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Well, she may not run. But the new LED H4 headlights and hardware look pretty good I reckon.

I'll still need new buckets though if I can find them... they beveled the adjusting screw mounts out to fit the generic screws, so the toyota ones are REALLY loose.
They also used sheet metal screws to attach the headlight ring and they stripped the threads out...... sigh.

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Living in the Past said:
@Chamba guessing 66 or 67? Originally thought 71 because of the back windows' weatherstripping but remembered my 9/64 FJ45LP-B has the later style weatherstripping.
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I was thinking 68 or 69 because there's no vent at the bottom of the screen, by I would bet you're right because you usually are.

So I'm stripping the bolt-in dash to weld up the two holes they drilled to mount the am/fm radio figuring it would be a fairly easy job.... but there's bondo all over where they filled other holes. I know we should never judge others least we be judged ourselves..... but why? They had at least 4 other holes in there for Lord-knows-what.

I found a RHD dash in Indonesia on Fleabay but then I realised it'll likely have similar issues and it'll take a month to get here. So this will take some time. But I need to finish this to start the wiring as this is where the locker, vacuum guage, fog light switches and ignition kill will go. I want to wire all this in to the harness.

So it's another round of the Pakistani Two Step to get to the next step. Crikey.

Now for the Bondo.

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Chamba said:
I was thinking 68 or 69 because there's no vent at the bottom of the screen, by I would bet you're right because you usually are.

So I'm stripping the bolt-in dash to weld up the two holes they drilled to mount the am/fm radio figuring it would be a fairly easy job.... but there's bondo all over where they filled other holes. I know we should never judge others least we be judged ourselves..... but why? They had at least 4 other holes in there for Lord-knows-what.

I found a RHD dash in Indonesia on Fleabay but then I realised it'll likely have similar issues and it'll take a month to get here. So this will take some time. But I need to finish this to start the wiring as this is where the locker, vacuum guage, fog light switches and ignition kill will go. I want to wire all this in to the harness.

So it's another round of the Pakistani Two Step to get to the next step. Crikey.

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Think I would being doing a search of the attic before going any further, unless your talking about an attic in Australia.

As for the vent in the bottom of the windshield frame those weren't away sometime in 1965. Toyota's decision to drop anything older than 3/69 makes harder to research older Cruisers. My original FJ40 is a 9/67. First month of the 68 model in the US market. The change to a single wiper motor Toyota raised the height of the pads on the hood. That lasted until sometime in 1968 when the pads had two levels. Was the height of the pads and position of the wiper arms (two motors) is why I think 66/67. 45 trayback looks very nice. Personally would loosen all the body mounts and adjusted so the hood is further back. That over hang and washboard roads will bend the corner brace in the corners. I parted out a 71 FJ40 that those had bucketed from the hood being too far forward. Arizona has plenty of washboard roads. Those combined with spring loaded hold downs can speed up the process. Probably why late model had the stainless steel pieces on the front of the hood.
 
I always figured that stainless steel pads on the hood from '81-on were to prevent the paint being worn off by the rubber pads and then the hood rusting away at the corners.

Your right, that vent went away by '66. I'm getting rusty!
 
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Now this will make you smile....

6L4, light olive. Same green I painted my LX back in Australia. Lad has great taste all round.
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That’s pretty cool.

Your LX was pretty sharp in 6L4. I have a couple pics of it.

Years ago I decided my 45 would be 6H9. But now after years of project creep I plan to re-evaluate and see if I land there again.
 
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Awl_TEQ said:
Your LX was pretty sharp in 6L4. I have a couple pics of it.

Years ago I decided my 45 would be 6H9. But now after years of project creep I plan to re-evaluate and see if I land there again.
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[/QUOTE]

When I repaint the 43 one day it'll either be 6H9 or 6L4. I still think they look great in that green..... and a 45 in 6H9? Be still my heart.
 
pretty sure I can get the 79-84 buckets new.. LHD version which you probably have the RHD buckets which you should change anyways (light angle onto the road)
 
I wasn't aware the buckets were different LHD and RHD. I've removed the RHD headlights and now have the LHD headlights in there (they sweep to opposite sides). They aim fine now, but the screws are fugly.

