I’ve been working on this baby for some time. I have finally decided to post my journey. First the history.
I first bought her back in 1978. A March, 1973, Rustic Green FJ40. Here’ a pic on our wedding day of her being decorated before we took it on our honeymoon . That was 1979 :
My wife and I have lot’s of memories with her. She drove us to the hospital to deliver our two kids, took us on vacations, and made many, many memories. I blew the engine in 1985 and put a V8 in. Three years later on a cold, sub-zero morning when the family van got stuck, my wife hopped in and took off before letting the engine warm up and threw a bearing!
I had no place to work on the engine and she sat on the curb. The cops kept giving me tickets for an abandoned vehicle so I sold it in 1989. I sold it to Dennis, a mechanic I had known for years. About one year later, I moved into a new house and had room to work on cars. So I got a hold of Dennis and asked to sell me back my FJ40. Of course he said no. Every time I saw Dennis I always had the greeting of, “Hey Dennis! Sell me my FJ40 back!” This went on for years! Finally in 2013 I asked him to meet me for a beer. When he came walking in I asked for him to sell me my FJ40 back. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the title and gave it to to me! He said he was getting to old to work on it and wanted it to have a good home. So he gave her back to me!
Dennis had tore apart the engine down to rebuild it and never got around to it. She sat there for all those years. Never driven, never repaired, never fixed up.
So here she is coming home in 2013 being towed by a FJ:
I first thought this was going to be an easy restoration. She looked in prettygood shape. A rear sill, a floor board repair and she’d be running again.
Then I started to take her apart. Holes and rust rot all over. I should have just done a total frame off restoration from the beginning.
After the initial tear down, I got sidetracked by unexpected life events and she just sat int my garage. I have started working on her again but I am no where near done or even close. Every time I pulled something apart I found more rust. It got very frustrating and I’ve quit working on her many times and threaten to get rid of her. I keep coming back and now my wife keeps me going on it. She can’t wait to drive her again. My inexperience and lack of foresight has caused some issues too, more than I care to admit. I had zero welding experience gong into this project. I had rebuilt a 1974 Triump TR6 but never did any welding.
But there’s light at the end of the tunnel now.
More to follow.
I first bought her back in 1978. A March, 1973, Rustic Green FJ40. Here’ a pic on our wedding day of her being decorated before we took it on our honeymoon . That was 1979 :
My wife and I have lot’s of memories with her. She drove us to the hospital to deliver our two kids, took us on vacations, and made many, many memories. I blew the engine in 1985 and put a V8 in. Three years later on a cold, sub-zero morning when the family van got stuck, my wife hopped in and took off before letting the engine warm up and threw a bearing!
I had no place to work on the engine and she sat on the curb. The cops kept giving me tickets for an abandoned vehicle so I sold it in 1989. I sold it to Dennis, a mechanic I had known for years. About one year later, I moved into a new house and had room to work on cars. So I got a hold of Dennis and asked to sell me back my FJ40. Of course he said no. Every time I saw Dennis I always had the greeting of, “Hey Dennis! Sell me my FJ40 back!” This went on for years! Finally in 2013 I asked him to meet me for a beer. When he came walking in I asked for him to sell me my FJ40 back. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the title and gave it to to me! He said he was getting to old to work on it and wanted it to have a good home. So he gave her back to me!
Dennis had tore apart the engine down to rebuild it and never got around to it. She sat there for all those years. Never driven, never repaired, never fixed up.
So here she is coming home in 2013 being towed by a FJ:
I first thought this was going to be an easy restoration. She looked in prettygood shape. A rear sill, a floor board repair and she’d be running again.
After the initial tear down, I got sidetracked by unexpected life events and she just sat int my garage. I have started working on her again but I am no where near done or even close. Every time I pulled something apart I found more rust. It got very frustrating and I’ve quit working on her many times and threaten to get rid of her. I keep coming back and now my wife keeps me going on it. She can’t wait to drive her again. My inexperience and lack of foresight has caused some issues too, more than I care to admit. I had zero welding experience gong into this project. I had rebuilt a 1974 Triump TR6 but never did any welding.
But there’s light at the end of the tunnel now.
More to follow.
