Builds Bemerritt Builds a 1970 (1 Viewer)

[bemerritt]

Two weeks ago I drove home with my 1970 and I finally made my first large decision/purchase regarding the direction of the build, so I figured it was time to start a big purchase.

Background
Three years ago I came home with this, a 2015 LC200

As a family of three about to add a fourth, we needed something to take us off the beaten path. It was replacing this, a 1998 7.3 Diesel 4x4 van that I had spent the last three years converting into a camper.

So I spent the last three years building up the 200. Taking it offroad and camping all over California. Just recently it reached its final form. Lockers front and rear, 4.88 gears, tundra front end swap on 35" tires.

The perfect overbuilt family desert camper that I was hoping to push it on harder and harder trails. Finally signed up for Cruise Moab, which was the goal when I first purchased the 200.

For the last year or so we had discussed getting a 40. I have always wanted to build a car with my dad and my wife really wants to be "car show people". I had been casually keeping an eye on the 40 market just to start setting expectations for what we could reasonably get for around 10k. One popped up 9 hours away for just that price. I was casually interested until I talked to the seller only to find out it was a lifelong california vehicle that was parked under a tree in 1985, never to run again.

MY wife has always understood that if you want something that you think is a good deal, you have to jump at it and go take it before someone else beats you to it. It was a tuesday, seller had someone coming to get it on Thursday. I told him I would be there tomorrow. one 20 hour strike and the rest is history.

It was fitting for the 200 to tow it home, as it was a passing of the torch to the new money sink to arrive at home.

 

[bemerritt]

So now I had a January 1970 on my hands, something I thought would be so far in the future was now a reality. It took a while to sink in and stop being overwhelming.

Overall, the exterior is in great condition damage wise. a dent in a fender and rear quarter panel is most of it. As the story goes, it was parked downhill under a tree for 35 years until somone tried to start working on it. This had the floors get rusted from the inside out, most likely from a rear leak. But other than that, the rust is mostly surface.

It was near complete in major components and seemed like a great base to build off of. The seller claimed someone got it to turn over three years ago, but that is as far as they took it.

 

[bemerritt]

Up first was seeing if the motor would turn over. Connected to a battery and heard some clicking from the solenoid in the starter but nothing else. Removed it and cleaned it up and got it to work on the bench.

Put it back in and got it to slowly start cranking. Definitely not seized. Some coolant under the cover and it is quite black.

After more research, definitely seems as I should have poured some magic mystery oil into the cylinders prior to trying to turn it over. I first tried this about a week ago. Poured some oil into it last night. All the spark plugs had been replaced 3 years ago when they tried to get it running.

New gear reduced starter arrives today. My goal in all of this is trying to figure out if this engine is worth the squeeze of cleaning it up and rebuilding it. My plan is to try and get it to crank over and measure pressure in the cylinders. Is that a sound plan without it firing?

 

[Skreddy]

I like to try to turn these engines by hand first after they’ve been sitting. Either with the crank tool in the claw nut or just grabbing the balancer and brute force. I find them pretty easy to turn over by hand and if they don’t, there’s likely something wrong that I don’t want them to be turning over until addressed.

That said, looks like a great rig!

 

[bemerritt]

Well didn't make much progress on the engine, so I have been slowly taking it apart? My family asks when it will go back together, I just laugh. Shockingly, very few bolts have needed extra convincing to be removed, so that has been nice.

 

[bemerritt]

So at this point the plan is to pretty much start from the ground up. The end goal is something that can tackle the Rubicon but also retain that classic look while cruising around the beach town. So the immediate plans are as follows:

- SOA with FJ 60 axles
- Power steering
- Shackle and possibly spring reversal on the front
- Spring reversal on the rear
- New driveshafts due to increased wheel base
- 35" tire minimum

As luck would have it fellow mud member extraordinaire @TRAIL TAILOR (Thanks again!) had some 60 axles with 4.11 gears and ARB lockers for sale, so that seemed to be the right way to go about this. Had to get disc brakes somehow, right? I was talking myself around in circles on brake options and fine splines that this seemed the easiest way to go about it. Also hopefully means 60 series power steering is a no brainer.

Pulled out the old axle with some help from the little guy.

Flipped the springs and placed the new axle under it. Only bolted one side as I need to put narrower perches on the axle. Placed a 35" spare from the 200 in front of the 30" to get an idea of what we are working with.

Started refreshing the rear spring packs since I had to take them apart to flip the second spring.

 

[bemerritt]

Couple questions for the brains trust:

1. I assume 60 series power steering is the way to go. Any general tips as I start this research?
2. As you can see, my rear shackle is pretty vertical. I assume a closer to stock shackle length (currently a 5" on there) and some weight will get it into a better position. Any reason to move the shackle mount? Plan is to use stock springs.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Most run a saginaw on a 40.

