How not to build an fj40.....or anything

[Helidump]

This is my 3rd attempt at a build thread for my current and ever present garage queen. It’s a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser of the FJ 40 variety and its been ongoing for the last 10 years or so. No Im not that slow and no I’m not being that meticulous, its just when you take a running, driving vehicle down to the frame for the first time without a proper plan or any previous experience, shit tends to get real.

Here is a picture of where I’m at with it right now.


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[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

Is the bucket hanging from the ceiling to catch the roof leak, or is that actually going to be installed there on the FJ?

[Helidump]

I know. Thats a bad picture and it doesn’t explain anything. “what did it look like before you left it in pieces for 10 years?” you are probably all asking.

Here’s the deal. This build thread is going to jump around a lot. I’m starting it in the middle and its going to get weird. I have pictures on my phone of the last couple years but I have to dig through two janky laptops and a super janky external hard drive to find anything before that so when I feel like it I’ll post some pics of what I started with.

This whole story should hopefully serve as a cautionary tale to all, hence the title. Thats about all you’re gonna learn from this hackfest anyway to be honest.

The main lesson is this: don’t read a bunch of bullshit forums like pirate and ih8mud and then decide to do a full frame off on a running, driving vehicle while simultaneously doing all the mods you read about in said forums.


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[Helidump]

Is the bucket hanging from the ceiling to catch the roof leak, or is that actually going to be installed there on the FJ?

ah yes, the bucket is because now my garage roof leaks. Now my build is going to be de-funded even more because my garage needs a new roof.


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[Helidump]

So where was I? You might want to know what my plan was or what the hell I’ve been doing for 10 years. Here’s the short version:

Rear frame channels were completely rotten so I...dealt with them
Tub was pretty rotten- buttloads of booger welded patches
Front fenders rusty AF...discovered the magic of panel bond
Disc brake conversion front and rear...almost complete
Saginaw power steering conversion....almost complete
Spring over axle with cut and turn that I’m pretty sure I messed up
80 series brake master cylinder
seats from a tacoma or something to go in still
Non-USA vacuum advance distributor and carb rebuild with corresponding carb base for vacuum advance.....some of that is done
For some reason I bought a header for this turd
CS144? gm alternator from a 90s caddy uhhhh more amps...I’m drunk and I cant remember what the number is. Still figuring out mounting for that.
A multitude of chicken shit little things that I cant even remember right now.
OH YEAH and I am trying to rewire the whole thing with an EZ Wire kit....I dont reccomend it, more on that later.

Obviously theres more but I have to throw some pictures in now before you all just stop reading out of sheer boredom.





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[Helidump]

[Helidump]

There she is in 2008. Aint she purdy? I Know it doesn't look too bad from that angle but as soon as I find more pics of the rust I'll post them

[Helidump]

A little back story. My Grandfather bought this thing in 1975 when it was a year old. He gave it to me in 1994 when I was 14. It was my first car and it taught a few other people in the family to drive standard. It had been parked since about 2002 at my Dads farm. I got it to my garage in 2008 where I took everything off the frame and started this misguided journey. My misinformed dumb ass had been reading threads on Ih8mud since dial up internet was a thing and between that, Pirate and youthful ignorance I decided it needed a spring over axle lift, a power steering conversion, disc brakes and maybe replace the tub and do a full frame off restoration while I'm at it because that is what the internets told me was best. After taking it all apart I proceeded to order a bunch of expensive parts I didn't need and ran out of money real fast. I also discovered life has a way of interfering with things like this unless you set actual goals and have a realistic plan to begin with.

[Helidump]

Here is an Idea of the amount of rust that led to the whole thing being blown apart for a full frame off.Looking back I could have just fixed everything in place and kept this thing running for a while longer but I had grand visions of sand blasting and aluminum tubs that were shattered by reality.This was way before Roadkill so all the cool kids had immaculate rigs back then and land cruiser hadn't become as horrifically expensive as they are now. Ironically the frame never got sandblasted and the tub never got replaced and this thing really only started looking like a land cruiser again in the last 2 years.

Through this project I discovered a sort of law of the universe where I either had time to work on this turd and no money or I had money and no time. The money I had I spent on dumb shit and parts I didn't need in the build yet like an air locker and an exhaust header. Then I got married and all money goes in to more sensible things like debt and bills and bathroom renos.

[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

I still think that rot above the shackle hanger is impressive.

[Helidump]

I still think that rot above the shackle hanger is impressive.

There wasn’t much holding the shackle hanger on. One good full send and it would have been a low rider


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[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

So, when are you painting it?

And did the Ez-wire kit turn out to be a total turd then?

[Helidump]

Some pics of the “bodywork”. I did such a good job warping the crap out of the sheet metal with welds that I ordered a set of armour for the tub. Basically 1/8 steel plates that cover the bubblegum horror show and keep me from having to use a gallon of bondo on each side. They were half the price of reproduction steel fenders with the added bonus of being able to be smashed in to stuff. I’ll be a rooftop tent and some maxxtrax away from full overland street cred if I leave them black. I’m probably going to paint them the same colour as the body since I already gacked the powder coat on one side when I did the cutout for the fuel filler. Apologies for the potatovision pics. Most were taken with an older phone or worse and the lighting in my shed is terrible. This is also my first attempt at welding sheet metal so go ahead and light me up Pirate style if it makes you feel better.


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[Helidump]

So, when are you painting it?

And did the Ez-wire kit turn out to be a total turd then?

Painting it soon. Doing sanding and filling now with a bit of magic rust go away spray for laziness sake.

The EZ wire kit is ok for hot rods and common American stuff but when you have a Japanese turd where the brake and turn signal switches are wired through the hazard switch and the turn signal switch cant be made to run a brake/turn combo light without figuring out some kind of diode situation then things get interesting. I had to download the Painless wiring instructions for the land cruiser to find better instructions and look up a bunch of stuff on the interwebs. The other option is swap in a GM steering column or get a hot rod/ big rig turn signal switch. Both involve spending money and I can just figure it out to make it work with what I have for free.

The EZ wire kit doesn’t come with many connectors at all and the ones it has are garbage. Cheap ass headlight plugs with wires in them already so your headlight connections will have butt splices or solder connections from day 1, cheap ass fuse holders and relays, super vague instructions and awful diagrams but decent looking wire that is well marked at least. It was $200 when I bought it 10 years ago compared to the Fj40 specific Painless harness that was $500 at the time. I wish I bought the Painless harness now or just made the whole thing from scratch.


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[Scott Cee AKA 2drx4]

My experience with scratch building my own harness was it wound up costing more than a Painless one probably would have. But I did that before it was as easy to find pins and connectors on the internet, so I was stuck working with what I could get locally. Often I could only buy pigtails like your harness had provided, so I was stuck depinning them and trying to find the pins. I recall there was a few that I never could source so I wound up soldering to the original pins to avoid having butt splices.

That said, I'd totally scratch build one again IF I had a wire stamp machine. It is a lot easier to get the pins and other components now.

As long as your lights work and it charges and runs, what more do you need?