Sprout - Rustic Green 1976 FJ40

[madorbit]

I've found and been lucky enough to get my grubby hands on a Colorado native FJ40. I spotted this little guy sitting in front of a regular suburban house on my way to King Soopers a few months ago. I drove a block out of my way a few times hoping to spot the owner outside, but it had always been a quiet front yard. I was able to get My wife Emily on board with some sort of project vehicle. I had my eye on a very unique CJ5 parked in a yard a few blocks away. I'd never heard of a Tuxedo Park CJ5 until I stopped to take a look at this '66 CJ5, and thought it would be a fun full restore project that I'd probably be able to sell after I was finished. I set a budget (agreed upon by the boss) and talked to the people who live in the house with the Jeep, they forwarded my info to the owner, so I wait. Well I figured I would take my budget and knock on the door of the house with the FJ40 in the drive. it turns out that was the right move.

I spoke with the owner for almost an hour. I learned a bit about the life of the Land Cruiser and its owner and obviously asked for permission to poke around it a bit...

 

[madorbit]

The owner, Rod, purchased the FJ40 in 1976 at Stevinson Toyota. He is an engineer and machinist. As you can imagine he is very particular about things. He spoke of fantastic memories with his late wife and son, taking the Land Cruiser camping and various adventures in the mountains. In pursuit of a little more power, reasonably, his son had installed a set of headers and a Weber 32/36. This is about one of the few non-stock items on this little buddy. It has been a proud piece of their life for 44 years. It has been sitting idle in their driveway for the last 12 years. Once the restrictive emissions standards moved in they were a bit overwhelmed and it wasn't able to pass the final test in 2007, and that was it. Rod had bought a different vehicle and his son was off on his own life, leaving the FJ40 to sit until this nosy door-knocker came along.

This example of a 1-owner FJ40, remarkably rare these days, is astoundingly complete. I have discovered a treasure that I feel very fortunate to have come across. I shared my budget and Rod agreed to talk to his son about possibly letting this Land Cruiser move on to it's next chapter of life. He said he would be able to call me in a few days with an answer...

 

[madorbit]

I'm filling these posts with photos because, of course, I was able to put together a deal with Rod. I collected the Benjamins and set a date and time to pick up their family member. I really do take these things a bit too seriously. I know the impact on my life these old Land Cruisers have had, and revere the idea that these vehicles have had a profound impact on other people's lives. I absolutely want to approach this project with the idea that this vehicle, as an inanimate object, has been a part of the lives of individuals. I promised Rod that he would have the first right of refusal if I get to the point of selling it. About a week after I knocked on his door, I was pulling away from his house with this little beast on a borrowed trailer.

 

[madorbit]

First things first...

Shockingly all 4 screws came out with zero problem. The first thing I've noticed is it has all of the original spacers in tact.

 

[fjc man]

That’s pretty cool, Mike!

 

[SteveH]

Good story and good project. I guess he was particular about everything but rust prevention, eh? ;-) I'm sure you will get that truck in good order!

 

[madorbit]

Thanks! I'm stoked about this project. I've already benefitted from the Rising Sun community. @SteveH has been incredibly generous with an air filter housing and a steering gear that he had lying around. There's more to come. I've already done a bit of work in cleaning it up and working on the basics. Tune up, plugs, wires, cap, rotor the like. I've taken the Weber off and apart, found a few issues, sorted out what I can. I've set my sights on reinstalling the original carburetor.

@SteveH it seems that he wasn’t concerned about rust or wasn’t sure how to stop it. It’s all pretty typical rust for a 40 series.

he WAS particular about keeping gobs of original stuff with the vehicle.

 

[madorbit]

 

[subzali]

This is so fantastic.

 

[madorbit]

This is so fantastic.

It really is. I’m the proud owner of pieces of Land Cruiserdom that are legendary. Such as these crazy things. I’ve owned FJ40s for going on 23 years and I’ve never seen this piece in my life. I found both in the truck.

 

[madorbit]

First order of business, I check the oil level. The crank case oil looks like it had just been changed. Maybe it has, but it’s full and it’s clean as new oil. Second order of business let’s see what’s in this gas tank.
Never have I ever seen that plastic plug in the cover I was weirdly excited about that but more importantly the fuel sender looks brand new. I really appreciate the low humidity in Colorado all of my other FJ40s have been Illinois or Indiana vehicles, this is a treat.

