SOLD South CA: 1975 FJ40 SMOG EXEMPT (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Year
1974
Vehicle Model
  1. 40 Series
Location
Los Angeles, California United States
Mileage
70000
Color
Blue
Price: $14,500 OBO
IMG_3716.JPEG


Re-posting up my 1975 FJ40. I had originally posted this around a year ago after moving out of state, but my buddy that was taking care of it for me in California decided that he wanted to buy it off of me and so I stopped trying to sell it. Fast forward a year, and he is in a bit of a rough patch financially and won't be following through with the purchase anymore. So back up for sale it goes.

I will be out in Los Angeles February 8-11 for a work trip and intend to do some extensive wiring work on the truck. I will have the title with me on the trip and am very motivated to get this thing sold while I am out there.

Currently there is an intermittent short in the wiring behind the dash that will sometimes kill the engine. My buddy is hopeless when it comes to electrical work so I will be fixing this myself while I am out there. This will be fixed (along with a bunch of other wiring clean up) prior to the sale.

Electrical issue is now fixed.

Quick Specs:
Price: $16,000 $14,500 OBO
Year: 1975
Make: Toyota
Model: FJ40
Color: Blue (original: Mustard Yellow)
Engine: Small Block Chevy 350
Transmission: Original 4 speed (H42)
Brakes: FJ60 disk front, stock drum rears
Tires: 35" BFG Mud Terrains
Top: New Bestop soft top and 2-piece doors
Mileage: ~70000
This truck is smog except in California (Model-Year 1975 and older) CA DMV Link

History:
Before I took this FJ40 out to California with me, it had spent 10 years sitting in my dad's barn in Minnesota. He always had plans of fixing it up and making a run around town rig out of it, but sketchy brakes, an engine in need of a good tune up, and way too many other projects always kept those plans on the back burner. When he finally decided to get rid of it, I told him that I would buy it off of him and get it fixed up and road worthy. After bringing it out to CA and doing a bit of work, the engine now runs strong, brakes are excellent, and it is a fun rig to drive around.

Info:
The truck is a 1975 FJ40 with a small block Chevy swapped into it sometime in the 80’s with the Downey V8 conversion kit. After some work it now runs and drives nice and has a disk brake conversion in the front and Saginaw power steering. It also has a ConFerr rear fuel tank and Aqualu Aluminum storage tailgate. It’s sitting on 35” tires with a 2” SUA lift and 4:11 gears. I do not have a hard top for the truck, but it has a new Bestop soft top and 2-piece doors. The seats are generic bucket seats with 3-point seat belts attached to the stock roll cage. Stock fuel, amps, temp, oil gauges are not working. The 3 aftermarket gauges (volts, oil pressure, coolant temp) in the stock radio cutout all work. The turn signals and hazards do not work and the stock tail lights are not hooked up yet, but all other exterior lights are functional. The wiring is half stock, half questionable backyard mechanic. It works for the basic functions of starting and running, wipers, lights (except previously mentioned), charging, and heater blower motor, but could use some work. The body is straight with no rust through. There are a few small areas on the rocker panels that were patched long ago, but these were very well done. The front fenders are Aqualu aluminum replacements and the rear wheel openings have a mild cut for the larger tires and fender flares. The paint is a single stage metallic blue that is starting to fade and oxidize and the interior is coated with a roll in bed liner.

IMG_5034.JPG


IMG_5042.JPG


IMG_5017.JPG


IMG_5014.JPG


All of the images in this thread and more are uploaded to this album on MUD.

Maintenance and work history:
  • All fluids and filters changed
    • Engine oil, Trans and T-case oil (Redline MT90), Brake fluid, power steering fluid, Diff oil
  • Disk brake conversion
    • FJ60 knuckles, birfields, disks, hubs, etc, and, 90s 4-Runner calipers
    • Full rebuild kit from Cruiser Outfitters, Marlin Crawler Heavy Duty Axle Seals and backing plate eliminator kit
    • Every part was degreased, sand blasted and painted (por15 for castings, high temp paint for brake parts)
    • Knuckle centering tool was used to align axle shafts and set preloads
  • Replaced the fabricated old bumper with an OEM frame rear cross member and new OEM tail lights
  • Installed a new Bestop soft top and 2-piece doors
  • Refreshed the ignition system with a new MSD HEI Billet Distributor

  • Replaced the battery and alternator
  • Recently had the timing on the engine set professionally by a shop.
    • They also performed a compression test on the engine
      • Cyl 1: 150psi
      • Cyl 2: 152 psi
      • Cyl 3: 149 psi
      • Cyl 4: 154 psi
      • Cyl 5: 148 psi
      • Cyl 6: 150 psi
      • Cul 7: 149 psi
      • Cyl 8: 150 psi
I had intended to rebuild the rear third member in order to strengthen the rear end for future mods by swapping out the gears for fine splined pinions but never got around to it. So, the truck will come with a full rear axle rebuild kit with all new bearings and seals, as well as 2 very lightly used sets of 4:11 fine splined ring and pinion gears from Cruiser Outfitters and 2 fine splined pinion flanges. I also have a full set of LED lights for the interior and the rear badges for the truck.

The good:
  • Body is straight no rust (some patina)
  • Frame is in good condition
  • Power steering
  • Extremely thorough FJ60 disk brake conversion on the front
  • Well done v8 swap
  • Runs and drives well
  • Shifts smooth
  • ConFerr rear fuel tank
  • New distributer, battery, and alternator
  • New Bestop Soft top and 2-piece doors
  • All fluids changed within 500 miles
The bad:
  • Tires are pretty old
    • Good tread depth, but have micro cracks in side walls
  • Power steering pump leaks
  • Small tranny leak
  • Oil pan gasket weeps oil
  • Dash pad is in rough shape
  • Stock gauges don't all function
  • Wiring has been cleaned up and the short is now fixed. Still not perfect though.
    • No turn signals
    • Emissions wiring from the 2F is still in place (extra wires and connectors)

Loved owning this truck when I was out in CA, but just don't see myself getting as much enjoyment out of it now that I am back in Minnesota. This is a solid little truck that, with a little work, could be a great trail rig or a fun truck to drive to the beach on weekends. Please reach out with any questions.

Thanks,

Travis

612-877-2128
 
Last edited:
Was able to find and fix the short yesterday. Ended up being the main power wires to the amp meter. When I reintalled the dash a while back, the spedo cable was pinching the wires and eventually rubbed through. This created a short between the cable and wires. After the dash was removed again, the spedo cable was no longer pinching the wires, but the melted wires would still sometimes contact the body when bouncing around. Thus the intermittent short:
IMG_6017.jpeg

(photo of melted wires pre-fix)

All of the melted wires have been fixed or replaced. The harness has been re-wrapped, and the spedo cable is now replaced as well. I also cleaned up a bunch of the non-stock wiring behind the dash for the tack and engine swap.

Truck now runs and drives as good as ever.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom