ARCHIVE TP Auto Parts Store -- Complete Sets of FJ40/FJ45 (72-78/79 - 83) Body Parts and Assemblies

[1969FJ]

There was a time when the FJ40 came to USA and the Jeep Jamboree people basically called it "beer can quality". Boy, they learned quickly. China is rapidly taking the same path. They certainly have the work force and since they embraced manufacturing, quality will always rise. I doubt if any existing American company would make these FJ40 parts. I would have no problem restoring an FJ40 / FJ45 using these parts. (show quality)

 

[Altavista]

What these artisans do differently from Juncheng auto is what they sell to us : their craftmanship, their attention to details and their deep understanding and love of toyota landcruisers. As a classic car enthusiast and cruiserhead, I will pay a premium for that....

For sure, Juncheng has a state of the art production facility and I have no doubt they will improve their tooling and their production process even further.... they have the means and the technology to do this and they will. However, regardless of what they do, you will never have the same craftmanship, the same attention to details and the same finish. The welding poorly done on the underside of the bonnet will never be cleaned by a robot and I doubt the factory workers @ juncheng will even do this because they have to produce and produce and produce...

May be you will do the finish in the US, I don't know... and this will become a US product.... may be you will do thicker metal for the US... I don't know....

When I talk to my cruiserhead friends who bought these parts from resellers in Europe, they all agree it is "great value for money".... and "you get what you pay for."...

There is nothing wrong with it but it is not quite the same..It's like buying a purdey shotgun or a piece of furniture done by an artisan.

You had this knowledge in the US but it seems it was gradually lost... of course it is easier, faster and cheaper to fit a new reproduction panel than to repair it... this is how the system works and this is where a proposal like tpautoparts/Juncheng auto comes into play.

So don't get me wrong : I like IKEA, Habitat and Bondo too.....they all solve a lot of problems but I will still get the Purdey, the artisan furniture and the lead filler if I can choose...

Am I nostalgic or fundamentalist ?? nope. I'd love to build an electric BJ46.... or fit a 45 soft-top body on my HDJ80..... but when I see a craftman taking a piece of sheet metal and beat it to form it and fit it into place, then spotweld and beat it again...to eventually make a perfect repair.... then I will do whatever I can to keep this knowledge alive... and give people the choice to go for "aftermarket" or "refurbished originals".

The funny story in all of this ???? Some distributors of Juncheng auto parts in Europe are buying full bodies done by these artisans for their own personal rig. Go figure why they would do that ?? I hope this is not to show to the public what all these parts once put together could look like.....

 

[tpclassic]

What these artisans do differently from Juncheng auto is what they sell to us : their craftmanship, their attention to details and their deep understanding and love of toyota landcruisers. As a classic car enthusiast and cruiserhead, I will pay a premium for that....

For sure, Juncheng has a state of the art production facility and I have no doubt they will improve their tooling and their production process even further.... they have the means and the technology to do this and they will. However, regardless of what they do, you will never have the same craftmanship, the same attention to details and the same finish. The welding poorly done on the underside of the bonnet will never be cleaned by a robot and I doubt the factory workers @ juncheng will even do this because they have to produce and produce and produce...

May be you will do the finish in the US, I don't know... and this will become a US product.... may be you will do thicker metal for the US... I don't know....

When I talk to my cruiserhead friends who bought these parts from resellers in Europe, they all agree it is "great value for money".... and "you get what you pay for."...

There is nothing wrong with it but it is not quite the same..It's like buying a purdey shotgun or a piece of furniture done by an artisan.

You had this knowledge in the US but it seems it was gradually lost... of course it is easier, faster and cheaper to fit a new reproduction panel than to repair it... this is how the system works and this is where a proposal like tpautoparts/Juncheng auto comes into play.

So don't get me wrong : I like IKEA, Habitat and Bondo too.....they all solve a lot of problems but I will still get the Purdey, the artisan furniture and the lead filler if I can choose...

Am I nostalgic or fundamentalist ?? nope. I'd love to build an electric BJ46.... or fit a 45 soft-top body on my HDJ80..... but when I see a craftman taking a piece of sheet metal and beat it to form it and fit it into place, then spotweld and beat it again...to eventually make a perfect repair.... then I will do whatever I can to keep this knowledge alive... and give people the choice to go for "aftermarket" or "refurbished originals".

The funny story in all of this ???? Some distributors of Juncheng auto parts in Europe are buying full bodies done by these artisans for their own personal rig. Go figure why they would do that ?? I hope this is not to show to the public what all these parts once put together could look like.....

