procomsignathid
Rock Stacker
Hello, I just joined the forum and wanted to introduce myself! I acquired my first Toyota (a 1978 FJ40) in Feb this year and finally have it to the point where its reliable enough to get me around (mostly into the mountains and back so far, but eventually a daily driver). It's been a lot of fun learning to wrench again and I've found that cruisers in general seem to spark a lot of conversations with folks when Im out and about... So I thought it would be great to join this community of fellow enthusiasts!
I've lived in Colorado all my life, currently in the Longmont area, have a young family, and we've been getting into camping this summer. We're outdoorsy folks, having done a lot of hiking prior to kids, and now my kids (6 and 8) are starting to get into it as well. So far the FJ has been a lot of fun to take into the mountains and onto some trails. So far I've taken it up the Switzerland trail, and having watched a lot of Colorado Mallcrawlers on YT decided to give MSV/Coney flats a try this last weekend (went with a buddy who actually knows what they're doing). Truck did great, my shoulders were crying uncle by the time we got to Beaver reservoir
I've been on the Mud forums a bit, and thus far what folks seem to think about my truck is that it was a USA-spec (had a factory rollbar, heater controls, speedo in MPH, etc.), but ended up in South America at some point in its life. It has a sticker on one of the windows from a shop in Equador, and sometime in the past few years somebody found the VIN on a cargo manifest from Columbia. So it's seen some stuff, and boy, was it a basket-case. I purchased it sight unseen from a guy who said it was "imported from Europe"
... Rather than thinking that I did something completely impulsive and significantly overpaying for the truck, I like to think I instead purchased some wisdom 
Anyways, I've since done a lot to it to get it up to snuff. I'm trying to keep it stock, and where parts are no longer available, at least within the Toyota family of parts. I've since replaced the radiator / cooling system, added a heater back in, replaced the gas tank & fuel lines, rebuilt the carb, fixed just so many wiring problems, gotten the gauge cluster working, and now I'm focused on the ignition system (tough to find the right dizzy / igniter combo for a '78). Prior to this last weekend I added the dome light in (with Toyota pressure switches on three doors), and am now working on restoring a carb cooling fan to re-install in the next week or so.
Here are some pics so far:
I've lived in Colorado all my life, currently in the Longmont area, have a young family, and we've been getting into camping this summer. We're outdoorsy folks, having done a lot of hiking prior to kids, and now my kids (6 and 8) are starting to get into it as well. So far the FJ has been a lot of fun to take into the mountains and onto some trails. So far I've taken it up the Switzerland trail, and having watched a lot of Colorado Mallcrawlers on YT decided to give MSV/Coney flats a try this last weekend (went with a buddy who actually knows what they're doing). Truck did great, my shoulders were crying uncle by the time we got to Beaver reservoir
I've been on the Mud forums a bit, and thus far what folks seem to think about my truck is that it was a USA-spec (had a factory rollbar, heater controls, speedo in MPH, etc.), but ended up in South America at some point in its life. It has a sticker on one of the windows from a shop in Equador, and sometime in the past few years somebody found the VIN on a cargo manifest from Columbia. So it's seen some stuff, and boy, was it a basket-case. I purchased it sight unseen from a guy who said it was "imported from Europe"
... Rather than thinking that I did something completely impulsive and significantly overpaying for the truck, I like to think I instead purchased some wisdom Anyways, I've since done a lot to it to get it up to snuff. I'm trying to keep it stock, and where parts are no longer available, at least within the Toyota family of parts. I've since replaced the radiator / cooling system, added a heater back in, replaced the gas tank & fuel lines, rebuilt the carb, fixed just so many wiring problems, gotten the gauge cluster working, and now I'm focused on the ignition system (tough to find the right dizzy / igniter combo for a '78). Prior to this last weekend I added the dome light in (with Toyota pressure switches on three doors), and am now working on restoring a carb cooling fan to re-install in the next week or so.
Here are some pics so far:
