Builds Texas Reds - The Tale of Two Red 40’s

[wngrog]

A few weeks ago my friend @cbmontgo put me in touch with one of his good friends about working on his red 1977 FJ40.

If you are a TLCA member, you may have seen this 40 in the latest issue of Toyota Trails with Project Pikachu on a big trip through Colorado.

When Drew called, we discussed what he wanted done on his FJ40 with the focus being on installing a Holly Sniper.

I told him I was pretty much finished with the Mustard 78 I was working on and I could fit him in next.

We made some loose plans and planned to meet in the middle and swap trucks.

In the mean time I asked Drew for some engine shots to see what I was facing.

 

[wngrog]

@Drewk and coordinated a meet around a surprise visit to my wife’s best friend so I had a superb copilot for the trip.
I took a vacation day Friday and hit the road with my wife, Red...who also happens to be from Texas
Mandatory stop at Bucees

Drew was waiting for me at the finest hotel in Hillsboro Texas with, not only a beautiful red 1977 but also a stash of 40 parts he had collected along the way that he needed out from under foot.

I smashed some awesome Mexican food last night then toured a ranch, found a cool truck then headed east to Tilda Bogue

After a quick stop at Rudy’s BBQ we were ready to roll.

 

[wngrog]

But wait.....the title said the story of two fj-40s......

 

[wngrog]

What really got me intrigued about this project was the other Texas Red 40 in @Drewk ’s possession.

I’d love it if he would chime in here and tell us the story of this survivor

 

[G-Cat]

Both red 40s are correct...77 has OEM headrests, early 40 does not. Subscribed

 

[middlecalf]

Oh damn, that other one. Whodoggie!

 

[Drewk]

So the story of the 67’ goes like this. One Sunday morning in late July of 2018 I was doing some good ole CL searching and came across this add for a 1967 land cruiser! This of course caught my eye and the pursuit was on. As most of y’all know it’s timing, location and price that usually make a good deal on a 40. Lucky for me all of the above were true.

 

[Drewk]

So I called the number and this fella by the name of John answered. I could tell right away this was a good ole boy I was dealing with. The longer our conversation went on the more excited I got!

 

[cruiserkreutz]

@Drewk and coordinated a meet around a surprise visit to my wife’s best friend so I had a superb copilot for the trip.
I took a vacation day Friday and hit the road with my wife, Red...who also happens to be from Texas
Mandatory stop at Bucees
View attachment 2225352
Drew was waiting for me at the finest hotel in Hillsboro Texas with, not only a beautiful red 1977 but also a stash of 40 parts he had collected along the way that he needed out from under foot.
View attachment 2225365
I smashed some awesome Mexican food last night then toured a ranch, found a cool truck then headed east to Tilda Bogue
View attachment 2225356
After a quick stop at Rudy’s BBQ we were ready to roll.
View attachment 2225359
View attachment 2225362

Nice, I can barely wait for this story to unfold.


Wait a minute, you work?

 

[Drewk]

John lived on a ranch in Medina TX, which was only a few hours drive from me. Major plus no shipping cost involved. John informed me that this was his neighbor’s land cruiser and that he had just pasted away. He helped settle the estate and received the land cruiser as payment. John told me he did not know much about these old Toyota Jeeps, but it ran!

 

[mrboatman]

This should be another good build
JP

 

[hooter]

I can’t read this story.
I missed that 67 red survivor by 15 minutes.
One town over.
I’m still in mourning.

hoot

 

[wngrog]

Nice, I can barely wait for this story to unfold.


Wait a minute, you work?

Heck yes. I have a day occupation and they only fired me once in 23 years.....

I can’t read this story.
I missed that 67 red survivor by 15 minutes.
One town over.
I’m still in mourning.

hoot

You have a fine one yourself. Was it in the same area?

 

[wngrog]

We made it home with the 1977. We stalled out at the TX/LA line with a massive wreck on I-20

Evaluation on the 1977 starts in the morning. I’ve got it for the month of March but I’m hoping to knock it out quick because @jmlockwood keeps buying FJ45s......

 

[hooter]

You have a fine one yourself. Was it in the same area?

Yes same area.

But I want moar. MOAR!!!

 

[wngrog]

Yes same area.

But I want moar. MOAR!!!

I’m happy having one 40. I can’t imagine a situation where I would want two but IF I did it would be to have a pre-68 like this one with the ribbed dash and a later one. Not two of that same series.

 

[wngrog]

It took me about 2 hours to get all unloaded today.

Glad my 40’ container arrived last week.

One thing @Drewk said early was “I want this truck to drive like I see you drive yours” safe and straight at highway speed

I took it out for a spin this morning and immediately can tell the issue. He likey has about negative 5* caster going on with these monster shackles and these way too tall front springs.

First step here will be to rip these springs out and the shackles and replace the fronts with Medium OME CS001F springs, 1” over stock shackles and steel 4* caster shims from @orangefj45

 

[wngrog]

@cbmontgo talking him into this ratchet ass auto locker and it was leaking so I decided to knock that out and the rear ubolt skids first. At least he did not get him to buy Super Swampers.

 

[wngrog]

@Drewk sent me with a set of old Con Ferr ubolt skids to install on the rear. I noticed he had already bent the ones on there pretty good on his Colorado trip. Then I realized the skids won’t work on a late fj-40 where the shocks mount to the ubolt plate.

Lucky for him I had a @lcwizard 4Plus flipkit here at the ship earmarked for the next project after him so after a quick phone call for approval They got installed

One more plug for this tool if you don’t have one

The rear on this truck Is way lower than the front and it’s causing some terrible steering issues. One thing I found when I tried to reinstall the rear shocks was how far I was having to compress them to get them on the mount. I grabbed a tape measure and went to see what shock was on Weenie 3. Turns out the rear shocks were 2” too long. Luckily the fronts were the right length and I swapped them to the back
Old Shock with the suspension fully dropped out

Front shocks moved to the rear is what we wanted

This is the proper P/N for the rear with a 2.5” lift

 

[wngrog]

This is a very rust free truck but there was some surface rust and no matter, Fluid Film is a superb add for any undercarriage. By the time it goes back to Drew he will have a well protected truck from mud and water and any of the elements.
Before

After