My 75 and a stint with Jim C. (1 Viewer)

[Goebeler]

My cruiser decided to show no oil pressure and stall. My son was driving it to soccer practice about a mile from my home. I told him to simply park it and I would come check it out.

Quickly the obvious issue was the engine was toast. Locked up.

 

[Goebeler]

After towing it home and trying to get it to turn over, I realized things were going from bad to worse. My cruiser is pretty clean and my baby so I slid it in the garage and prepared for a project.

I am a parts replacer at best mechanically. Lurking on Mud for many years has taught me to do what I know I can do and farm out what I can’t. Engine rebuild isn't in my skill set.

So after reading about how to rebuild the original engine, I figured it was time to pull it out.

 

[JohnBoy]

May the force be with you!

 

[Goebeler]

So as I removed parts, I cleaned and bagged and tagged hinges as next as I could. Kind of how I do things because of a little OCD.

I decided to make a call to a guy I read about and read quite a few things he posted over the years. Knowing all well he might say too busy and or not the right project for him.

Call went out to Jim C. He answered and as I described my truck and project he at one point laughed. He realized I was in over my head and said he would take on my project when he had a slot for it.

I told him I had torn down the engine and also had a second for parts in the case he needed something for the build.

Months later he said he had some time and bring him the engine and parts. I literally brought him boxes and buckets of parts. Kind of like a toyota jig saw puzzle.

He has now rebuilt the engine, rebuilt the carb, distributor, and about every other part on the engine.

With some help from Onur (Beno), John Pardion, and a bunch of others for some oem parts, I have an engine that is period correct with some hidden upgrades and or slightly update parts.

 

[Goebeler]

Part of our agreement on the project was that Jim would install the engine once done and get everything tuned and ready to go.

Last weekend I drove the 7 hours from my place to Jim’s and dropped off the cruiser. We rolled it in his shop and off I went back to Illinois without my baby. I have had this cruiser for 20 years and its only been out of my garage for 6 months when I first bought it.

Jim can chime in when time permits on what he has been doing and some of the cool mods he did along the way. I hope working on a fairly original and rust free cruiser is a nice break from our typical rust belt cruisers.

 

[1969FJ]

Great, but WHAT was the original issue and so forth ??? I know locked up, but why ??

 

[ozcrusier]

Now's the time to touch up those front panels to green from the original white paint.

 

[White Stripe]

Wow how old are your tires?

 

[tls3601]

Can’t wait to hear “the rest of The story” he made my ‘78 purr

 

[Goebeler]

Tires are fresh... They were installed 18 or so years ago. I have Oem wheels and caps ready to go back on now that there are plans to actually drive the thing further than a couple miles from my house. Going back to talk skinny look.

I am not real sure what caused the failure. Always assumed from sitting the oil flow got messed up. I changed it and we drive it for a few months with no issues. Also wondered if fuel pump leaked and caused issues inside the engine to thin oil. The oil when drained looked great and like it was new. The bearings sure looked shot as well as most of the lobes on the cam....

When Jim returns from his trip he can chime in on what happened.

 

[Littl42]

Tires are fresh... They were installed 18 or so years ago.



you mean 18 months???

 

[Goebeler]

I wasn’t kidding... 18 years ago. I was out in my shop abusing my liver one Saturday am and called an add in 4wheeler magazine and ordered up the tire and wheel package, warn winch, and the 4” suspension lift. I remember the next week well as things kept showing up and i was smiling while my wife was wondering when it might stop.

Funny in that the tires look brand new. Guessing 200 miles max and stored in the garage for quite a long time only to get rolled around a bit.. Almost collectible antiques soon.

Can’t wait to see it back on the road with 33-9.5 or so.

 

[samc2447]

Tires degrade over time and most tire manufacturers recommend replacement after they are 6-10 years old. Lack of exposure to the elements will certainly help, but at 18 years, I personally would replace them.

Great looking truck and look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

[Goebeler]

Trust me, tires are gone when the truck comes back. Always planned on replacing. Just got lazy over the years cause I would only drive it a mile here and there. The plan now is to drive it often, bring it on rv trips, and wheel quite a few passes out west with my father while his back and spine can still handle the old school ride.

 

[dad4x4]

Great thread, can’t wait to see it. You have a very clean 40.

 

[pistonpete]

NICE RIG, Good luck with the motor. Will be watching.

If only we could get those old BFG's, they where the best..

 

[FJ40Jim]

The engine failure was several rods burned up & welded to the crank. Other parts were in normal mid-life condition. This is consistent with hella overreving a 2F with the racy 4-speed trans. See "teenage driver" for further clarification.

I see plenty of FJ40s here that are (according to the owners) in "good shape, just needs a tuneup or a rebuilt engine or a new clutch". They turn out to need brakes that brake, steering that steers, wiring that conducts electricity, etc. What usually shows up is a rusty, neglected mess. Fortunately, Goeb's truck is the real deal: a rust-free, not too modified Arizona FJ40.

The engine that is original to the truck had a very bad crank & rods, but good block & head. A very tired shortblock was also provided. The crank & 3 rods from the extra engine were added to the original block & head, along with new pistons, reground cam & lifters, new OE oil/fuel/water pumps, rebuilt 81-87 manifolds, rebuilt dissy upgraded from vac retard to advance, rebuilt '76 carb, new clutch.... All the usual stuff.

The engine had a Weber carb on it, but they had kept the original throttle linkage & air cleaner, so upgrading back to the OE 76 carb was pretty straightforward. The weber install also included a hatchet desmog, so the desmog was finished up correctly.

more to come...

Edit: added crummy potatophone pics.

 

[swelltimes]

The engine failure was several rods burned up & welded to the crank. Other parts were in normal mid-life condition. This is consistent with hella overreving a 2F with the racy 4-speed trans. See "teenage driver" for further clarification.

I see plenty of FJ40s here that are (according to the owners) in "good shape, just needs a tuneup or a rebuilt engine or a new clutch". They turn out to need brakes that brake, steering that steers, wiring that conducts electricity, etc. What usually shows up is a rusty, neglected mess. Fortunately, Goeb's truck is the real deal: a rust-free, not too modified Arizona FJ40.

The engine that is original to the truck had a very bad crank & rods, but good block & head. A very tired shortblock was also provided. The crank & 3 rods from the extra engine were added to the original block & head, along with new pistons, reground cam & lifters, new OE oil/fuel/water pumps, rebuilt 81-87 manifolds, rebuilt dissy upgraded from vac retard to advance, rebuilt '76 carb, new clutch.... All the usual stuff.

The engine had a Weber carb on it, but they had kept the original throttle linkage & air cleaner, so upgrading back to the OE 76 carb was pretty straightforward. The weber install also included a hatchet desmog, so the desmog was finished up correctly.

more to come...

Edit: added crummy potatophone pics.

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I love threads like this! Great to see the attention to detail that goes into getting a 40 back on the road.

 

[erics]

Jim why red paint on the head?

 

[tstepp920]

I NEED FJ40Jim to rebuild my engine!