 

[EWheeler]

Wow, thought this was going to stay a cherry survivor, kinda sad. You dove right in thats for sure. My ‘80 is 60 axles front rear, shackle reversed and saginaw up front. Everything works really well. I used 60 rear leaf springs front and rear. If i was to do it over again, im not sure i would use them up front again as they are just a bit long for shackle reversal unless you really push the front spring hanger way forward.

Another thing to consider is how you are going to approach the frame side shackle mount with the out boarded spring width. My first iteration was the shackle hanger below the frame. It made the front too tall compared to the back. I used it for a year and the visuals angered me, so i went to a through the frame setup with a spacer in the shackle. Excuse the dirty photos, this poor thing has been neglected
And i need to make shackles that are about 1/4-1/2” longer so my spring eyes dont contact the frame.

 

[EWheeler]

Here you can see the old mount below the frame. The viewpoint isnt best, but i think you can tell its go the Carolina squat going on and that wasnt what i was going for.

 

[EWheeler]

60 axles is a ton of effort for a once in a while trail rig. You could use 1.5” spacers when wheeling and achieve nearly the same results. In my opinion the only issue when using spacers is not being diligent about checking lug torque on the spacer to axle connections. Loose lugs = broken studs

 

[EWheeler]

60 axles vs 40 axles doesnt really change anything if you go with 60 or 80 power steering gear. You will need high steer arms either way if you end up SOA, looks like youre covered there with the axles you bought. If you shackle reverse in front youll need long spline slip joint for your front driveshaft, if you stay shackle in front you can stay with the regular slip joint as your fixed and and d-shaft are anchored at the same end.

Keep an eye on caster, dont be afraid to cut & turn the front knuckle balls to dial it in to make it track and steer nice. Its not as difficult as it sounds like it would be!

This website has all the answers you can need, and some you dont! Looking forward to watching the progress.

 

[bemerritt]

60 axles vs 40 axles doesnt really change anything if you go with 60 or 80 power steering gear. You will need high steer arms either way if you end up SOA, looks like youre covered there with the axles you bought. If you shackle reverse in front youll need long spline slip joint for your front driveshaft, if you stay shackle in front you can stay with the regular slip joint as your fixed and and d-shaft are anchored at the same end.

Keep an eye on caster, dont be afraid to cut & turn the front knuckle balls to dial it in to make it track and steer nice. Its not as difficult as it sounds like it would be!

This website has all the answers you can need, and some you dont! Looking forward to watching the progress.

Thanks for all of the info. Luckily the axles I got have already been cut and turned. Was definitely thinking about a shackle reversal upfront since I have to widen them anyways. Found the following pics while I was researching. Any other tips for sleeving the shackle thru the frame? My plan was to try and keep the sleeve towards the bottom of the rail in order to not have the shackle hit it upon flexing and probably keep the same pin to pin distance as stock.

The offset shackle seems like it would work well. Haven't really found an off the shelf solution, so might have to find someone to bend some up for me.

 

[bemerritt]

Haven't had too much time lately but am slowly tearing the rear axle apart to weld new spring perches on it. Also welding new shock mounts to the rear of the axle. Any reason not to get these as wide as possible, just next to the perches?

I did get around to installing the new starter, but for some reason it would not turn over like it was with the old one, albeit very slowly. This seemed odd and was frustrating. Put the old starter back on and still nothing but a large thud and it seemed seized.

Pulled the radiator and fan and the nut was able to be cranked. turned the key and it was turning over beautifully, much faster than before and seemed begging for fuel. So we poured in a little gas, and too much starter fluid and she sang her tune.



Definitely lights a fire as I really didn't think it would fire. I was really pondering taking the whole thing apart, but this has me in get it on the road mode. So working on the laundry list of items needed to do so. it looks something like this:

- Master brake cylinder
- Booster?
- Full clutch pedal assembly and master
- Custom drive shaft for the rear
- Get stock carb rebuilt (there is some old non stock one on it now, bought a 1970 one to replace)
- Get axles mounted on soa setup
- Shocks
- Shock towers
- Relocate rear shock mounts
- new brake lines, switch to dual circuit
- new wheels/tires
- weld in new driver/passenger floor boards

and on and on

 

[EWheeler]

Thanks for all of the info. Luckily the axles I got have already been cut and turned. Was definitely thinking about a shackle reversal upfront since I have to widen them anyways. Found the following pics while I was researching. Any other tips for sleeving the shackle thru the frame? My plan was to try and keep the sleeve towards the bottom of the rail in order to not have the shackle hit it upon flexing and probably keep the same pin to pin distance as stock.


View attachment 2978920

View attachment 2978921


The offset shackle seems like it would work well. Haven't really found an off the shelf solution, so might have to find someone to bend some up for me.

