What..... no FJ40's in here?

Bored.... I think the power went out in my work building as I can't connect to my computer anymore...

Didn't look like there were any 40's in here.... this is my project... it's at a standstill while our house is up for sale but plan to get back to it after moving...

Bought 2....

The '70:


The '76:


the plan.... the 70 looked like it had less rust so it was the "chosen" one..... (turns out I was wrong but way too late for that now). the 70 came with a 327 and TH350 already built/mounted... but hadn't run in "a few years" then was told "hasn't run in 10 years" then was told "hasn't run in 10 to 15 years".... last registration was 1983.

newer 350 4 bolt went in (came out of friends truck, rebuilt carb, new MSD dizzy, edelbrock intake) and all wiring has been replaced so far. It starts but doesn't drive yet.

It got the 76 axles as they are stronger, springs, brake master....... I will be using the 76 doors, top, windshield/frame when I have a hardtop on.... the only '70 parts that are original are the body, fenders, and frame. Rear bumpers are fabricated from scratch, the entire drivers side floor pan has been fabricated from scratch, the booster mount was fabricated.... will need to fabricate a front bumper & winch mount (have a new 12k lb winch to go on). Has new calipers & pads up front, new SS braided lines, all new brake hardlines.... etc etc etc.

76 during teardown (has since been sold with the 70 axles)


70 during teardown:


Fixing the dime-sized hold of rust:


during frame prep:


Random stuff/progress:








motor/trans/transfer case went into frame & body went onto frame same day:


first rendition of the new switch panel (turns out it doesn't fit... had to remake it


mid wiring... there's a bank of 9 relays hidden in the back and there's a 12 fuse panel in the glove box...:


as it turns out even though the chevy starter has a built in solenoid it still draws a huge amount of power through the power switch... and I killed many higher amp fuses.... so decided to mount an external solenoid up high.... this way there isn't constant power to the starter that will be submerged when going through water. works well and was a $10 fix:


the floor all painted up:


bumpers with lights:

(the light in the center has 3 red LED's that are wired as running lights and has 9 white LED's that will be for reverse).

had to have MR2 representation somehow:


Garage has been cleaned up.. but basically how it currently sits:

Thanks....

I wouldn't call this a frame off restoration by any means.... maybe a frame off resto-mod.... it will be nowhere near stock... at all... and I also plan to wheel the crap out of it....

As for the AE92..... it went to the scrap yard about a year ago :/..... It wasn't being used; I pulled the smallport 4age from it for our 86 MR2 which ended up eating that engine as well... so I built a high comp (11.3:1) smallport 7age... ran awesome... but the 4afe ecu had a miss at partial throttle (it was a modifed 4afe ecu and I was running 365 cc/min injectors... idle and full throttle was perfect, but had a bit of a miss at off idle)... so I started a Megasquirt conversion and just never had time for it... it sat in the garage for 8 months and only got 4 hours of work on it (that was around the same time I did the MK1.22 swap into the MR2)...

I had a 97 camry as a daily but it just didn't suit me at all..... so decided I wanted a more suitable car... picked up an '04 IS300 Manual.... part of the deal with my wife was that the AE92 had to go.... As much as I enjoyed the AE92... the IS is an amazing replacement (except for fuel economy, but I knew that going into it)

the 7age was sold to a local AE86 guy and last I heard was running strong. The trans is being sold for an ae92 AT conversion to a friend of mine... the suspension went to another AE92 in the state....

That wouldn't work so well for me.... In the past 10 years alone I've had:
2010 Corolla S 5 speed (still have)
2004 IS300 5 speed (still have)
2 FJ40's (still have 1)
11 MR2's (still have 1)
1990 Corolla
1990 Geo Prizm GSI
1986 4 Runner
1993 Ford Escort
1994 Tercel
1997 Camry
1986 F150
1995 Explorer (still have)
1983 28' Fleetwood (still have)
1985 ae86

I'm pretty sure some are missing.... needless to say I have a lot of room for vehicles (especially since the RV & boat together take over 50ft of driveway space) but not that much room....

11 mr2????

better have been the PERFECT mr2

Long time no update....

I had 11 MR2's.... some were bought as parts cars (2.... one I only bought because the owner knew nothing... clutch was out and I bought it for $300.... it had a full running JDM Map harness and ECU installed - again, owner had NO idea). The 87 that was s/c'd I bought 3 different times (but only counts as 1) and several were either bought or traded and then fixed and sold.

The 86 MR2 (that was an MK1.22) just sold last month to a 16 year old who thought he knew what he was getting but not sure he realized how often that swap ISN'T done - so I hear from him and his dad every now and again. That was the MR2 that I had for the longest but needed to go post-divorce.

The FJ40.... it's still a beast in the works... but with preparing the house for sale (twice) while working (and until recently - was working 60+ hours a week) along with dealing with a divorce and a new child - life is getting in the way. Progress has been made.... diffs have been emptied and refilled - only to find the front having a leak needing to be fixed. Due to having the original early transfercase, a lift, and a later rear axle - turns out I needed a custom driveline.... luckily I had the correct joints needed so it was just a matter of measuring and bringing down to a local driveline shop to have lengthen and balance. That's done, painted, and installed.

Due to the house being up for sale I finally got around to bolting the C channel on as a front bumper - I went and bought a cheap harbor freight tow bar and bolted the pieces to the C channel (then welded - cause I don't trust it)... so that's ready to be hauled off to the next house whenever that happens.

Bugs me that so little work has been done in the last year...

to add insult to injury... the FJ is supposed to be the replacement to the 95 Explorer..... I have that as a snow/tow vehicle and offroad when I feel like it.... but since I sold the boat there's nothing to tow but a really small trailer... I came across a deal on an AE95 wagon I couldn't turn away and now that will be the snow/tow trailer. I've spent some time fixing the (many) issues it has and cleaning the disgusting interior.... over 300K miles and drives surprisingly well. Building a custom hitch receiver into the stock bumper for it now...

the AE95 interior?

Lets see..... 311K miles and it appears to have been owned by a contractor or painter who smoked and had a dog. There was long dog hair and ash everywhere, the seats were beige (supposed to be light blue) and dingy.... a 5 gallon bucket of paint was spilled in the back hatch (upwards of 1/2 thick paint everywhere).

I stripped the interior down to nothing (leaving just the upper dash in place and the back of the rear seats). Pressure washed the carpets after vacuuming as much as possible, pressure washing all plastic parts, then using a home carpet cleaner (with hand attachment) to clean all of the seats (3-4 times each) and cleaning the carpets again. All of the plastic pieces were then, again, washed by hand with soapy water. I replaced the steering wheel and shift knob.