Restoring Hank (1 Viewer)

[sypd]

Back from vacation and it's past time to kick off this thread!

Two weeks ago I adopted a 1978 FJ40 from a gentleman in Phoenix. I couldn’t be more happy with that decision! No matter the trials that lay ahead, I’m convinced they will only further cement my bond with my cruiser.

More details and events leading up to that were journaled on my thread “Journey to My First FJ40”.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/771607-journey-my-first-fj40.html

You can skip to the purchase and naming story here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/771607-journey-my-first-fj40-7.html

Mike (@Mechnizer) and his wonderful wife Wendy picked up Hank and brought him home to their restoration shop just north of Phoenix.

The idea is to have Mike bring his master-tech-restoration-fu to bear on Hank and make him a solid running daily driver. I believe this is what @DSRTRDR means when she says her 40 is “currently at the spa”.

We’ve used the term “light restoration” which is, of course, subjective. Here’s the plan:

- generally cleaning up the body inside and out, and touching up the paint; rust proofing
- cleaning and sealing up the bottom; rust proofing
- make it mechanically safe and solid. A strong performer. So pulling the engine, transmission, drive train. Thoroughly going through everything and fixing or replacing as necessary.
- steering, knuckles, brakes, suspension all gone through and fixed/replaced
- bringing the rear fenders back to stock
- re-upholstering the seats, or replacing with something stock-ish

I'm sure Mike has some other things in mind that I’m not aware of yet. Of course, we’ll take the challenges as we find them. For example, we discovered the current gas tank is in bad shape, so I think we may go with a 28 gallon long range upgrade. With this we'll cover the second tank spout and return that to a stock look.

I’ve already started making myself a list of other things I want to do, like a paki soft top or similar. We’ll see first what it takes to get Hank on the road.

Last week Mike and Wendy got the cruiser into the garage and started tearing it down. I’m already so excited seeing this progress that I’m beside myself every time I look at the photos or talk to Mike.

Through most of my search I thought I wanted something already restored, but now I get to bring a cruiser back onto the road. That is personally a very satisfying feeling!

Photo Story I’ll be constantly updating: https://it.thislife.com/XN8kdUDn

 

[sypd]

More photos of cleanup and prep for body work and paint.

 

[sypd]

re: fuel tank upgrades.

Man-A-Fre has this: http://man-a-fre.com/parts_accessories/fj40fueltanklr28gal.htm

My questions is regarding safety. The thought of sitting on a gas tank seems unsafe, but I suppose I've just been somewhat naive about where the gas tank resides on my vehicles.

What are the safety concerns with gas tanks and where they are located?

Is there a safety advantage between the position of the long range tank under the driver and passenger seats vs. the aux tank being placed under the rear?

Aux tank: http://man-a-fre.com/pa5/21gallonFJ40auxillaryfueltank.htm

 

[DSRTRDR]

too bad you didn't even get to drive it before the tear-down - good luck

 

[SSCR]

Looking good! Did you cut out your cross member?

 

[winnie]

glad you found a good one with plenty of throw-ins ... not sure if the search function is up and running but plenty of stuff re the gas tank placement ... I'm okay with mine being inside the cab ... I have an auxiliary tank under the back and am seriously considering taking it out, mostly because I don't do cross-country treks ... jury's still out though ... bigger fish to fry right now ... for what its worth I think you did this thing the right way i.e. patience, and finding something with great "bones" so to speak and fixing it ... you'll know what you have when its done ... not sure you know what you have with the high price "finished" restos ... pretty clear to me, there's always something to do on a 40, but thats part of the magic, for me anyway ... enjoy ...

 

[sypd]

@DSRTRDR I know, that would have been awesome! Alas it just didn't work out.

@SSCR yep, it would appear @Mechnizer did.

@winnie I'm finding Google is working better than built in search the past few days. Yeh, I'm not doing cross-country also.

As I'm looking at things like this, and power steering for example, the governing thought seems to be "well, it's mostly in pieces so now is probably the time". Ha. This is how projects get lengthy and expensive!

"you'll know what you have when its done" is exactly right! My confidence in the "restored" cruisers I was seeing had dwindled to the point I felt I was being deceived at every turn. At some point you have to trust someone and deal with the rest. I'm really happy with this route, and perhaps more importantly so is my wife.

 

[SSCR]

If your going with 33" tires or having your wife drive it, power steering would be a great addition. Not easy to parallel park a 40 with 33" and no power steering without getting a work out in.

 

[brian]

re: fuel tank upgrades.

Man-A-Fre has this: http://man-a-fre.com/parts_accessories/fj40fueltanklr28gal.htm

My questions is regarding safety. The thought of sitting on a gas tank seems unsafe, but I suppose I've just been somewhat naive about where the gas tank resides on my vehicles.

What are the safety concerns with gas tanks and where they are located?

