Builds '73 FJ40 rebuild - family wheeler (1 Viewer)

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Not that I'm complaining, the dust is a lot better up front!

Not this last weekend! :lol: Nothing like 4 inches of rain over the weekend to keep the dust down!

Wish I could have made it this year. Sounds like it was a good time!

:cheers:
 
Holy crap! I am actually updating this thing… So after Cruisin’ the Woods 2013, I unloaded the 40 and pulled her in the garage. This was the first weekend of October. A couple of weeks after that, my wife and I got the news that our Landlord was being forced to sell the property we were living at. It didn’t make sense to try and find another place to rent, so we started house hunting… I will spare you the stressful details of blitz house shopping on a budget (we were planning on having another year or two before this happened), but I will say that from when the 40 got pulled into the garage, it was started once. It was never driven and I never spun a wrench on it. This is why the updates were non-existent.

Last night I aired up the tires, let her warm up, and drove her away from my old shop for the last time. I decided to drive her the five or so miles to the new house. She drove like a champ! You would think that I was driving her once a week. She is now tucked away in the garage of our new house and once the boxes are unpacked and organized, I can start working on her again.

Long story short, I apologize for the lack of communication on this thread. It has been a very hectic last couple of months! To make up for it, here is a crappy cell phone pic of the 40 in her new garage:
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I think she will be happy. The new garage is insulated and has 10’ ceilings! Now to go find a spot for all of my crap…
 
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Well it looks like I have a winter project. As of today, I am the proud owner of a 350 small block. She has a BIG cam, 1st gen Holley fuel injection, MSD box and dist, but no exhaust manifolds or alt. The plan is to try and sell my F (hopefully without the alt.) to recoup some $$, then yank it out after Cruisin' the Woods in September.
 
Okay, a little background. The 1F I have runs great and the modified carb handles angles really well. However, because of the lack in HP, I am running 5.29 gears in the axles. It is awesome off road, but on road (even 25mph fire roads) I am really spinning that motor and my top speed is about 45 - 50. I want to go to 4.10 gears so that I can drive it more on the street and maybe not have to trailer it everywhere but I know the lack of hp will be a pain. From the very beginning, I knew that this 40 was going to have a V8 in it.

The motor that I bought is coming out of a rock buggy. Because he was running an automatic, the cam was a problem. It is not a high rise intake, just enough cam to make it lope at idle. With me running a manual, I will be able to use the high RPM of this motor without going too fast. I think it will work perfectly for my application. Especially until I get the axles swapped out. At that time I may swap the cam to an RV cam. Either way, I'm excited for the sound of a cammed 350!
 
Quick update: As I was getting the 40 ready to move to the new house, I noticed that the clutch reservoir was almost empty. I filled it up for the drive and decided to just keep an eye on it. After my last trip up to the woods, it was empty again in a day. I guess that means it's time to look into it...

Come to find out, the clutch slave cyl was leaking. After doing some research, I learned that it would be smart to replace the slave and the master cyls at the same time. I also learned that next to OEM or AISIN, Beck Arnley is the brand to buy. The original Toyota part numbers for my '73 are 61470-3002 for the slave and 61410-30041 for the master. I found out quickly that I couldn't afford OEM or AISIN parts at this time and converting to the newer (cheaper) system was still a bit out of my price range. The hunt was on for the best deal on Beck Arnley products. Surprisingly, the best price I found was on Amazon! The slave (part# 072-4773) and master (part# 072-4757) ended up costing $85 shipped.

Hopefully, I won't have any issues with my existing lines. I will make sure to detail the swap once I get the parts because you all like cell phone pictures. LOL
 
Sorry guys, no bad cell phone pics of the new parts… A friend asked me if I wanted to go wheeling on the 4th, so it was a mad rush to get everything together and ready to roll. I got the parts on the 2nd, test drove it on the 3rd, and loaded it on the trailer to go wheel! The good news is, the clutch is fixed! However, it has been so long since I have been able to wheel in any heat, I forgot about the power steering overheating. Half the day was spent strong-arming the steering wheel. It feels like the other half was trying to keep the front shackles from inverting… I guess I have a bit more work to do.


And some wheeling pics to keep everybody happy:

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Well, time to get off my lazy butt and start the evolution of this ol girl. As I mentioned before, I have acquired a TBI SBC to swap in. I was planning on posting my current F for sale and pulling it after my club's annual event, Cruisin' the Woods. That timeline got bumped up a bit because the engine sold!

Starting yesterday, I am in the process of pulling my engine. I will then swap my F into it's future home in another Cruiserhead's FJ40. After that, the fun begins on my 40. This is the checklist on what needs to be done, in no particular order:

* Clean & reseal transmission & t/cases.
* Drop the SBC in with new mounts & cross member.
* Swap in GM steering column.
* Rewire 40 with NW Autowires harness, VDO gauges, & aftermarket switches.
* Swap fuel cell and run new lines to handle FI.
* Build exhaust.
* Build new driveshafts.
* Remove heaters due to clearance issues.
* Finish roll cage.
* Redo front bumper and add winch.
* Add PS cooler.
* Weld stops to keep my front shackles from inverting.
* Swap in alum. radiator.
* Whatever else I come up with, hopefully avoiding the "while I'm in there" trap too much.

I'm hoping to have this all done by spring, if I can. I will probably be asking y'all a bunch of questions along the way...

The start of a new beginning:
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As of right now, my first challenge is going to be parts storage. I'm already missing the shop I had at the old house:
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As of right now, my first challenge is going to be parts storage. I'm already missing the shop I had at the old house:

Sounds like it's kitchen table time! I bet you can duct tape pieces into some kind of coffee table and store it in the living room. :hillbilly:
 
LOL! C'mon boots... You know my wife. How long do you think that will fly?


It's all in the delivery! Preface it by saying "Look honey! I made YOU a coffee table!!" She'll be like "Awe, Chad, you're the greatest!" and won't be able to get rid of it... until you leave for work. Ok, on second thought, maybe that isn't such a great idea. Nevermind.

:beer:
 

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