'Nuther FJ45LV resto thread, '67 Central American model!

cruiser_guy · 01-25-06, 07:03 PM

Matt's is not the only FJ45LV restoration/buildup going on right now! I picked up my '67 FJ45LV in Guatemala City last March with the intention of using it as the autoshop project here at the school that I teach at in Guatemala City.
This truck was originally sold in the Central American market as evidenced by the km/hr speedo and various intecracies that I'm finding all the time as I see Matt's buildup.
Anyways, here's the truck as I found it when I responded to an advertisment in the local rag. I was expecting an early FJ55 but was plesantly surprised!

cruiser_guy · 01-25-06, 07:08 PM

As one might imagine if you know anything about how vehicles are maintained in Central America, this truck has not had an easy life! Here's a few photos of what we found during the teardown and inspection.
They seem to like the smallest air filter possible, if there even is one!
You can also see that there is no need to use 4 bolts on the drive shaft if 2 will keep it there.

cruiser_guy · 01-25-06, 07:20 PM

Here's the non-USA "opera lights" rather than the dome light found in U.S. trucks.

Mikesta · 01-25-06, 07:22 PM

Nice rig. I remember the excitement when you picked it up! What are your plans for it? The engine looks like it was rebuilt, but thats coming from a rookie. The body on this beast look to be in great condition!

so is your blinker assembly... nice!

Have you figured out what the bumper is off of?

cruiser_guy · 01-25-06, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikesta

Nice rig. I remember the excitement when you picked it up! What are your plans for it? The engine looks like it was rebuilt, but thats coming from a rookie. The body on this beast look to be in great condition!

so is your blinker assembly... nice!

Have you figured out what the bumper is off of?

The truck is in progress as we speak. I'll be adding pictures as I have time but the plan is a diesel swap to a 3B-II diesel which I picked up last week and an H41 granny tranny and 3 speed transfer which I hope to mate to the engine tomorrow! A turbo is also planned and possibly an intercooler if I can locate one in my travels.
The body is not too bad, there are issues along the rain gutter and the rear windows for sure and I expect to find other issues when I start the body in ernest in a few weeks. It's been skim coated with bondo which is a common practice here in Central America.
The engine as been rebuilt several times and the bearings are already max undersized and the pistons are nearly max over so this engine is NOT going back in. I've had the kids "plastigauge" the bearing clearances and they are all 1.5 times maximum already too.
I've since located the correct blinker assembly (two just in case one doesn't work).
I've got NO idea what the bumper is from but I can say it ain't going back on (unless someone can show me it's stock which I am 99.9% sure is NOT the case).

cabron · 01-25-06, 08:35 PM

That looks like a great Cruiser to start a restore on. You're fluent in spanish I guess, yo tambien. I bet it would be really hard to source all of those parts if you didnt

cruiser_guy · 01-26-06, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cabron

That looks like a great Cruiser to start a restore on. You're fluent in spanish I guess, yo tambien. I bet it would be really hard to source all of those parts if you didnt

Yo no habla mucho espanol.

Anyways, now that I probably butchered the spanish language here are some more pictures of the FJ45LV. This was in August in one of the first shop classes as we started to tear into the truck. It was shortly after this that we found out just how poor the maintenance and repair is although at this point I already knew that 99% of the seals were leaking and I don't mean just a little!
My facilities are not as deluxe as Matt's but when you got lemons you make lemonade!

89s rule · 01-26-06, 07:10 AM

I will tag along here just like your other threads. As always I love to see what you are doing for the kids and the cruisers!!

cabron · 01-26-06, 09:30 PM

So are you going to strip/paint the frame? I cant believe you do as well as you do for not speaking much spanish. That's a feat in and of itself

cruiser_guy · 01-27-06, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cabron

So are you going to strip/paint the frame? I cant believe you do as well as you do for not speaking much spanish. That's a feat in and of itself

Frame is already stripped and painted and the front disc swap is done axles are back under the truck. Engine will be going in in a month when I get back from Canada. There are pictures of all this and I will post when I have more time. Hey, I even visit the "Yonkers" on my own (I think they have a good laugh at my expense each time though due to my meager knowledge of spanish, especially the verbs).

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 03:30 PM

Here's the axle with the mini-truck disc conversion completed. We got both axles cleaned up and the seals changed prior to mounting under the frame.

Mikesta · 02-23-06, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruiser_guy

Here's the axle with the mini-truck disc conversion completed. We got both axles cleaned up and the seals changed prior to mounting under the frame.

did you have the diff with the claw in it? Did you remove/replace or keep it?

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 03:37 PM

Here's the axles going under the truck back in October. (There's a set of better springs sitting in the back of my buddies truck in San Diego that we will install , along with new "U" bolts and plates, once the truck makes it here in a month or so).

