One thing I found odd about this FJ40 was the lack of serious rust, which is a notorious problem for the FJ40s, especially one that is in a South Texas, next to the salty coast, climate.  I attribute this lack of rust to it's former home.  The plates that were on it were Arizona plates, which most know is a place that rust is normally not a problem due to it's climate.  It was also very complete in that it still had the factory hard top and most small accessories and body parts.

But this FJ40 had been modified, some time in it's past life instead of the stock Toyota In-line 6 and 3 on-the-tree manual transmission a 350 Small Block Chevy (SBC) and a GM Turbo Hydramatic 350 (Automatic) had been installed.  But other than that, nearly everything else was still stock.

So my plans for my FJ40 are as follows:

Completely disassemble

Restore the Frame via POR 15 products

Replace the tired SBC 350 with a freshly rebuilt SBC 400

Completely rebuild the TH350

Completely rebuild the transfer case

Completely rebuild the front axle

Completely rebuild the rear axle and add a Detroit locker

Add a 4in HFS lift kit in order to run 35in tires

Add power steering using the Mini-Truck power steering method

Add power brakes

Add an auxiliary gas tank

Replace the few rusted out sections with new steel replacement panels.


Revive the body and body parts through this method:

1.  Sand blast all old paint.
2.  Apply a Zinc Rich Epoxy Powder Coat Primer.
3.  In necessary, minor body work.
4.  Apply 2 coats of DuPont Corlar Primer
5.  Top coat with DuPont Imron.

Reassemble using, in most cases, new accessories.  Such as lights, gaskets, weather stripping, wiring harness, etc.