1,888
haha! I know at this rate ill have a different cruiser by the time we meet up.
crazy, isn't it? you are only a very short drive and ferry ride away, and I really want to see the Salt Wagon. maybe I'll make it over before the silly season starts.
- Thread starter
- #1,890
Come on down any time! dude the silly season is here.... I have already seen dumb dumb stuff... had dumb dumb questions. Ohhh you live here???? ohhhhahah whats that like? do you take the ferry to work? What do you do for fun?? ..... People actually live on this island?.... where is the light house?? Are there sharks in the water?? (usually I say its the ocean and sharks live in the ocean)
saw a golf cart stuck on the beach yesterday too.the question "what do you do for fun" particularly annoys me. Not sure why it does so much though.
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FJBen
SILVER Star
Old air cooled would be fun, as long as you didn’t need to count on it reliably!
heck even the water cooled are….less than reliable…there are lots of aftermarket and parts for those old VWs although you know it’s bad reliability when it’s an upgrade to put a Subaru engine in one 
We have a eurovan camper that’s one of the more reliable, but still a VW. What a great cruise to the lake/beach rig. Nothing like it in the US besides $portsmobiles, $printers and you still have to convert them poptop.
Adding a pig to the fleet would be awesome
Pop top pig beach wagon? Now you are talking.
I like stouts but I’m way too tall for one. A 40 is a pretty tight squeeze and wouldn’t allow me to drive very far without some good seats and rail extensions.
- Thread starter
- #1,892
The air cooled stuff has alwys interested me. never got around to messing with one though. I like the parts availability. and good projects pop up here and there for decent prices. so a VW bus might be somthing I look for. They are pretty fun to drive even if they are slow.Old air cooled would be fun, as long as you didn’t need to count on it reliably!
We have a eurovan camper that’s one of the more reliable, but still a VW. What a great cruise to the lake/beach rig. Nothing like it in the US besides $portsmobiles, $printers and you still have to convert them poptop.
Adding a pig to the fleet would be awesome
Pop top pig beach wagon? Now you are talking.
View attachment 3870678
I like stouts but I’m way too tall for one. A 40 is a pretty tight squeeze and wouldn’t allow me to drive very far without some good seats and rail extensions.
View attachment 3870672
- Thread starter
- #1,893
My other big hobby is photography if you have not already guessed. But I wrote another article for a camera store blog. Thought I would throw it on here. A few salt wagon photos featured in this one too. I know the photo jargin is beyond some people so I apologize.
Digital Dinosaur III: The Leica M8.2 – Tools Of Time - https://blog.camerawest.com/digital-dinosaur-iii-the-leica-m8-2/
Digital Dinosaur III: The Leica M8.2 – Tools Of Time - https://blog.camerawest.com/digital-dinosaur-iii-the-leica-m8-2/
SC-Cruiser
SILVER Star
Keep the 40 you will regret selling it. A 55 is very cool but will never replace the top off feeling of the 40 on the beach.So Update: I have been off and on thinking about trading the saltwagon for a fj55. the 55 series have always been a dream of mine. (still on the fence about this but I have been talking to a mud member). what wold you all do? I am leaning to keeping it as I love it but - At the very least I do want to find some sort of new project if I keep the 40. I was thinking either a willys or early cj5 or a volkswagen bus from mid 70s or somthing else interesting. got a budget of about 3500$. Looking for somthing that I can just rebuild. If any of you know of somthing like that in NC let me know!
but I think the fj40 heard me talking about getting another project and decided to leave me stranded on the beach yesterday. of course in a low tide area... so no time for fiddling around. I knew t was a ignition issue as the vehicle died while driving and the carb was still getting fuel. felt like a no spark issue would crank crank crank and Nothing was disconnected. it was then I remembered I had swapped out my new internally resisted coil (from city racer) for a pertronix epoxy coil some time back. after getting my father to tow me off the beach and winching it back into the "berts repair area" at the house I swapped back the coil I had in it originally and it fired right up.... the pertronix coil omed out at 1.2, 1.3 (the coil is a 1.4 ohm coil) from the side post. The one I swaped back in was 3.5 4 ish. I dont know what factory is supposed to be on these I feel like I saw in the manual different things for different years. probably due to the ballist resistor vers internally resisted? I will say I thought I bought a internally resisted pertronix coil could but maybe Ill look into that. It worked for 6 months though?
outliers - I have no idea if it was somthing loose that got tightned or moved. everything seemed to be good with a few checks. maybe the pertronix Halifax sensor did something strange? I also Need to look and see if the coil I purchased needs a resistor.
The good news is its running now with the original coil I purchased.
other updates - I got the new steering column bushing - and holy cow that made a huge difference in steering. feels like new tie rods haha. I am so stoked @red66toy got this new bushing made for us early 40 guys. My old one came out in many pieces. Still need the little clock spring to get the horn working though.
View attachment 3869893
SC-Cruiser
SILVER Star
I feel pretty qualified to answer about a 55
They are cool as heck, but come with a some serious issues on the body/parts front that way. Drivetrain wise we know it’s the same, but man do they rust like no other and finding or repairing body parts is hard.
