Builds The Architect's '77 FJ40

[GA Architect]

Amazing.....So how was the feeling inside the open 40-was it louder or more quiet?It has been a long time since I drove in open top vehicle...I 've heard somewhere that it is more quiet-is it right?

The feeling of being in the open air is unexplainable, you just have to be there. As for it being louder or more quiet, while driving it is the wind that you hear and feel. And feeling the sun pouring down on you, well I guess if you don't like the sun, you wouldn't want to remove the top.

I will say this, when I was in the parking lot, waiting for my wife to pick up a sub sam-itch for the baseball player, my daughter and I were talking. I was turned to the right looking at her in the back, and then I hear this car door SLAM! I quickly turned around, as I thought someone just opened my driver's side door and then shut it.....but it was only a lady getting in her car next to me. Was not used to the openness of my rig and being able to hear the outside-world so well when parked.


Is it more quite? My FJ40 didn't rattle much with the top on, and I haven't had the top off long enough judge.

 

[handcannon]

There is NOTHING like the experience of driving an open top vehicle. And I mean that in a good way. My experience wasn't with a 40 though. It was in a 1967 Datsun Roadster. It wasn't a motorcycle, but it sure was a very close second.

Don

 

[GA Architect]

There is NOTHING like the experience of driving an open top vehicle. And I mean that in a good way. My experience wasn't with a 40 though. It was in a 1967 Datsun Roadster. It wasn't a motorcycle, but it sure was a very close second.

Don

I also drove a convertable '67 GTA Mustang during the 80's. Very rare for that one to have the top up, it was only driven on sunny days. Man, that car would fly and it had an 8-track player! My dad should have never sold that one.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I drove a John Deere tractor, in Arkansas, when I was 12, in 1961... It was a 'convertible' too and was a real rush to drive, with friction brakes and a hand clutch, that I could barely engage. The tranny was 1-2, 3-4 & 5-6. I got it going in 5-6 one time and had to really work to reach the clutch and slow it down... I never hit 5-6 again.

I plowed and cultivated a lotta fields with that old three-wheeler and buried it to the axles more than once.

I drove an old MG/B with the top down, when I was 17 and it was fun, but not nearly the rush that I got from that old John Deere!!

 

[65swb45]

I drove a John Deere tractor, in Arkansas, when I was 12, in 1961... It was a 'convertible' too and was a real rush to drive, with friction brakes and a hand clutch, that I could barely engage. The tranny was 1-2, 3-4 & 5-6. I got it going in 5-6 one time and had to really work to reach the clutch and slow it down... I never hit 5-6 again.

I plowed and cultivated a lotta fields with that old three-wheeler and buried it to the axles more than once.

I drove an old MG/B with the top down, when I was 17 and it was fun, but not nearly the rush that I got from that old John Deere!!

You can't top that...literally!

 

[GA Architect]

I drove a John Deere tractor, in Arkansas, when I was 12, in 1961... It was a 'convertible' too and was a real rush to drive, with friction brakes and a hand clutch, that I could barely engage. The tranny was 1-2, 3-4 & 5-6. I got it going in 5-6 one time and had to really work to reach the clutch and slow it down... I never hit 5-6 again.

I plowed and cultivated a lotta fields with that old three-wheeler and buried it to the axles more than once.

I drove an old MG/B with the top down, when I was 17 and it was fun, but not nearly the rush that I got from that old John Deere!!

Good one Danny! Never thought about a tractor as being a 'convertible'.....Funny you bring up tractors. I plowed a field or two on my Granddad's 40's Farmall A below.

How this would relate to our FJ40's, well the Farmall tractor had a hand crank too. I watched my Granddad crank it a few times by hand, with no issues. As a 14 year old and not to be out-done, I decided to give it a shot. What I didn't pay attention to, was how my Grandfather held the hand crank.....On the 2nd turn as I was pushing the crank handle, it kicked-back and dislocated my thumb. My granddad just laughed as he reset my disengaged appendage!......And from then on, I only used the electric starter.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Our John Deere had these tricycle wheels on the front and, with the friction brakes, would turn on a dime. You just had to be very careful not to be going to fast when you made a sharp turn, or you'd get too much change!!

It didn't have a starter, but it had a great flywheel that loved to be cranked on... usually took 6-12 tries to get it started.

But the straight hand clutch was my personal favorite. It was like a straight stick shift... you pulled it back when stopping and pushing it forward when going. I would push it forward and keep it there with my foot. But, when it came time to stop, I had to get out of the seat and reach way around and grab it. A different world in those days!!

It looked like this... not sure of the actual model... this picture is off the web... you can see that hand clutch, with the ball on top, sticking up by the "seat"

I also drove a '52 Chevy 2-ton Stake Bed Truck... I have a picture somewhere... I barely show up in the window. Fun times!!

 

[handcannon]

Wow Danny, did you ever bring back memories! I don't remember how old I was (maybe 8 or 9), but my Dad borrowed an old John Deere tractor from my uncle for a while. The tractor was older, I think, than the one you pictured, at least it sure looked like it. My Dad started it for me (same type of system you described), then let me disc the small field. That thing was a beast, and I don't mean in a good way. The hand clutch and brakes just barely worked. I almost took out the nearby pasture fence with that tractor when I tried to turn it at the edge of the field.

