Recent content by Aussie Alaskan

Picked up an old Warn 8274 winch locally for $200. Sandblasted each piece and painted with automotive grade epoxy primer and then black Rust-Oleum farm and implement paint. Replaced all the normal wear items such as seals and springs and bearings. Also upgraded the motor to the Warn 70865 heavy...

A bit more progress on the FJ40. Really loving the stance with new 31" tires and the painted wheels. Still has original rear springs but it looks good in my opinion.

Its been a while since I've posted. I've got a 1970 Mustang Fastback that has taken up residence in my garage and will be there until I complete the restoration on it. Likely have another year or more to go on my spare time. While I was sandblasting some parts for the Mustang I went ahead and...

Took a trip down to South Dakota recently and picked up a 4.8 LS engine that's been rebuilt. Also came with a 100,000 mile 4L60e 2WD tranny and all the accessory parts and wiring stuff. $1500 for everything seemed like a good deal. Will be hauling this back up to Alaska for the build. Excited to...

We eventually made it to my dad's house in South Dakota and dropped the FJ40 off. I'll have to come back down with a new set of crank and rod bearings next summer and get it running again. It actually still runs fine if you ignore the knocking sounds. 🤣 All in all a less than epic FJ40 3800...

This time we made it to Canada and about 650 miles away from home without any issues. It was a really fun drive. But... In Destruction Bay Yukon a rod bearing started to spin and knock badly. I had lots of tools and parts along, but that's something I didn't have any way to fix on the side of...

My dad immediately began to book himself a plane ticket home, while we were getting towed. I had a guy feeling the front crankshaft seal was the culprit and that it was not something that we could fix on the spot since nobody in probably 1000 miles has a new front crank seal for the 2F engine...

Well, the trip from Fairbanks Alaska to South Dakota started off in a bad way. My dad and I made it about 45 miles until we were billowing smoke behind us and had to pull over. Oil was pouring from the front of the engine and so I had to call my brother and we got a tow back to the house. Bummer.

Had good help today with my dad and nephew helping get the rig ready for the road.

Installed a new heater control valve because the old one was crusty and not sealing well. Pulled the roof to re-apply spray glue to the headliner as it had started to sag up front. Set the valves, and changed the oil. About ready for the long drive from Alaska down to South Dakota.

Finally installed the right plugs for the air rail. Also plugged the T-stat housing. Added the seal above the T-stat because the coolant was leaking past and not letting the engine come up to temp quickly.

Pulled the snow plow off today. Pretty nice unit that'll be up for sale soon. Hydraulic controls up/down/left/right. 👌🏼 Can anybody tell me what each of the switches are for on my dash. Alot of them I'm familiar with, but there are a few I've never seen since they weren't in my 1977 FJ40...

I poured WD40 down into each cylinder and waited about 24 hours. Put my 24" breaker bar and 46 mm socket onto the crankshaft pulley nut and couldn't budge it. Guessing I had around 100-150 ft-lbs of torque on it. Bummer, but not unexpected. I may drop the oil pan and loosen up the crankshaft...

Did you do the swap yourself? I'm tempted to go this direction, but am a bit nervous of the electrical/wiring side of things. What tranny do you use? Seems like a lot of work to do an LS swap for 13 mpg. Obviously way more power, but unless I'm towing a camper (which isn't the plan) the power...

Why do you say that? Do you drive one with the V8? How's the fuel economy and how's it do off-road going slow? Thanks in advance!