[krzyabncanuck]

I must of been asleep when this one first started.

Am keeping an eye on it now though.

Good luck as a fly boy. They saved my 4th POC more than a few times in my career.

[antFJ]

Originally Posted by albee

Good job keep up the good work.
My wife is one of the doc's at WPI health center. Let me know when you get bact to school, maybe we can hook up.
Cheers
Albee

ha too cool - if shes been there for a couple of years she's probably seen me more than once.. pink eye seemed to get me a lot back in the dorms

[antFJ]

so not too much physical progress today.. but i laid out both wiring harnesses i have.. one is from the 78 cowl that i just got (I will be using this cowls vin plates since they supposedly match the frame - tomorrow i'll clean the paint off and check) and the other is from the green oct 76 cruiser that i had from a while ago.

the 78's harness is pretty much complete... everything is there it's awesome. the only thing that was missing was the seat belt switch and the fuel sender wiring... but i was able to cut that off of my old harness. tomorrow i am going to go out in search of some heat shrink tubing, high quality connections and some electrical tape.. it seems that the outer most electrical tape around the whole harness was grey, the spliced connections were covered in tubing and blue electrical tape.. the inner form of the harness was held together with black electrical tape, and the unused, optional stuff was held together with yellow tape... this is good to know because i want to leave all of the connections i won't be using for the emmissions equipment for example.. i'll just wrap them up in yellow tape.


my only two questions at the end of it all is..
1. how come on the later harness there is no horn relay and two wires going to the horns? do i just need horns from 78?

and 2. on my oct 76 there was no voltage regulator on the firewall but on the 78 there is a hulking black one (Pass Side firewall) with a ton of wires coming out of it.. EDIT*** there is a small blue wire with a female connector coming out of the voltage regulator and there is nothing hooked up to it.. any ideas?

[Spud]

ANT...Read this...

and 2. on my oct 76 there was no voltage regulator on the firewall but on the 78 there is a hulking black one (Pass Side firewall) with a ton of wires coming out of it.. there is a small blue wire with a female connector coming out of the loom next to the regulator and there is nothing hooked up to it.. any ideas?

http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series...m-76-fj40.html

[antFJ]

yea i saw that post.. but my regulator is the one pictured on the left here MAF Voltage Regulators

it has 7 wires coming out of it.. 6 go into a plug which has 5 wires going out of the connector into the loom and the 7th wire, the blue one with the single female connector, is the one that doesn't have anything attached to it..

now after looking at the 79 wiring diagram in my FSM it only shows 5 wires going into the voltage regulator.. and the 78 diagram online matches up better color wise with the harness i have - but it shows only 3 wires coming out of the voltage regulator

unless someone knows the answer to this confusion off hand i am just going to leave it for now and just see if it works with the current set-up when i get everything back together.

[Spud]

Originally Posted by antFJ

yea i saw that post.. but my regulator is the one pictured on the left here MAF Voltage Regulators

it has 7 wires coming out of it.. 6 go into a plug which has 5 wires going out of the connector into the loom and the 7th wire, the blue one with the single female connector, is the one that doesn't have anything attached to it..

now after looking at the 79 wiring diagram in my FSM it only shows 5 wires going into the voltage regulator.. and the 78 diagram online matches up better color wise with the harness i have - but it shows only 3 wires coming out of the voltage regulator

unless someone knows the answer to this confusion off hand i am just going to leave it for now and just see if it works with the current set-up when i get everything back together.

Ant, I purchased a new VR for $20...
If I remember correct, mine has a single dangleing wire with a female connector, unattached. Works just fine.

You are welcome to come over and check it out to compare the wiring...

[rapovt]

Ant,
glad to see that motor start so easy. Glad you are happy with the stuff. Gary

[antFJ]

couldn't find grey electrical tape but thats no biggy - i just used black.. although I need to go buy more tape I ran out of black pretty quick

i'm taking the harness completely apart one section at a time - cleaning everything, and then taping back up the way I found it.. and i'm adding some heat shrink tubing where the factory just left a splice out in the open.

they even have the part tags still on them.. the factory splices were covered in blue tape..

[antFJ]

there are these rigid plastic coverings on the harness... the wires are taped then the covering goes on and the same piece of tape goes around the covering..

[antFJ]

so making some progress... and getting a little more realistic on some things.

spencer.. a local cruiser guy came over today to take a look at what I have. He is the guy I wanted to do all of the body work for me.. anyways he talked me into doing a lot of the work myself..

and instead of powder coating the frame and getting someone to weld the frame, i am just going to get a welder and do it myself - and i'm going to paint the frame myself as well - suggestions on paint?? i was thinking rustoleum rusty metal primer and just rustoleum gloss black as the top coat.. I don't want to use POR 15. Anything not too expensive.. or at least something that will last for the price??

hurray for decisions.

on to stuff i've done.. got the wiring harness done.. it looks so new...