Is there a safety advantage between the position of the long range tank under the driver and passenger seats vs. the aux tank being placed under the rear?

Aux tank: http://man-a-fre.com/pa5/21gallonFJ40auxillaryfueltank.htm

if you are sitting on the gas tanks, and are involved in an accident like event that results in penetration enough to puncture the gas tank, leaking fuel will be about the last of your concerns.
as far as my thinking goes, under the seats is about the best place for the gas tank.

 

[DSRTRDR]

gas tank:

is there really any GOOD position ? [what exactly is so "unsafe" about the tank under the passenger ? like, is it more safe under the rear passengers/kids (where it is in modern cars) ? Ford has a story to tell about that . . . - BTW, early Jeeps had the tank under the driver ;p]

also, I know several guys here on MUD who have taken out their long-range tanks, because they interfered with other desirables, such as optimal driveshaft angle with bigger tires - it really depends on what you are planning to use the truck for - I'd rather just take a few spare gas cans than mess with another fuel pump, lines, switches, sensors and whatnot


power steering:

WTF does it have to do with wives

I am not particularly muscular or sporty, but I drove for almost 10 years and wheeled Moab (up to 5-rated trails) 10 times in a 40 with manual steering - that said: parking lots are much easier if you have power steering, really, anything on asphalt - on the trail, you can just get used to it and drive accordingly - although even that is easier with power steering


as far as safety in general:

the 40 is a top-heavy short-wheelbase vehicle - meaning that it will have a tendency to flip (there was a guy here on MUD who flipped his 40 in city traffic repeatedly) - and there are numerous other areas for concern . . . - it's not a "safe" vehicle as much as a Volvo or Mercedes would be; and will never be

 

[sypd]

@DSRTRDR - I'll be on pavement mostly. I think PS is an easy upgrade call. Angie drove a 323 manual w/o PS for years when we were first married. I recall that thing being really difficult to maneuver compared to my drive in a 40 w/o.

The long range tank, however, deserves more research. I'll dive deeper into the forum.

I have 31s. I might go up to 33s eventually, but I can't imagine going with oversized tires. Is that being naive? I don't know what motivates someone to graduate to oversized tires. Perhaps I'll undergo that transformation and I just don't know it yet.

The first 40 I drove had a 4"+ lift and felt very tippy. I had a Montero for many years that was considered a high rollover risk. I originally hated the driver position in it, but grew to love that truck right up until I totalled it into the back of a Toyota pickup. No more driving and talking on the phone for me!

Agreed, safe is relative. I'm not looking for a safe or even reliable in normal terms. I have other vehicles for that. All the same, if there's something I should do that makes the 40 moderately safer, it's a factor to consider.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

RE: Gas Tank - I agree that "safe" is a relative term. With the tank inside the cab, my larger concern is that leaks that form in the tank (or any rupture as the result of an accident) results in fumes inside the cab. Fumes in the cab+spark in the cab = potential explosion/ignition in the cab. Tanks are generally outside of modern vehicles because if they rupture in an accident or ignite, the blast is directed away from the vehicle, as opposed to contained within it. Either way, you're talking 1/8 inch of sheet metal between you and the explosion - and clearly, even externally mounted tanks have been exploding and killing people for decades (Ford Pinto). My gas tank is under my passenger seat, and I intend to leave it there. If safety was my concern, I wouldn't have bought a 40 in the first place!

RE: Tires: the biggest advantage to larger tires is what is commonly referred to here as "rubber overdrive." Bigger tires help compensate for the low gearing of your truck. Essentially, you can get a higher top speed, at lower RPM's. With modern freeway speeds, it's the difference between right-lane crawling at 65 on 31's and having your poor F/2F strung out to the max, or right lane crawling at 70 on 33's and having your F/2F only screaming a little bit.

The drawbacks: tougher steering (alleviated with your choice of power steering modifications), and your speedometer will be (even more) inaccurate. Remember, these trucks came with 28 or 29 inch tires in most cases, so running 31's, your speedometer is already "off" by about 10% to begin with.

Nice find, by the way! I was following your previous thread where you were test driving dozens of these trucks to find the right one. Glad you finally settled on one! Kind of ironic you didn't end up driving it! Seems like a very solid project though. Best of luck!

 

[sypd]

Bigger tires help compensate for the low gearing of your truck. Essentially, you can get a higher top speed, at lower RPM's. With modern freeway speeds, it's the difference between right-lane crawling at 65 on 31's and having your poor F/2F strung out to the max, or right lane crawling at 70 on 33's and having your F/2F only screaming a little bit.

The drawbacks: tougher steering (alleviated with your choice of power steering modifications), and your speedometer will be (even more) inaccurate. Remember, these trucks came with 28 or 29 inch tires in most cases, so running 31's, your speedometer is already "off" by about 10% to begin with.

