Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build) (20 Viewers)

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Love what you're doing with this beautiful 40! And I'm impressed with how much you're able to do yourself- I've been doing what I can to mine, but I'm mostly limited to cosmetics because a mechanic I am not!

This summer I want to add a 2" lift- nothing noticeable, I want it to look stock, but she's drooping a bit and the ride quality is "original". So after some research I'm thinking an OME light duty kit, plus 33" BFG KO2s. Question for you: after reading through the thread, is yours still on the 4" lift it came to you with? And what size are those klevers- 33 x 9.5? You like those tires? They look sweet, and I might prefer the 9.5 over the 10.5 BFGs that just look a little too monster truck for my taste.

Next up will be seats- I'm waffling on grey or coral- grey would be the dafe route but I think coral with my Capri Blue would pop. Is Skreddy's thread the place to go for guidance?

Yours is going to look amazing with the hard top redone. I did mine last year, fiberglass repair, rattlecan repaint and it makes such a difference. Cheers!
 
CBFJ said:
Love what you're doing with this beautiful 40! And I'm impressed with how much you're able to do yourself- I've been doing what I can to mine, but I'm mostly limited to cosmetics because a mechanic I am not!

This summer I want to add a 2" lift- nothing noticeable, I want it to look stock, but she's drooping a bit and the ride quality is "original". So after some research I'm thinking an OME light duty kit, plus 33" BFG KO2s. Question for you: after reading through the thread, is yours still on the 4" lift it came to you with? And what size are those klevers- 33 x 9.5? You like those tires? They look sweet, and I might prefer the 9.5 over the 10.5 BFGs that just look a little too monster truck for my taste.

Next up will be seats- I'm waffling on grey or coral- grey would be the dafe route but I think coral with my Capri Blue would pop. Is Skreddy's thread the place to go for guidance?

Yours is going to look amazing with the hard top redone. I did mine last year, fiberglass repair, rattlecan repaint and it makes such a difference. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Thanks! I eventually want to make it as close to original as I can. Putting the three on the tree and inline 6 back in. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge, especially for the oddball stuff in these earlier fj40s. I think the ome suspensions are good! I have had them on alot of different vehicles. I would stick with the 2 inch lift. I want to put a 2 inch dobinsons lift on mine only because I think the shocks look like a better design in terms of durability and I want to try somthing different. I do still have the 4 inch on mine and am hoping to swap that out this summer as well. The kenda Kevlars are 33x9.50 on 15 inch rim. I cant reccomend them enough. I did buy the 40 with them but I would do it again. they seem really well made and are holding up.

@Skreddy helped me out with my seat covers with his words of wisdom for sure. Its not as hard as it looks but it is tedious. I cant wait to get my top done though! it is going to be much better. especially for the few times that i have had to not drive my 40 because of rain haha! I really want to put a soft top on mine soon too. Or at least have the soft top for the summer. I gotta save some extra money for that though.
 
Roastchestnuts said:
Thanks! I eventually want to make it as close to original as I can. Putting the three on the tree and inline 6 back in. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge, especially for the oddball stuff in these earlier fj40s. I think the ome suspensions are good! I have had them on alot of different vehicles. I would stick with the 2 inch lift. I want to put a 2 inch dobinsons lift on mine only because I think the shocks look like a better design in terms of durability and I want to try somthing different. I do still have the 4 inch on mine and am hoping to swap that out this summer as well. The kenda Kevlars are 33x9.50 on 15 inch rim. I cant reccomend them enough. I did buy the 40 with them but I would do it again. they seem really well made and are holding up.

@Skreddy helped me out with my seat covers with his words of wisdom for sure. Its not as hard as it looks but it is tedious. I cant wait to get my top done though! it is going to be much better. especially for the few times that i have had to not drive my 40 because of rain haha! I really want to put a soft top on mine soon too. Or at least have the soft top for the summer. I gotta save some extra money for that though.
Click to expand...
How do you run a soft top without a roll bar? I'm debating adding a roll bar for safety of the kiddos, but also so I can run a soft top. Debating it because it wasn't original to the vehicle and I hate to modify it. But it's so much fun to take the hard top off, it's just hot as hell at 9,000 ft in the sun.
 
