FJ40 Land Cruiser Rebuild: Dubbeltjie, FJ40 Land Cruiser Restoration 2014

Time has marched on with a number of rebuild projects completed but sadly very few Blog posts submitted to record my progress.

I am proud that I am now have a fully restored rolling chassis with all hubs, brakes and brakes lines, wheels, springs completed and rebuilt. Every little nut, lock washer, washer and bolt has been de-rusted or replaced - every brake-line replaced or de-rusted.

Brakes calipers cleaned and ready for installation

I rebuilt the front and rear brakes as well as front hubs. All new seals, gaskets, grease and all the rust removed either using my sand blasted or good-old elbow grease. All parts have been repainted with an agent to prevent rust and then finished off with an anti-rust paint.

All new brake cylinder kits - genuine Toyota - installed front and back. I replaced some of the brake lines which turned out to be easier to do than expected. I bought the metric steel brake lines from my local parts store and purchased a brake line bending tool. Using the tool to bend the pipe worked like a charm.

Check out the "new" rolling chassis....I also had the rims power coated to the Toyota original gray color - they turned out great.

Over the last few weeks I have moved onto the engine. My goal is to strip it down completely so that it can be repainted. I also want to replace the main front seal as well as check the timing wheel to make sure that it is still solid - if not I will replace it while it is easy to access.

When the previous owner purchased Dubbeleltjie he had Daniel Edone of Wimberly Four Wheel Drive overhaul her from top to bottom. Daniel is well known in Land Cruiser circles and is a fundi on all things 4-wheel drive. He has since sold his business which was located in New Braunfels Texas. He did the following around 05/28/2005. Odometer reading at the time was 197,392 miles at time of purchase was 194,376.

New Parts:

Exhaust manifold and gaskets
Replaced belts and hoses
New "e" brake cable
New front brake pads and rotors
New fuel filter
New plug wires and plugs
Flush brakes
New rear main seal
New clutch and bearings
Resurfaced flywheel
New distributor cap and rotor
New Australian ABR Bull Bar
New tow bar
New tires
Recovered front seat bottoms
Adjusted valves
New cover gasket
New side cover gasket
New sleaves
New pinion seals (all 4)
Replaced door gasket
Replace mirrors
Muffler repair by Ron Culler Auto
Minor electronic tune
Align front end
Replace PVC

Mechanical work completed by Wimberly Four Wheel Drive:

Rings, bearing and valve job - includes resurfaced manifold, rings, valve guide, seals, hone cylinders, oil filter, coolant, spark plugs and gaskets
Replaced knuckles seals, bearings, plus wheel bearing grease (both sides)
Other parts: rear main seal, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing
Replaced transmission transfer case seals

Here a few photos I took of the engine prior to being stripped: