Lovin' the '66

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miko

miko

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Threads
10
Messages
134
Location
Hillsborough, NC
My first ever 40 arrived today and I thought it only appropriate to start a thread for it. It's had a history here on Mud, having been rebuilt/restored by Jamison Workshop a few years back and briefly owned by TrickyToy this spring. Since I purchased it about two weeks ago, I was pretty anxious to get it here and see what I'd gotten myself in to.

After a few trips around the neighborhood and some driveway fiddling, Snowdogyyz came over to look it over. There where some days I never thought I'd see a 40 in my driveway, so seeing two there is a bit surreal. His advice and expertise will be awesome. He's already supplied a needed bracket for my winch. Nice to have a neighbor like that!

My first mod so far was to remove the doors. While I love the work that Jamison did to create them, driving without doors or roof is one of the main reasons I got a 40. Maybe when things cool down in the fall they'll go back on - we'll see. After walking around and tinkering all afternoon, here's my take on things...

What I already love about it...
- The motor is strong.
- I love the family cage. It's been one of my main requirements and this one is well built and looks great. Eventually I'll look at having it tied in to the frame, but for now it's perfect.
- It really does seat 7. The whole family piled in for the inaugural trip around the block - a dream come true that's been a long time coming.
- The frame and under body are really solid. I can drive this for awhile before I have to devote money or time to the undercarriage.
- 4 wheel disks (though they're a bit stiff)
- the winch

What needs a little love...
- the transmission but this was a known thing going in. But I can avoid most grinding by double clutching for now.
- the body has some dings and dents that will eventually need be fixed, including the rear tire carrier.
- figuring out the dash - what works and what doesn't.
- getting the speedo to work
- looks like the knuckles will need to be rebuilt soon.
- the cracked side mirror
- the steering - its pretty loose and would be nice to eventually migrate over to power.
- seat belts (shoulders for the front and laps all around the rear)
- the muffler and tailpipe. Right now it ends right under the drivers seat and is pretty load. Once thats quieted down and run to behind the rear tire it'll be a bit more pleasant to cruise around in.
- heat management. That engine is throwing a good bit a warmth into the cabin.

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting, but for now I think that's a pretty good list to focus on. All in all, I'm pretty happy. It's a great foundation to love and evolve. Stay tuned...
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Nice! I love the older ones, bib lights, round blinkers, split hood. Enjoy it even when you have it torn apart to fix the little things, don't let it discourage you even when you realize how much money you are pouring into it :D :beer:
 
Get the tailpipe fixed and you'll fix the heat in the cab at the same time

There are a lot of adjustment points to the steering... Tighten them as per fsm then you should be good :)

Is it the tranny or the hydraulics ... Master and slave not pushing all the way?

Congrats on a good looking truck!!! :)
 
:cool:
 
My list just got longer. Tried to move it out of the garage this weekend and it started fine, but then died after running after a few minutes. Now it won't start at all - it'll fire up for a few seconds on full choke then shuts down right away. Even that would happen only after a few minutes of fiddling. Sigh.

So now I'm thinking a Trollhole carb is in the work. And a parking brake of some sort. That's gotta be sorted out too. So if I'm going to go with a new carb, should I also desmog?
 
Glad you are liking it so far. As long as someone is loving it as much as I did I am happy.
(even with the love hate relationship of issues that arise).

I did replace the idler arm bushing stuff with what is available. There is the penny trick in the drag link to tighten up the arm a little. Never did anything with the box though. The power steering things are made to mount a saginaw pump on the passenger side. Should just need the coupler and belt after that.

The carb I am sure could use some freshening up. The pressure plate that is in it is the old 3 finger dealie. Pain to adjust the fingers so they are level. Got them good, but I do know a standard plate with lots of fingers will bolt on to help, but the synchros are worn I am sure. Double clutching worked for me as well.

Let me know if you need anything. I will still be following its journey
 
I finally had some time to fiddle around a bit more and am starting to think the carb is not the problem. I replaced the fuel filter with a new one and noticed that it took a long time to for fuel to get in to the filter bowl. Trying to start it had the same result as before - fires for a few seconds then dies, wait a few minutes, repeat. As an experiment I manually filled the bowl with gas and it started the best it has since the problem began but eventually died. Looking at the bowl right after that (I love the glass for this) the fuel level was down to the bottom of the filter again.

So my question is, how full should the filter bowl be and how easily should fuel be flowing in to it? Does it sound like I have a fuel flow issue up stream of the filter?
 
Fuel level should be at the half way mark of the sight glass.... I love your new 40. Jealous!
 
That is the same problem I had when we got it going for Aaron. The filter that was in it is new. Just put it in.
I had the same problem when I first got it up and running years ago. Check that thread. Pressurized the system a bit and it was good to go. Had no issues at all after that. Then it sat for the winter when Aaron got it and had the problem again when I went to prime the system. The fuel pump is newish.

I wonder if there is a clog in the gas tank possibly. Plastic so it should not have rust in there. But could be some varnished gas floating around?

Like you said. Once the fuel is up there it will run like a champ. It fawked with me for a few days. Like to know what the deal is.
 
Glad yourhappy with it. I have the same love for mine
 
Nice truck - I like the color.

Consider your PS conversion carefully. If you want a mostly stock-ish setup and won't be running tires larger than 33s, consider doing a Toyota minitruck PS setup. Please don't hack up the frame and install a Saginaw box behind the front bumper. You might also look into an FJ60 or Astro setup, as they are less invasive than the old school Saginaw setup. Just my .02 worth - concentrate on all the other 'stuff' first and worry about PS down the road.
 
Dang I thought I had that fixed!

Everything from (including) the fuel pump back is new. The original steel fuel line from the pump up to the carb was really crusty. I spent a couple hours cleaning that line but I would bet that crud from that line clogged a jet or passage. Try pulling that line and replace it with either new steel or rubber (that is what I should have done in the first place) and then pull the top of the carb off and clean and blow out all the jets and passageways. Put back together and I bet it will run fine again.

I glad you like it. I'm already regretting selling it but I have way to many hobbies and unfortunately I can't keep everything.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Call, text, or email is the best way to reach me.

Aaron
 
TrickyToy said:
Dang I thought I had that fixed!

Everything from (including) the fuel pump back is new.
Click to expand...

Hey Aaron!

I don't think its forward of the filter due to my experiment of filling the filter bowl and having it fire up really well only to drain the bowl. The file line up from the tank to the filter is really tight since it has to come around the Dana transfer case and feels like it might be creased as it comes over the top of the tank. I'm going to yank the seat this weekend to take a look and try to run a new fuel line from tank to filter. Guess I'll just keep working my way back til it's sorted out.

And I think it's starting to get a new nick name in the family - Drippy! The oil pan drips, the knuckles are dripping, the transfer case drips. That's the next thing on the list once it gets running constantly.

For those that asked, I'll snap some pics as I work on it. Stay tuned...
 
Finally had some time tonight to get to the tank. So I'm guessing that this is a bit snug for a a fuel line. Could that bend be what's causing my fuel flow issues? Mike or Aaron is this the way the fuel lines been all along? And what's the best way to clean the intake? Take out the sender and then what?

And a shot of how she'll look most of the time. Now to just get it running...
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That is a line I replaced at some point. It had an old poly line in there when I got it.
It worked fine 6 months before I sold it to Aaron. Would start and run with no issues.
It sat over the winter a bit and when I went to get it going it had this issue. I wonder if it is collapsing the line and the bend is not helping either. The pump can only do so much. If you disconnect the line after the pump it will squirt a bit and then slowly stop.
 
It runs! Woohoo!

After all the craziness of school starting and church stuff and fall baseball with the boys, I finally had a free evening to work on the cruiser. I'm learning a lot...

Lesson 1 - I reeeeeally like working on old cars. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this with a mechanical engineer for a dad and uncles that have worked on cycles and cars since their teens. But I've never had the chance to work this much on a vehicle - with so much up to my discretion. It's immensely satisfying. I know, nothing new to many of you, but now I get why guys (and some gals) spend all weekend in the garage. My dad and I had talked on and off about having someone restore his 64 LeMans, but the more I work on the cruiser, the more I'm starting to think that we should do it ourselves.

Lesson 2 - Don't go in to a problem thinking you know the exact solution. I was so sure that the tight fuel line was the source of my fuel supply problem. I got a new fuel line to run from the tank to the filter with less connectors, got it all installed and tried to start it. Same old thing - start for 3 seconds and die. Argh. Maybe the line needs to be primed better. Nope. How about pressurizing the tank? No dice. In desperation I started looking after the pump. Undid the line going out for the pump and gas spurted out. Ok, good pressure there. How about going in to the carb? Since I had already released the pressure in the line I decide to loosen the line at the carb and turn it over a few times to see if I could pump some fuel out into a cup, which led to lesson 3...

Lesson 3 - Holy crap, a fuel pump pushes a lot of gas when it's not restricted. I turned it over 6 or 8 times and suddenly it starts and keeps run - with no fuel line actually connected to the carb. What the??? I shut it down quick and take a look in the engine bay to find the cup full and fuel all over. Doh. But at the bottom of the cup is this - looks like I found gold (or at least the reasons for my fuel supply problem). I took it out for a 20 minute ride around the neighborhood - the most I've driven since I got it and it ran great. Guess I'll look at replacing the pump to carb fuel line, but for now problem solved!

Now I can turn my attention to the other things on my list...

Sent from my iPad using IH8MUD
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