Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

Hello to all
My new project arrived by carrier Monday and today is the first chance I have had to fully check it out.
Yea I know "you mean you didnt check it out before buying it?
It is a 1979 Fj40 with the 2f engine and 4 speed tranny, it has a 4 inch lift with 35 inch goodyears. I bought it knowing it was an unfinished project and I figured that I would have it up and running in no time.
What I saw today has convinced me otherwise
The electical is a mess, nothing is connected, the radiator is shot. The alternator is not even where it should be on the drivers side and the carburator is improperly linked.
One of the Warn selectors also seems toast.
There is no top, no doors and a custom roll cage which could have fit much better if the person who made it knew how.
The good news is that the frame and body are straight and with the exception of a bad paint job, should require just a normal amount of work to get it right.
Now to my question for those of you with experience in FJ40's
Should I attempt to bring it back to full restored condition, or should I build it up as the tough off road rig it looks like, or should I just part it out?

Alan

man that's a tough!!

i have zero knowledge of working w/ autos, and only thing i can offer is, good luck w/ whatever you choose to do brother!

Today I got into it a little further.
I removed the alternator and discovered more ends to the wiring harness that are not connected to anything, I could now see why the alternator was on the wrong side, the 2F engines header restricted the mount for the alt so they just swapped its location, this is an easy fix by fabricating another mount and positioning the alt back where it belongs.
I located a brand new set of Warn lockers on E-Bay and they should be here soon.
The master cylinder is also shot and leaking brake fluid so out it came.
There is a metal line which looks like a fuel line but it connects to nothing, it is a quality line and runs along the back of the firewall, I want to use this if I can.
All the heater cableing and flow valves are broken, missing, of rusted out.
I am going to bypass the heater hose connections for now and rewire the engine for start and find out how bad off I am.
I will decide on building or parting out as the work progresses and I determine the full extent of this FJ40's problems.
I have a handicap in that I love these things.
I also found out that a friend of mine has a all original FJ 45 for sale!
Sweet

Just wanted to correct my previous post;
It seems that the alternator was on the correct side of the engine, the power steering pump goes on the drvers side.
This is odd because there is no room for the alternator, I had to remove the pivot bolt as well as the tensioner in order to remove the alt.
I also had to cut the belt as I could not position the alt for the belts removal.
Everything was in the way, the secondary hose from the thermostat housing was right up tight against the alternator.
The photos I have of the engine layout show the alt on the passenger side so something must be wrong.
The waterpump doesnt look right and neither does the thermostat housing time to hit the service manual.
Alan

Today I gutted the wireing and found a plethora of after marked dodads spliced into it with electrical tape.
This does not set beck the project as the wireing had to be redone anyhow.
For serious off road use the electrical system should be divided into three sections each completly isolated from the others.
The starter and alternator circuits should be completly isolated with a dedicated battery.
The lighting circuit should be seperate and then there should be an auxillary circuit which can be swithed into either of the other two as needed.
The fusable link will be replaced by a circuit breaker as will all other fuses, these will mount where the glove box is and the glove box door will cover the circuit breaker panel. All circuit breakers will be military surplus.
This vehicle may be Japanese, but there will be nothing from China on it.
I am debating ( with myself)about keeping the squirrel cage blowers or scrapping them, I am sure that they have bad bearings and they take up a lot of room under the hood which could be used for more important accessories
Thats all I have for today
Alan

Ahhhhh the joys of FJ ownership. Sorry I've not been around but I'm here in the Midwest and have been spending all my time trying to keep things alive during our 115 F days.

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Please Click for Sarah's Wish

Hello Squid
That has to be tough, I am from Arizona where it gets hot, but its a dry heat
I spent the better part of today fighting with the DMV, it seems that they don't like that the previous 4 owners of my FJ40 never transffered ownership or registered it.
So now I have to track down the original owner from 2003 when it was last registered and get them to sign a release, I may be fighting a loosing battle.
This weekend, if the weather clears up, I plan on starting it, then I'll have a better picture of where I am and if I got a deal or a lemon.
Best Regards
Alan

alan, hang tough man, i did and am doing the same thing, mine is about done from the paint shop as i plan on winning this battle. all mine is here but not perfect, body was rust free but had a few dings that good old diamond plate will cover up.

as far as wiring goes...this is my area as i have wired many and i mean many old rigs, jeeps especially and its not to bad. you can go to a one wire alternator, eliminates a few. or a painless wiring harness wich is brainless to install...advice...take your time laying it out so its a CLEAN install. preloomb sections then all together for a clean fit. i will gladly help with anything i can, im ...like i said starting from ground zero. dont like the motor it came with, axles to wide....wont be stock ....but oh yea it will be a sexy beast!!!! next one will be all stock. here is my number use it all you want bro. 3602234917
Sean