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Wanting to start an FJ40 Restoration project... Should I? Tips and Hints?

AdamFromAU

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Joined
Jul 24, 2019
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australia
Hey all,

I've always wanted to get an FJ40, 2 dr Hardtop in the Camel Tan/Beige. It's been my dream car since i saw one at a 4x4 event when i was young. However, the fully restored ones are out of my price range as i'm only 19. Am i naive to be wanting to start a project like this? What can i expect throughout it? What do i need to look out for and make sure i stay away from?Honestly any advice will help so much. Thanks heaps in advance :) You seem like a great community here.
 
Welcome!

Are you looking for a petrol or a diesel? I know you've said an FJ40, but that is often used as a catch all for all SWB 40 series Land Cruisers (Thank you America...).

A diesel is a BJ40 (until 1980ish) or a BJ42 (after 1980ish until 1984).
Petrol stayed as an FJ40 throughout that time, but did get a bit of an update in 1980 interior wise from what I can gather.

What sort of budget are you looking at for:
1) the purchase
2) the project part?

Also, where are you? And have you joined any of the Facebook groups for 40's - they're quite active and often have some for sale.
 
Welcome,

As Ed says plus body parts suffer from rust and are more expensive than engines. There was an ad of FB 40 series AU for one today - good body etc but no engine... $2500 https://www.facebook.com/groups/40serieslandcruiser/?ref=nf_target&fref=nf
Be aware that there were significant changes, although they at first glance appear the same, in '75 and '79 and the parts are not always interchangeable.
When you find one that you may think suitable put the VIN number on here and between us we should be able to tell some of its base history/spec.

Regards,

Rodger
 
Hi and welcome you will have a lot of fun with it wee like pics .
 
It's a great way to learn when your 19 with i assume a limited budget but get one that can be legally driven on the road while planning to do nothing more than paint the chassis . This costs nothing but time and effort but of course to do a good job of it you will have to unbolt things . Your confidence will grow along with your experience when you refit stuff looking shiney and newly painted which will encourage you to go a step further .

So many vehicles have died because somebody without experince enough to rebuild it decided to go all out tearing it down until its just a shed full of jigsaw puzzle parts with no meaning .

Its the long route to a body off restoration but by doing it that way when you do decide to remove the body you will do it in full confidence that it will go back on .
 
Wow, thankyou for your replies :) I am not really sure what price i should be looking at tbh. I saw the message about making sure i get a working one, however i do have a little Lancer atm that is my daily. So whether it runs or not, i am not overly concerned. Just looking to have a project that won't take me centuries to complete and won't run me broke. :) I have about 10000 to spend now, however my budget for the project is theoretically limitless, just the higher my budget becomes, the longer the project becomes. :)

And in regards to the petrol or diesel.

I am unsure again, i have been told that the diesel can be quite gutless and i would like to be able to go on a spontaneous camping trip here and there with my partner. However, on the contrary, i have also been informed that the petrol engines are less reliable then the diesel. So again, this is another reason why i have come to this forum to get opinions from people who love the cars aswell and live with Cruisers on a daily basis.

I hope that addresses everyone questions :) Thanks for being so welcoming.
 
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Don't know if it applies to 4WDs of that vintage as well but when we were looking diesels were much pricier than petrols. Everyone has their preferences, but the simplicity of naturally aspirated petrol was what I was looking for. I have not looked back since I got my Prado 95, love it to bits, it's a 3.4L V6 petrol, auto, with almost 380,000km on the clock. Manual was our preference but this one ticked the boxes for everything else and critically got wife approval, she found most of the other ones we looked at (80 series mainly) too agricultural. Ours cost $6k for reference, but we've spent just over $2k on it so far.

We also have a Lancer as well as our daily driver :) We got the Prado mainly for camping trips both with and without a camper trailer.
 
I run a HJ45 as a daily driver, and whilst no ball of fire, it does do quite well really. I got it for $5500 and then had it on the road 6 weeks later for about twice what I was expecting...

In terms of budget, you can pay anything from $1500 for a pile of parts that might or might not all be there, or you could be lucky and get something that's good to go straight up. You do hear of people getting them for a couple of hundred, but they are often long term relationships that have been built over years to get that to happen.

I'd looked recently at a QLD registered 1978 FJ40, which was on for $6k (probably get it for $5ish or less) but that needed a bit of a list to get it registered in NSW.... things like seats and an extra fuel tank needed engineering. Most importantly, it also needed the transfer case looking at.... So, for a $5k car you had about another $2k+ to go to get it on the road as a rolling restoration, and probably another 3 or 4k into it for curing the rust and bodywork issues with it.

The diesels are much more expensive, and the B series are just solid old plodders; you won't go very fast in any of the LCs of that age; they were never speed machines although mine will sit at 100km/h once it gets there...

If you're 19 and in NSW, I suspect you'll be on persecution plates, so don't forget a mod plate for a performance upgrade is a no-no, so that rules out the V8 swaps and the +T diesels.
 
