Build The Monkey is Back

[Chamba]

I can second that knuckles. My brief foray into the Cheep world taught me that what I was used to in my decades of Cruisers did not apply to those in ..... that world.

There is a universal passion which exists in the Cruiser world which doesn't seem to be as common in the Cheep world. A big part of it I believe is the quality of the original machine; this leads to a passion for originality in folks like @cruisermatt. That passion leads to a kinship in others with the same passion.

With a Cheep, they were SO badly made by AMC and then Chrysler that there is almost zero interest in keeping them stock so everyone knows "the best" way to rebuild them: with the goal of making them even slightly reliable. Consequently, it's a very cutthroat, back-stabby environment due to that competition. "You bought that from Bill?! You don't want to buy stuff from him, he's got no idea what he's doing. You know how many things of his I've fixed after folks came to me? I can make your Cheep run like a Toyota." And Bill will say the same about him.

My dealings with Matt and others since getting back into the Cruiser world have reinforced my (probably silly) jump back into 40s. But I'm happy to be back amongst the Mud madness.

Me and our '72 in the Wind River Ranges in about 1973. Cruisers just feel right.......

 

[Chamba]

And yet another fine example of Third World 'restos': why carefully lable things as you pull it apart so you can put it back together correctly? Far easier to throw everything into one pile then see what you can make work when you put everything back together......

 

[Jdc1]

And yet another fine example of Third World 'restos': why carefully lable things as you pull it apart so you can put it back together correctly? Far easier to throw everything into one pile then see what you can make work when you put everything back together......

View attachment 4006368

Adaptive headlights?

 

[Chamba]

She's all buttoned up in time for my 6 day trip. Coolant is in, no obvious leaks. Clutch fan fits nicely with the new water pump and the pulley from Matt.

Some interesting Third World alterations: the radiator support rods which tie the oxbox to the frame were altered to accommodate the lowered oxbow. They did it by simply bending a zig-zag in the longer one. I was able to straighten it back to is original shape. Unfortunately they cut the shorter one, so I'll have to weld in an inch of stock to return it to the length it needs to be.

Engine is MUCH quieter now with the clutch fan, but of course I'll need a shroud. Matt may be able to make one out of stainless using his fancy CAD machine. If not, I'll keep looking for a factory one.

I installed the power steering cooler. Should work fine with the air con radiator, but if it needs to be moved then so be it. I'd love a factory p/s cooler line, but this will work until/if I find one.

In my parts stash I had the splash guard which goes below the radiator. I believe it was from my 84 Hj47 from when I put the Vortec in it in 2000. I doubt there are many third world 'restos' with this in place....

I also took care of one of my pet-peeves: I glued rubber weather stripping around the edge of the grille mesh. I cannot stand it when that mesh rattles when you whack the grille, so this stops that and prevents it wearing away the paint where it's vibrating.

 

[knuckle47]

@Chamba having been under the veil of that third world engineering myself, I can appreciate the frustrations you dealt with just in the last few weeks. One of my favorites has to be the welded attachment of a chunk of steel to rounded worn out drain plugs. Just enough to provide a grip to “POSSIBLY” ever remove that drain plug again. I get it….whatever works when in need. However, it eventually catches up.

Nice to see your making headway

 

[Chamba]

My 43's sexy left-handed sister. Were it not for the beach rust on it then it may have gone more silly. Crazy. I hope he's a Mud guy.

Supercharged 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ43 by The FJ Company

Bid for the chance to own a Supercharged 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ43 by The FJ Company at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #213,862.

bringatrailer.com

 

[charliemeyer007]

Wow $185,000 I couldn't afford the sales tax let alone an insurance payment. I hope their happy, it would suck to spend that much and be disappointed.

 

[Chamba]

Wow $185,000 I couldn't afford the sales tax let alone an insurance payment. I hope their happy, it would suck to spend that much and be disappointed.

Let me tell you it sucks to pay what I paid and be disappointed. I don't wish that on anyone. Luckily there is a LOT of green between what I paid and he paid.... so I can fix mine.

I'm a bit shocked it went that high given its obviously been beached a decent amount. Crikey.

 

[Living in the Past]

About the 84 for $185K I would be a stickler for small details. Not having a removable center panel is a big one. The A pillar room light switch has spot welded bracket it screws in different than this one.. The transmission hump inspection cover looks like the 1/79-9/82 not the raised 10/82 plus style. Fuel filler is another. All these added up makes me wonder if the cowl used was a 84. And for $185K would expect the room light to have a cover and not just any cover but the correct one.

 

[Chamba]

About the 84 for $185K I would be a stickler for small details. Not having a removable center panel is a big one. The A pillar room light switch has spot welded bracket it screws in different than this one.. The transmission hump inspection cover looks like the 1/79-9/82 not the raised 10/82 plus style. Fuel filler is another. All these added up makes me wonder if the cowl used was a 84. And for $185K would expect the room light to have a cover and not just any cover but the correct one.

I never understood why they almost always remove the fuel door on these FJ Company models. They look incomplete without it.

