Labour of love as FJ40 returned to original glory

Images by Lachlan Holt

Old school 4WDs draw the crowds. They’re charming, ‘real’, rustic and nostalgic. An old 4WD will make its owner friends everywhere they go. Kids shout and point, parents smile and get a far-off mist in their eyes and older types will buttonhole the owner for hours at a time, talking about ‘how it was back in the day’.
Luke Jackson’s painstaking bolt-by-bolt restoration of his Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser has been a labour of love, with full emphasis on the ‘labour’. It’s a passion project that has taken him “a very long time”.
Months spent in the garage grinding, welding, cutting, and painting.
Months spent sourcing replacements for worn out, perished or lost parts.
In total the work has taken him four years, two months, and 27 days to complete, and that’s on top of his initial five-year search for the ideal project vehicle.
The search was undertaken online, and was very specific: Luke was looking for a project that had gone beyond minor damage. Something with no warrant of fitness or registration, a vehicle that he could rebuild from the chassis up. He found it in St Lukes: a sad ‘40’ that had failed a warrant of fitness on rust and been partly stripped to be restored. The repair work had become too much for the previous owners, who were selling it so they could buy a washing machine.
“It was exactly what I was looking for,” Luke says. Many might have shied away from the amount of work required – but not Luke. He wanted to do most of the job himself and keep everything as original as possible. The standout aftermarket item may well be the bonnet, which is a fibreglass version of the stock original “which was in a pretty shocking state.”
“I reckon 80 per cent of the work needed was rust repair, and most of that was bodywork.”
A resident of Riverhead on Auckland’s western edge, Luke has long admired the iconic and instantly-recognisable look of the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40.
“I’ve always loved Toyotas, and especially the 40. It’s simple and rugged. Nothing flashy. No creature comforts,” he says.
Having mates with engineering and panel beating tickets helped lighten the load as Luke tackled the rust repairs and body work.
As an auto electrician working for a company that specialises in heavy machinery maintenance, Luke had access to engineering/fabricating workshop facilities and a full-sized sandblasting room. He also found help through the IH8MUD online community, who have a ‘mind blowing’ amount of information on the  40 Series.
Bit by bit, the daunting task was moved closer to completion. Luke said the trick to staying motivated was to not be daunted by the whole project.
“You have to focus on one job at a time, not look at the whole resto.”
The Land Cruiser retains its original 2F 4.2-litre six-cylinder engine, which was inspired by Chevrolet’s even older Blue Flame engine. Luke pulled the head off the engine, cleaned up the top end, replacing cooling system components and perished hoses as the work progressed.
Remarkably, the engine is still running – purring – on its original crankshaft bearings.
Though overseas restomods often drop-in newer power units, Luke says he wanted everything mechanical to be as it was in the 1980s. Gaskets, brackets, a reconditioned ‘heart’ for a 1980s work-horse. Not a simple matter, nor cheap. But the parts were available through specialist companies in Australia – “those guys are mad keen on the 40” – and a whole industry has grown up in the USA around such projects.
Not over-keen on the 40’s original Azure Blue body colour, Luke quickly decided to switch out to the classic Dune Beige.
Luke says he is “absolutely stoked” when he looks at his 40. Though it’s edging up close to 300,000 miles ‘old’, it’s also brand new.
The best thing about it, he says, is looking at the truck and knowing it was his project, not something he bought already completed or paid someone to restore. The worst thing about a labour of love resto like this is that it’s now (almost) too nice to get dirty.
“The thought of it getting scratched or muddy gives me nightmares. And having spent months repairing rust damage, I am not sure I’ll ever deliberately take it out and get it into a river crossing.”
The 40 is a cherished possession and is always garaged. Luke says the whole family – his wife Sheryn, daughter Katie (14) and son Aden (12) supported the project and helped out with the rebuild. Now, they all enjoy touring the district in their old/new 4WD.
Luke is especially proud he didn’t take the easy way – buy it after someone else had done all the hard work or pay someone else to restore it for him. When he’s out and about, he’s often approached by people who grew up around these 4WDs, learned to drive in one or owned one.
“Many of them say it was the most reliable piece of machinery they ever owned. You can see how these vehicles were more than just a 4WD for some people,” he says.
Luke says one day he might consider restoring another Toyota Land Cruiser. But for now, he’s enjoying the one he’s just finished.