Daniel’s 1976 FJ40 Rebuild

Carby, air filter, fan clutch, fan and water pump all installed and plumbed in now just chasing a few finishing touches such as the fuel line from the carby and linkage for the throttle to carby.

Removing the wheels to get the rims painted and new wheels installed before the body goes in, installed the new calipers while I had them off just waiting on the bolts for them

More shint bits, new starter, fuel filter, water pump (after realising I needed one for a clutch fan to get the duel pulley for power steering) fan clutch, fan, adrad radiator and all new hoses for the water system

Some new shiny bits for the 40 so it feels loved and not just the 45. New spark plugs, brake calipers and steering damper. Just need to find the right bolts now

Tearing into all the seats I have that I know are right (yes I have 2 other bench seats that are not right that came with the car for back seat (turns out it doesn’t fit) and another I bought to try get the right frames. All ready to go for new foam and covers

Pulling apart the jigsaw now that I have space in the garage with the FJ45 off to the shop for final paint and panel and tray being fitted. Amazing how this can be so easily pulled apart and changed up

Bit more progress in the wiring, all complete and test fitted before being put aside to wait for the new original Toyota clips to arrive

Installing the newly polished rocker cover and having a sneak peak inside the engine which still looks brand new and ready to start rumbling. Went with the year correct cover over the newer style 2F labeled cover I have as a spare

Steering system competed, drag link rebuilt and installed all newly annodized clamps and bolts, newly rebuilt power steering box and steering idler previously installed completing the system with the newly coated bars and new tie rod ends

New seals installed and transfer case cover installed. new clutch boot installed, trying to work out the name of the blank cover for the other side to order that seal.

Installing the fresh steering box and some suspension that came with the car when I bought it, new but not sure if it will stay, will see how it drives first

Power steering box rebuild, doing more on this build myself and it’s a great learning curve for any fixes I need later on, came up quite nice

Cleaning up the newer and older rocker cover for the 76 and the spare engine, getting a good hang of this polishing technique

Starting the painful task of creating a new custom wiring harness from my recently acquired painless wiring loom. Struggling to match all the needed circuits as it’s not a plug and play harness but I feel this is exactly what I need to be able to give me a nice refresh on the mess that was the old harness and give me the ability to add some of the custom bits I want. Want to have a new harness but also use the same clips so I don’t have to change all the components

Bunch of anodising back for the 40 and the spare engine ready to start rebuilding things

Bit of colour in the heater indication

Playing around with the seat brackets for the 3rd time only to realise I bought a US style new set of brackets, don’t have the full old set and seems the old ones have also been modified and don’t quite fit the car. What I nightmare. Decided I’ll need a welder to merge the two together and rebuild it to the old spec. Now just need to find someone to do it that can make it work

2 x freshly rebuild steering idlers (don’t ask me what I need 2 for with fresh ones on both cruisers), was a lot more simple then I thought but came up a treat just need to source some new grease ni***es to finish them off.

All the bits going off for powder coating for a fresh look including the new rear chassis bar from McKinnons after the previous owner destroyed the one on the car to change the tail lights

Rebuilding the ignition and steering column with new bearing and powder coated parts and anodised fixings

Playing around with the engine to remove some bits I want to repost. Installing the thermostat

Stripping down the spare 2F thinking could I performance this one and keep the stock one as a spare, heard so many people say this is much better than going V8 and the idea of more power and sound but not changing the engine and modifying the car is a big win for me

Pulling apart the idler box x 2, power steering pump and steering box with the plan to do more myself on this build rather than having this stuff done or buying new as I did with the 45, ready for a challenge but there are a lot of parts!

Installed the freshly coated radiator support while pondering around where to go with the engine rebuild deciding to pull some parts off and repost rather than keep building it

Got some new seat brackets and risers, tail light covers, door frame protectors, oils and pressure senders and a custom 40 car cover from cool cruisers in the US

Refurbished radiator housing installed with new Toyota supports

New water thermostat housing and thermostat installed, just need some replacement bolts for the top to finish it off

New rear bar arrived from cruisers. Will be amazing compared to the modified and horribly welded rear bar that was installed. Hoping I can make it look original with some nice painted fasteners

First selection of non original parts but got them for a steal along with a bunch of Toyota spares including some nice rare NOS that is hard or impossible to find or just not available anymore.

Picked up lockers, duel battery kit, radio and a new wiring harness kit along with some new indicators, wiper motor, locks and latches, mirrors, door cards, wipers, seals, boots, window regulators and more.

Start of the fresh bits, deliveries from Megazip, city racer and some local outfits such as 4x4 spares. Shipping is killer but got lucky with some people I know bringing in parts from the US from me to save a few hundred dollars on shipping. Can’t wait to start installing some of these bad boys