What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week?

[Engineer8000]

@knuckle47, that is about tops for me in my 73. The top of the doors start pushing out about there. Kind of scary but will make a great news story when a tire blows and I die in the fiery crash.

 

[ranchdawg]

Some preventive maintenance before it gets put back together.

 

[ranchdawg]

Oh, and more maintenance, but left to someone way more capable.

 

[DylanH239]

Took a look at my parts shelf and saw a couple things I could install fairly quickly. So I replaced the coolant temp sensor with an OEM part from Toyota.
Part# 83420-20011

I’ve been having issues with my temp gauge reading high when I removed the old temp gauge sensor I found it was cracked. Hopefully that was my issue.

I also replaced the bulbs for the “fasten belts” & “brake” lights on the interior. Replaced a smog pump hose with a used one from SOR that was in better shape then mine. Will do a test drive shortly to test everything out.

 

[knuckle47]

@Engineer8000 This was not without much anxiety. As you know , 80 mph in an FJ40 even with my newly great steering setup, still has a tendency to “follow” any irregularities in the roadway and does not respond nicely to more immediate steering corrections.

With my less dominant hand on the steering wheel , looking for radar ( this highway is a training route for NJ state police…they are everywhere) and looking for the screenshot buttons on each side of the phone…your thoughts on this passed thru my head along with another thought..” wtf am I trying to prove”. This event won’t be happening again for me

 

[charliemeyer007]

My technique for high speed FJ40 driving is to grab the wheel low with both hands and brace my knees against my hands - helps control the twitch, internal dampening so to speak.

 

[kenjera]

My technique for high speed FJ40 driving is to grab the wheel low with both hands and brace my knees against my hands - helps control the twitch, internal dampening so

l just think of Ayrton Senna's style of driving....which works for me...not so much for everyone else....

 

[Jdc1]

@Engineer8000 This was not without much anxiety. As you know , 80 mph in an FJ40 even with my newly great steering setup, still has a tendency to “follow” any irregularities in the roadway and does not respond nicely to more immediate steering corrections.

With my less dominant hand on the steering wheel , looking for radar ( this highway is a training route for NJ state police…they are everywhere) and looking for the screenshot buttons on each side of the phone…your thoughts on this passed thru my head along with another thought..” wtf am I trying to prove”. This event won’t be happening again for me

You could convince a rookie trooper that his radar was wrong pretty easily, lol. “80mph in this?”

 

[Jdc1]

My technique for high speed FJ40 driving is to grab the wheel low with both hands and brace my knees against my hands - helps control the twitch, internal dampening so to speak.

If I close my eyes, I can get an extra 5mph.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Back in the day LEO's had some understanding of mechanics - now its what ever the box says is the fact, you tell your story to the court.

 

[kenjera]

Progress is ongoing...finally had a break in the weather to get the last parts of filler ready for sanding & then its damn near flat.....after 4 tubs of aluminium filler & a last tub of traditional filler... meanwhile..in l have had a notion...news.... l found an enamel paint supplier who does traditional beige for classic vehicles...if my still as yet unstripable bumper is anything to go by (4 grinding discs used so far & its sniggering at me, another 6 might do it)....if l enamel paint the outside of the tub after 2 maybe 3 coats it'll be bulletproof..quite literally.

Further update, sanding is now completed on the tub...just the tailgate left to finish up...pics to follow

 

[knuckle47]

With the discussions above about driving a 40 series at higher speeds, please understand that for me and most of us, it was simply a test of a few performance modifications that were important to determine the value. The sniper efi, Hyperspark distributor, complete new drivetrain ( literally everything), motor mounts and several tweaks

There is no way in hell I use my Land Cruiser for such crazy activities like that for me, the greatest thing about driving my truck is it’s unstoppable character, and the ability for me to sit back and drive and let the world go by no matter what part of the country I may be in. Whether it’s at 3 miles an hour or 33 miles an hour it is always a thrill.

My wife never understood why…if I was out on the bikes…I was usually late getting back home. Rode even in winter and over a dozen times to bike week in Florida. Driving the Land Cruiser? Same kinda fun without putting your feet down when you stop.

And one more funny anecdote: riding from New Jersey to Daytona Florida started about 7pm for March bike week. As we pay the toll at the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the lady in the booth says…” I seen a lot of motorcycles pass thru here today..BUT you’re the only two riding them !”

I don’t have many pictures of me… I’m always taking them

 

[45Dougal]

l just think of Ayrton Senna's style of driving....which works for me...not so much for everyone else....

Maybe better not take the '40 on a touring holiday through san marino...

 

[charliemeyer007]

One of my high school friends went by the name of Parnelli Darnnelli, he wanted to be a racer.

 

[kenjera]

Back in the day LEO's had some understanding of mechanics - now its what ever the box says is the fact, you tell your story to the court.

If they can catch you...those ## plates were handy....

 

[charliemeyer007]

Way back in the day I always wanted the license plate "ZOOM", never paid the extra for custom plates in my life.

The rejected plate log is very funny - QQQQ is at the top of my list

 

[Engineer8000]

Not a great idea. If your truck is pretty twitchy, I found the caster shims helped a lot.

 

[germaneighter]

Mounted bikini top. (first time I touched it since January and it fired right up)

 

[65swb45]

Had a little fun this morning. I decided a few weeks ago to start pulling out the MISCELLANEOUS boxes tucked into every corner of the shop. About once a year for the 27 years I had a front counter in the shop I would predictably get annoyed around October (I think the Santa Ana winds had something to do with it) with how cluttered the countertop looked and, whatever couldn’t be put away in the 5 or 10 minutes I had patience for, got swept into a box and put somewhere out of the way.

It’s been 8 years now since I took down the old office, got rid of the counter, and put up the shelves necessary to start REALLY organizing things. So I organized all the big stuff, and it was finally time to start opening those boxes. I am very excited about doing this now, because now EVERYTHING actually has a home. What I was not expecting was the level of unobtanium I would find. Things like SD40 carb parts, dome light switches and, getting to the point of this post, a couple of dozen OE hose clips used to anchor the vacuum line from the distributor to the carburetor.

So I put some on the Karma Cruiser

Edit: Funnily enough, when I posted this yesterday, I was so jazzed about the hose clips, I forgot to mention the stay I attached to the valve cover for the hood prop rod. I made that last week.

 

[knuckle47]

@65swb45 I have tried to REALLY organize stuff for near 35 years now and it never stays..within months, it a mess again. I really know the meaning of REALLY the way you’ve stated it