Phoenix gets a new set of underwear (driveline upgrades to my FJ40) (1 Viewer)

[4xphoenix]

It was indeed a storm brewing and it has come to a head. My original idea was to just put it back together with the F intake/exhaust manifolds, but that was complicated by two stripped/cross-threaded bolts at the heat riser. One was not possible to remove (I tried really hard for hours.) and the other had maybe 4 threads at the bottom of the tapped hole in the intake. Since this is an exhaust pressure chamber I did not want to try to run with 1.5 bolts out of three...so, I gave up and am dealing with the header. It turns out that some model year 2F had an aluminum oil filter mount with the sensor tapped but no oil cooler plumbing (that is a can of worms!). I ordered one from Spectre and have started trimming up the header and intake to fit the gasket. Only had to trim one half-hole on the header to get 12 mm bolts to slide in.



I am guessing (WTF?) that Toyota didn't use studs for the 12 mm manifold bolts because of issues with tightness with multiple components, so I have looked for internal hex bolts but to no avail. I have seen Toyota bolt sets for the larger bolts and will probably use these with some trimming of the aluminum intake manifold to fit; with respect to the obvious mismatch in thickness of the aluminum and steel components, I will cut 1/2" grade 8 washers (they are the smallest in outside diameter) in two to make "step washers"; this seems the correct thickness; everything should be fine from then on...at least it is a WAY FORWARD!

 

[4xphoenix]

The header installation is looking fine now...



I ordered bolts and washers (it is difficult to fine small-diameter washers in Slidell) from SOR; I will replace these really long ones one at a time and mark the intake for trimming to clear. I am thinking of just using one exhaust gasket with such an easy fit...

I installed the starter today, which was some effort considering the space for a tool...



This is too tight for a crow's foot wrench or any kind of universal socket, so I modified a wrench that will get it close to specs (46 lb-ft torque) depending on how strong one's hand is...LOL



My new "performance tool"...

 

[4xphoenix]

This is an update on special issues that have come up during the reassembly of the engine compartment. The proper bolts came and they all slid in without any substantial work...no trimming of the intake manifold was necessary...this is remarkable considering I went from 10 mm studs to 12 mm bolts but everything, including the used header aligned well. I have seen lots of different opinions about sealing the header to the gasket but this all went together so well that I am going with one OEM gasket...if it leaks I will deal with it...with the 2F bolt/stud system it is simple to remove the intake/header assembly. However, the 12mm stud used to align and support the intake was severely damaged from unknown causes and I had to order a new one from SOR (I have a bolt that would do fine but WTF I like the extra stud for support).



This is a stud and nut...note the ground/worn off threads...it stuck and the stud came out easily with the nut as a driver.

I installed the radiator today but I would note that it is a good idea to leave the fan shroud off while fitting the (ill-fitting) radiator hoses...This photo shows how ill-fitting they were...



It was remarkably difficult to get that upper hose over the heater by-pass manifold when they had IDENTICAL outside diameters...it is pinched but should be fine because it is ~3 mm thick. I had to cut ~30 mm off its length. It was soooo difficult getting all of this to kinda align. Fortunately, the lower hose is unbelievably loose on the radiator outflow manifold and this allowed enough slop to assemble it...WOW! Today was the first day I didn't feel the need to cover the grill with a tarp to keep out moisture...



It is getting close...

 

[4xphoenix]

I finally patched up all of the holes in the firewall with high-temp duct tape...we will see...



I also dealt with the exhaust because of the header reducer, which was 2.5" diameter. Nothing fit and it was a lot of effort with many U-bolts to assemble this Rube Goldberg device...it will probably leak but I don't want to commit to an exhaust system immediately after getting it running...



I also installed the breakerless distributor that was working before...The timing marks (line for TDC and circle for 7 deg before) were impossible to see so I used a paint marker to highlight them and checked the valve clearance...a little tight but should be okay for setting the valves...



The intake should be 0.014" and the exhaust, 0.008"...the photo shows an exhaust.

 

[4xphoenix]

I had power assist steering added last year and it worked great but there were some issues transplanting it to the 2F. The original (Toyota installed) bracket had two issues: (1) the attachment was by the front two head bolts, which were not both parallel to the engine centerline and the pump was thus misaligned with the crankshaft and alternator pulleys...



and (2) they overlapped the valve cover, requiring the use of two thick washers beneath the bracket (I didn't even try to remove the F valve cover until it was removed). I corrected (1) by elongating the holes for one attachment bolt to allow adjustment to be aligned with the other pulleys. Problem (2) was more difficult-I cut the bracket to clear the valve cover but the first head bolt tap was stripped over its upper 1/2" depth. I removed the washers from beneath the bracket and the bolt could be tightened to 90 lb-ft so it all worked out well, after I trimmed the fan shroud to clear the lowered power steering pump...

