1974 FJ-40 - Frame Off Resto - My next 24 Months

[DonPancho]

New to the site, been browsing and found lots of good info, thought I would make a thread and say hola.

Just got my FJ a few weeks ago, I bought it off e-bay, scary, so far everything has worked out, no title issues etc at my local DMV, new title is on the way, a bit more rust than I had hoped for, but expected. She runs great, starts right up and is road/highway worthy at this time.

Tear down to start early to mid April, I plan to help use this opportunity to teach my son how to turn a wrench etc,

Right now, its taking me forever to get all of the tools I need and garage prepped, cannot believe all the stuff I need.

Also, I still have yet to find a good body shop that I can trust, locally. more to come.

All of my pics from time of purchase to when I start tear down and throughout the restore can be followed on Flickr.

Flickr: DPancho's Photostream

 

[TCSTARK]

Nice Rig! Looks like you and your son are going to have a great time working on it. My five year old daughter is my official 'tool getter' and brake line bleeder. It sure is some quality time spent in the garage.

Good Luck and have fun...

 

[DonPancho]

Been talking to some of the old guys around town and they hooked me up with a guy just a few miles from me that has done Frame off Restorations for a few other lucky FJ40 owners, going to meet with him next week to talk about the project and costs.

Also, I have all my paint codes sorted out and my local Auto Parts(Get anything Store) is able to make my PPG paint right on the spot and has the codes/recipes. Right now, I am almost positive that I will go with the Sky Blue (T14841-T854) and White(T90100-T031) Combination, but I am also considering the Dark Green/White combo. Having the paint made here they say will cost me (using high enamel, I am not interested in doing the clear coat stuff) about $300 per gallon, I know Auto Paint is expensive, but curious if that is a good price or not, any input is appreciated.

More to come

 

[brian]

hey, the bezel is upsidedown, and welcome.

 

[JohnnyC]

nice cruiser ....welcome to MUD

I to own a 74...great year rig ...great year motor

 

[40zen]

I'd say its a bit more than a "salvageable" truck; it looks like a heckuva place to start! I agree with ripping that carpet out...

 

[DonPancho]

I wanted to give an update on my resto.

1. Its up on stands, wheels off, back axle taken apart etc....

2. Completely rebuilding back brakes, while I am doing that I am restoring the drums etc, and servicing the axle, i.e bearings if needed, seals etc. See pic below of brake drums

3. The carb is off and getting ready to make its way to Mark in CA for its rebuild

4. My brakes were munged up, so thought before I tear everything apart, I would repair, replace and restore the entire brake sysem, My booster is on its way to Oregon - Booster Dewey for a rebuild and replating, cant wait to get it back will post pics

5. For the items I am taking apart, I am restoring, refinishing etc, see below for the air filter assembly, before and after pics, working on the valve cover at the moment,

6, Front brakes, axles, knuckle rebuilds are next, might go ahead and disassemble the tie rods etc and refinish and replace with the new tie rod kit I got

So for now, my restore has kind of restarted, once I have the axles, brakes rebuilt, carb and booster back on I will test it all out and dial it in before I start taking the body panels off etc.

Got the wife to give me the other half of the Garage for the Spring, Summer, she asked me how long this will take, all I could say was this is like eating an elephant, just take it one bite at a time, when your done, your done,

Will post more as the project progresses

Rear Brake Drums
Before:

After Electrolysis and Grinding, I primed them and now waiting for a warmer day to paint

Here are the pictures of my restored air intake
Before:

After:

 

[brian]

Got the wife to give me the other half of the Garage for the Spring, Summer, she asked me how long this will take,

BBWWhahahahahhahaha.

*wipes tear from eye.....*

 

[DonPancho]

Well my restore has changed face a few times now, I opted to fix everything and get all systems repaired and re-newed/re-freshed before tearing off the body, was thinking that after I get everything back together that I am working on now (rear axles/brakes, front axles/brakes, engine, carb, brake system in general, I just may drive it over the summer and enjoy it before it goes back on the stands for the body and frame work.

Engine work

Before

Now, albeit, my carb and booster are still out for rebuild/refinish

Almost done with my complete tear down and rebuild of both the rear outer axles and brakes, just tore into my front knuckles this last weekend, here are a few pics.

Got a steel replacement tub for a great price and got to meet another cruiserhead from the eastern side, crockett, very nice guy Thanks Dave.

 

[ktmusa8]

Nice rig Pancho. I should have done like you and taken care of all the major items then did the teardown. I drove mine for about 5 minutes before i ended up taken her down to the frame. Good luck. And I like the rig. Looks good to me.

 

[DonPancho]

Thanks ktm, I am always so tempted to just tear it apart, however, I can honestly say that the slow and steady pace has saved my bacon, I struggled to put back together what I took apart and to do it right, but it has been a fun experience so far, lots of pictures and using the search feature here on MUD etc.

Update:
I spent the majority of this week/weekend getting my front knuckles, brakes etc all put back together, pre-loading the bearings and making sure I got everything right, stripped out one of my bolts on the drivers side that go between the rotor and hub, got a bigger bolt, tapped it out and good to go, feel like I macgyvered it, but, that knuckle rebuild was tough for a novice. In addition, got the back axles in, the rear brakes assembled, busted a few brake lines, instead of buying new lines, I braved it and rented the flare and bender tools from my local auto parts store and made myself some new lines on my own, took a bit of practice, but they turned out really good, save yourself some money and build your own lines, no need to buy em pre-made, if I can do it, anyone else can.