Your feedback is very valuable. Thank you! I already shared to the production people back there and this will definitely give them an amber alert. Also, just to share with you a little bit of my past experiences -- I had experiences building specially designed cars for those rich and famous, and using the craftman method (beating and beating ) to make some body parts. But every parts came out this way are more or less different from each other. I still believe in modern technologies, but your are right, we need to put more time and effort into it.

 

[tpclassic]

What these artisans do differently from Juncheng auto is what they sell to us : their craftmanship, their attention to details and their deep understanding and love of toyota landcruisers. As a classic car enthusiast and cruiserhead, I will pay a premium for that....

For sure, Juncheng has a state of the art production facility and I have no doubt they will improve their tooling and their production process even further.... they have the means and the technology to do this and they will. However, regardless of what they do, you will never have the same craftmanship, the same attention to details and the same finish. The welding poorly done on the underside of the bonnet will never be cleaned by a robot and I doubt the factory workers @ juncheng will even do this because they have to produce and produce and produce...

May be you will do the finish in the US, I don't know... and this will become a US product.... may be you will do thicker metal for the US... I don't know....

When I talk to my cruiserhead friends who bought these parts from resellers in Europe, they all agree it is "great value for money".... and "you get what you pay for."...

There is nothing wrong with it but it is not quite the same..It's like buying a purdey shotgun or a piece of furniture done by an artisan.

You had this knowledge in the US but it seems it was gradually lost... of course it is easier, faster and cheaper to fit a new reproduction panel than to repair it... this is how the system works and this is where a proposal like tpautoparts/Juncheng auto comes into play.

So don't get me wrong : I like IKEA, Habitat and Bondo too.....they all solve a lot of problems but I will still get the Purdey, the artisan furniture and the lead filler if I can choose...

Am I nostalgic or fundamentalist ?? nope. I'd love to build an electric BJ46.... or fit a 45 soft-top body on my HDJ80..... but when I see a craftman taking a piece of sheet metal and beat it to form it and fit it into place, then spotweld and beat it again...to eventually make a perfect repair.... then I will do whatever I can to keep this knowledge alive... and give people the choice to go for "aftermarket" or "refurbished originals".

The funny story in all of this ???? Some distributors of Juncheng auto parts in Europe are buying full bodies done by these artisans for their own personal rig. Go figure why they would do that ?? I hope this is not to show to the public what all these parts once put together could look like.....

Also, could you explain a little bit about different thickness? The response I got was they made the thcikness "the same" as the original. If its not the same, I would have it fixed. This should be a very easy fix because its just a material change. Thank you for any information.

 

[tpclassic]

One of the mid 70s parts at its prototype stage. More on their way....

 

[Living in the Past]

One of the mid 70s parts at its prototype stage. More on their way....

View attachment 3243346

Sure this will be a popular item for those dealing rust and trying to go back to stock.

There is a way to create a thread that's also poll. May be a market for blanks without shifter holes for those modifying to other drivetrains. Those wouldn't require any extra work. A poll would get a good way to check how popular an item might be.

The two drain holes at the top were only used 75 and 76 models. 73 and 74 drains went the firewall. 77/78 models with a factory heater no longer had a vent requiring the drain.

Also our 73 and early 74 had three speeds that had different openings for shifters.

 

[tpclassic]

Sure this will be a popular item for those dealing rust and trying to go back to stock.

There is a way to create a thread that's also poll. May be a market for blanks without shifter holes for those modifying to other drivetrains. Those wouldn't require any extra work. A poll would get a good way to check how popular an item might be.

The two drain holes at the top were only used 75 and 76 models. 73 and 74 drains went the firewall. 77/78 models with a factory heater no longer had a vent requiring the drain.

Also our 73 and early 74 had three speeds that had different openings for shifters.

That’s a great idea!

 

[Racer65]

I can only agree with locklaw, but then again, I have my collector's and perfectionist hat on.

The chinese aftermarket parts are a good thing for people that just want to have a daily driver, take their rig off-road, want to do a restomod, just don't care about originality or are not prepared to spend 100K for a full 100% restoration.

I needed to have a rig for off-roading so I have tested a few of the juncheng parts (bonnet - doors) and we ordered a full body to fix onto my BJ40 chassis. Their design is nowhere near the original. Adaptations (cutting - welding) are required to make sure you can bolt the damned thing. Metal thickness is not the same as the original....Again, you get what you pay for... if you like to tinker and you have the capabilities to do so, then this is great...