 

[JuanJ]

My 43's sexy left-handed sister. Were it not for the beach rust on it then it may have gone more silly. Crazy. I hope he's a Mud guy.

Supercharged 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ43 by The FJ Company

Bid for the chance to own a Supercharged 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ43 by The FJ Company at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #213,862.

bringatrailer.com

Hello,

For that amount of money, I would have expected a proper floor mat, complete with insulation, and a socket for the inspection light in the glove box, but that is just me.

It appears that the company slapped a post-2010 71 Series drive train into this truck. Again, for that amount of money I would expect they took the time and effort to install a 40 Series power steering system instead of the adapted 70 Series setup this truck has.

And I wonder how many gremlins hide in this truck. I remember reading a thread about all the fixes a similar (though less expensive) 43 Series from this company needed, in order to be drivable.

In my humble opinion, "restorations" from this company are just for the good looks. A wannabe Icon if you may. Run, Forrest, run...

Bizarro is not Superman, no matter how well he wears the suit.

Rant over. No offense intended.






Juan

 

[JuanJ]

Let me tell you it sucks to pay what I paid and be disappointed. I don't wish that on anyone. Luckily there is a LOT of green between what I paid and he paid.... so I can fix mine.

I'm a bit shocked it went that high given its obviously been beached a decent amount. Crikey.

Hello,

Once you are done with your work, your truck will be a lot better than that 43 Series. And for a simple reason: you know what you are doing.

Keep up the good work.





Juan

 

[Chamba]

Back from my trip, finally got a chance to run the 43 and test out the new cooling system upgrades: new radiator, pump, thermostat, hoses, etc.

I discovered that the reason for the incessant leaking was not the crappy generic hoses and poor Paki workmanship but rather the problem is a blown head gasket presurising the system combined with a radiator cap which was manufactured when Reagan was president. Wet spark plugs also back this up. I've now put exactly 11 miles on it and realise that the odometer reading when I got it was indeed indicative of what I was in for.

The only positive today is that the blown head gasket is presurising the hell out of the new system and it's not leaking..... just blowing all the coolant out of the overflow tank before it even heats up.

So: decision time:
*Cut my losses and part it out (smartest move, most likely),
*Compound my losses and rebuild the 'rebuilt' 2F,
*Find a used 2F (good luck in Florida),
*swap in a Vortec/LS1, which I'm not terribly keen on having had a V8 swapped 47 and being rather fond of the 2F,
*REALLY compound my losses and swap in a diesel (R2.8 or used 12HT); or
*Hope for the best, put in a new head gasket, maybe rebuild the head and hope this bottom end isn't as bad a rest of the truck...... I haven't really got time for any of these scenarios, which means more work for @cruisermatt, but likely putting the Terrain Tamer springs on the back burner for a bit.

Feeling rather forlorn at the moment.

 

[cruisermatt]

Did you ask Aidan already? We have several 2F options here from good used runners to a fresh motor in progress at the machine shop right now for this exact reason

 

[Chamba]

Thanks to Matt, I think we're on the way to getting her drivable. Matt has a great engine, so I sent him the cheque for it yesterday to go in with the new H55/transfer case, axle and brake rebuild, etc. Thank you Matt and Aidan!

So I finally put a fun item on, rather than worrying about getting her to run.

Next I'll start stripping the heater in preparation for the Old Air heat/air con. I'll keep after the wiring while I do it.

 

[knuckle47]

Nice to read a positive note…yesterday sounded scary…. All the best!

 

[Chamba]

Playing with my son's IROC helped cheer me up (it's all original paint and mechanicals and never been worked on by Pakistani 'experts'), then Matt coming through with the goods. So now I'm just going to do stuff to get the 43 ready for its trip to CruiserMatt's Cruiser spa.

 

[Living in the Past]

@Chamba so with all the extra $ going into this are you going to get the correct 40 series H55F top cover? When you go to retire what's an extra day or two to pay for.

 

[Chamba]

@Chamba so with all the extra $ going into this are you going to get the correct 40 series H55F top cover? When you go to retire what's an extra day or two to pay for.

I wish! No, I got the 60 series top loader on the new H55. I LOVED the position of the cane in my LX and my 47 with the 40 series top loader and the 40 series shift cane. But I finally got this shifter at a decent angle (not as good as my LX, but passable). I've got to stop the bleeding somewhere and that's it. I will keep looking for a 40 series top loader when I'm in Australia next, but I can deal with this one until then.
I still need to buy a wiring harness, seats, driver side window regulator, dash pad, 8274, etc..... so there's no shortage of other places this 43 will drain my retirement fund.

 

[Chamba]

Ordered a Painless harness today: pulled the heater and bolt-in dash out. The wiring is significantly worse than I'd feared.

Looking for a hazard light switch, factory park/brake/4wd indicator cluster for a bolt in dash and wiper motor switch if anyone happens to have one. I have a complete RHD bolt in dash...... or did once. I can't seem to find it and have no recollection of selling it.