CBFJ said:
How do you run a soft top without a roll bar? I'm debating adding a roll bar for safety of the kiddos, but also so I can run a soft top. Debating it because it wasn't original to the vehicle and I hate to modify it. But it's so much fun to take the hard top off, it's just hot as hell at 9,000 ft in the sun.
Click to expand...
OEM style Soft tops require a special skeleton that goes on the inside of the truck to hold the structure. most kits come with the skeleton. You can do it without a roll bar but some offroad parks and stuff require you to have one for safety and stuff if you aren’t running the hard top. Bikini tops run off a roll bar though.

It’s not like the hard top is doing much for rollover protection anyways
 
CBFJ said:
How do you run a soft top without a roll bar? I'm debating adding a roll bar for safety of the kiddos, but also so I can run a soft top. Debating it because it wasn't original to the vehicle and I hate to modify it. But it's so much fun to take the hard top off, it's just hot as hell at 9,000 ft in the sun.
Click to expand...
You dont need a roll bar for a oem style soft top. I think the bestop soft tops you dont need it either. I hear you on having the hard top off. I really like not having it on there. Why I want to have a soft top for the summer haha. @Pura Vida is correct though. this is what the oem style bows look like minus the upper door parts.
naked200.jpg
 
Good news! I will get the hard top together this weekend weather dependent. I got it painted yesterday. hopefully today I will get the rain gutter riveted in and seam sealed.

I will need to wait on the headliner till I can afford to buy one later in the summer. Additionally I am trying to save for an oem style soft top. (timeline is hopefully mid june) Money is still tight after the wedding though.

I did all i could do trying to get the three broken bolts out the rain gutter and in the end ground and cut them out. I broke 3 easy outs and I tried welding on 2 nuts. So the plan is to weld a captive nut in its place in those spots. I think you can buy the little weldable threaded things for that too. I may see If I can get those in.

One of the hard top sides needs some welding work. I need to weld up holes left from a cb radio (I hate it when people cut holes for crap like that). I also need to repair the base on the same side. The base is not rust related. It looks like it was maybe dropped or somebody did not pull the last bolt out near the tailgate. It has a little piece missing. I will post pictures this afternoon.
 
I think they’re only doing later parts (70’s) right now, if so that wouldn’t fit your ‘65.
 
Well I think its good for 5 - 10 feet away. A few fiber glass repairs are not great and I want to do some wet-sanding to smooth everything out. but the seam sealer and rivits turned out nice. I really wanted to install it today and put the hard top on but I would be rushing. and I really want to get it done as well as I can. Unfortunately it looks like it will be raining all weekend and into monday so I am unsure if I will get back to this until after the weekend. Additionally the hard top gasket I dont think is quite right. Luckily I did not purchase this gasket and it came with the fj40. I think I can modify the gasket to make it work.


Does anybody like city racer sell the correct style gasket/ weather stripping for the corrugated hard tops?

IMG_2963.JPG



I also welded up the holes on the drivers side from a aftermarket roll bar today.
 
Roastchestnuts said:
....
I also sanded off the desert tan color off the front head light bezel and repainted it cygnus white. That looks 1000 times better however I think I will replace the bezel anyway at some point soon because it has lots of pin holes from rust over the years. One of those aftermarket but oem style ones that have land cruiser stamped in it would be the way I want to go. (not sure if its correct for the year but they are way cool!
this.
...

Before sanding and painting
View attachment 3323898

After sanding and painting

View attachment 3323905
Click to expand...

Am enjoying this thread. I believe the tan bezel may have been the original color that was paired with spring green:

1966 FJ40 preservation/build - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1966-fj40-preservation-build.1009916/post-14326243

The 1000x improvement in look may have been due in part to the white paint being _new_. Alternatively, maybe ponder the look of new tan paint?
Keep up the good work.
 