I don't know about the US but there are a couple of companies in Europe that can do a perfect job to take your 40/42/43/46/45 tub and rebuild an entire new body. This will cost you 2X or 3X the chinese price. There are literally hundred of man hours to be spent on such a job, a lot of CAD work upfront to design the parts, molds to make, metal to lasercut and bend..... For the price, design will be 100% conform to original (all their design start from the original OEM part). Metal thickness is respected and sometimes increased...and they even make invisible improvements to reduce vibrations or metal deformations.....

To quote a famous French film dialogue writer : "le prix s'oublie, la qualité reste".

This is what is so cool about Landcruisers : classic car collectors and 4x4 petrol heads can share the same passion....

This feedback is pretty much spot on. I wrote about it in another thread that a customer who's a seasoned auto collision repairman turned Land Cruiser restorer has assessed these panels and gave it generally low marks. The devil is in the details, but in many cases it's more than that. It's rather surprising that parts that are supposedly 3D scanned don't turn out to be identical as the original. Some discrepancies are quite obvious and it's odd that it's not caught by the factory. I think part of the reason is that these people aren't Land Cruiser geeks. They walk into this business without full appreciation of the full body of knowledge surrounding the car (no pun intended). It's like a layman can't tell the difference between a genuine Rolex and a fake one. To them an item resembles the original but it's not the case. They import some sample vehicles and parts from Europe without knowing exactly what they're looking at, and much less what's in demand by the market. For example, they made ambulance doors based on LX samples and it doesn't match 99% of the market.

I met with the CEO at SEMA and he's a good guy. I provided various documented feedback and I have no doubt he's making improvements. However, it'll certainly be iterative and it'll take time. Think about how many years many of us have been learning about these cars. I take a deep breath when I see videos of these bodies shipping out in container after container.

 

[tpclassic]

This feedback is pretty much spot on. I wrote about it in another thread that a customer who's a seasoned auto collision repairman turned Land Cruiser restorer has assessed these panels and gave it generally low marks. The devil is in the details, but in many cases it's more than that. It's rather surprising that parts that are supposedly 3D scanned don't turn out to be identical as the original. Some discrepancies are quite obvious and it's odd that it's not caught by the factory. I think part of the reason is that these people aren't Land Cruiser geeks. They walk into this business without full appreciation of the full body of knowledge surrounding the car (no pun intended). It's like a layman can't tell the difference between a genuine Rolex and a fake one. To them an item resembles the original but it's not the case. They import some sample vehicles and parts from Europe without knowing exactly what they're looking at, and much less what's in demand by the market. For example, they made ambulance doors based on LX samples and it doesn't match 99% of the market.

I met with the CEO at SEMA and he's a good guy. I provided various documented feedback and I have no doubt he's making improvements. However, it'll certainly be iterative and it'll take time. Think about how many years many of us have been learning about these cars. I take a deep breath when I see videos of these bodies shipping out in container after container.

Thank you Racer65. I really appreciate your feedback.

It was a long story why we got in FJ40 territory and how did we got this far. The story started from early 1980s when a company in China imported 2000 FJ40s from Japan. The story came from 12 years ago when we fulfilled an order for a 500 sets of front fenders for a local Chinese tractor factory without knowing they were actually for FJ40 (we thought they were tractor fenders until 2021). The story then started from a Tiktok classic car influencer who has a group of more than 320K followers in China who provided the very first rusty remains of such a vehicle and placed the first order from us. We were passively pulled into this territory when we knew nothing about FJ40, and from a pile of junk which we can barely tell there shapes.

I will write the full history of this story once I have more time, maybe later this month, and share to everyone.

Since then Juncehng has rebuilt more than 40 sets of molds and tooling out of a total of a total of 200, and still in the process of remaking another 10. We are working with them every day to keep improving it. This time the parts and assemblies we brought in, many of them have defects (we will point them out as much as possible). It may help some people in urgent needs of them but of course we understand there are going to be more work on customer's end to adjust them. We could not make enough for other markets but for US market we know we have to do a lot of work and improve every day. I talk with Bruce almost every day, and I am sitting together with him right at this very moment. He has a clear mind and fully aware what we need to do. He promises that you will see and feel the changes.

 

[tpclassic]

Thank you Racer65. I really appreciate your feedback.