Nice find, by the way! I was following your previous thread where you were test driving dozens of these trucks to find the right one. Glad you finally settled on one! Kind of ironic you didn't end up driving it! Seems like a very solid project though. Best of luck!

@RWBeringer4x4, that irony is not at all lost on me! lmbo

Good point about the tire size and speed. The 31s have tread left, so I'll run those and probably go with 33s next. I'm told it's a good idea anyway to get used to handling the 40.

Question, what do you do about the speedometer inaccuracy? Is that something that can be calibrated, or should I just expect to deal with it? Maybe just use my phone GPS speedometer.

Seems like some options are to:

• replace a gear within the speedometer to tweak the ratio
• update the speed overlay on the dial to reflect the difference

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj40-speedometer-calibration.764093/#post-8754768

Any other ideas?

I find it kinda ridiculous to even ask since I have a stupidly large speedometer in the Mini that I don't trust at all for accuracy. Let's just call it curiosity for conversation's sake.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Changing out the speedo gear is the most straightforward adjustment (and, mechanically speaking, the correct way). I think there were 3 different speedo gears offered for Land Cruisers - calibrated to varying years' stock tires sizes (something like 27, 29, and 30in tires, but don't quote me...) Basically, you want the gear for the biggest tires you can find, but even then, you'll only be close, but not right. My udnerstanding is those gears are getting tough to find as well.

You can alter the dial to compensate, but this won't change the fact that your odometer, etc. will still be inaccurate, since I believe that it too is powered by the same nylon T-case gear...

I think the short answer is, to a certain extent, you're out of luck. To me, it has never been important enough. I just know that, if my speedometer says 50, I'm really doing 55, and I just ballpark it from there...

Some GPS systems clock your speed. I've seen some folks run with their GPS on the dash to tell them their "real" speed.

Wish I had a better answer for you!

PS - Love the mini's dash. A friend of mine had an 05' mini set up for autocross - was one mean little machine!

 

[shipmag]

Mike is good he knows The FJ40 well. I had him install a Poser rear disc brake conversion, rebuilt the rear differential and rebuilt both axels. Had him rebuild a stock carb also. He knows his stuff. Glad he is doing your restoration.

 

[kruisinkid]

you can regear the speedometer but you need 2 new gears in the transfercase. Georg has everything you need. you need a new drive gear (metal) and a new driven gear (plastic). its the setup from the old 3 speed transfer cases really. i nit pick over small things and that might be one thing i do this summer. its not all that invasive.

 

[pavieSD]

Regarding the speedo, a lot of this is going to come down to how stock you want your rig to be? Start thinking about that now before you spend money.

Going one direction or another will cost time and money so it's always good to have a build plan going in. Are you resto modding? or keeping it classic? If you want the stock speedo, are you okay with gauges that aren't terribly accurate? Will you want to upgrade those? If so, then you can look into a gps speedo housing and plug the transfer case speedo which is a usual leak source anyways.

Same goes for the gas tank, are you comfortable filling up every 150 miles, or do you want something that has a modern range? Remember, the stock tank doesn't have any reserve, so when it's empty it's empty. For a daily driver, I'd be inclined to want accurate gauges. My rig still sports the stock cluster/gauges and speedo. If I want to know my exact speed, I do the conversion in my head, or pull out me gps speed app on my phone. Having an expectation that the speedo is going to be accurate, is not high on my list when I drive the 40. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Vae Victus]

There's some math for the speedo re-calibration, its just hard to find. I bought a new set of speedo gears for my tranny, but then I bought 3.70 gears, so I'm not sure if it is going to be right again (either it will be closer, or waaaay off).

I'll quote those sources (when it's not 12:40am) to calculate speedo gearing with different tires/gears, etc. It is easy to find if you google "tire size gearing calculations" or something like that. It is normally on a couple of 4x4 websites.

 

[sypd]

@RWBeringer4x4, @kruisinkid, @pavieSD, @Vae Victus - thanks for the speedo tips. I'll continue the google adventure and tinker with that when the time comes. If I can't get the gears just right, there's always "an app for that". I won't be defacing the dials or dash; I do want to keep the stock look.

I'm not a purist on this restoration, but I'd call my direction stock-ish. It seems to me a resto-mod tends to throw in more modern conveniences like digital dash, stereo/speakers, flares, lifts, LED lights, etc. I might pick a little into that, but to start I want to stay fairly true.

side note: I realized last night while reading @shipmag and @kruisinkid build threads just how much I actually comprehend now compared to a year ago when these threads were all gibberish to me. Not too long ago I had no idea how to conduct a compression test.

 

[shipmag]

Glad we all be be apart of your cruiserhead trek. There are some really great people on mud but like anywhere there are jerks. Like a common friend said the ones are the loudiest know the least and want to hear themselves talk.