Sky Blue 1978 (1 Viewer)

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dtm

Joined
May 2, 2022
Threads
3
Messages
23
Location
Idaho
Hi

IMG_0036.JPG

Meet my Sky Blue 1978 FJ40.

After a couple years of window shopping I pulled the trigger on a project for my 14yo son and I. Got this from a gentleman up in Montana back in May. Car was his father's
hunting rig since 1981 and had been sitting for a few years. It came with a bunch of DIY mods, some rust, a lot of dirt and grime. It was de-smogged at some point and the original carb was replaced with a Weber 32/36. Condition-wise, it is clean but has been used and has had what looks like a lifetime of neighborhood mechanic type repairs. Most things on it are untouched.

Our goal this summer was to just drive it around a bunch, break it in, and to learn by doing. We've put about a thousand miles on it so far, many of those miles were used to teach my son how to drive a manual. For the "learn by doing" part, so far our approach hasn't been very systematic - we've just been ticking items off a very big todo list based on what we think we can accomplish.

Done so far:

* Replaced the plugs
* Changed the engine, diff, transmission*, transfer oil (well, the transmission fill plug was seized and rounded, took it to a local shop to get that fixed)
* Flushed the clutch & replaced the master cylinder
* Flushed coolant
* Flushed brakes
* Reupholstered the front seats w/ SOR covers & cushions
* Ran a compression test (115,105,100,110,110,118 ... ugh)
* Removed a bunch of DIY metalwork. lights, storage boxes, etc.
* Replaced damaged front and rear bumpers
* Replaced 20+ year old tires
* Installed a seat extension kit (I'm 6'4", and my son will be)
* Installed a tach - did this in a non-destructive way so it can be temorary
* Replaced jump seat straps
* Removed an old 80's stereo & speakers, replaced with a cheap 20's BT stereo
* Fixed broken tail lights and a grounding issue that was causing some very funky signal behavior.
* Adjusted out steering wheel play.
* A bit of rust remediation in the cargo bed and driver's side floor - sanded and treated.

There is a lot more to do and I'm sure a lot of questions to ask - but that's for another day.
 
Nice 78. Mine is an ex Montana hunting rig too and had a few crazy mods done to it as well. Good luck! 👍
Thanks! A couple of the mods were pretty cool so we decided to keep them. Apparently, they would quarter an elk and stuff it in the back for the drive home - that caused the rear windows to fog up pretty bad so they installed a fan on the rollbar in the back - it circulates the air pretty well so we kept it. The other cool mod they did is a fabricated steel toolbox mounted to the front frame - it is getting blasted and powder coated and will get put back on.
 

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