It was a long story why we got in FJ40 territory and how did we got this far. The story started from early 1980s when a company in China imported 2000 FJ40s from Japan. The story came from 12 years ago when we fulfilled an order for a 500 sets of front fenders for a local Chinese tractor factory without knowing they were actually for FJ40 (we thought they were tractor fenders until 2021). The story then started from a Tiktok classic car influencer who has a group of more than 320K followers in China who provided the very first rusty remains of such a vehicle and placed the first order from us. We were passively pulled into this territory when we knew nothing about FJ40, and from a pile of junk which we can barely tell there shapes.

I will write the full history of this story once I have more time, maybe later this month, and share to everyone.

Since then Juncehng has rebuilt more than 40 sets of molds and tooling out of a total of a total of 200, and still in the process of remaking another 10. We are working with them every day to keep improving it. This time the parts and assemblies we brought in, many of them have defects (we will point them out as much as possible). It may help some people in urgent needs of them but of course we understand there are going to be more work on customer's end to adjust them. We could not make enough for other markets but for US market we know we have to do a lot of work and improve every day. I talk with Bruce almost every day, and I am sitting together with him right at this very moment. He has a clear mind and fully aware what we need to do. He promises that you will see and feel the changes.

We just had a very successful Grand Opening and people love our parts. I compared the OEM parts with ours and ours look way better! But we know we have to keep improving. There is no end on quality improving. Come to check yourselves! You can take advantage this week's promotion special of 20% off on any FJ40 products.

26201 Ynez Rd., Suite 102, Temecula, CA92591. www.tpautoparts.com, 1-800-815-8275.

 

[65swb45]

I love the optimism of your paper ticket machine!

And I am amused to see a familiar sight that I haven't seen for almost 40 years. In 1985 I walked into another large empty warehouse of someone with big plans in the world of Landcruisers: Specter Off Road.

 

[ryanwk628]

There was a time when the FJ40 came to USA and the Jeep Jamboree people basically called it "beer can quality". Boy, they learned quickly. China is rapidly taking the same path. They certainly have the work force and since they embraced manufacturing, quality will always rise. I doubt if any existing American company would make these FJ40 parts. I would have no problem restoring an FJ40 / FJ45 using these parts. (show quality)

A lot of early Japanese stuff was beer can quality, also not designed to perform at American freeway speeds. They then worked overtime to change that perception and built their brand on quality after having the humility to listen to dealer and consumer feedback; developing the Toyota Production System and being willing to shut down the entire assembly line to resolve an issue. Not just what they produced but their suppliers as well, because while they may use the same vendors as other brands, they hold them to a higher standard. You only get one first impression then it is very hard to change perceptions, but they did. When I interned at Toyota Motor Sales in Torrance they were very open about this in their onboarding.

I'm not sure China (broadly) is going the same route. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of quality products made in China, but there are also horror stories where things slip as soon as you leave the building. Part of that is consumers being more price driven rather than seeking quality, the other side of it is with modern manufacturing methods you can make quality products pretty much anywhere and thus expectations have risen (despite nostalgic people suggesting everything from the good ole days were so much better.) A quality product is one that meets the customer's expectations.

The LC community is loyal to good vendors - as we see here on Mud. Hopefully this vendor recognizes that this is a market that prioritizes quality, accuracy and customer support, because I would love to buy some parts for my early 40 if they bring them to market in the future!

 

[tpclassic]

I love the optimism of your paper ticket machine!

And I am amused to see a familiar sight that I haven't seen for almost 40 years. In 1985 I walked into another large empty warehouse of someone with big plans in the world of Landcruisers: Specter Off Road.

LOL! Actually this paper ticket machine was not prepared for the FJ40 series. The FJ40 series of parts is just a small portion of what we have. We have about 10,000 collision replacement parts to come for the collision repair industry—that is our biggest market. In greater LA area for example there are more than 3000 body repair shops. So this shipment we have 2/3 of the parts are NOT for FJ40s.

 

[tpclassic]

LOL! Actually this paper ticket machine was not prepared for the FJ40 series. The FJ40 series of parts is just a small portion of what we have. We have about 10,000 collision replacement parts to come for the collision repair industry—that is our biggest market. In greater LA area for example there are more than 3000 body repair shops. So this shipment we have 2/3 of the parts are NOT for FJ40s.

But still, I like to take care of you guys and I have a lot of fun in it!

 

[Jarhead0802]

But still, I like to take care of you guys and I have a lot of fun in it!

你好吗?

