technology reaches westralia - fj25 pics

[west aussie]

g`day punters. the 3 planets of digital camera purchase, school holidays and visiting nephews (to instruct me) have finaly aligned and so i take another precarious step on the lower rungs of the technological ladder. have posted a pic for #121 in the registry thread. attached here (hopefully) a couple more pics for you to view and me to hone my computing skills.
many years ago this vehicle was roughly modified by my uncle into the swb pickup you see with the original upper rear section moved forward to behind the seats. you may notice the hole for the upper tailgate latch. and an unusual rib to deflect water above the hinges. also the rear window is tapered and aprox 2 inches wider at the base. the roof, also shortened, is fibreglass with a raised reinforcement rib down the centre. the doors had sliding perspex windows and some form of fibrous inner trim. other irregularities are in keeping with all the aussie 25s including pop up indicators, dash mounted indicator switch, no fender mounted air intake and no external fuel tank access. more of this cruiser exists in the deepest recesses of the junk shed including the missing door, centred diff (housing only) and axles, transmission less handbrake etc. there should also exist some old b&w photos of this tojo at work; if i ever attempt an archaelogical dig on my parents photo collection that is.
anyway hope this of some interest and can post more pics of this and other old landcruisers in my fleet as my skills develope and i shed the restrictions associated with my beginner status.

 

[west aussie]

aussies in the registry #107 and #119 are most similar to mine (the latter only 18 units different in the vin#) though neither of them have any existing hardtop remains. #64 is similar at a glance but looks a purpose built pickup with different roof, rear window and longer body area in front of the rear tyrewell.

 

[Aussie 25]

Well you have a little changle their. The back of the cab looks a little diferent than mine, but the roof [apart from the bow]and door look the same even the crude door catch. If you need aney photoes of aney parts of the cab i will try to help.

 

[voyager:01]

thanx for sharing. some old black and white pics of that thing in action back in the day would be awesome!

 

[My wife said no FJ!]

Very cool!

I also agree with older pics if you can find them

 

[west aussie]

Well you have a little changle their. The back of the cab looks a little diferent than mine, but the roof [apart from the bow]and door look the same even the crude door catch. If you need aney photoes of aney parts of the cab i will try to help.

photo finding could be a major undertaking though sure i have seen a picture or two somewhere. if we ever get a wet week haha. cheers for that ian. the only 25 i have ever seen in the flesh is my own wreck. aussie ones do all seem to have the same doors at a glance though the bodies vary a bit. does yours have a wide raised reinforcement rib in the fibreglass roof or is it flat? hard to tell from the pics. also of interest to me is the variations in the chassis lengths of the early fj45`s. every example of the 64 and older chassis type (solid cab sliding rear window) i have seen in the west have 4 inches extension welded in behind the cab and i wondering if this is the case aust wide. yes it would certainly be a challenge and i am not actually harbouring any major restoration plans. brother and i have half jokingly considered putting the gearbox and centre diff housing back in. (the missing door, seat frames, trans hump and toolbox cover are in the junk shed too.) make up the rest with early 45 parts. have a couple 135 motors and plenty other old running gear. ignore all the major bodywork required and set her up as station rubbish truck hay cart tower; light duty, pensioner resident curio sorta role. get my 64 finished and my house built first. what i would really love is an old unpainted 25 tray to do a patina style restoration on similar to my 64. mr greenspan i will get some pics up for you i just gotta get through this rookie status first.

 

[a.greenspan]

... mr greenspan i will get some pics up for you i just gotta get through this rookie status first.

fine

you can use
ImageShack® - Online Media Hosting to send pics too.

Think you have similar picture abload programs in Australia, would google " picture abload "

Cheers
Peter

 

[west aussie]

haha you have to understand how poor my computer skills are. i have notes written on paper by my nephews to navigate me thus far! but this forum is great practise for me. its a great site; love seeing everyones progress and keeps me motivated to put the odd hour in on mine. dismantled and unseized my wiper motors and ordered headlight terminal blocks ex japan in the last week.

 

[west aussie]

my 64 fj45 that is; not the above!

 

[a.greenspan]

haha you have to understand how poor my computer skills are.

Learning by doing, thats what I did
try it or your nephews must school you !
Pay them with a

or two
Cheers
Peter

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Keep practicing on us, I think I would be rather dealing with a chewed up pencil and paper sometimes.

