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✅ FJ45 TLC MANIAC

GroundEater

New Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
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Greetings:

Today is the day of my birth on Landcruiserclub.net ! Looks to be an interesting, & intelligent website. Took an immediate liking to the evident “open mindedness” displayed by all. :text-bravo:


I being a lowly “boombah” from Nebraska, the...(mental/technological midget that I am,) can be found as of lately, frantically punching the many icons of this new website trying to navigate it in a fluent manner ! :crazy:

For now, being a “birdbrain” will have to suffice, although I must admit, not being able to create an Avatar can be disheartening to say the least....do the moderators have a course/video on how to shrink a picture to 200 X 200 pixels ?! This technological feat :confusion-helpsos: has been conquered by me on only ONE other occasion, hopefully a trophy awaits me at the summit ! Or else be banished forever with a faceless Avatar evidence for the world to see my technological ignorance ! :angry-screaming:

DA PURCHASE.....


I am the proud owner of a 1967 FJ45 LPB. It has been in my possession for 39 years. I purchased it in 1981 off of a carlot in Grand Island, Nebraska. I owned a ‘74 FJ40 at the time, when I spotted the ‘45 as I was driving by the lot. It was like a “siren” calling my name. :music-singing: After test driving it, while still in a wild panic, I drove directly to the bank and secured $2450 to buy it in case someone else might see :scared-eek: it.

Prior to seeing it that day, I had crossed paths with it a few years earlier while it was being serviced in Zigs 4 wheel drive shop. I was totally mesmerized by its “beefcake” like appearance.

After racing back across town :auto-layrubber:from the bank, the deal was SEALED, it was ALL MINE !!
As life would have it, a short time later I got married, this can somewhat ALTER any plan a man may have entirely.....:orcs-whip: !!

If kids are added :happy-jumpeveryone: to this mix,.....there can be serious delays to the plan guys ! In my case, the “dream” gets shifted to the very REAR burner ! So far back that you have to pipe sunlight to it.... :text-offtopic: It was at this point in time, that the realization of SHARING money with my wife came into a much sharper focus !



DA ABANDONMENT....

After purchasing my dream truck, I drove it for about 11 years. :auto-swerve: Then after marriage, just 3 more. It began having some strange starting issues that I couldn’t figured out. :angry-tappingfoot: When I bought it, it had a corvette 327 Chevy engine in it, with a 400 turbo automatic trany. I ended up having some engine work done on it, where a friend installed chrome rings that failed to seat right and ended up smoking like a freight train.
:shock::angry-nono:

So we yanked it out and we put in a 350 small block. Had no trouble with it, until I moved from Colorado back to Nebraska. It had headers on it and when the weather heated up, it became temperamental in starting up :tired: This despite most of the front inner fenders were already cut away ! :angry-banghead: So now I’m goin into town and find myself with an un dependable vehicle ! :angry-screaming: I had to use a ignition button that I could clip onto the solenoid and then turn on the ignition switch to fire it up. :angry-extinguishfl:I found myself getting totally embarrassed :oops: in parking lots all over town ! Really no fun if short on time, or worse yet it starts raining !

So I ended up parking it under a big poplar tree (another BIG mistake) and she sat there abandoned for 16 years ! Gettin’ the ____ beat out of it by tree limbs, etc. :thumbdown: :laughing-rolling:




DA PLAN.....

So...fast forward to the big bank charade of 2008, the infamous NINJA loans (No Income No Job No Assets).. markets whirling, :crazy: panic :confusion-helpsign: around every corner, so my wife :orcs-whip: and I :character-burgerki: hatched out a plan ! We had family who owned a shop far away in Arizona.

They were in rough times because of the affects of the government/bank rip-off :character-willie: scandal. We thought it would kill 2 birds with one stone if we helped them by letting them breathe life into my FJ45 ! They’d have a project vehicle to work on, to help pay da bills,...and we’d get a lost dream re-inflated. So that is what we ended up doing.

My main contributions were...color scheme, and da $$ !
The luxury of being the “overseer” of a long lost dream in the making ! Just 5 more months to go then she’ll be coming home to ....

:character-burgerki: DADDY...&
:character-daphne: MOMMY....:orcs-whip:) !

