Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build) (17 Viewers)

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RevISK said:
Dude.
Yes!

I have had a watchlist for a samurai for a few years.
Defiantly go for it.
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Yeah My wife says go for it so I have a green light. The guy that owns it is out of town but he is saying he wont sell it till he talks to me. He is a stand up guy and trustworthy for sure. I teach his kids at the school too. It needs a lot but I really want another full project that I can blow apart and put back together. It seems to be a good candidate. Frame looks good. drive train components look good. body will need work and I am sure other things. should keep me busy for another 2 years haha. I can imagine what I want it to be. You all could probably call it but - one of the things I want to do is the fold down windshield conversion.
onemanarmy said:
Get some skinnier tires and rock on!
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Number 1 on the list. I think you can still buy factory 15 inch rims for it. would be cool with a 30x9.50 tire.
pb4ugo said:
FJ40 axles work great under a Samurai. A little wider and stronger.
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that might be cool. I am going to go close to stock with a lift similar to whats on it
Admiral Snackbar said:
Hell yes on the Samurai! That bumper gives me Simon and Simon Dodge Power Wagon vibes in a bad way.
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I think though. It has a spring over lift right now I think.

Admiral Snackbar said:
Hell yes on the Samurai! That bumper gives me Simon and Simon Dodge Power Wagon vibes in a bad way.
View attachment 3891161
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Yeah I hate it. especially since factory bumpers are cheep. It will be one of the first things for me to work on. I am not sure why he put it on. might have been the fishing poll mod.

Anyways I am pretty sure I am going to do it. so you should all see more of it on Mud. I need to look is there a suzuki section? for sure right?
 
How do 9.5’s do on the beach?
 
Roastchestnuts said:
Yeah My wife says go for it so I have a green light. The guy that owns it is out of town but he is saying he wont sell it till he talks to me. He is a stand up guy and trustworthy for sure. I teach his kids at the school too. It needs a lot but I really want another full project that I can blow apart and put back together. It seems to be a good candidate. Frame looks good. drive train components look good. body will need work and I am sure other things. should keep me busy for another 2 years haha. I can imagine what I want it to be. You all could probably call it but - one of the things I want to do is the fold down windshield conversion.

Number 1 on the list. I think you can still buy factory 15 inch rims for it. would be cool with a 30x9.50 tire.

that might be cool. I am going to go close to stock with a lift similar to whats on it

I think though. It has a spring over lift right now I think.


Yeah I hate it. especially since factory bumpers are cheep. It will be one of the first things for me to work on. I am not sure why he put it on. might have been the fishing poll mod.

Anyways I am pretty sure I am going to do it. so you should all see more of it on Mud. I need to look is there a suzuki section? for sure right?
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Let us know if/when you start a samurai thread.
That front bumper looks like a 2x12 board?
 
middlecalf said:
How do 9.5’s do on the beach?
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The 33x9.50 kendas do well with the fj40. I have never had issues with the narrow tires and sand. just want to run them at 15 - 20psi in the summer thats the key. In fact I had 33x12.50s on the kzj78 when I bought it and they ran worse on the beach than the smaller tires I put on. because the 33s were too big for the ruts from other cars. My first gen tacoma had 30x9.50s on it and I ran circles around the big 4x4 trucks.

RevISK said:
Let us know if/when you start a samurai thread.
That front bumper looks like a 2x12 board?
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Will do! I should talk to the owner on Monday. once I get it Ill get strait to tearing it down. (might zip it around the block a few times first though.)
 
Wouldn’t be stock at all, but I have a 70 series front bumper you can have if you want. It’s rusting very nicely from sitting under my house so will fit right in on a beach ride. It’s from a 1986 so would at least be period correct 🤣
 
I saw this on instagram. basically my vision for the build if everything works out. Fold down windshield mod. and steel rims like this one. Like a mini fj40 haha.

Thinking more bfg all terrains in the 30x9.50 size or the 31x1050

IMG_2289.PNG
 
svsisu said:
Wouldn’t be stock at all, but I have a 70 series front bumper you can have if you want. It’s rusting very nicely from sitting under my house so will fit right in on a beach ride. It’s from a 1986 so would at least be period correct 🤣
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might take you up on that. nothing some welding cant fix
 
No word on the Samurai yet. he is still out of town. I did want to post about this H42 transmission. I finally got all (I think all) the parts to my 4speed over to my work shed. admittedly I lost steam on this project and its been about a year since I took it apart. I wanted to post some pictures of the condition of the gears and what I have. if you see something missing please let me know. alot of the little stuff I have in a few bags. I remember there being a good build thread on the h42 but I cant find it. Some of the gears have some wear. The brass colored syncros look good though. the gears are greasy because I sprayed them down before I stored them. Should I try and rebuild this one or move on from this project. seems like more wear than I remember.

IMG_2313.jpg


This gear has wear by my finger.
IMG_2304.jpg


IMG_2305.jpg
IMG_2307.jpg

IMG_2308.jpg


this gear below seemed to have the most undesirable wear on a few teeth.
IMG_2309.jpg


IMG_2306.jpg


both brass syncros look like the one below. I cant see any wear on them other than some discoloration from old oil.
IMG_2312.jpg


some wear on this one.
IMG_2314.jpg
IMG_2302.jpg
 
alrighty! I talked to the owner of the samurai. We struck a deal. He is going to bring it down from Suffolk VA for me witch is nice. I am pretty excited because other than the fj40, fj55, and 1st gen 4runner. its the one vehicle I have always wanted. Now I just gotta own a fj55 (witch I am still thinking about and keep going back and fourth on).

The samurai is going to need things for sure. its weird the more I look at it the more it needs but also the better it looks to me? Like the motor it has not been messed with other than maintenance. Original carb, drive train only has 98k and the frame looks fantastic. The windsheild frame is beyond repair and Ill need another. The ac works, I have not had a vehicle with working ac since 2019 haha. the only 2 things missing are the bumper and the spare tire (says he has the tire) . I will be doing a build section in the Suzuki side of the forums. once I do Ill let everybody know.
 
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almost famous! the salt wagon is featured at Ride The Wind surf shops front windows! It looks good up there! its advertising a new clothing line. I feel like my time is going to be focused on the Suzuki samurai this summer. but don't worry everyone! I will still drive the fj40 to the beach and daily it this summer! more pictures will show up on here too!

IMG_2444 2.jpg
 
I have been having charging issues off and on for about a month now in the fj40. It was having a hard time starting and often just not enough juice when cranking. When it was running the voltage would only max out at 13v. the B terminal on the alternator said 14.5 volts. but on the battery just 13 or 12.95 somewhere in there. I replaced the voltage regulator back in december I think. I was chasing my tail on this issue. Thought it could have been a bad splice in the harness so I respliced that, THought the alternator was just being weird so I put the old toyota one back on that I knew worked prior to using a new one and it did not work, Checked and checked and checked, and sanded cleaned and checked grounds. checked fuses, checked for continuity on fuses and wiring but I could not find the issue until Saturday... I replaced the voltage regulator again and its running at 14.5 volts on the battery.... starting on the key now too. I guess something went wrong with the other new regulator. I opened it up but nothing looks crazy. I think I saw a post that you can adjust them is that true? I do have a brand new one in it now.
 
Also I just want to say I am so stoked how this body work turned out on my samurai project. its coming right along. before it was full rust and bondo. really nothing but the rear braket holding the frame on. Now its solid metal! I would not have been able to do this if it were not for the knowledge I learned from the salt wagon!


IMG_2424.jpg


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