1966 FJ45LV restoration/buildup project (1 Viewer)

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Well, here is a quick update. My back is still f@#$ked up so my strength is very limited. The other day I did go to the shop and was able to sort out all my newlly yellow zinc plated bolts into nice organized bins. I also had to fire my lead mechanic who had been with me for 3 years. Turned out he had a serious crack problem among other stuff so i cut him loose real fast. Got turned onto an excellent mechanic one day later who has airline experiance and has actuall run his own fleet of 6 plans for government jobs so he is really organized. it is taking time to correct the ills of three years but he is gettng there while repairing stuff that breaks every day. I also had to fire my main maintenance supervisior for doing service work on the side while on our dime using our equipment and employees. so some bad eggs lately but starting to shape up. Now I guess it is just a matter of jumping in and trying to install the ending etc.
 
worked about 6 hours this weekend

small update. preped and painted misc. engine brackets in preparation for engine install into frame. took a little while longer than I had hoped bc some of the parts I had previously preped had light oxidation. Sooooo I had to re-media blast etc. before PORing could begin. It has been so long I am not even sure if these are the correct brackets. Can someone tell me if the last bracket is even a Toyota part? No number on it and it does not look like other parts, but it was in the box so I went ahead and painted it.
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Got another good 12 hours in over last two weekends

I have been working the last few weeks. Making some progress towards getting the engine in the frame. I also got a wild hair and decided to pull out the wiring harness and study it. It is in very nice condition and has not been too hacked. Only a few places where there is evidence of any damage. I would like some advice from anyone who has experience with wiring. Am I crazy to try to reuse the original 40+ year old harness? The wires do not appear to be dry rotted, they are still pliable and most importantly, color coded. I have laid out the entire harness and pretty much labeled all items and found what is missing. I have plenty of spare matching color coded wires from other cruisers to use to repair whatever is needed. I just do not want to put a bunch of time into repairing this harness only to find out it is not strong enough to give good service etc. I have read all about the replacement harness here on mud and would like to keep the original harness. Has anyone ever built a new replacement harness? Anyone know where to get new color coded wire? How about the rubber boots that go over the lamp sockets at the lights? Just need some advice. Thanks
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merbesfield said:
I think it may be the alternator bracket for the original F engine. I looked on SOR and thats what it looked like.
Click to expand...

That's it!!

I used both parts of the original '55 harness and parts of an '81 BJ60 harness in the '55. I'll be using another BJ60 harness in the FJ45LV since it too has a 3B diesel.
 
cruiser_guy said:
That's it!!

I used both parts of the original '55 harness and parts of an '81 BJ60 harness in the '55. I'll be using another BJ60 harness in the FJ45LV since it too has a 3B diesel.
Click to expand...

Are the BJ60 harnesses close to that of the 45's? Are they available new or used?
 
As far as the harnesses is concern, I used pieces from a fj60 and 4runner to repair a short in a 1977 fj45. Surprisingly the white/black wire was an easy match.

And for plastic hardware I have been using plastic groments from other toyota vehicles but other makes will work. Knowing the the diameter of the hole it came out of and how big the harness needs to be to go though it should be easy to locate them. Just make sure you get enough to make them match. Not sure on the door stuff. Of course, it would be better if can locate new stuff.
 
I would have no issue with repairing the stock harness. the one in my old FJ45lpb was trashed, but after pulling a wiring harness from an early toyota mini-pickup, and seeing how close they were(pretty close), I decided it would be easier to just use lengths of wire from the donor harness to repair the FJ45 one.

All in all it took a few days of 4 or so hours a day to get it working, and I mean everything working.

I re-soldered wire ends for switches, cleaned connectors spades, put on new HD ring terminals for anything that originally had them, etc, and finally cleaned the wires and re-wrapped in wiring harness tape you can get from waytek.com

All in all, its easy, and now with Vintage Connections: OEM-Style Connectors for Japanese Motorcycles you should easily be able to make it near new.
 
merbesfield said:
Are the BJ60 harnesses close to that of the 45's? Are they available new or used?
Click to expand...

No, not any closer than an FJ60 would be. The reason I'm using it is because my FJ45LV will be getting a diesel. I'll still be making some significant changes to the harness as I do it (not colors, just removing excess).
 
cruiser_guy said:
No, not any closer than an FJ60 would be. The reason I'm using it is because my FJ45LV will be getting a diesel. I'll still be making some significant changes to the harness as I do it (not colors, just removing excess).
Click to expand...

Do the later model wiring harnesses have a heavier gauge wire than earlier versions? I have wires from a 79 fj55 and a 78 fj40 to use for patches.
 
I need some advice with regards to the rear disc conversion. Anyone have any pics of how they handled the transition from hard line to flex at the rear axle? Needs a custom bracket obviously. Also, the rear Monte Carlo brackets for JoeTLC do not allow the lower caliper mount bolt to go on once the bracket is bolted to the axle, stupid. Anyone worked around this other than having to remove the bracket every time you have to service the brakes?
 
Can anyone post some pics of how brake lines are routed from front to rear. I know SOR has pics, but they are not too clear and do not show the frame rails. Also, anyone ordered SS lines from Classic Tube? I have been bending my own lines but not sure I am going to be satisfied esp. when it comes to the lines going across the firewall.
 
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