[TEQ]

Dove into my calipers this morning and I have a few questions. Never done brakes before so....

1) The old pads have thin metal backing plates on them. My new ones do not. Am I supposed to move the plates from the old ones and somehow glue them to the new ones? Or are the new ones good to go?



I'm super tempted to get my calipers blasted and powder coated. They're going to look yucky next to my shiny brake shields. Question: Powder coating on calipers is cool, right? I mean that *is* the way to paint capliers?



Last quesiton: I had assumed all I needed was new pads. I also got new pins and anti-rattle springs with them. But I did not order a new set of caliper cylinders... 4 of the 8 cylinders I took out are rusted up pretty good; I assume it's worth while replacing them?

[AATLAS1X]

Originally Posted by TEQ

Last quesiton: I had assumed all I needed was new pads. I also got new pins and anti-rattle springs with them. But I did not order a new set of caliper cylinders... 4 of the 8 cylinders I took out are rusted up pretty good; I assume it's worth while replacing them?

Paint is good, high temp caliper in gloss black is easy clean.

Or get the MONSTER calipers from www.tlc4x4.com


Im the anal safety guy, replace the calipers with NEW OE rebuilds from Toyota....

[TEQ]

Could someone please go measure their drag link bar for me? Measure from one end of the bar to the other (don't measure the pitman connector or the tie rod end). Mine is 30.5" long.

[AATLAS1X]

Did you swap it with the other? I think there is only 1 or 2 inches between them....Sorry at work.........


How cool is that........Your cruiser is so clean that your son is working in a white shirt.

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by TEQ

Could someone please go measure their drag link bar for me? Measure from one end of the bar to the other (don't measure the pitman connector or the tie rod end). Mine is 30.5" long.

I would, but I ditched mine when I went PS - sorry!

[AATLAS1X]

Relay is 29 7/8 ish (she says)

[Leaping Deer]

[
I'm super tempted to get my calipers blasted and powder coated. They're going to look yucky next to my shiny brake shields. Question: Powder coating on calipers is cool, right? I mean that *is* the way to paint capliers?]

I would think that powder coating a caliper would be more trouble than its worth. There are seals which would probably melt when they put them in the oven. High temp paint would work the best.

Nice to seem someone taking one a job like this will little experince. You are doing the right thing by asking questions and following the FSM. Good luck and that is one heck of a nice cruiser.

[corsair23]

Originally Posted by TEQ

My longest pole right now is my PS pump. I can't find a replacement because I can't figure out what model & year the one I have came from. The bracket is custom, apparently fabricated by CCOT when they restored this rig in '94.

I will buy a Sliver Star for the first person to correctly identify the model and year of this PS pump.

To win I have to be able to source a replacement based on the information you give me.

Pictures of the pump and bracket below.

Boy that looks SOOOO much like a '82-'88 FJ60 pump...Saw this one on ebay and I thought I had won meself a silver star!! Sooooo close!

http://tinyurl.com/gkgw7

[John Smith]

Do yourself a favor and buy some new/rebuilt calipers.

[TEQ]

Originally Posted by John Smith

Do yourself a favor and buy some new/rebuilt calipers.

Why?

[TEQ]

Y'all probably noticed, but I renamed this thread. Since I started the thread my perspective has changed considerably and I did not feel the original title of "Proud new owner: 78 FJ40 w/ 71k miles" fit anymore.

First, I'm not a new owner anymore. It's been like 9 months and I'm not going to be getting away with calling myself a newbie much longer. I actually sorta know what I'm doing (in some cases)!

Second, I may be proud, but not in the way I originally intended. Humbled would be better.

Third, my daughter officially named the rig "Uglina" and she deserves her props.

Fourth, this is really a fix-up thread, and I don't want people to be confused.

[TEQ]

Yesterday my son and I set out to paint the garage in preparation for my new cabinets and workbench my wife got me for my birthday. I was amazed at how useful and helpful my son was in painting. He was extra motivated to help since it was my birthday and both my wife and daughter were sick in bed with the flu. We had a blast.

We got about 50% of the garage finsihed; starting on the stall where the cruiser IS NOT parked. I really wanted to get the wheels on the cruiser and get it out of the garage by the end of the day, but I was running out of time doing final touch up work on the walls.

My son asked me if he could put the wheels on for me. I jokingly said yes (he's only 10 years old). As I painted, I peeked over at him across the garage as he roled a wheel into place. Hmmm... this will be interesting... "how's he going to get it lifted into place?". He gets out the floor jack and jacks the wheel up. Never asked me a single question... all four wheels on, nuts tighted as tight as he could get them. NO help from me.

I finished cleaning up the painting supplies and together we dropped the rig off the jack stands and rolled it out!

What a great birthday!

[John Smith]

Originally Posted by TEQ

Why?

Unless you feel like screwing around with a bunch of old rusty cylinders and brake calipers I would personally buy new/reman parts. I tried my hand at rebuildling a brake cailper once and that was enough for me. YMMV

[AATLAS1X]

What the hell? No pics of the cool floor..................I have the 2 part epoxy stuff set aside with flakes for contrast, is this what you have? Pics of product?

[corsair23]

Originally Posted by TEQ

My son asked me if he could put the wheels on for me. I jokingly said yes (he's only 10 years old). As I painted, I peeked over at him across the garage as he roled a wheel into place. Hmmm... this will be interesting... "how's he going to get it lifted into place?". He gets out the floor jack and jacks the wheel up. Never asked me a single question... all four wheels on, nuts tighted as tight as he could get them. NO help from me.

Can I borrow your son for say the next 5-10 years? LOL

My s are great at taking stuff apart and making messes but I have yet to figure out how to get them to put stuff back together or clean up...

They are great and always offer to help but in the end it is like letting your blind friend drive...You may get to where you want to go but it isn't going to be pretty and is guaranteed to take 2-3X as long...LOL

[swilson]

Originally Posted by TEQ

Dove into my calipers this morning and I have a few questions. Never done brakes before so....

1) The old pads have thin metal backing plates on them. My new ones do not. Am I supposed to move the plates from the old ones and somehow glue them to the new ones? Or are the new ones good to go?

I didn't notice anyone answering this, so I'll try.

For my '88 4Runner I used to only buy OEM pads... and Toyota offered a type of anti squeak kit to go with them. It might have been listed as a shim kit... I don't recall for sure, thats just what name comes to mind. Looked just like the thin metal pads in your photo. I always bought the optional kit, and never had brake squeaking problems.

[Martian]

Originally Posted by TEQ

...and my wife was getting annoyed. So I parked her in the garage, jacked her up, and went at it.

What you and your wife do in your garage is none of our business!

Seriously though, nice rig. I'm really enjoying reading your posts and looking at the pics. I've found a 78 FJ40 (mostly stock) that I'm going to buy this weekend if I can find someone to drive me out there so I can drive the rig back. I'm a noob too, so I'm sure I'll have many of the same issues as you.

[mikealeus]

Martian, you might want to state where you live, somebody here might supply you the ride.

[TEQ]

Originally Posted by AATLAS1X

What the hell? No pics of the cool floor..................I have the 2 part epoxy stuff set aside with flakes for contrast, is this what you have? Pics of product?

Oh, the floor hasn't been painted yet. I was painting the WALLS. The floors get done next week. Just doing straight epoxy w/ no flakes I think.

Anyon have this done before and want to tell me what they were charged per sq foot?

[TEQ]

Originally Posted by Martian

What you and your wife do in your garage is none of our business!