HelloKitty65 said:
Am enjoying this thread. I believe the tan bezel may have been the original color that was paired with spring green:

1966 FJ40 preservation/build - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1966-fj40-preservation-build.1009916/post-14326243

The 1000x improvement in look may have been due in part to the white paint being _new_. Alternatively, maybe ponder the look of new tan paint?
Keep up the good work.
Click to expand...
Huh... thats interesting once I get a new bezel maybe I will have to re spray it that tan color. I am 99% sure mine was repainted that tan color but it also could have been repainted the same color. I only say that because there were brush marks I had to sand down. either-way that bezel needs to be replaced anyway. it has lots of rust pinholes at the top of it.

Once I put the soft top on witch will be tanish khaki I may go back to the tan then. Thanks for the heads up on that! thats pretty cool. I just thought all the fj40 bezels were that cycnus white color.
 
HelloKitty65 said:
I'm calling it 'tan' but don't know what it was really called. BTW, I think the hard tops of early spring green rigs were also gel coated a tanish color. Here is a pic of one once listed for sale, I think in Texas.

Builds - WAS: 68 FJ40 in Seattle, Now: My 68FJ40 build thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/was-68-fj40-in-seattle-now-my-68fj40-build-thread.1046549/post-11900643
Click to expand...
I am 99% sure that exact fj40 is my fj40 haha. I know mine once lived in texas and ended up in south carolina where the owners I bought it from got it. I have done alot of work since it looked like that. still have that front bumper I think i am going to sell that bumper soon. its actually an august of 1964 if I remember correctly. sold for the 1965 year.
 
Wow. I believe your right. My citing a picture of your own truck as an example of a presumed original color scheme doesn't make for a very large sample size!
 
HelloKitty65 said:
Wow. I believe your right. My citing a picture of your own truck as an example of a presumed original color scheme doesn't make for a very large sample size!
Click to expand...
haha I know. If you come across other pictures let me know. I really want to learn more about this 40s history

But I feel like I have seen the tan color before. I assumed stupidly that it was a fad or something people were doing in the 70s and 80s when redoing these. Unfortunately I striped the hard top of the first layer of paint and gel coat last weekend. It was completely trashed though. I had to re do a whole corner of the top with fiberglass cloth and resin. would have been easier if I had just bought one of those redone tops from classic cruisers. But I have a very small monthly budget to repair/rebuild things. I did find white underneath. It was probably a primer though as it was kinda thin.
 
Seems that was the only pic of your truck saved from the EBay listing. :( Wonder if @oakweb reposted it?
The pic below isn't your rig but it shows the bezel in that off white again. This was a truck in Idaho.

IMG_2408.JPG
 
What year was it? I keep a history of everything posted
 
HelloKitty65 said:
I'm calling it 'tan' but don't know what it was really called. BTW, I think the hard tops of early spring green rigs were also gel coated a tanish color. Here is a pic of one once listed for sale, I think in Texas.

Builds - WAS: 68 FJ40 in Seattle, Now: My 68FJ40 build thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/was-68-fj40-in-seattle-now-my-68fj40-build-thread.1046549/post-11900643
Click to expand...
I found my 6/70 spring green build was #403 Lily White not #412 Cyngus. It's more tan than Cygnus. It's never been repainted and matched when I had paint mixed.

#403 Lily White (PPG 5787, Dupont 8460, 99148) There were 2 or 3 variants of Lily White.
#412 Cyngus White (PPG 0933, Dupont 34874, BASF 161).
 
firemanj92 said:
I found my 6/70 spring green build was #403 Lily White not #412 Cyngus. It's more tan than Cygnus. It's never been repainted and matched when I had paint mixed.

#403 Lily White (PPG 5787, Dupont 8460, 99148) There were 2 or 3 variants of Lily White.
#412 Cyngus White (PPG 0933, Dupont 34874, BASF 161).
Click to expand...
Thanks! this is really good to have. I will need this for the future. I am planning on probibly painting it back that Lilly white color when I replace the bezel. I wish I had know that it was factory that color. I do think mine was resprayed that color too though because the rust pin holes were painted over.
 
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