1968 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser With Fuel Injection

Description for Toyota Land Cruiser 1968

Land Cruiser updated with a Howell GM TBI fuel injection kit. uses a TBI unit from a 4.3 GM truck as well as a matching computer. GM computer is mounted in the top of the glove compartment. Truck also has a GM HEI electronic distributor retrofitted and the original Toyota canister oil filter setup has been replaced with a GM remote mount filter setup. This greatly simplifies finding regular maintenance parts and also makes it super-reliable and typically improves fuel economy as well. No pulling the choke or waiting for it to warm up before you can go anywhere. Turn the key, t fires up instantly and can be driven immediately. It's the original 1968 Toyota engine but all the regular replacement and tune up items are GM and available anywhere.

The remainder of the truck is pretty much stock mechanically. 4 wheel non-power drum brakes, anual steering, nd a 3 speed manual transmission. Has Warn locking hubs. This was originally a column shift vehicle with vacuum operated 4WD. The transmission was converted to floor shift probably when almost new. The floor shifter does not have a provision for the reverse lights. They are on a toggle switch. When I started working on it the 4WD shift mechanism didn't work so I converted that to a floor shift as well. Now the 4WD works as it should. The clutch master and slave cylinder were just replaced as well as the brake master cylinder. All of the leaf spring and chassis bushings were just replaced, nd it has all new tie rod ends. Recent 31x10.50x15 all terrain tires on 15X8 steel wheels also.

The previous owner stated that this truck was originally from the west coast and that certainly looks to be true considering the condition of it. It's not a New England truck for sure. The entire chassis is very clean and free of rust. Sure there's a little surface corrosion here and there but no real rust. Prior to paint in 2012 the body was the same way. It was in a few different shades of primer and obviously had been for some time. But with the exception of a little rust in the tail light area and the rear sill (where they all seem to rust) it was totally clean. So during the repaint a rear sill was fabricated out of box tubing and new rear quarter skins were installed. It also received brand new Toyota factory front fenders. The truck is painted a late model Toyota FJ Cruiser beige. Which is actually quite convenient because factory touch up paint matched it perfectly when I needed to touch up a few small chips after reassembly. The truck was painted all in pieces but this was not a total frame-off paint job. The bottom of the tub wasn't painted and neither was the firewall. The firewall just got painted flat black and the underside is original. The floors of the truck were sprayed with truck bedliner. Although this is a factory soft top truck with the coveted drop-down tailgate it did have a hardtop on it and it does come with a hardtop. But it was not painted to match the truck. However this is a stock Toyota color so it's pretty easy to match. The steel panels of the hardtop are in good shape but the fiberglass roof panel needs a bit of work. Someone cut a pop-up vent into the back of it at some point and the steel channel that bolts to the windshield frame is pulling away a little. Very repairable but it never got done. It does have a brand-new Bestop soft top on it with 2 piece doors. It has some kind of aftermarket roll bar installed in it and that is what the brand new aftermarket 3 point seat belts are fastened to. The front seats are not original to the truck and the center console looks like one from an 80's F150. But it's convenient and it's got cup holders. There are no rear seats. But late model Jeep TJ rear seats fit about perfect in these. That's what I put in my last one. And it's usually not very difficult to locate used factory jump seats if you prefer. Early FJ40's like this never had radios and this one has escaped having the dash cut out for one too. It is missing all the factory dash pads though. Although reproductions are readily available now from Land Cruiser parts specialists. Many of the factory emblems are also missing but these are all available new from Toyota. The hood is missing it's center spear. This is not available new but there are a few companies selling reproductions. The hood is also missing the pads and hooks for folding down the windshield. These are available new as well. Additionally the hood has a decent sized dent on the passenger side that wasn't repaired during paint. It's not very noticeable in this color but it's there.

This truck drives really well for a 1968. Land Cruiser stock steering is known to be a little wayward and this one is too, ut it's not bad at all. No crazy vibrations or excessive gear noise. It shifts well although the non-synchro 1st gear in these early trucks does take a little getting used to. Of course it's got so much torque you hardly ever need to get it into first unless you're stopped. It stops straight but of course with no power assist it takes a bit more pedal effort to do so than in a modern vehicle. All the lights work (brand new factory turn signals and marker lights on the front) and the wipers work. Factory horn button does not work so there's a push-button on the side of the steering column for it. That works. The original 4WD light in the dash is now the check engine light for the fuel injection. The factory instrument cluster lights up and the speedo works. But the rest of the factory gauges do not. An aftermarket set of gauges for temp, il pressure, nd volts has been installed and they work. The factory fuel sending unit appears to work but the actual gauge does not. The original heater valve is missing so the heater core is currently getting coolant all the time. These are discontinued by Toyota for 68's but the later style can be retrofitted. I was looking at my 89 Toyota pickup and it looks like a heater valve from one of those could be made to work fairly easily too. But honestly without the blower motor on (which works fine) and the kick vents open it's not a big deal having the heater core full of circulating coolant. The tail lights and reverse light on the back of the truck are not factory. They work but aren't "correct" for the truck. Originals are still available if the new owner wants to make the truck more correct appearance wise. The tail lights are getting a little tough to find but the later slightly larger early 70's lights are readily available and should work also.

All in all this is a great early cruiser. It can be enjoyed just as it is or as I've stated there's plenty of little things that can be added to make it even better. All the hard work is done and it runs/drives great. I'm actually selling this for a friend. She had wanted one for a long time but wasn't able to buy one until a few years ago. Her son and I have been playing with Toyota 4x4's for 25 years and she really liked the 79FJ40 I had for several years. So when she saw this one for sale she bought it on the spot. Now that it's finally all done and on the road she doesn't see herself using it much and has decided to sell it. I think this truck has maybe gone 300 miles since it's been all put back together. Most of those miles put on by me. It's currently sitting in my garage and will remain there until sold. NH does not title vehicles over 15 years old so we have no title for it. It will be sold with a bill of sale and a current NH registration. I've sold a number of older vehicles out of state in the past and this has always been sufficient to get a title issued in another state. But of course it's best to check with your DMV to be sure. Sold as-is where is. I can certainly be available to meet a shipper if the buyer wants it shipped. But I don't have any idea on current costs to do so. Shipping is the responsibility of the buyer. If being shipped also consider the hardtop is in pieces and although the steel sections could be packed inside the vehicle the roof panel could be tricky.

Preferred method of payment would be either cash in person or bank wire transfer. A bank check is OK too but the truck isn't moving until the funds are completely cleared. Absolutely no PayPal.