I am from QLD and i'll be on my opens licence in roughly two months so that sort of stuff is not an issue for me. Where did you see that FJ40 1978, i'll take a look? I don't mind a bit of rust but i would prefer one that at least starts. I'm not bothered too much about interior condition and paintwork stuff. I just want the engine to be in somewhat working order. So short team, id be looking around the 5000-10000 for a running and moving car, but about another 5000-10000 to have it all shiny and rust free? Are parts hard to find?

Also, i would love to have some sort of stereo unit setup in it. Nothing to fancy, just something that can handle bass quite well and isn't too overpowering. Would i run into any common problems? I have seen some photos of Cruisers with no doors. Is that a feature like the Jeep Wranglers have? If so, will i have to mount speakers elsewhere? Is the wiring in a car this old really difficult?

Should i get it lifted a little bit and have 35" mud tyres on it, or does something like that ruin the integrity of the car and what it stands for. As i love the car so much and i want to be able to take it off-roading and have it look awesome, but i dont want to risk ruining the integrity and originality of the car by adding things that weren't available when she was built.

Sorry again for the long questions and the amount of them. I just have so many questions as i want my first project FJ40 to go well :)
 
I am from QLD and i'll be on my opens licence in roughly two months so that sort of stuff is not an issue for me. Where did you see that FJ40 1978, i'll take a look? I don't mind a bit of rust but i would prefer one that at least starts. I'm not bothered too much about interior condition and paintwork stuff. I just want the engine to be in somewhat working order. So short team, id be looking around the 5000-10000 for a running and moving car, but about another 5000-10000 to have it all shiny and rust free? Are parts hard to find?

It was for sale locally on the side of the road - could have been a good option as it was on QLD rego with QLD mod plates...

The body work is what will cost - you're about $700 for a set of cab rubbers if you need to split the roof off the cabs, $300 for a windscreen and rubbers, $40ish for window weatherstrips, $50 for bailey channel for the window to seal into. That's before you even start doing replacement cuts and panel work....

Parts are relatively easy to get hold of; Allfourx4 in Kotara (NSW) are good, so is Paul at Mr Land Cruiser. Drivetrain and engine parts are often still available from Toyota or anyone who does Terrain Tamer parts.

Also, i would love to have some sort of stereo unit setup in it. Nothing to fancy, just something that can handle bass quite well and isn't too overpowering. Would i run into any common problems? I have seen some photos of Cruisers with no doors. Is that a feature like the Jeep Wranglers have? If so, will i have to mount speakers elsewhere? Is the wiring in a car this old really difficult?

Post 1972 Cruiser's can't be run without doors IIRC because they aren't then compliant with ADRs.

If you want to hear your stereo, be prepared to do a lot of work on sound deadening as they don't really have any... Your best bet is to do a shelf above the windscreen and mount the main speakers there rather than trying to run speakers into the doors. You can mount a sub in the back if you want, but might take a bit of planning.

You will probably need to run new power supply wiring through, and include relays (a lot of the circuitry isn't relay switched)

Should i get it lifted a little bit and have 35" mud tyres on it, or does something like that ruin the integrity of the car and what it stands for. As i love the car so much and i want to be able to take it off-roading and have it look awesome, but i dont want to risk ruining the integrity and originality of the car by adding things that weren't available when she was built.

Stock tyre size is about a 31" so you'll be out of inches to lift it if you want 35s without engineering. Bear in mind most don't have power steering, so anything too big is going to be a bit of a challenge to drive with... we had 33s on ours to begin with, and whilst it looked great, it was a nightmare to drive. We're now running 235/85R16s, so a tall skinny tyre as a good option.

Sorry again for the long questions and the amount of them. I just have so many questions as i want my first project FJ40 to go well :)

Keep an eye on Gumtree etc; just a quick look throughout QLD and there's this one:
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ipswich/cars-vans-utes/landcruiser-bj42-turbo/1220382742

Carsales has more $$ ones, but this one in VIC looks quite nice:
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-1979/SSE-AD-6122195/?Cr=53
This one in SA looks OK as well:
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-1978/SSE-AD-5914246/?Cr=91
 
Ok, appreciate it. I looked at the links, all gorgeous but a little over my current price range. Thanks for the advice on the tyres, i'll keep that in mind. Completely overlooked the fact that they dont have power steering. Should i be concerned with how many km they have? Like is 400000+ a bit too high? Or it doesnt really matter with these?
 
Ok, appreciate it. I looked at the links, all gorgeous but a little over my current price range. Thanks for the advice on the tyres, i'll keep that in mind. Completely overlooked the fact that they dont have power steering. Should i be concerned with how many km they have? Like is 400000+ a bit too high? Or it doesnt really matter with these?

Likely to be Grandad's Axe or Trigger's Broom...

Also pre 1980 only had 5 digit odometer, so we have no idea how many times ours has been past 78,000km....
 
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