Sounds like a plan to just get it running as a beat around rig, I've started a couple that way and they either turn into a project or parts rigs. ;p

It's strange how it looks like they used the Toyota floor with the local body. I thought that they ended at the cowl, maybe they shipped the floor separate.

 

[west aussie]

like they say you have to be interested to actually learn; so you mob are the best for practice. gradually reading my way through many old threads. yesterday found out how to decipher the engine block build date from the casting. fantastic information. that makes the block in my old 25 a 59something. the id tags are unmarked on the firewall anyway.

re the floor: when i get a chance i'll run the crane down to where she is and get some underbody photos for a reference. be interesting to compare the floor to the aussie 25 trays. and odd how all the aussie doors seem the same yet the rest of the bodies vary a fair bit. be nice to see more pics of some the examples in the registry.

i find the rear upper tailgate interesting. you can see the handle hole in the rear view and the latch mechanism in the other photo. im yet to see another like it. and the aussie indicator switch in middle if the dash. i recently noticed the same switch in the 56peru photos though in a different location closer to the steering wheel. i'll keep an eye out in other central and south american examples.

as for parts rig i am a sentimental bugger and find it very very hard to wreck (part out as you say) anything with even the slightest restore potential. that ultimate unobtanium sale in classifieds a few weeks back was absolutely killing me and i was dying for someone to take over the whole project. lucky i have sourced some old coastal fishing wrecks for parts. i must be the only bloke gets excited when i find an old landcruiser as a pile of rust so i dont feel guilty wrecking it! its dry and arid where i live so the bodies have usually survived well. any closer to the coast and they're rusted and any further north and they've been used as cattle mustering buggies.

 

[fwed]

Hi Jim all the ones I have seen over here have the Toyota floor
Cheers Fred

 

[west aussie]

1964 fj45

gday punters just practicing my very poor computer skills; in the photo attachment department this evening with my lovely computer literate girlfriend. all going to plan this should be a couple snaps of my old 64 fj45 i am tinkering with. nothing too serious just computer practice for me.

 

[west aussie]

g'day there punters. i been offline for a month or so now; spending a lot of time at my parents property where the internet is yet to reach.

anyway during that time i have purshased that fj25 tray listed in the classifieds section here. i havn't seen it and it is on the opposite side of the continent to myself (they always are) but have had several long discussions with the owner of 40 years. she has a couple of issues, most notably chassis front crossmember rust issues that seems to follow me around, but all in all she sounds like an honest old cruiser. a 25 tray has been on my wish list for some time and the particular appeal of this one to me is its unpainted unmolested appearance; that seems to be my little kink. she will make a nice little stablemate to my 45 above.

in early august the girl and i are doing a flying trip east for a week or so (via the darwin cup) to her home town of port augusta. so hoping to be able to borrow my mates car, hire a trailer, and relocate said tojo to mates shed in port augusta. a nice step closer and a highway town from whence to arrange shipping of some description. thats the vague plan anyway. a holiday cant be all beer and romance i told her.

anyway will keep you mudders informed. hoping this gains me a little credibility in the fj25 hollow; im forever a bit nervous you mob will tell me to pack up my rickety old 64 and my irrelevant observations about old westralian 45s and get out of here haha.

IAN if you're reading from queensland it's possible this transaction may leave me with a spare 25 crownwheel for your project if you unable to turn one up closer to home. just dont want to promise anything until i have determined the condition of the trayback diffs.

FWED thanks for the tip about this old tojo; the advertisment had completely slipped under my radar.

 

[Aussie 25]

Good to see it went to a good home. I didnt have the spair cash. i think it should be fairly good. no i havnt got a diff yet.

 

[fwed]

Hi Henry Glad to help out.
Hi Ian I have 4 spare diffs when you are desperate let me know.
Cheers Fred

 

[Aussie 25]

Thanks Fred i will surley keep the diff in mind. I got a copple of headgaskets/vrs kits a few weeks ago.
Cheers.

 

[foxfab]

I have a good FJ25 front crossmember. But its out of a LHD if that matters.

 

[west aussie]

FOXTAB - thanks for the crossmember offer. will wait and see what the damage is soon hopefully; prob be able to weld something in. sensible option of course is pull said crossmember from my 25 bones at the top of this thread but i am a sentimental bugger and struggle with dismantling a faultless 25 chassis. or parting out anything with the slightest potential really.