In 1994 I bought this '72 FJ40. We had a ball with it for about 7 years. Then I blew a head gasket, sheared a few exhaust manifold studs, looked over at three other projects and sold it to a friend. 
In 1994 I bought this '72 FJ40. We had a ball with it for about 7 years. Then I blew a head gasket, sheared a few exhaust manifold studs, looked over at three other projects and sold it to a friend.
20 years later, the friend hasn't touched it. He parked it in an aluminum/canvas storage building. He got busy, got married, had children, got busy and 20 years clicked by. Every now and then, I asked when he was going to sell it back to me.
Then one day, he said sure.
I jumped on it, said yes and pulled my trailer over and was met with this.
I like a challenge and I'm sentimental about this particular little truck. So I bought it back. Insanity. The brakes were frozen so we dragged it on the trailer with the winch and dragged it off with a tractor. 
These pictures were taken about a year ago. The past 12 months have been dedicated to the tube frame race car project which is fairly far along...at least far enough to justify getting back on this.
My hope is to make this a fun knock-about 4wd that will be used as designed. I'm not interested in a "restoration" per se...I am more interested in making it dependable and structurally sound...a vehicle to drive to the beach and pull stumps. Everything needs attention. Everything. This won't be a quick project, but I'm hoping this thread keeps me pushing forward steadily.
Good luck. They're cool little off roaders.
One nice thing about these vehicles, they come apart pretty easily if the rust hasn't fused things together.
Which unfortunately has happened in a few places.
I am not looking for a concours or a beauty queen, so I am not worried about fabricating any parts needed.
A few bolts come apart as designed, some have to be ground out, some snapped off. But in the end, the body and frame separated.
I had to free up the brakes to roll the cruiser. Once the wheels were functional I thought it would be a little more inspirational to have this roll on actual tires, so I went completely "cart before the horse" and sandblasted/painted the wheels and mounted some new shoes.
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