hairy_apple
Adventurer
So, start with a little story. About 11 years ago, I met this girl, liked her and we went to go on a date. I talked to her on the phone, got directions to her house and said said "it's the house with the blue Land...er Jeep thing in the driveway" When I got there, there was a blue FJ40 in the driveway. A 1969 FJ40 as a matter of fact, same year as mine. In her defense of the "jeep thing" comment, she didn't know I had a Land Cruiser, and assumed I was like most people, and had no idea what a Land Cruiser was and would just call it a jeep like 99% of people do.
Not only did her dad have a 69 FJ40, but Danielle learned to drive with it, and it was their "family car" right up until about the time we got together. Sadly though, for the last few years it's just been sitting. I replaced a few parts on it with stuff I had taken off of mine when I built it, and I convinced Jim to go to the store and run quick little errands with it sometimes (mostly because I wanted to drive a stock cruiser again). Last year, her sister and brother in law moved to Portland, and her parents decided to follow (shows you which kid they like better). They were not going to take the cruiser with them, and it was going to get sold. Danielle and I talked about it, and really decided we wanted to keep it in the family, and plus, I've wanted to have a stock FJ40 again for a while. So.. two weekends ago, we went and picked it up.
I bled the brakes, checked the fluids (mostly sludge) and said, "OK.. good enough" and we had lunch and took off. He removed most of the smog stuff, but didn't really block it off... so there was a massive exhaust leak, so I couldn't hear myself think and my eyes were stinging a bit. No worries, it was a nice day, windows downs. I made it about 2 miles when the brakes totally went out. Hello stop sign... right through it. No worries, pulled over and we bled the brakes again... seemed to be working again. I made it another 4 miles or so, and we ran out of gas... 100 yards from the gas station I was headed to. Well, crap. My wife went and got a can filled and came back. OK... on our way again. Made it up to the station and filled it up. The brakes were really sketchy, and the steering wasn't exactly awesome. I decided we would go the long way and avoid main roads and lots of traffic. I pulled out after FILLING the cruiser up... and it sputtered to a stop. Fuel pump went out. Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel and just call AAA... so less then 10 miles out of 40, we got it towed home. Not how I wanted the day to go, but when I pulled out of the driveway I figured it was 50/50 if we were getting home under it's own power or not.
Anyway, we got it home, and I haven't had a chance to really mess with it yet. I need to replace the fuel pump, and then I'm just going to go through it part by part, system by system and get it mechanically sound. Then start the rust repair. It does have a 2F, so it will never be 100% stock, but we are going to do our best to keep it totally stock looking, even if there are small upgrades to the mechanical stuff. I am totally loving having a 3 on the tree again. So much fun to drive.
Not only did her dad have a 69 FJ40, but Danielle learned to drive with it, and it was their "family car" right up until about the time we got together. Sadly though, for the last few years it's just been sitting. I replaced a few parts on it with stuff I had taken off of mine when I built it, and I convinced Jim to go to the store and run quick little errands with it sometimes (mostly because I wanted to drive a stock cruiser again). Last year, her sister and brother in law moved to Portland, and her parents decided to follow (shows you which kid they like better). They were not going to take the cruiser with them, and it was going to get sold. Danielle and I talked about it, and really decided we wanted to keep it in the family, and plus, I've wanted to have a stock FJ40 again for a while. So.. two weekends ago, we went and picked it up.
I bled the brakes, checked the fluids (mostly sludge) and said, "OK.. good enough" and we had lunch and took off. He removed most of the smog stuff, but didn't really block it off... so there was a massive exhaust leak, so I couldn't hear myself think and my eyes were stinging a bit. No worries, it was a nice day, windows downs. I made it about 2 miles when the brakes totally went out. Hello stop sign... right through it. No worries, pulled over and we bled the brakes again... seemed to be working again. I made it another 4 miles or so, and we ran out of gas... 100 yards from the gas station I was headed to. Well, crap. My wife went and got a can filled and came back. OK... on our way again. Made it up to the station and filled it up. The brakes were really sketchy, and the steering wasn't exactly awesome. I decided we would go the long way and avoid main roads and lots of traffic. I pulled out after FILLING the cruiser up... and it sputtered to a stop. Fuel pump went out. Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel and just call AAA... so less then 10 miles out of 40, we got it towed home. Not how I wanted the day to go, but when I pulled out of the driveway I figured it was 50/50 if we were getting home under it's own power or not.
Anyway, we got it home, and I haven't had a chance to really mess with it yet. I need to replace the fuel pump, and then I'm just going to go through it part by part, system by system and get it mechanically sound. Then start the rust repair. It does have a 2F, so it will never be 100% stock, but we are going to do our best to keep it totally stock looking, even if there are small upgrades to the mechanical stuff. I am totally loving having a 3 on the tree again. So much fun to drive.