A while after that, my Dad bought a 1949 Farmall Cub tractor, which I drove for many years. And yes, it had the hand crank also, just like the Farmall A that GA Architect described. Four cylinders and a whopping 12 horsepower that could kick that hand crank like a mule.

Don

 

[TheHardWay]

Is it more quite? My FJ40 didn't rattle much with the top on, and I haven't had the top off long enough judge.

My experience has been 80+% of my rattles were from the front and amby doors. When I first removed them, I was pleasantly shocked at how quiet Zeke had become. Before I put the amby doors back on that fall, I glued new weatherstripping on, adjusted the front doors and now it doesn't matter if the top is on or off - it's pretty quiet. Relatively speaking, of course!

 

[65swb45]

My experience has been 80+% of my rattles were from the front and amby doors. When I first removed them, I was pleasantly shocked at how quiet Zeke had become. Before I put the amby doors back on that fall, I glued new weatherstripping on, adjusted the front doors and now it doesn't matter if the top is on or off - it's pretty quiet. Relatively speaking, of course!

Ha! Major flashback.

I rebuilt a t-case for a buddy of mine with a '78 about 24 years ago. I called him during the rebuild to tell him the idler gear was shiny. Not so worn as to be worn out, but enough to whine. I told him unless he was sure he was gonna keep the rig, he would not recoup the extra cost. He had me reinstall the gear.

About a year later he left for a month-long vacation overseas. Didn't want to leave the truck on the street unattended for a month [wouldn't fit in the garage] So he brought it by the shop, handed me a grand, and told me to fix whatever I wanted, just make sure it took a month!

The truck was one of those stunning Freeborn Red survivors, one of the first rigs Jonathan Ward sold out of his house before he started TLC. Well of course the door rattles were annoying, so that's what I worked on first.

The day after he picked up the truck he called me and said "I hate you." I said "Why." He said "You made the truck so quiet I can hear that damn gear whining!"

He had me pull the t-case again and change that gear.

 

[78fj40mg]

The only rush that I get these days is riding my Toro at a whopping 5 MPH and experiencing that momentary blast of air running through my thinning hair prior to coming to a complete halt for a quick organic burrito, and then back on the wheel horse for yet another momentary rush between rainstorms.

 

[Weber Sarge]

No offense - but the rebadged Toro's aren't a true Wheel Horse - lol . The older Horses were very capable - I use mine as mini bull dozers at times...

This is a '67 model 1277 , 10" Brinly single bottom plow - 50x100 garden spring soil turning ...

Sarge

 

[78fj40mg]

No offense. Just very curious.

Sarge, with all do respect I wouldn't call it a rebadged Toro just because of older (1967) vs. newer (1998) model, that's like telling that a 2016 Cadillac is not a Cadillac because it doesn't compare with a 1967 model.

What makes the older Wheel Horses more capable? The more aggressive tires?



Comparison

1967 Cadillac

2016 Cadillac

1967 Toro Wheel Horse

Modern version Toro Wheel Horse with implements capability

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I loved those old cars... you could enter and exit the city limits at the same time!!

 

[78fj40mg]

I loved those old cars... you could enter and exit the city limits at the same time!!

Hey Danny, I too like those old car/trucks they just don't make them like they use to in the sixties and seventies, like the FJ40s and Sarge's 1967 Toro Wheel Horse, they were made with heavy duty steel bodies that drove like tanks and lasted for ever! You know what I mean.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Dry weight on my '67 is almost 600lbs , with the added fluid in the tires ,wheel weights and such it's over 1,050lbs . Toro bought out Wheel Horse in the early 90's and kept some of their designs and tractors for a few years , later models are really all Toro and not built anywhere close to as heavy . My rear axle hydro weighs 150lbs of cast iron with 1-1/8" axles - they don't break . Think of it this way - the old Horses were built like the Land Cruisers - fully serviceable and built to last 50+yrs ...which they do . There is nothing on any of mine that isn't easily rebuilt/serviced - it's all built with heavy steel , replaceable bearings and such . New ones - replace unit parts .
(2) 1967 T-1277
(1) 1974 C-160
All single cylinder Kohler engines , never rebuilt in running condition - any of those 3 tractors will drag the '77 Cruiser with the brakes locked , not kidding ...there is a reason fully restored , correct tractors are selling for over $2K easily - you cannot buy anything like that today .
Same reason I own a Cruiser....

Sarge

 

[78fj40mg]

Sarge @Weber Sarge ,

I've had mine for 18 years and runs like new with the two (2) cylinder Kholer engine. As you already know cars and tractors alike are built with a lot of plastics these days in order to cut down on manufacturing costs, weight, etc. My 266H has a dry weight of 632 Lbs. it too has cast iron suspension parts, 48 inch deck and a 16 HP twin cylinder engine, it cost me $4200 brand new, back in 1998. I'm sure your '67 is stout just like our FJ40s, the newer Toro's are a bit lighter due to use of plastics but do not lack performance and the ability to run implements.

Rick @GA Architect ,

Sorry for the hi-jack!

 

[tls3601]

Good stuff guys!!

 

[GA Architect]

@78fj40mg no worries....They say our 40's have tractor motors anyway, so the subject apropos.

 

[tls3601]

Now I want to post up pics of my Dad's 1947 Ford 8N...............and yes we all drive tractors as Rick said!