[antFJ]

then i went to start grinding off the crappy welds from the PPO.

also found out that the frame is not a 78 frame.. and that it is a 71 frame..... not that big of a deal to me since i have a late model rear end for it.. but you guys are the experts here - will I have any problems? i'm thinking this crossmember might be an issue once I actually have mounts for the engine and bellhousing on there will the transfercase be too high?

[antFJ]

and some before and semi after pictures of grinding the welds.. it started to rain when spencer came over so I didn't get any final pictures in..

[antFJ]

o yea. and any suggestions on a 110 welder??

[fj40forlife]

do you have one or lucky to buy one? Im guessing you need it to weld the frame. and good welder with argon and co2 would be good. have a sp100 and if I would do welding like that I would go with gas. no flexcore

[laguna80]

I like my hobart handler 125. I've been only using self-shielded wire because of the wind factor where I live. The general consensus that I saw when I did all my research was to invest in a gas mig welder, 220V if possible. Part of the reason being is that eventually you are going to want to weld thicker projects and a 110V just won't be enough.

[bsmith123]

for the frame you might want to check out rust bullet I used it --it's real thick and you have to topcoat it cause it is not uv stable but it appears tough as nails. The thickness might fill in some of the pitting and you can use their top coat in satin black

I used por chassis black

Eastwood does some stuff too

[mikealeus]

Originally Posted by antFJ

then i went to start grinding off the crappy welds from the PPO.

also found out that the frame is not a 78 frame.. and that it is a 71 frame..... not that big of a deal to me since i have a late model rear end for it.. but you guys are the experts here - will I have any problems? i'm thinking this crossmember might be an issue once I actually have mounts for the engine and bellhousing on there will the transfercase be too high?

You probably will need to cut the crossmember and rotate it for clearance if you are running a 4-speed transmission.

[DanS HJ-45]

Congrats on the pilot slot. I hope you're ready for a bunch of ego tripping nerd-dom. Pilots are pretty much all jerks, at least new ones are. They fart a lot too.

If you can at all swing a 220V MiG welder, then I'd do it. Even if you don't use all of the capacity, it will last a lot longer running at a lower capacity than a 110V model. I personally would go to a local welding supply shop and see what they've got. My local shop has some models you can test out, which helps a lot, especially if you aren't too experienced. The other big bonus is that they can often deal a bit on price. Our Miller 210 ended up being significantly cheaper than ordering it via the internet because of the goodies they threw in with it (like a tank filled with Argon/CO2, gloves, etc....). It's also nice knowing where to drive if I need to yell about it not working or something.

Your work looks nice there! The wiring harness really comes across nicely. That should last you a long time. Were the wires originally twisted in there before being taped, or just taped as a bundle?

Dan

[antFJ]

Originally Posted by DanS HJ-45

Congrats on the pilot slot. I hope you're ready for a bunch of ego tripping nerd-dom. Pilots are pretty much all jerks, at least new ones are. They fart a lot too.

haha.. i don't fart that much. and i'm gonna try to stray from the jerk thing.. but damn if it means i get to be a fighter pilot..

Originally Posted by DanS HJ-45

If you can at all swing a 220V MiG welder, then I'd do it. Even if you don't use all of the capacity, it will last a lot longer running at a lower capacity than a 110V model. I personally would go to a local welding supply shop and see what they've got. My local shop has some models you can test out, which helps a lot, especially if you aren't too experienced. The other big bonus is that they can often deal a bit on price. Our Miller 210 ended up being significantly cheaper than ordering it via the internet because of the goodies they threw in with it (like a tank filled with Argon/CO2, gloves, etc....). It's also nice knowing where to drive if I need to yell about it not working or something.

yea i called up my local shop and the guy talked to me for a while - he told me to look at the lincoln 140C and the miller 140.. he also said that I would probably get a better deal online but to make sure it comes with the warranty. he quoted me at around $700 for the lincoln which sells for $590 online

i would go for a 220 but in my current set-up it just isn't possible - so i'm leaning toward the lincoln - I'll prob end up just getting it in the store - once shipping is factored in it isn't that much of a difference.

Originally Posted by DanS HJ-45

Were the wires originally twisted in there before being taped, or just taped as a bundle?

Dan

not sure what you mean here... was it stuffed in the box before? no, it is a factory harness of off a cowl, but other than that yea as it looks now is how it was when it came off of the cowl.. just with new tape

[handcannon]

antFJ

Do you have a 220 volt range or clothes dryer where you are at? If so you could make up an extension cord to run a 220v welder off of for intermitent use.

