New life for an old pig...

[MiniPigg]

Originally Posted by Lucy_FJ55

TTT

I also posted this in the 40/55 tech section. Anyone else here have any thoughts?

sorry didnt really read everything.... but the FJ55 is set up differently then a 40 series when it comes to transmission mounts. If you are going to put a clutch kit into the new setup I'd swap over the FJ55 bellhousing and call it a day.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Originally Posted by MiniPigg

sorry didnt really read everything.... but the FJ55 is set up differently then a 40 series when it comes to transmission mounts. If you are going to put a clutch kit into the new setup I'd swap over the FJ55 bellhousing and call it a day.

Thanks Minipigg, that is exactly what I am doing. Actually I am reusing the stock 55 bellhousing, transmission, and transfer case instead of mating up the '81 FJ40 set-up. This will keep a lot of things stock and easier to deal with, ie. emergency brake drum set-up, driveshaft lengths, etc. I am also swapping all the 55 engine stuff onto the '81 donor engine in order to make things hook-up easier.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Originally Posted by warrior_1515

Manifold looks great

I would sand down the head surface a little before you put new gaskets on there. won't hurt anything by doing it.

Keep up the great work.

Dave

Thanks Dave. Head surface is all cleaned up...

[Trollhole]

Originally Posted by Lucy_FJ55

So the donor block is quite a bit more rusty than the original and I noticed a bunch of rust and carbon deposits where the intake and headers mate to the head. Should I be alarmed? What do you folks think I should do about it? If anything? Slap it back together? Or?

After all the work you have done I would not put that block back in until I had the head redone. Around here you can get a valve job for $80 and the head milled for $40. Head gasket runs what 30 or 40? so $200 for the piece of mind knowing the head is good. + you get to see what shape the piston and piston wall are in.

[warrior_1515]

The head on my F135 costed $330 to get decked, fluxed and a valve job at the Napa where you had the work done on the manifold. Regrind kit from CDAN was about $60, which includes the headgasket and manifold gaskets and a couple other things.

Dave

[Lucy_FJ55]

Originally Posted by warrior_1515

The head on my F135 costed $330 to get decked, fluxed and a valve job at the Napa where you had the work done on the manifold. Regrind kit from CDAN was about $60, which includes the headgasket and manifold gaskets and a couple other things.

Yikes! Another $400. :(

[FJ40Jim]

Originally Posted by Lucy_FJ55

So the donor block is quite a bit more rusty than the original and I noticed a bunch of rust and carbon deposits where the intake and headers mate to the head. Should I be alarmed? What do you folks think I should do about it? If anything? Slap it back together? Or?

Carlos,
That's bad. All of the ports should be black inside.
The intakes are full of rust.
The engine has sat with the hood up or out of the vehicle and been filled w/ rain water.

Where's the carb and air cleaner off this engine?
Have you heard this engine run?
What kind of compression does it have?

The head needs to come off to see how much rainwater got in how many cylinders and what damage was done.

Fawkin' PO's.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Well, I know the engine had sat out in the elements last winter before I was able to pull it. The entire front clip had been removed and a tarp was wrapped over and around the engine for winter storage. I did hear the engine run before it sat. But since?! I have noticed a bit of rust on the engine parts but attributed that to the rig being from Washington. When I looked closely at the intake ports I got a little worried.
The engine came from an FJ40 that had rolled and apparently sat for 7-8 years but my friend had driven it a bit around the neighborhood (not street legal/wrecked) after he bought the rig for parts and said it was impressive, peppy, and ran well. Again, I thought the same when I heard it run but it did spend last winter under a tarp- with snow on it even. It seemed to be doing well. We picked at the 40 carcass all winter long for various parts and never noticed excessive water leaking through the tarp. Did I FUBAR my donor engine?
I was hoping to just 'drop' this engine in and have been stumbling on hang-up after hang-up. Of course I am learning a lot though. I was tring to avoid the cost of rebuilding my engine or the time of tearing the seized engine apart. Apparently I will be doing both before this rig is revived.

[Buckethead]

I know this sucks, but when you start a project like this there is always things that happen when you least expect. Take a little longer working on some of the finishing details and rat hole some money so it doesnt hurt so bad getting the work done. Another month or so may seem terrible now, but will be WELL worth the effort when you get it done. You have done a great job on this build, I would hate for you to regret this six months after you get it back on the road.

I have had to drop many extra hours and dollars into my 40... it sucks, but hey, this is the addiction.

Best of luck.

Jared

[Trollhole]

Pull the head. From the high water mark it looks as though they could have been filled with water. Not a good sign.

[offkilter]

Carlos, sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations with respect to the engine transplant....I cannot provide you with any mechanical assistance - just wishing you good luck with your struggles and I will be jacked to see that shiny pig rolling on the pavement once again....@ least you have pig # 2 to keep you entertained in the meantime? - DK

[Lucy_FJ55]

Originally Posted by offkilter

Carlos, sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations with respect to the engine transplant....I cannot provide you with any mechanical assistance - just wishing you good luck with your struggles and I will be jacked to see that shiny pig rolling on the pavement once again....@ least you have pig # 2 to keep you entertained in the meantime? - DK

Thanks DK, I appreciate the support.