故曰：知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼，不知己，每战必败。

And, welcome! Look forward to hearing positive reviews as you continually perfect your products.

 

[suzuguru]

Congratulations on your successful Grand Opening. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[romanpharmd]

Hello, I am trying ordering set of fenders, but does not gives me shipping costs

 

[1969FJ]

A lot of early Japanese stuff was beer can quality, also not designed to perform at American freeway speeds. They then worked overtime to change that perception and built their brand on quality after having the humility to listen to dealer and consumer feedback; developing the Toyota Production System and being willing to shut down the entire assembly line to resolve an issue. Not just what they produced but their suppliers as well, because while they may use the same vendors as other brands, they hold them to a higher standard. You only get one first impression then it is very hard to change perceptions, but they did. When I interned at Toyota Motor Sales in Torrance they were very open about this in their onboarding.

I'm not sure China (broadly) is going the same route. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of quality products made in China, but there are also horror stories where things slip as soon as you leave the building. Part of that is consumers being more price driven rather than seeking quality, the other side of it is with modern manufacturing methods you can make quality products pretty much anywhere and thus expectations have risen (despite nostalgic people suggesting everything from the good ole days were so much better.) A quality product is one that meets the customer's expectations.

The LC community is loyal to good vendors - as we see here on Mud. Hopefully this vendor recognizes that this is a market that prioritizes quality, accuracy and customer support, because I would love to buy some parts for my early 40 if they bring them to market in the future!

The "beer can quality" term came from Moses Ludel. He wrote a book. It was focused on off road, and jeep thought they had the best rigs. The materials in the Landcruiser's was expected to be "tin". It was not.
Now , the other vehicles being imported certainly needed to fit Americans size people, freeway speeds etc. were not designed right , but, quality was not beer can. A lot of customers in America saw Japan as a 3rd world, behind the times, bombed out , when actually they were growing to become the best in manufacturing.
Since this a forum for Toyotas I will not mention the fact that electronics manufacturing such as GE, Zenith, and all the others were replaced by Sony and all the others. China should be commended for carrying on the same path for manufacturing and growing in quality as well. I certainly believe China is a manufacturing giant compared to USA/Europe and it can be proved. Look closely to products you buy and keep track of what is made in China vs made in USA.
An old memory was in 1975, yes , I am old, rust belt purchase of friends, one bought a Toyota Celica, other Chevy Vega. Vega rusted out in a year vs Japan quality , Today the Toyota is restored and cool.

 

[tpclassic]

Hello, I am trying ordering set of fenders, but does not gives me shipping costs

We are having some issues on the shipping calculations due to the very new website. Please call us during day time to 1-800-815-8275, or send us an email to sales@tpautoparts.com -- our team (Jesse, Mathew and Yang) will be working hard to get you the best shipping cost available. Sorry about the the inconvenience.

 

[65swb45]

The "beer can quality" term came from Moses Ludel. He wrote a book. It was focused on off road, and jeep thought they had the best rigs. The materials in the Landcruiser's was expected to be "tin". It was not.
Now , the other vehicles being imported certainly needed to fit Americans size people, freeway speeds etc. were not designed right , but, quality was not beer can. A lot of customers in America saw Japan as a 3rd world, behind the times, bombed out , when actually they were growing to become the best in manufacturing.
Since this a forum for Toyotas I will not mention the fact that electronics manufacturing such as GE, Zenith, and all the others were replaced by Sony and all the others. China should be commended for carrying on the same path for manufacturing and growing in quality as well. I certainly believe China is a manufacturing giant compared to USA/Europe and it can be proved. Look closely to products you buy and keep track of what is made in China vs made in USA.
An old memory was in 1975, yes , I am old, rust belt purchase of friends, one bought a Toyota Celica, other Chevy Vega. Vega rusted out in a year vs Japan quality , Today the Toyota is restored and cool.

‘Beer can’ story.

A guy with a bone stock 1st gen 4x4 mini (1980) went on an initiation run with our local club in 1984 to a trail in the local mountains that involved several creek crossings. He managed to turtle the truck on the transfer case at the very first creek crossing.
Our Canadian lumberjack Jacque said something to the effect of the Toyota mini being SO d-mn beer-can light that he could lift the truck off the rock himself.
He then proceeded to get out of his Jeep, walk over to the Toyota, turn his back to the driver’s door, squat down, grab the bottom of the rocker panel and give a mighty heave.

He instantly caved in the driver’s door!