Not enough thanks can be given to
Casa Grande STreeTrods :happy-jumpyellow:for the quality & workmanship that they put into our :auto-driving:truck, thanks again Alan,Tyrel, Deb, Joey, & Domingo ! For a job well done !
:happy-cheerleaderk:


DA END......!

GroundEater
 
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Welcome aboard. Definitely one of the most high energy intros I've seen :)
 
Hello and welcome...

It is always good to have another 40 series in the fold and you did remarkably well to hang on to your dream for all these years with the pressure of kids etc. Far too many of us have had to let go of our dreams for the sake of the family over the years. Well done, sir! Many of us could not indulge until the kids had flown the nest.

I look forward to reading more from you and seeing photos of your FJ45.

Regards,

Rodger
 
:text-thankyouyello:Thanks you Dave_S, Rodger,grantw, & GeekOKent, for the recognition.:thumbup:

Since I’ve retired from riding the steel highway (railroad) “....all the live long day & night” ad infinitum, extra time is in surplus now ! :text-freedom:

Believe it or not, there are advantages of being an “old curmudgeon !” It’s all in how a guy looks at life.... :character-jesterco: !

Thanks again, love the site !
GroundEater

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You’ve heard of the movie “White guys can’t jump ?” In my case... “old guys can’t step up a half a mile !” Is my mantra ! So these TrekSteps made by Bestop are presently being installed on the ‘ol mule. These are most likely NOT available for a FJ45/FJ40.
My chassis is a “Hybrid” of sorts, a 2006 chopped Silverado frame was used. The steps were for a Silverado then fabricated to fit our specific application.(FYI)

Although a good skilled fabricator could make ‘em work !
 
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Hey, your truck looks really good and I think we deserve some photos!

Regards,

Rodger
 
What a good question and I have no idea. However when I have posted pictures, I have no recollection of the system crying enough. I don't post as thumbnails and I am sure the system will tell you its limits...

Regards,

Rodger
 
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Thanks you so much friend, I will tell you that I haven’t driven it since 1997 or somewhere in that general vicinity! So I am MORE than anxious to get her back home in Nebraska. It’s been gone 9, count ‘em,....9 years altogether. The “stork” arrives this coming June when my son Gage gets married !
Not HIS stork !! MY STORK ! my truck comes home to DADDY !
I will explain all this in my introduction post as I follow up with a few addendums.

Here are some pics that I posted already to “My Landcruiser’s” l think it was called....?

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Behold the “birdbrain” himself
circa 1984 with my trusty’67 out in Loveland, Colorado 36 SHORT years ago ! :text-blondmoment:

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My nephew Tyrel a skilled painter/welder/body man...and do I mean skilled, Along with his father a master “fabricator !”

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Different stages of the 9 year, :scared-eek:
build....(whenever my family could squeeze it into their shop time schedule.)


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9 YEARS LATER :auto-layrubber:.....!

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An Arizona sunset....:happy-sunny:

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Nothin’ better than a good lookin’ REAR END...eh guys !? :laughing-rolling:

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The “mill.” 5.3 Chevy

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This Corvette “torch red” really popped against the neutral Audi “Nordo gray” body ! :happy-smileyintheb:

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Da “belly” of da beast !!

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By the time the cash ran out (as well as my wife’s :orcs-whip: nerves, I was forced to scale back with a Harbor Freight winch :wtf: that’s all a flatlander needs anyway.


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Can a guy have too many lights on his rig ? :character-spamcan:

Where the _____ did that come from ?
.....good stuff though !

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We ended up using an l.e.d. light kit that goes under the hood for my dome light.

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The “curmudgeon crotch saver” need I say anymore ? Accompanied by “Dr. Frankentruck” himself, Alan the master fabricator! Go....Casa Grande StreeTrods !!!

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“Louvres” so the mill can breathe.....

I hope ya’ll understand I was in my 40’s when I last drove it...When it left my premises in 2011 to be worked over,.. I was 54 yrs old....today I am 62, and .....I AM STOKED TO GET MY HANDS ON IT ONCE AGAIN !
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12-MPpfvy-7mFpQQbVtOkbc4chMVeX_I1/view?usp=drivesdk

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GroundEater
 
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