Not a thing done to the pig lately. Working overtime and saving up money. :l

[Lucy_FJ55]

Made a little progress yesterday. Lots 'o pics and a few questions.

Began yesterday by yanking the valve cover off the donor engine. Things looked good under the cover except I found the foil seal from a quart of oil amongst the valvetrain (last pic at the end of the screwdriver).

[Lucy_FJ55]

I then removed the gas lines, disassembled the valvetrain, removed the new spark plugs I had swapped in earlier, removed the push rods, removed the head bolts, and then pryed the head off the engine block. This required liberal use of a putty knife and small mallet and then a bit of prying with a screwdriver. I noticed in the manual that they suggested using a screwdriver to pry the head off if it was stubborn and even provided a slot to use for this purpose. Mine was stubborn and this tip helped a bit. I removed the head with little hassle.

[Lucy_FJ55]

After the head was off I was able to check out the cylinder walls and tops of the pistons. Walls looked good- no deep scouring, even had a smooth surface and slight sheen. However, the pistons were covered with carbon deposits and perhaps gasket material. Lots of crap... I noticed a bit of oil around the first couple cylinders and it seemed as though the gasket may have begun to fail around that spot. Needless to say, I sure am glad I am dealing with all this now and not after I dropped this donor engine into the truck and started relying on it again.

[Lucy_FJ55]

A couple more pics of the crud before I began cleaning.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Then I began to tear down my original (seized) engine in order to strip it of parts and reuse the bellhousing. Removed the valve cover and drained the oil out of it. Tried removing the oil pan but after working on it forever yesterday I got fed up. Plan is to rip the oil pan off the engine today and get at that bellhousing.

Snapped a pic of my buddy's cruiser sitting out front with my piggy while he stopped by.

Couple of questions. Which valve cover should I use? One in the pic on the head is stock and belongs on that head ('81 FJ40 2F) but I believe someone had told me earlier that I might run in to problems with clearance under the hood due to slight height differences in the covers and the location of the coolant/hose port. The other cover is original to the '77 pig's 2F. Just wondering which one I should clean up. By the way, what do you guys suggest for my valve cover? Just shine it up and put it back on? Or are folks getting theirs painted or powdercoated?

I am dropping the head off at Napa for machine work. Should I get the head shaved? Any other suggestions? Have I heard correctly to shave about .70 to 1.0? This is all very new to me...

Thanks again, Carlos.

[jm599]

i have heard to shave .050, seems like this depended on specific pistons though. .

there are some recent threads addressing performance modifiers. I also am very interested in this

[FJ40Jim]

Carlos,
Use the 1981-later valve cover and air cleaner.

The VC is lower, will work w/ the shorter rocker studs on the later engine, has a screw in oil cap.

81-later air cleaner is a better shape, and is made to go w/ the shorter 81 VC and 81 carb.

I would recommend only shaving the head .020-.030".
The engine will be pretty peppy w/ the desmogged carb & ignition and 8.7:1 CR.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Thanks Jim. I appreciate your advice. I will use the VC from the '81 2F then. I also decided after talking to the guy at the machine shop to do a minimal shave on the head. Just enough to be sure its straight and square. I should have my parts back from the machine shop soon.

[warrior_1515]

Looking Good Carlos!!!

Keep up the good work.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Still tracking down parts...I just got qouted $171.00 for a 2F head gasket from my local dealership and of course when I asked for a discount they said 'nope'. WTF!

I can get an aftermarket one to my door for about $30 but I know folks typically say to stick with OEM. Is Toyota's gasket made of frickin' gold? Or what?

[FJ40Jim]

No, the toyota headgasket for 81-later 2F is made of graphite w/ copper seal rings and other goodies. I have not yet found an aftermarket headgasket that comes close to looking like the latest OEM gasket.

[Lucy_FJ55]

Thanks Jim. I knew it would be more expensive and I know I should stick with OEM, but I guess I was a little shocked. I now have a call out to CDan for one...

[Lucy_FJ55]

A little more progress, hope you don't mind pics.

I have been disassembling the original seized engine in order to use the original bellhousing. I have had a difficult time removing it because the crankshaft is siezed and I was not able to remove all the bolts that hold on the clutch or even reach the bolts that hold on the bellhousing. I finally pryed the oil pan off. So after deciding to tear open the bottom of the engine I ran into a few stubborn bolts. I'm not sure what size the giant nut is on the end of the crank/pulley, but I haven't been able to remove it. I was also not able to get a socket onto the last couple of bolts holding the crankshaft in place so I decided to tear into the top end. I then removed the head and valvetrain. Next I rolled the block over and most of the weight was resting on the flywheel which freed up the crank. Then I was able to rotate the crank and get to all the bolts on the clutch and flywheel. All this led to finally being able to remove the DAMN bellhousing. Yeeesh!

Wow, sorry for the long winded explanation. Here are some pics...