Nothing wrong with Bel Airs, a 9/69 Bel Air SBC powered my 40 for 21 years. The ‘72 Fleetside 350 that replaced it is great, but it’ll never be quite the same as the 350 with flat-tops, 10.25:1, dual exhaust, and an RV cam.
What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (24 Viewers)
- Thread starter IH8MUD
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Needed gas for the pressure washer… Thought $3.14 gal for pure gas was too good for just my small engine needs so the old girl got the good stuff too! 
Wow glad you are save. How your roll bur installed ? any addition support?
I wondering how strong is "original" roll bar ?
I rolled my `78 fj40 back in the early 90's end over end and landed on the roof. The hard top was only held on by 4 small c-clamps temporarily and it came off. The windshield frame and roll bar supported the weight and I survived with a broken collar bone, a nasty gash to the brow and a concussion. My buddy riding shotgun tweaked his knee. That rollbar saved us, as flimsy as it is.
Found a leak the fuel return line. $75 teq part, fixed it for $14 with tube left over. Also added anti chafing wrap at the clip to hopefully prolong it.
Ackcruisers
SILVER Star
A full roll cage I understand is the only way to increase your odds in a roll over. I’m installing a factory roll bar. Did your truck have a factory roll bar? I’m using factory brackets that will be welded to underside of wheel well. While I know this is not enough, It‘s better than soft top without roll bar that I have now.
Catching Neutral
GOLD Star
We had a dry 70 degree morning Friday. Drove it to volleyball. Drove it to my men’s group. Drove it to lunch date with my wife. Drove it to get my kids vaccinated. Drove it to Auto Parts store to get supplies for 90k service on my Tacoma. All weekend 
.
.
This week I finished a rear diff rebuild after the transfer case rebuild. Found that my spacer shim was missing and NLA. I made one out of an old pinion crush sleeve and a lot of elbow grease. Grinder first, then file, mic, file, mic. Got it pretty close and the diff set up really nice!
I also go to drive it to work for the first time since working here. It's 60 miles on the interstate from home. It was a noisy ride but I was all smiles! Haven't driven it this far since high school when it was my daily!
I also go to drive it to work for the first time since working here. It's 60 miles on the interstate from home. It was a noisy ride but I was all smiles! Haven't driven it this far since high school when it was my daily!
Kayaker
SILVER Star
So back in 1974 when I went in to renew the tag on my 72 FJ40, I noticed that the stack of tags the clerk was pulling from was in numerical order and that just a few down would yield 1972, the manufacture year of my Cruiser. The friendly clerk was more than happy to dig down and give me that tag which was on my Cruiser for the next few years (photo below). I thought it was cool, but apparently not cool enough that I had the forsight to save the tag as an ornament for my Cruiser when it became a classic. I always regretted not saving it. Then, recently, it hit me: make your own out of old plates! So, I ordered a couple of vintage Florida plates with my old county code (22 = Putnam County, Florida) cut out the numbers and rearranged them to give me the proper sequence and ta-da: a reasonable facsimile of my old discarded tag! Turned out pretty well and, unlike my 74 tag, it has the proper 72 date in the upper right corner, along with the coveted "1972" in the center field. Isn't it great when there is so little that needs doing on your Cruiser that you resort to working on its license plate?
always remember to drive your cruisers even if they arent the prettiest, these things always get attention.
Had to share this wheely bus.
Thank you.
As far as I was able to research my cruiser is 1983 New Zealand version: four drums, power steering, crucially NO roll bar whatsoever.
We slid to a side and then gently on the roof. First pic looks really scary but on the second you can see the same side almost all up. Not saying it was safe
I wanted a roll cage, just postpone because I had no place to take the top of the body off. COVID made me end lease on my workshop space and for the next 2 years I won't have a place to do so. However now it's no longer my call, so I am looking for someone to do this for me locally (I'm in Poland, Europe, so no need to suggest your places
))That's just awesome
Spent all day wet sanding and then shot it. It’ll do.