If Toyota hasn't priced them like precious emeralds I'd like to get them. Thanks Matt.
 
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As for those stainless strips on the hood, my ‘79 FJ45 had them
 
Well it was a UAE truck, maybe that’s why
 
Not perfect, but close enough. Nothing bugs me more than one piece of the dash jewelry not matching the others. The silver they used was too silver and not enough pewter. Now they are equally pewter. I'll paint the bottom of the bolt-in dash black once it's dried for a day or two. Then I'll set it all up with the switches, lights, vacuum guage, etc so it's ready to attach to the new wiring harness..... I've yet to install.

The radio hole will be filled with 1/8" black plastic. That's where the vacuum guage (the widened area), USB port, two toggles and E locker switch will go. You won't see that edge wich doesn't match because it'll be butted up to the plastic plate.

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Progress.... but the Painless has no dedicated ground wire, so I'm having to run one throughout separately to each switch/light, etc. Still trying to figure out a few items.

Sadly the E locker hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to run that wire outside the harness. Does anyone happen to have the measurements for the switch and possibly a picture of it? I'd really like to at least cut the hole for it in my new radio blanking plate. It's so much easier to cut things like that with the bolt-in dash on my work bench.

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Chamba said:
Progress.... but the Painless has no dedicated ground wire, so I'm having to run one throughout separately to each switch/light, etc. Still trying to figure out a few items.

Sadly the E locker hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to run that wire outside the harness. Does anyone happen to have the measurements for the switch and possibly a picture of it? I'd really like to at least cut the hole for it in my new radio blanking plate. It's so much easier to cut things like that with the bolt-in dash on my work bench.

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Chamba- the Dakota will work if you run the appropriate Painless wires to the controller. This reduces the amount of work and keeps it a little cleaner.
 
Jdc1 said:
Chamba- the Dakota will work if you run the appropriate Painless wires to the controller. This reduces the amount of work and keeps it a little cleaner.
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Yes, that part will be really easy. But I've got to run earth to each switch, motor and light because Painless figures you'll ground everything through the body. Toyota uses ground in the harness.

Just a bit of added fun. It's not really that bad; I'm running two separate earths: one from the firewall to the interior items, the other from the frame to the external (engine, parking, signals and headlight) items. I'll loom it in with the rest of the wires, so it'll look like it's just past of the harness when it's done.

The high beam/ flash is one thing I'm not certain about though: it's designed for GM-style single wire dimmer where Toyota uses two wire +/-. I'm thinking I can simply use the positive and ground to chassis on both sides.
 
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Chamba said:
Yes, that part will be really easy. But I've got to run earth to each switch, motor and light because Painless figures you'll ground everything through the body. Toyota uses ground in the harness.

Just a bit of added fun.
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I actually like wiring. Have done 3 40s from scratch. Great when everything works correctly.
 
I totally get it. I enjoy it too; I just wish I had the time to really get in to the swing of it. I find it really satisfying..... or at least I do when it's done. I love the mental challenge of getting all the wiring just right, routing it nicely and placing switches, etc in the most ideal location.

I'm just loving playing with Cruisers again after too long away to be honest. I've built so many Cruisers over the years that much of what I'm doing now is simply muscle memory: I feel like I'm 25 again sometimes.... except when I try to stand up too quickly.
 
Chamba said:
I totally get it. I enjoy it too; I just wish I had the time to really get in to the swing of it. I find it really satisfying..... or at least I do when it's done. I love the mental challenge of getting all the wiring just right, routing it nicely and placing switches, etc in the most ideal location.

I'm just loving playing with Cruisers again after too long away to be honest. I've built so many Cruisers over the years that much of what I'm doing now is simply muscle memory: I feel like I'm 25 again sometimes.... except when I try to stand up too quickly.
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I am grateful every day for people trusting me with their projects.
 
While wiring is not one of my “loves” working on my vehicles, when I get it done and while I’m doing it is gratifying. Like that comment “ I hate doing it but love having done it”. My biggest wiring fun was a HEATHKIT 2kw linear amp back in 1980. Plenty of instructions and guidance but flipping a power switch for the first time with those 2 giant transmitting tubes was a very hesitant moment

@Chamba those loads of wires! I only think of continuity
 
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