 

[4xphoenix]

I finally installed the Weber carb...more trouble...all four of the 8-1.25mm mount bolt taps were stripped! I ran a tap thru them and they held at 5 lb-ft (should be 8 lb-ft); I didn't want to push my luck (again) on the aluminum intake.



The rest of the carb installation was simple but the throttle cable attachment is way too flimsy for long-term use...



ready to run!

 

[4xphoenix]

I had some time so I positioned the transmission/t-case for installation tomorrow...



I removed it so I knew it would work again (ha!) but it wasn't too bad...I had both of the 6-ton jack stands in contact with the axle during this parade and it is now ready...

 

[4xphoenix]

Ed Nettles drove from near Hammond to help and I could not have done this without him...period! We weren't able to get the pilot bearing to slide in because we didn't have enough long alignment bolts...the next day I bought some more of the 12-1.25x45mm bolts from Lowes and suspended the transmission/t-case from the roll cage (to get rid of the two jacks supporting the assembly)...it practically slid on.



The twin-stick Atlas shifter for the t-case cleared the cutout for the original shifter but just tapped the transmission cover when shifting to Low range so I trimmed it a little with a half-round file...



The transmission stuck hard in 4th gear (it did this before in the garage) and the starter didn't have enough power to rotate the entire drive train...I charged it for 8 hours today but not much better. I will charge it some more tomorrow ( my charger is 25 years old) and install the front drive shaft to try an nudge it with a pull from the FJC...

 

[4xphoenix]

This is an addendum to the last post...the transmission/t-case just BARELY goes in at an angle and the clutch throw-out bearing has to be installed on the transmission input shaft prior to attempting to install the assembly...so, those retainer clips seem redundant since I couldn't install them until I had everything aligned and the transmission spline already into the clutch...I inserted them anyway (just in case they have another purpose?). The bottom line is that installing the transmission/t-case in the vehicle is very tedious but not particularly difficult, except for the need for two people to get it done...and long bolts to align and pull the transmission input shaft into the pilot bearing.

 

[4xphoenix]

After finishing the transmission installation, it was time to deal with the home-made seat frame and fuel system. The fill-vent was blocked by the seat support frame and was hand-slip-on tight, so I used a screw clamp but that required making it easier to remove the seats



...so I had to trim 3 inches off the support on the driver's side and reverse the bolts (from upward to downward facing heads); then came my desire for a fuel shut-off valve because the tank is so high that fuel-system repairs require draining the fuel tank. I found a solid brass valve and fittings with the help of the folks at O'Reilly's Auto and it has all been tested with the electric fuel pump...



I put it under the driver seat as a convenience...

 

[4xphoenix]

It turned out that the starter also failed on that fateful day ~1 year ago...the replacement arrived and will be installed as soon as I finish the rear diff...here we go again with shims and pinions...but, this time it worked out differently. This solid spacer included the correct shims and it all went together smartly; I don't know why the same spacer kit from the same manufacturer (Nitro) was different...I think monkeys assemble these "kits" from retail suppliers. Nonetheless, I retained the OEM 0.45 mm (0.018") for the inner (large) pinion bearing race with a 0.016" shim under the solid spacer (the front was completely different...WTF?) and got 15 lb-inch pinion bearing preload. The carrier bearing caps were not malformed (see previous posts) and thus it was easy to adjust the backlash to 0.006" (minimum)...the total preload is 23 lb-inch, which is tight.

I used the auxiliary air pump to pressure test the system...



...using the ARB hose and it held for 1 hour, at which point I decided to remove the spider and thrust blocks...this required some grinding on the new ring gear as approved by Nitro...



The cross-shaft didn't clear...a couple of minutes with the Dremel took care of that and now I just need to clean up the silicon from the axle housing to finish it up ASAP!

 

[4xphoenix]

I failed to take photos of the rear pull-out before installation thanks to the poor weather...nevertheless, the fit was tighter on the rear and it was convenient to have the inspection cover to check out the copper tubing for the ARB after installation of the pull-out. I installed everything between rain showers and tested the air locker...all passed.