 

[madorbit]

Once I cracked open the gas tank, I determined there was about a gallon or so of rank nasty old gasoline in there. Even though, it didn’t look too bad. The previous owner told me about an electric fuel pump that was installed before the mechanical pump. The bad gas, the electric pump, and the Weber, I decided to see if I can just connect the inlet of the carburetor to a Jerry can and see if I can siphon feed the carb just to hear it run.
Off to get a portable gas can, some fuel line, some carb cleaner, and a can of starting fluid.
I was able to get all of that stuff in record time, I get back, grab the battery from the 1978 FJ40 and begin to crank and spray it fires right up. I’m able to get enough fuel in the carb to get it to fire for a minute but without a pump it’s not really staying running.
I hook up the fuel line to the inlet of the pump, jammed the other end in the gas can on the running board, and connect the existing fuel hose back to the carb. I bump it a few times and it fires right up and stays running, much to my surprise, and it runs pretty smoothly.

 

[MountainGoat]

That is so cool. Your truck is the same color as the one my brother bought at Boulder Toyota in 74 which was my introduction to the legendary Land Cruiser.

40s seem to posses some supernatural ability to run. I was watching a youtube video yesterday about a guy in Australia who bought an HJ43 from a Land Cruiser junkyard. It hadn't run in 20 years and he worked on it all day at the junkyard and drove it home.

 

[subzali]

It really is. I’m the proud owner of pieces of Land Cruiserdom that are legendary. Such as these crazy things. I’ve owned FJ40s for going on 23 years and I’ve never seen this piece in my life. I found both in the truck. View attachment 87336

what is that piece?

mine had the plastic fuel sender cover but it flew off one day when I was driving with the top off! Grr!

Dan, was that Shauno?

 

[madorbit]

what is that piece?

mine had the plastic fuel sender cover but it flew off one day when I was driving with the top off! Grr!

Dan, was that Shauno?

The piece sitting on the fender is the bracket that goes with the original door straps. When you remove the door, you bolt that bracket to the hinges and it gives you a place to attach your fabric “safety” strap. I found this old advert on mud.

 

[MountainGoat]

Dan, was that Shauno?

Yep, that is the one. Great video.

 

[madorbit]

So now that it “runs” I’ve discovered the clutch needs to at least be adjusted, possibly replaced. I’ll get under there to take a look soon. I was able to empty the nasty gas from the tank and bypass the bizarre electric fuel pump. With help from some compressed air I was able to ensure everything was free flowing from the tank, connected it all up the way it was meant to be and put about 5 gallons of fresh gas in the tank. Now it starts right up.
On to the general cleaning. This thing is nasty. A couple of rags, a bucket of water, a few drops of Dawn, and we’re headed in the right direction.

 

[madorbit]

It’s starting to look a little more reasonable. As I get into the interior a little more I’m noticing that I can probably get away with just cleaning a lot of these pieces carefully. I certainly don’t want to damage some of the original look and feel of these very well preserved parts

 

[madorbit]

As much as I think these old vehicles have charm there are certainly parts of their originality that are just annoying. When I bought my very first FJ40 in the late 90s I couldn’t stand how dim the instrument cluster was. My eyes are awful, so I need all the help I can get. I proceeded to open it up and rip out bits of metal in an effort to improve the backlighting, which certainly worked. With this one I want to preserve its originality while upgrading things like the cluster backlighting. I Happened to have a length of 12v RGB LED Light strip left over from a bathroom lighting project I did. So I decided to see if I could get this to work in the cluster. I think it came out pretty good I’m not 100% certain this is the final touch, but it’s definitely an improvement, and it is completely reversible aside from the solder in the back of the connector, which I think is reasonable.

 

[madorbit]

Obviously nobody likes those faded needles, so a quick bit of research turned me on to the right color to restore them. Testors fluorescent red. I read the other day that Testors paint is going to be discontinued so I stopped by amazon hoping to find someone still selling it. I lucked out, so for $6/bottle I bought two. Way better.