[nodaksn3]

Ant- Great posts, keep them coming. My late brother was a WPI grad, mechanical engineer. Had a nice FJ40, too. Former Marine grunt, spent a year in a rifle company in Vietnam- it convinced him to go back to school! Anyway, good luck with the project, the rest of school, and pilot training. Next time you get to Ellsworth, try out the Black Hills, they're fabulous. I'm not far away, PM me if you need help. Ned

[antFJ]

Originally Posted by nodaksn3

Ant- Great posts, keep them coming. My late brother was a WPI grad, mechanical engineer. Had a nice FJ40, too. Former Marine grunt, spent a year in a rifle company in Vietnam- it convinced him to go back to school! Anyway, good luck with the project, the rest of school, and pilot training. Next time you get to Ellsworth, try out the Black Hills, they're fabulous. I'm not far away, PM me if you need help. Ned

Thanks Ned, sorry to hear about your brother.. we seem to be following much of the path though. If I'm out that way I'll definitely give you a heads up.

[antFJ]

Originally Posted by handcannon

antFJ

Do you have a 220 volt range or clothes dryer where you are at? If so you could make up an extension cord to run a 220v welder off of for intermitent use.

i thought about that.. i'm going to get the welder tomorrow - i'll have to keep that in mind.

[bsmith123]

A pilot, an engineer, a welder? Damn whats next son--- rocket surgery? keep up the good work!

I know a bit about fighters and pilots but i've stuck to staying on the ground wishing I was in the air rather than vice versa, but did get to meet some great people along the way--Ex Crew Chief

be good to maintenance!

Back to work on the 40 !


Best of luck to ya!

[antFJ]

Originally Posted by bsmith123

Ex Crew Chief

be good to maintenance!

hell ya! wouldn't get anywhere without you guys/gals. if i went enlisted that would be what i want to do.. i bet you got to work on some pretty cool stuff.. a bit more complex than a cruiser...

[antFJ]

alright.. haven't posted in about a week. I've been making slow and steady progress i guess. had a few obstacles along the way and was getting pretty frustrated but thats what makes this so much fun!!...

alright once again i changed my mind.. but you'll understand i think.. the frame i was going to use.. ended up being a 71.. so the frame that i got from dentdepotsales.. which is a 78 is the one I'm going to use since I won't have to worry about issues fitting everything up.... The 71 frame might have worked but at least this way i'll know it will work for sure.. so i got to work on it - grinding off the rivets in the rear end and drilling them out so that I can fix all of that rust..

my dad even helped me out! he broke a lot less drill bits than i did... WD40 helped was key when drilling out the rivets. I used BLU-MOL drill bits and they cut through the rivets like butter - i used a small bit, then a medium sized one.. and then the 3/8 bit and it got the rivets out no problem.

the only other place of rust on the frame is the rear upper shock mount crossmember on one side.. aparently i didn't take pictures so i'll take some more to show you all how bad it is - my welder comes in tomorrow so if it's nice outside i'm gonna see if I can get some practice in on scrap metal...

[antFJ]

and with the new rear end mocked up... stainless bolts to get it bolted up should be in tomorrow..

[antFJ]

now for the frustration part.. i got my 40 lb pressurized sand blaster from HF and i couldn't get it to work for the life of me.. I had some media from my friend that was probably used stuff and i didn't sift it out.. that didn't work so the next day i tried walnut shells that i bought from HF.. WAY to big for the machine so i need to return them.. anyways the thing was clogged up in every valve possible with walnuts so it took forever to clean them out. finally i found a screen door and just bought some playground sand at homedepot and the damn thing started to work!! that was yesterday.. after 3 days of dicking with the thing... anyways on monday when i couldn't get it to work i decided to try out my other new tool.. a HVLP gun from lowes... worked awesome!!! that is the rustoleum rusty metal primer...

[antFJ]

as you can see above i only have a 1.5 hp 26 gallon compressor.. it doesn't last very long at high pressures.. but it did work well on my aluminum stuff at like 30 psi

[antFJ]

started taking the engine apart/cleaning it when i was frustrated with the sand blaster thing.. and it rained today so it worked out.. but now a new source of frustration!!! i can't get the damn harmonic balancer, crankshaft pulley or whatever you call it off... that damn nut just won't budge.. i finally got a 46mm nut after a bunch of searching.. and its been soaking in penetrator oil for a while.. i'll let it sit overnight i guess..

i read on here to either brace the breaker bar on the frame and hit the starter.. or to use my impact wrench (duh) so i'll give that a shot tomorrow.

i'm not going to rebuild this engine.. just taking off all of the parts to re-seal them up and give them a cleaning/painting.. check out the thermostat...

also anything i can do to clean out the cooling system? it looks pretty rusted inside the block.. i think i'm going to get one of those inline cooling system filters so it doesn't get clogged up..