FJ40


I must preface the following by stating a little bit of background. I have long lusted after and coveted (yes, I am working these sins out with the Man above) old land cruisers. I had always begged Krista to get one, but we already had the 4Runner, her Subaru, and my great grandmother's 1969 Malibu and she was not interested in a fourth vehicle. Last year we were driving back from Montana when we passed a FJ40 on the interstate. Krista looked at the 40, looked at me, looked at the 40 again and said, "I can see myself driving one of those!" I exclaimed, "You are the best wife in the world!" Well, the Malibu went back to my dad and right before we headed off to the 2013 Overland Expo I made a quick trip from Casper to Cheyenne to pick up Krista's new baby. Now I still have to live my Land Cruiser dreams out vicariously through my wife...
The Good:
  • Rebuilt F engine
  • Dual battery system
  • ConFerr aux fuel tank
  • winch
  • straight body
  • Rear heater
  • Came with nearly everything I would need to build a second F engine (including block, factory rebuilt head and carb). The only thing we need are pistons, rings, and rods.
The Bad:
  • Typical rust under front doors and driver-side rear corner
  • 3-spd transmission
  • Aftermarket overdrive that leaks like a sieve
  • Some 'hacker' and old wiring
  • Suspension is old/worn
  • 15x10 steel/chrome wheels and fat tires
The Plans:
We are going for the classic look with some upgraded features. This is not going to be built for crawling but we will continue the intent of the original work done.
  • Replace the rust with new patch panels
  • Replace the 3spd/overdrive combination with a 4spd
  • Update the wiring
  • Update the suspension
  • Power steering
  • Source a set of OEM wheels/hubcaps and talk to Treadwright (our sponsor) about a new set of tires
The Progress:
Now for the pictures!