My son and I are building his first car.
It's a 1977 FJ40R-KJQ with stock everything as far as we can tell. Has OEM canopy and a roll cage with seatbelts, OEM bench seats with no head rests. Original steering, instrument cluster and dash but with a cut out for a stereo or radio which I'm still not sure if it is a mod.
Start Condition:
Bodywork:
Rusty as buggery on most outside panels, but chassis and tub inside/structural parts look good. No foot well, bulkhead or tray floor rust. Outer panels are holyier than the pope.
Engine & Running Gear:
Engine has the head off due to milky water, hope it's just the gasket. Apparently it was driven onto the trailer when previous owner bought it and everything sounded good, but then parked and cylinder head removed. Since then though, it seems to have locked up. Was told that the battery wouldn't turn it over so they tried to role start, but it locked the wheels up. At least I know it's not the Diffs and Neutral gear is fine, as it ran free down the hill
.
The plan:
1. Fix up the Engine/ gear box to just get it running and mobile.
2. Drive it for a while, learning all the little idiocencracies. Making notes of what's needed.
3. Full Strip down, chassis, body and engine repaint. Plan to use bakkie tray rubberising paint on the outside panels to give it a bumpy textured look and deep crimson red, like a dark blood red.
4. Add A/C and a couple other comforts, maybe power steering and upgraded suspension. Hope to kit it out for camping trips away but keeping it looking original is a priority.
5. Rebuild and enjoy.
Let's see how this goes!
It's a 1977 FJ40R-KJQ with stock everything as far as we can tell. Has OEM canopy and a roll cage with seatbelts, OEM bench seats with no head rests. Original steering, instrument cluster and dash but with a cut out for a stereo or radio which I'm still not sure if it is a mod.
Start Condition:
Bodywork:
Rusty as buggery on most outside panels, but chassis and tub inside/structural parts look good. No foot well, bulkhead or tray floor rust. Outer panels are holyier than the pope.
Engine & Running Gear:
Engine has the head off due to milky water, hope it's just the gasket. Apparently it was driven onto the trailer when previous owner bought it and everything sounded good, but then parked and cylinder head removed. Since then though, it seems to have locked up. Was told that the battery wouldn't turn it over so they tried to role start, but it locked the wheels up. At least I know it's not the Diffs and Neutral gear is fine, as it ran free down the hill
. The plan:
1. Fix up the Engine/ gear box to just get it running and mobile.
2. Drive it for a while, learning all the little idiocencracies. Making notes of what's needed.
3. Full Strip down, chassis, body and engine repaint. Plan to use bakkie tray rubberising paint on the outside panels to give it a bumpy textured look and deep crimson red, like a dark blood red.
4. Add A/C and a couple other comforts, maybe power steering and upgraded suspension. Hope to kit it out for camping trips away but keeping it looking original is a priority.
5. Rebuild and enjoy.
Let's see how this goes!