Finally spray maxed the the body with paint from Route 66 auto color. And put emblems back. All done in driveway no cover. Still need to do body work to hood and windshield and paint then have to paint the bows and waiting on the top from Julie and I’ll be done. For now
Last edited:
77mustard40
SILVER Star
Changed the oil and finally fixed an electrical gremlin that’s been bugging me for a couple of years. Occasionally ( every 4-6 weeks ) my truck would not start, turns over but no spark. Sometimes when it’s cold and sometimes when it’s warm. I’d isolated it to the coil to distributor lead, specifically at the coil. I’d open the hood snug up the connection and it would start right up. The other thing I noticed was a slightly inconsistent idle, it would be strong right after I reseated the lead, but then sometime later it would drop down slightly and the motor wouldn’t feel as strong. I know, that’s relative since it’s the original mighty 2F. A few months ago I bought new TEQ wires for a 60 but that didn’t change things. The lead had a 90 degree connection both at the distributor and coil.
I picked up a build your own plug wire set from NAPA and used the parts to rebuild the coil side so it plugs straight in. The new plug is slightly larger in diameter than the old connection. Nice snug connection now, we will see if this puts this issue to bed for good, it was a pleasure to drive today.
I picked up a build your own plug wire set from NAPA and used the parts to rebuild the coil side so it plugs straight in. The new plug is slightly larger in diameter than the old connection. Nice snug connection now, we will see if this puts this issue to bed for good, it was a pleasure to drive today.
firefighterjed
SILVER Star
Rad! That’s a great color!!
Thanks that’s the original color I went back too. Toyota 637 olive green 1976 all done in rattle can. (Spray max)
It looks great. How many coats did you apply / cans did you use? I have a very sloppy PO paint job that I’ve been thinking about working on then spraying with the spray max 2k cans to make it a little more presentable until I get a real paint job.
About a month ago, I picked up this 1980 FJ40 with 49K miles. Today, I finished up the first round of refreshing including:
1. Front Axle upgrade
2. Knuckle rebuild with heavy duty studs and ball wipers.
3. Hub rebuild
4. Front and rear brake rebuild. Didn't need to replace any rotors, drums, or pads yet. New seals and bearings all around.
5. New steering linkage (Manafre) including tightening of the adjustment nut on the steering gear.
6. Flipped U bolts front and rear (thanks Dave!).
7. EMU lift kit w/damper, shocks, and springs.
8. replaced all drive line oil (both diffs, TC, Trans, and steering gear.)
New wheels are due this Friday, so I'll cap off the refresh with FJCo aluminum wheels and BFG KO2 tires. After some playing around with what time is left before winter, I will remove the 3rd members, transmission, and TC to have lockers installed, rebuild the trans, and am thinking about an ORION for the TC (but the latest thread is starting to make me wonder!).
Damn... these '40s are a lot of work huh??
![20210911_215038[1].jpg](https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/20210911_215038-1-jpg.2784859/ "20210911_215038[1].jpg")
1. Front Axle upgrade
2. Knuckle rebuild with heavy duty studs and ball wipers.
3. Hub rebuild
4. Front and rear brake rebuild. Didn't need to replace any rotors, drums, or pads yet. New seals and bearings all around.
5. New steering linkage (Manafre) including tightening of the adjustment nut on the steering gear.
6. Flipped U bolts front and rear (thanks Dave!).
7. EMU lift kit w/damper, shocks, and springs.
8. replaced all drive line oil (both diffs, TC, Trans, and steering gear.)
New wheels are due this Friday, so I'll cap off the refresh with FJCo aluminum wheels and BFG KO2 tires. After some playing around with what time is left before winter, I will remove the 3rd members, transmission, and TC to have lockers installed, rebuild the trans, and am thinking about an ORION for the TC (but the latest thread is starting to make me wonder!).
Damn... these '40s are a lot of work huh??
Drove the 40 a good bit to run errands since things from Ida are a bit better here. Stopped to get gas and she did one of those shudder quits when I turned her off. Filled up with gas and she started up, pulled away from pump into the street, back fired, made a hissing noise and died. Would not re-fire. Thought I flooded her. Pushed her back to the gas station and spent the next 30 min trying to diagnose. Happened to walk back to the pump and found this vacuum line cap on the ground. Felt around behind carb (couldn't see it) and found where cap would have gone. Wrapped it in electrical tape, slapped the cap back on and she fired right up. Went to auto store and bought extra caps and put a clamp on it for good measure. PO installed Holley carb and removed all smog...so I assume that's why the cap is there. Drove her all weekend with no other issues.
4Cruisers
SILVER Star
You need to order some OEM vacuum caps, they should never wear out.
Last edited:
