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lexi4darin

lexi4darin

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Threads
46
Messages
860
Location
Bay Area, CA
Long time FJ100 owner is now also a first time FJ40 owner.

Decent paint, some rust spots under the doors and rear sill (back of tub), hard and soft top, a good motor, a bad motor, great seats, electrical is fine, brakes are new but drums all around, ebrake has no tension & doesn't work, passenger window works but sticks pretty tough (grease or new reg?), leaky front axle seals.

Swapping motors in September to get the motor with the broken/cracked head out. Would like to address the leaky axles right after the motor swap but have never done hubs/axle seals before. The FJ is coming with new (barely used) hubs (warn?) but I have no seals for inners or outers. Oh one more thing to mention, I think the owner is giving me a spare front and rear axle (complete wheel<->wheel). Not sure what I'll do with them but I guess they look to be in similar to shape what is already on the Cruiser, maybe less leaky at the wheels.

I can't say enough about the owner. Seemed to be a classy guy and was definitely very accommodating to my needs.

I expect to be posting on the 40 forum now as well as the 100 so I welcome all thoughts, warnings, and suggestions. :steer:
1109090917_01.webp
FJ40 024.webp
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More ...

More pics. Also, looks like the build was 1965 but registered as a '66. Anyone have/know the exact paint code? I'm calling the color Sea Foam but from what I found on the net, the most likely color was something similar to Spring Green from a '68/69. Would love more details so I can start planning body/rust/paint project for 2012 and beyond.
0420101418_01.webp
FJ40 019.webp
FJ40 032.webp
 
Very clean! I agree with your color assessment, although there are threads that go into that issue in extreme detail. I have the same year so I'm looking forward to seeing what you do. Good luck!
 
t's a nice 40, did it come with both tops and is the soft top factory? I can't wait to see the build .
 
Thanks guys.

r083rt said:
What a great cruiser to start with!
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Not bad for a few thousand dollars. Not bad at all. The owner was a stand up guy.

Hogan said:
t's a nice 40, did it come with both tops and is the soft top factory? I can't wait to see the build .
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Came with the standard hard top, although I'd like ambulance doors at some point. We've got kids and it seems easier to load them with the amb. doors. Also came with what "looks" to be a reproduction of the original soft top but with an original soft top frame. The soft top details are my best guess but I don't know enough about 40's yet to be certain.
 
congrats and welcome to the real side of the story : 40 series. what i can said lucky guy nice rig and soft top also...best of the 2 worlds
 
Yep yep yep. I need guys like Kurt to do some hand holding for me.


I'd like to do the axle seals and engine swap first. Then locate a few more original parts. I have doubts about the side markers on the fenders and a few more etc.
 
Vosy - send me, or post on this thread, pics of your "possible" sale. I'm always in the market and know a few others looking too.
 
vosy said:
Looks nice for a great price. I had seen that on craigslist. Knew it wouldn't be for sale very long.
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Oh and it was on CList for barely 48 hours or so. I believe the owner stopped talking calls right since I was at his house for 4 or 5 hours this weekend rummaging through all the parts doing my inspection.
 
lexi4darin said:
Thanks guys.



Not bad for a few thousand dollars. Not bad at all. The owner was a stand up guy.



Came with the standard hard top, although I'd like ambulance doors at some point. We've got kids and it seems easier to load them with the amb. doors. Also came with what "looks" to be a reproduction of the original soft top but with an original soft top frame. The soft top details are my best guess but I don't know enough about 40's yet to be certain.
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Nice.:D

Here's a thread on keeping the hatch... Ambulance door would just be the reverse.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-seri...ling-81-hardtop-onto-my-74-keeping-hatch.html

I'd give it some serious thought before swapping to ambulance doors... Many don't like the 6"+ wide blind spot in the middle of the rear window.

The header bars are a straight swap. There are some differences in the ambulance doors and you'd have to sort out the upper hinge bolts with nutserts or?. I've never had them, and would keep the hatch myself.
 
Interesting thread Bikersmurf. Thanks.

Also I'll be looking at some disc brake conversions but right now the vehicle brakes have new springs, shoes, and cylinders. I haven't driven the FJ40 at highway speeds yet so I'm not sure of braking at any speed. Thoughts?
 
I would not touch that 40...sorry I know it is your truck, and you should do what you want with it, but respectfully, that is one really nice looking classic cruiser, and is should be cleaned up, and treated to protect it, but that's about it! The slanted air intake on the heater tells us that is a late '65, and it was not uncommon for early cruisers to be title a year or two later, as some sat for many months before being sold, and titled. That I can see quickly, you would need to change the front turn signals (a paint them body color) as well as replace the black mats on the running boards with the correct white pyramid mats, and it would look almost the way it did when it came off the boat in '65-'66! FYI, the early '65 models had corrugated tops, and yours would be from after around after mid 1965 with the 'new' style hard top...that basically lasted from mid 1965 to 1984.

If you want ambulance doors, and eventually disc brakes, and so on, I would suggest buying '77 or '78, (some say the '78 was the best model made) as I would not swap the back doors, or put discs and and any other mods on an otherwise clean looking survivor....but this is just my humble opinion...make it safe, and enjoy it.

Sorry if I came off a little strong, but I would clean it up good, protect and preserve what needs to be protected, and forget the idea of doing a frame off on something that really doesn't need it.

In these pics I see a very, very nice looking rig...congrats!!! Enjoy it well :cheers:
 
My wife said no FJ! said:
I would not touch that 40...sorry I know it is your truck, and you should do what you want with it, but respectfully, that is one really nice looking classic cruiser, and is should be cleaned up, and treated to protect it, but that's about it! The slanted air intake on the heater tells us that is a late '65, and it was not uncommon for early cruisers to be title a year or two later, as some sat for many months before being sold, and titled. That I can see quickly, you would need to change the front turn signals (a paint them body color) as well as replace the black mats on the running boards with the correct white pyramid mats, and it would look almost the way it did when it came off the boat in '65-'66! FYI, the early '65 models had corrugated tops, and yours would be from after around after mid 1965 with the 'new' style hard top...that basically lasted from mid 1965 to 1984.

If you want ambulance doors, and eventually disc brakes, and so on, I would suggest buying '77 or '78, (some say the '78 was the best model made) as I would not swap the back doors, or put discs and and any other mods on an otherwise clean looking survivor....but this is just my humble opinion...make it safe, and enjoy it.

In these pics I see a very, very nice looking rig...congrats!!! Enjoy it well :cheers:
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Went through the registration and other papers with owner already. You are in fact correct. It was a late 1965 that was registered 1966. I have quite some experience with my own classic Mustang projects and was familiar with this type of registering (sorry all you 1964 1/2 Mustang owners).

Also, after doing some research on the ambulance doors, I'm probably holding off there as the attraction to this specific FJ was to keep it mostly stock. The purchase came together fast and I mis understood the amb doors as an option for this era.

More on being kept stock, it came with a second set of axles that the owner recovered from another model. I was thinking of piecing together disc brakes on those axles over the coming months. Maybe it's not worth all the hassles of swapping axles since the shoes, springs, and brake cylinders are all new. We'll see.

Sharp eye you have noticing the turn signals. I've located some through a Mud Vendor for a pretty reasonable price. However, were the turn signals body color or sprayed to match the original bumper, silver metal color?


This beauty is a true barn find as the original owner left it in his detached garage for just over 10 years before second owner bought it. Knowing that the first owner lived a few miles from where my dad grew up and second owner lives a couple miles from where I grew up as a child makes it a bit of a touching story too.
 
Very nice rig. Great way to start on a project. The disc brake conversion isn't too tough, neither are the axles, greasy and dirty, but not difficult. I'll also second the opinion to not swap to ambulance doors.
 
If you don't need new brakes, I don't see the point to make a change. Well adjusted drum brakes work great as long as you're not running through streams and adjusting them is pretty easy.
 
Welcome to the world of 40's. That is a sweet truck. It looks like a perfect candidate to leave stock. Believe me I'm not one to leave things stock but I don't think I'd mess with that. Good luck on whatever you do.
 
lexi4darin said:
Went through the registration and other papers with owner already. You are in fact correct. It was a late 1965 that was registered 1966. I have quite some experience with my own classic Mustang projects and was familiar with this type of registering (sorry all you 1964 1/2 Mustang owners).

Also, after doing some research on the ambulance doors, I'm probably holding off there as the attraction to this specific FJ was to keep it mostly stock. The purchase came together fast and I mis understood the amb doors as an option for this era.

More on being kept stock, it came with a second set of axles that the owner recovered from another model. I was thinking of piecing together disc brakes on those axles over the coming months. Maybe it's not worth all the hassles of swapping axles since the shoes, springs, and brake cylinders are all new. We'll see.

Sharp eye you have noticing the turn signals. I've located some through a Mud Vendor for a pretty reasonable price. However, were the turn signals body color or sprayed to match the original bumper, silver metal color?


This beauty is a true barn find as the original owner left it in his detached garage for just over 10 years before second owner bought it. Knowing that the first owner lived a few miles from where my dad grew up and second owner lives a couple miles from where I grew up as a child makes it a bit of a touching story too.
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Body color :beer:

Here are two pics of a then new '66 :beer:
66 blue.webp
66 blue a.webp
 
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