You will miss having the top/doors off. 100%.
But…super cool!
View attachment 3870175
Finally…
Have you been to the 55 section on here? Holy crap it’s weird there. They are buried on the bottom slightly above the stout section….woody tried to hide them. They usually stick to themselves but every so often one those Gollums gets lost and infiltrates the shire.
This is how it starts in 55 ownership
View attachment 3870162
Years later when people ask if it’s done
View attachment 3870168
it’s almost done! You are so close to finishing it!
View attachment 3870169Fantastic description of the ownership, one for the archives
- Thread starter
- #1,896
This! Yeah I dont think I can get rid of it. Gotta find another project I guess and keep the 40. I would kick myself after the 40 is gone. I think the forum has spoken!
schuy2147
SILVER Star
You just bought a house, right? That's a lifetime of neverending projects!!
- Thread starter
- #1,898
Not as fun as car projects though. but yes we have been doing that too.
- Thread starter
- #1,899
alrighty I started working on the windshield gasket . went as expected not great. I read up on how to do to it and saw the struggle people went through on a few mud threads. My favorite post about installing this gasket the mud member had his wife helped him and she got frustrated and kicked a toy 30 feet haha. Well my wife helped me and we nearly got it and then two disasters happened. Some how or another we cut the new gasket too short. My fault I cut the wrong line I measured... I was going to fix it with some weather strip adhesive and a little section of gasket. Not ideal but would have been better than the gasket I pulled. So we got the gasket taped up on the windshield and then used the rope trick and got it attached to the window frame. (makes it sound easy but it was a real struggle bus.) We did have success! however when I was installing the lock gasket it popped back out and by that time it was 6pm and I was gassed from being on the beach earlier and tinkering later. Plus I knew I was already frustrated and would have probably busted the window if i tried again. (probably would have thrown the window across the yard if I tried it again and it failed).
Upsides - converted some rust and think I found where it was leaking. actually got the window frame off the vehicle. so I can replace the crusty screws.
down sides - probably should buy a new gasket.
My question is - does anybody make a cut to length one piece gasket for the early fj40s?
a rusty area I cleaned up with converter and painted after the picture was taken
after the failed attempt when I gave up for the day.
Beach day earleir (took the top off to do the windsheild after and clean up a few things.
Upsides - converted some rust and think I found where it was leaking. actually got the window frame off the vehicle. so I can replace the crusty screws.
down sides - probably should buy a new gasket.
My question is - does anybody make a cut to length one piece gasket for the early fj40s?
a rusty area I cleaned up with converter and painted after the picture was taken
after the failed attempt when I gave up for the day.
Beach day earleir (took the top off to do the windsheild after and clean up a few things.
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- Thread starter
- #1,900
Updates other than the windshield above: 1. The cruiser left me stranded for the first time on the beach the other day. I was driving and all of a sudden it konks out and I cannot get it started. Turns over but not running . Upside is I got to use the winch to get it back be hind the house. (before anyone says anything I have not wired up my winch yet. I just used jumper cables to power it.) I check everything and nothing is apparent to why. Nothing came loose or was unplugged. It had gas in the sight glass on the carb. the first things I did when I got it back home was get the multi meter out and check the coil. the coil omed out at 1.2 and 1.1. I replaced the new pertronix branded coil with the city racer internally resisted one that I had previously. that seemed to work I drove it around for a few days then I went to start it up again and I could not get it started again. It would turn over but slow. turns out my battery was pretty dead. I charged it on a trickle charger over night and holy crap the starter sounds so much quicker! and it started pretty quickly. But also I wonder if that battery I bought really was garbage and thats why I keep having issues with it. (maybe a drain but the wiring is pretty simple on the 40. My next thought was maybe the alternator was not charging. But the alternator tested good. I did find some corrosion in the plug wire terminls on the cap so I cleaned that out and put the cap back on. this could have been the issue as the coil terminal was rough. Could the voltage regulator be the culprit here? Not sure yet but the regulator I found was 25$ so I bought it.
I have not had a no start issue since the battery died and I charged it up over night and cleaning the cap.
2. I did place an order from city racer! new windshield frame screws, rear reflectors (for beside the tail lights) and a carb to air cleaner gasket figured I might as well get a few things on the list. I have a voltage regulator coming and a new cap too.
Ill be honest with you all.... I am kinda happy to be having some issues to diagnose it. makes my project fun haha. except for the windshield gasket! thats just a pain in the butt.
I have not had a no start issue since the battery died and I charged it up over night and cleaning the cap.
2. I did place an order from city racer! new windshield frame screws, rear reflectors (for beside the tail lights) and a carb to air cleaner gasket figured I might as well get a few things on the list. I have a voltage regulator coming and a new cap too.
Ill be honest with you all.... I am kinda happy to be having some issues to diagnose it. makes my project fun haha. except for the windshield gasket! thats just a pain in the butt.
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