With the rear diff complete, I installed the rebuilt starter from SOR today and the 2F started with minor adjustment of the spark timing...only a minor coolant leak on a hose and my cheap hi-temp paint burning off #3 header pipe. Meantime...the windshield wiper motor completely quit and the temp gauge is not recording, but I may have installed the wrong sensor (there were two adjacent in the head that looked very similar)...

I ran the motor for 15 minutes at 1500 rpm...there was no tapping valves and good oil pressure...the Weber is pretty close so I will make minor adjustments per TPIs instructions; it won't idle to 650 rpm yet but the 800 rpm it does is soooo much better than the 1300 rpm the original F motor idled at...LOL



I also painted the bezel for my test drive tomorrow...

 

[General0507]

Way too go.

 

[Bang Bang]

Very nice Tim.

 

[4xphoenix]

This is one of the last posts because I have completed the driveline upgrades by now. I will be succinct here because it is a curved course from a running engine to a final reliable vehicle.

The OEM manifold gasket leaked intake and exhaust, so I installed a compressible gasket from SOR, which fixed the intake leaks and greatly reduced the exhaust leaks, but it is an old, bent, header and it still leaks a little; I will get a new one soon. When I installed the distributor vacuum advance into the Weber (low vacuum) instead of the intake manifold (high vacuum), I was able to get good idle at 600 rpm and no backfiring...haha, but the speedometer/odometer stopped working after about 20 miles.

Bottom line...it runs real well now!

 

[4xphoenix]

The used header leaked less but still significantly at cylinders 2&3, and 4&5 where it shares attachment bolts with the aluminum intake. I got a better idle but now it whistled at idle, really loud like a cat whistle, and it changed pitch as well. I have these options wrt the intake/exhaust issue:

(1) straighten the bent mount flange, carefully adjust bolt length on the 2 stripped taps in the head (long bolts run into the partially tapped holes where the tap is tapered when cutting the threads), and hope for the best;

(2) buy a replacement header like this one and hope for the best;

(3) buy a better quality header with thicker flange and no need to mill the pipes that jut through to prevent a good seal, and hope for the best;

(4) buy a used intake, reinstall my OEM rusty exhaust manifold, and hope for the best;

(5) buy a newer intake/exhaust assembly, which will probably work great...

I opted for (3), a tri-y ceramic-coated header from SOR and then (I didn't read the fine print) purchase the (required) exhaust pipe to connect to the two collectors. I went with this $900 option because they have never steered me wrong and their products appear to be as advertised, and it will last much longer than a replacement header. The intake/exhaust option (5) was as pricey and could have the same problem I had with my OEM manifolds.

Before installing the new header, I tried something I read on MUD by another header leak aficionado; the header flange is ~9.3 mm thick whereas the OEM intake is ~10.4 mm thick. The compressible gasket would probably have accounted for this but I am tired of "hoping for the best" so I used the Dremel with a metal cutter and spent about 1 hour hand grinding the intake to ~9.4 mm (make it a little tighter than the exhaust).

I installed the SOR system today and, as expected, it didn't align with the current (non OEM) muffler location, so I removed the old (again) and started it up to check for leaks...NO LEAKS in either intake or exhaust...the idle mixture is off without that unmetered air so there are some minor adjustments yet...



The next decision is whether to buy the SOR muffler and tailpipe, which they say is in the original location (???), or go to a muffler shop and let some gorilla weld yet more pieces of steel to my frame...it looks like a welding class project under there as it is!

 

[4xphoenix]

I opted for the gorilla solution, since I had no clear evidence of OEM hangers for the exhaust. A local shop with only the proprietor doing everything hooked me up with a used Magnaflow muffler for a lot less than the SOR muffler and tailpipe.



A slight whistle reappeared until I retightened the manifold bolts but it is back...this will haunt me I am certain...but it doesn't affect the idle.

I had to trim the skid plate to clear the much-larger exhaust outlet from the tri-Y header...



but now I was ready to try out the 4wd on the Pearl River dredge pile off US 90...this engine pulls from idle as if it has twice the power of the original and the 4:1 transfer ratio is apparent. It pulls out of DEEP sand in 3rd gear with no hesitation. I couldn't test the lockers because (as it turns out when I got home) of a blown fuse...I think I need to avoid using the cigarette lighter, which shares the circuit with the air compressor...ARB specifies a 20 amp fuse, which is smaller than the lighter.



There is a good test of the locker at the site in the form of a Live Oak with roots partially exposed by erosion, which results in a 18" ledge with all tires in soft sand...manana?