Knowing now versus what I knew then back in '08, with flat leaf springs and spring over arrangement I would keep the shackle in the front, ESPECIALLY if I was outboarding. The difference in ride is negligible with the shackle in front versus shackle in rear with the flat factory leafs if your suspension is setup correctly (shackle angle @ ~45 degrees at ride height, proper caster, all steering components tight). It really simplifies the issues we're discussing with shackle through frame setups. I think most people have other issues with geometry and equipment, and when they go to shackle reversed, everything gets replaced and/or setup properly, and voila! problems solved, not knowing what the actual root cause of their issues are.

My '71 is spring over with high steer, manual gearbox with all factory steering linkage, shackle is in front with OEM leafs. It does not drive or ride significantly better or worse on the road than my '80 with stretched wheelbase, outboarded leaf springs and shackle reversed arrangement. Both cruise straight down the freeway at 70+ mph. Off road, obviously the wheelbase and width would make a difference, but purely based on road driving, the difference is not noticeable enough to justify all the work. My opinion based on real world experience. Offroad, shackle in front is mostly an advantage. There is the off chance you are not good at driving and run into a rock or tree at a rate of travel higher than what the leaf spring can handle and you can bend a leaf spring, but other than that possibility, off road performance with shackle in front trumps shackle reversed in my opinion.

 

[bemerritt]

Now that Cruise Moab has come and gone, back to business. While in Moab I stared and crawled under every 40 I could find. Plenty of inspiration out there. On my last day out there I happened to be on the Profit led run for Fins n Things which attracted quite a few 40's(and the mega cruiser!). Below caught my eye as it was SOA on FJ60 axles running 37's. So pretty much what I am going for.

Very much like the stock look, so thats the target.

I did get the rear axle all cleaned up and starting to get that mocked up before burning in the spring perches.

Still trying to figure out how tilted up I want the rear axle to be. I will be using a new driveshaft, link: Toyota Double Cardan Drive Shaft - https://4xshaft.com/collections/toyota-land-cruiser/products/toyota-double-cardan-drive-shaft

So not sure how critical it is. But could use some advice on it. The double cardan seems to allow different angles at the diff compared to the transfer case, so better to point too low than too high. As springs get flatter the angle changes, so don't want to overcommit to the angle. I do plan on removing a leaf, but I almost have no weight in the rear right now, so hard to judge.

 

[bemerritt]

In preparation for adding a power steering pump, I am moving the alternator to the passenger side using a 2f Bracket. Definitely missing a mounting hole, but otherwise it looks like it belongs there. Only have one bolt inserted in the pic, but the two from the previous mount fit.

For some reason I just assumed the 1f Alt would bolt right up. Doesn't quite fir the mount and the pully is in the wrong orientation. Guess it is just an excuse to upgrade the alternator to a 55 amp version. I assume the 2f will be aligned correctly, anyone know if that is correct?

 

[mrboatman]

I think is the single row pulley on the crank. A double row might line up better.

 

[White Stripe]

If you had stated your purpose for owning a 40 right off the bat we would have helped you out. If I were you I would put that 40 back together how it was but get it running and stopping. Sell it for a bit more so you make a bit of money on it, and get one that's already cut up and modified. Also fj60 axles aren't a huge improvement. Especially for the rubicon. You can continue with this 40, it's your cruiser of course. But there are way easier ways to get to your goal. And your not that far along to change direction a bit. My 2 cents anyway.

 

[bemerritt]

If you had stated your purpose for owning a 40 right off the bat we would have helped you out. If I were you I would put that 40 back together how it was but get it running and stopping. Sell it for a bit more so you make a bit of money on it, and get one that's already cut up and modified. Also fj60 axles aren't a huge improvement. Especially for the rubicon. You can continue with this 40, it's your cruiser of course. But there are way easier ways to get to your goal. And your not that far along to change direction a bit. My 2 cents anyway.

I mean, i somewhat get what you are saying, but at the same point this 40 checks a lot of the boxes. Finessing some sales to get a couple grand back quite frankly isn't what I'd want to do right now. Let alone hunting down a rust free frame, pre 75 title, running motor, full doors/top, with a relatively rust free body (minus the floors) is no easy task as it is. Also, I've never built a 40, let alone any vehicle. So sometimes starting with a complete vehicle gives you a template. Even if you replace half of it, you get to see it all put together so you have a sense of the end game, or what doesn't work for your setup.

60 axles are just kind of happened because I wanted fine spline birfs, disc brakes and lockers. so......package deal, done. Could that be done with the 40 axles, ofcourse. But one was already done with the cut and turn so i jumped on it. Wider stance is a bonus. outboarding the leaf mounts in the front isn't the easiest thing in the world, but I also got this to have fun fabricating.

As far as turning back, too late for that. Front leaf mounts and hangers are out. Shackle/spring reversal is in progress. Starting to have it lined up, but want to get the power steering mocked up with a bumper to see how I want to tie it all in with the frond leaf mount once outboarded.

Will be reusing the mounts for the front leaf mounts. The tubes are from the OEM shackle hangers, these will be thru the frame