Here is a pic of the finished rear drums, look at post number 7 for a before shot:

Here is a pic of the finished knuckle rebuild,

Also, my rebuilt booster came back from Booster Dewey out of Portland, he did a great job, plus I spent 1/3 less than a new CCOT etc option, included plating back to how it looked from the factory, must say that I am very happy with the results and knowing that it is my original booster, makes it that much better:

Still waiting for my carb to come back from Marks Off Road, he had to go into overtime on it due to damage from PO, I have paid a heavy price to keep my stock carb, but from what I read Mark does a great job, so I am hoping its money well spent, plus I get to keep the original carb on the rig.

Hated having to spend more money, but with new brakes on all four wheels with a significant number of the hoses being replaced, I questioned myself putting back on the original MC, I am sure it would be fine, but, I do not want to revisit the brakes anytime soon other than bleeding and adjusting as needed, new MC inbound from Cruiser Dan.

Also, I will put in a Plug for Kurt from CruiserOutfitters, I found his knuckle rebuild kit to be quite thorough, it had everything I needed and more. He asked all the right questions and made extra effort to make sure it got shipped out to me in time so I could use the parts on my days off.

Next week, will put on the new MC and the carb, they should both be here by next weekend, looking forward to getting the Cruzah back on the road and enjoying it for the summer, take a break and put it back on stands in the fall and start in on the body and frame.

 

[El Bender]

hey, the bezel is upsidedown, and welcome.

Good eye. I had to walk outside and look at a couple of mine..LOL

 

[DonPancho]

I fixed that Bezel right after the Bezel police caught me, however, I do have an out, it was most definitely the previous owners sin.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Also, I will put in a Plug for Kurt from CruiserOutfitters, I found his knuckle rebuild kit to be quite thorough, it had everything I needed and more. He asked all the right questions and made extra effort to make sure it got shipped out to me in time so I could use the parts on my days off...

Thanks again for the order and I'm enjoying your build, keep up the great work!

 

[DonPancho]

Latest Update

Finished getting the brakes adjusted, bled, troubleshooting leaks etc.

Went to start her up after the carb rebuild and all of the desmog equipment removed. Was having fuel deliver issues, blew out the lines, and tested fuel pump, was able to finally get good delivery to the carb from the pump, it seemed to take a while to prime, probably best plan to replace it here in the near future.

After I got it started, the idle was rough, no big deal, I had desmogged and needed to cap everything. Learned that my dizzy does not have vacuum advance so will have to wait for the port Mark put in for me when I someday hope to find a 79-83 dizzy or do the fj60 with new backing plate option.

So I capped everything and still very rough idle, black smoke and then stall.

I did some reading and concluded that I had to have a vacuum leak somewhere, well off to Napa I go for some carb cleaner, sure enough, the third intake port when doused with carb cleaner changed the sound of the engine. I torqued down the two intake/exhaust manifold nuts, tried it again and no more leak, the engine finally ran without stalling, no more smoking etc, other than it was now idling low, i can work with that.

For my Desmog, this is how I currently have my 74 F155 with Stock Aisin and Dizzy hooked up for vacuum

Latest picture of Engine Compartment, you can see how nicely this cleaned up, its now an ugly duckling, very happy with it, cannot wait someday to have the rest of this rig cleaned up like this

1. the two ports on the intake I plugged, could have just bought a new fitting I guess, figure I would just leave the original ports there, also, on the carburator I left the advance connected to the port on the drivers side bottom portion of the carb, this is how I found it and could not read or learn anything different than to just leave it as is, I am guessing that I can just plug both the holes, but almost at a point where Id rather not fix something thats not broken.

3 On the Passenger side of the carburetor, I plugged the port Mark drilled for me, future dizzy upgrade

4. Capped the Dizzy vacuum port

Ok now it runs a lot better, but still low power when driving, low idle etc, I read here on the forums, as well a brief conversation with Mark it sounded like I needed to advance my timing as a result of the desmog in relation to this particular dizzy, so I did, that really helped quite a bit, I then adjusted my mix and idle on the carb to even it out.

It sounds great now, steady idle, really need to get a tachometer as I am just going by ear when making changes, seemed to go down the road really good, no loss of power, now I need to get it out on the highway to test it further

 

[spotcruiser]

Nice rig, Matt. I hope we see you and the family at the bbq in August.

Todd.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Lots a love going into that rig
Looks like your being pretty methodical in your approach Matt,
and it's luuking gooood

 

[srgould41]

Lots of nice work Matt. Keep it up and you'll be driving in no time! Have you thought about an electronic dizzy mod? I hear they work great.

 

[DonPancho]

Thank you, there is a long story that I have not posted on here yet that involves, a nine iron, a big wrench and to many beers that lead to screwing up my expensive rebuilt Aisin carb. That is fixed now and will probably sit around as a spare. Should have done the Troll hole carb in the first place as I de-smogged my 40, it was an expensive mistake.

After hosing my Aisin carb I decided to get the Troll Hole Carb, while doing that I went ahead and ordered the Troll Hole Dizzy. Was looking to see if the Pertronix worked with it, but from what I read it does but with some mods, might tackle that at a later time. However, there is something cool about having to deal with Gap and Dwell, for now think I will just stay that route and keep my stock 74 dizzy as a backup.

 

[ktmusa8]

Sorry to hear that DonPancho. How are you liking the Trollhole carb and dizzy? I am thinking of going that route too. Engine bay looks great!!!