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Hi. I'm Damien

Damien Lizama

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Aug 23, 2018
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On my 12th birthday I was given a 1970 FJ40 Land Cruiser (Not running). 4 years later, I now have started working on it and have yet to try to turn over the engine because it has not been started in 7 years. I am happy to see my first car having such a following and loyal fan base. I am in on track to get my provisional driver's license in March of 2019. Do you guys have any tips to help me get her running in the coming months?
 
On my 12th birthday I was given a 1970 FJ40 Land Cruiser (Not running). 4 years later, I now have started working on it and have yet to try to turn over the engine because it has not been started in 7 years. I am happy to see my first car having such a following and loyal fan base. I am in on track to get my provisional driver's license in March of 2019. Do you guys have any tips to help me get her running in the coming months?

Welcome aboard Damien:thumbup:

First off, you’re a very fortunate young man to have such an iconic vehicle as your “first” but at the same time, depending on its condition, there may be a long road ahead of you before you can put your new license to use :icon-biggrin:

Some photos would be a good idea, to let those who may be able to advise get an idea of where you should start. It’s great to see someone so young with your enthusiasm, you will need a lot of patience in the years ahead, best of luck :clap:
 
Hi and welcome Damien, as Clive says, you have started with an iconic truck. I am not much of a mechanic but loads of people on here are really talented and i am sure they will be happy to give you some pointers.

Good luck and keep the updates coming please.
 
Hi Damien,

You are one fortunate young man. I’m sure you realise that you have a valuable piece of history in that truck that will appreciate in value if looked after. As Clive says it’s great to hear that you have the enthusiasm to fix it up. You may be best finding somebody locally as a mentor who can pass on their wisdom. A retired mechanic would probably love to help you out. That said, we don’t yet know what is needed.

As a start I would take all the plugs out, disconnect the battery, and try and turn the engine over by hand the correct rotation is important but you’ll soon feel if it’s seized which it probably isn’t. You could put a few squirts of light oil down each plug hole just before doing this (expect white smoke when you first start it). If it turns, you may need to rock it back and forth, put a thimble full of gas down each plug hole and put the plugs back then see if she fires up after checking there’s oil in there. In fact dropping the oil and renewing it plus a new Toyota filter is worth doing anyway. Check the air filter too for any nests or blockages that may have got in during storage. Check the radiator has coolant in it up above the tubes too. Then see if she fires.

If she doesn’t turn over by hand leave the oil in there overnight and try again in the morning.

Use your eyes to look for anything that may be wrong, like water in the oil. You can also turn it on the starter with the plugs out to clear out the cylinders before putting gas in and the plugs (not too tight, just tight). Tread carefully.

Good luck with it, I’m green with envy and very much hoping you’ll keep us posted with lots of pics on how you get on.

Best wishes
Rich
 
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Hi Damien - you just made me wish i was American , i'm pretty sure birthday presents had stopped for me when i was 12 but i've no doubt the last one i got was for my bicycle . Everyone loves the 40 and along with the fact you have to fix it up yourself i cannot imagine a better first car :thumbup:
 
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Thank you all for the support, and I too am very happy that other people share such enthusiasm for the fj40. I will try to get pictures soon, but its pretty rusty and I will definitely try to turn it over soon. Thank you for the tips.
 
Welcome Damien. You'll be fine - this one was 22 years :thumbup:
 
Thank you, that one is in way worse shape than mine. Ive been kind of worried to go out there and find out if seized or not cause that is nerve-wracking.

I wouldn’t let it worry you Damien, they tend to seize if water has migrated from the cooling system (usually through a leaking head gasket) but as it’s rust that builds up between the bore and the pistons, as you turn it over by hand, or more force with a breaker bar on the crank pulley bolt, that rust is normally wiped away by the rings and burned or spit out in the exhaust on start-up.

It depends on a nu,bet of things were not aware of, such as was it running when parked up, has it been standing with oil in the sump, has it been standing under cover, if not was the hood in place the whole time, lots of questions.

@StarCruiser has approached this the right way, so I won’t repeat that. And we still haven’t had any photos... :lol:
 
Welcome Damien.

If you're in the US then take a look around on iH8mud.com which is the forum for all things Land Cruiser over there, also have a look to see if there is a TLCA chapter near you as you'll find lots of help from them I'm sure, they helped me out when I was driving around over there.

Yes please on the photos too
 
On my 12th birthday I was given a 1970 FJ40 Land Cruiser (Not running). 4 years later, I now have started working on it and have yet to try to turn over the engine because it has not been started in 7 years. I am happy to see my first car having such a following and loyal fan base. I am in on track to get my provisional driver's license in March of 2019. Do you guys have any tips to help me get her running in the coming months?

So excited for you! I recently picked up a 76 and it was 85% stock.. needed some work and it’s in the shop and will be ready soon.. I already have my body guy ready to get her painted..I’m having such a blast but can’t wait to take her for a drive in November sometime! I wish i could give you tips but I’m the farthest from being a mechanic. I would like to see it.. here’s mine.

B858ECA0-61A7-43E5-8933-F82909E589DD.jpeg
 
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