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikesta

did you have the diff with the claw in it? Did you remove/replace or keep it?

I have the "ball and claw" axles here still, do you want them? I had the housing machined to take a standard seal (machining here is cheap) and then used the mini truck stuff with 'Cruiser inner axles. The steering arms have also been reworked to take the standard tie rod ends. It required swapping out the pinion gears too from the coarse to fine spline.

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 05:42 PM

While we were waiting on parts and time to go find parts we fixed other areas of the truck.
Here's the original steering box being repaired and adjusted. When we tore into it the box was full of grease and all the shims were in the bottom of the box being destroyed by the worm gear. The play in the box is about 1-2" maximum.

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 05:51 PM

Here's the H41, YES H41 granny gear tranny not the USA spec. H42, tranny getting new bearings etc. I found all the required parts to get it into working condition behind a 3B diesel. It will have the old 3 speed transfer case behind it for low crawl ratio, not that I'm planning to wheel this hard after it's complete though. I'm working to keep it as "stock" Toyota as possible but not necessarily as it rolled off the line.

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 05:55 PM

Here's mating the tranny and transfer case! Both with all new bearings, gaskets and seals

cruiser_guy · 02-23-06, 06:03 PM

Here's the 3BII that's going into the FJ45LV! It must have come out of a Dyna truck or Coaster bus because it's mated to a two wheel drive tranny with a drive line brake!

tucker74 · 02-24-06, 07:05 AM

Excellent progress - keep 'em coming!

Tucker

Mikesta · 02-24-06, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruiser_guy

I have the "ball and claw" axles here still, do you want them? I had the housing machined to take a standard seal (machining here is cheap) and then used the mini truck stuff with 'Cruiser inner axles. The steering arms have also been reworked to take the standard tie rod ends. It required swapping out the pinion gears too from the coarse to fine spline.

Yes, I could use them ball/claw parts

Let me know what you want and shipping costs.

Nice to see your progressing fast!

cruiser_guy · 02-28-06, 12:33 PM

Here's the engine and tranny on the shop floor about to be joined together. The engine mounts are swapped out to mounts scavanged off a BJ40 as is the bellhousing and it's mount. I hope to get the engine in the chassis next week some time and then we'll modify the driveshafts to fit the new longer tranny (had the 3 speed before that is about 2" shorter).

cruiser_guy · 03-02-06, 12:13 PM

Here we have the engine and tranny mated together and we're readying the frame for the diesel engine by knocking or grinding off the "F" engine mounts.

cruiser_guy · 03-13-06, 04:10 PM

Here's the frame with the diesel mounts getting installed. We welded the engine mounts on and bolted the tranny mounts (to facilitate clutch replacement). I painted all the welds and mounts with RustBullit to try to keep rust down.

If you look REALLY carefully at the location of the axle vs. the bump stop, that the springs are OBVIOUSLY incorrect.

btw. Thanks Georg for parting with your spare LV springs, you can see they will be put to good use! I should be putting them in in about 3 weeks or so.

Chef · 03-20-06, 08:58 AM

Hey, neat work, thanks for posting it!

treerootCO · 03-21-06, 01:28 PM

Just wanted to thank you for the pics and text you added to root45.

I sent you a PM....

cruiser_guy · 03-30-06, 09:29 PM

We pushed the chassis out of the shop and carried the body in. I don't have the luxurious shop that Matt has so the body is laying on it's side now. We'll clean up the floorboards and underside completely and then paint the underside and mount it on the chassis for the remainder of the work. If in the process I decide that other areas can better be done while the body is on the side then we'll do those areas as well.

cruiser_guy · 03-30-06, 09:31 PM

A few more photos of the issues we'll be dealing with.

Mikesta · 03-30-06, 11:19 PM

Those floors are beautiful! What percentage of them will you be replacing? Great thread... have enjoyed every post!

cruiser_guy · 03-31-06, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikesta

Those floors are beautiful! What percentage of them will you be replacing? Great thread... have enjoyed every post!

I'd guess less than 20% but at this point it's still hard to say as the entire bottom has not been cleaned off. Anyone have any ideas to clean it off manually other than an angle grinder and wire wheel? Apparently nobody here in Guatemala does sandblasting or bead blasting and this stuff doesn't come off easily.

Owyhee Jackass · 04-03-06, 08:03 AM

I cut up that dash/firewall assembly this past weekend. I cut out the heater-blower intake off the outside and the firewall section for the blower ducts. I also cut out the defrost 'nozzles' on the window frame. My DSL box was fried by a power surge last week, so I can't post any pictures for a few days. Let me know if you want this stuff. I can't see how you could get by without at least the defroster, once you're in Kanuckia.

Dan