What I've been working on the last few months

[85GT-79FJ40]

About 6 months ago a friend of mine asked me if I wanted some side work putting together a 1968 FJ40 for his mother. I've had a few of these and my last one I did a complete frame-off restoration. Sadly I sold mine last year. I started out working on it at his shop on weekends. But in June or so we loaded it on a ramp truck and brought it to my house.

This is what I started with.



But I had to put on/plumb a GM TBI injection system, make a BUNCH of brackets, change all the spring bushings, convert the vacuum shift 4WD to a floor linkage, make the exhaust, and basically put it all back together to make it roadworthy. Oh and I had no hardware. And all the wiring was just cut whenever they needed to remove something. It was a mess. But look at it now!






It still needs a few things but nothing really pressing that will keep the owner from putting some miles on it finally. Hopefully it will be leaving my shop tonight.

[evlgt85]

<3 That is beautiful.

[FuturaGuy]

Great job, Ken. It looks like a factory installation.

I know what kind of effort you put into custom-fabbing the brackets. I only had to make two when I put power steering in my sister's car, and those took a lot of work and more than a little brain power. Lucky I had access to a CNC plasma cutter and a big hydraulic press.

[Hissing Cobra]

It looks great Ken! Sometimes when I see cars like in the first picture I wonder if they'll ever get back together. I'm glad you've finished it.

[86asccoupe20]

Awesome, will we see it next weekend?

[Ken P]

I see a Willys trying to hide under that blanket...

[85GT-79FJ40]

Awesome, will we see it next weekend?

Probably not. I'm hoping it will be picked up on Saturday. I've got an 04 Dodge that I have to put bedside repair panels and a rocker panel on next for my wife's uncle. He did build my house, I suppose I can do some bodywork for him. That might be here next weekend. And yes that is a 40's Willys that was next to it in my friend's shop. That one is almost all back together now too. This landcruiser still needs a bunch of little things so I'm sure it will be back come spring but mechanically and safety-wise it's good to go. It's been sitting a LONG time so I'm sure everything will start leaking once it's got some miles on it.

[Bruce Mohacsy]

Wow! KILLER WORK! You. Are. The. Man.

When I put this next to the FJ Cruiser I get the feeling that they got it wrong. Why couldn't Toyota have kept building and improving THIS vehicle like Jeep did with theirs. They even could have done the 4-door and the truck. Modern diesel power, modern, upgraded gas injection, more modern suspension, etc. I think that would have made a nice bit of money for them over the years.

[85GT-79FJ40]

They kind of did continue evolving the FJ40 just not in the US. The 70 series was the next short wheelbase truck and they offered those with both leaf and coil spring suspensions, modern diesels, etc. Some are fixed hardtops, some are removable, a few factory soft tops... This truck I've been working on is kind of odd with the fuel injection on it. It's just strange hopping in an FJ40 and just turning the key without doing anything and just having it fire up and idle perfectly. Then immediately be able to drive it away. No more pulling the choke, waiting for it to warm up, then driving easy for the first mile or so to keep it from choking out. Just hit the key and go.

[grabbergreen84]

Those big old inline 6 engines sound pretty mean when they're loud, too.

[JTurbo]

Great work Ken!

[Capriman86]

Looks great Ken!!

[Ken P]

Looks great Ken!!

Wow, thanks! Oh, wait... HAHA

My L6-226 Willys sounded like a garbage truck without a muffler.

[Capriman86]

Wow, thanks! Oh, wait... HAHA

My L6-226 Willys sounded like a garbage truck with a muffler.

Too many Ken's here :P
How you are doing well too bud!

[85GT-79FJ40]

Yep lot's of Ken's everywhere! 3 at my work alone...

Well the FJ40 just went home with it's owner. I'm sure it will be back for more stuff in the spring though. She was incredibly excited. Actually drove it home with no plates on it! But it's all back roads and only 5 miles or so away. And her son (my friend) is a cop on the local sheriff's department... She texted me a picture of her and her dog in it at her farm when she got home.

This one sounds pretty good. Header with 2-1/4" exhaust. I put a big muffler on it so it's quiet (owner is in her 60's) but it's still pretty throaty. Lots of intake noise from the GM throttle body setup though. Sounds good. Mine had a bored/balanced/cammed motor with a Weber/header/ and basically the same exhaust but with a 14" case length turbo muffler. It sounded pretty mean. I really miss it. If I ever do another one though I want to go V8. Probably won't go there again though. I never drove mine once gas got over 3 bucks a gallon. The Capri is bad enough. FJ40's only get like 12MPG.

[85GT-79FJ40]

On to the next project over the last few weekends. My wife's uncle built our house for us. Her father and him used to be business partners until he passed away from complications related to diabetes. He wasn't able to help much in the aftermath but he's helped out all six of the kids in my wife's family in some way or another in a big way over the years. So when he asked for some help in patching up his Dodge I couldn't say no. He's 78 now, still working doing plumbing/heating and electrical work. But he's trying to retire. So he really wants his 04 ram to be his last work truck. Problem is like most of them it had some serious body rot.

[85GT-79FJ40]

So on to cutting and welding and whatnot.








It's actually all painted now but I neglected to take pics after primer and paint. Came out OK. My first time shooting base/clear actually. But I did something incredibly stupid afterwards. I can only work on the truck on weekends because he needs it for work during the week. So yesterday when I painted it the temp was only about 55 degrees. After it had been sitting for about 4 hours I pulled all the tape off, all was good. I put the rear bumper back on, then figured I would wash it and get all the bondo dust off it where I had it covered with plastic. DUMB move. Although the clear was dry to the touch it certainly wasn't cured yet. As soon as the water hit it it streaked with cloudiness down the sides. Hopefully it will buff out. Otherwise I'll have to sand it down and reshoot it.