Desert 40 build (1 Viewer)

[roma042987]

Decided to compile my repairs, modifications, and ramblings of my Yuma fj40 into one place. Rewind back to March 9th 2018. Searching Craigslist during a work trip to Yuma Arizona I came across a sweet 1969 Mercedes 220d. In the back ground of one of the photos was 69 Chevelle so figured it was at least worth a trip to see what the guy had. I pull up to the house and there is a 75 fj40 sitting next to the Chevelle. I wasn't sure which car to look at first. The 40 belonged to a friend that lived near by and was available, but not listed for sale. I don't recall what price he had in mind but the timing was terrible. I bought the Mercedes and snapped these photos of the 40. It was in decent shape compared to most 40s, but far from perfect. I pushed it out of my mind with the thought that if I ever want to pull the trigger on it, I knew where it was at. I frequent Yuma quiet often and it was only about a 1/8 mile off my commute route. I kept an eye on it over the next couple of years but the stars never aligned.

 

[roma042987]

It was a January 75 model with an earlier hard top installed.

Interior was pretty pitiful, no dash pad, no heater, missing dash pulls, a tiny aftermarket steering wheel, and camo seat covers that the desert sun had turned pink.

Under the hood was what I was told was a 283 small block Chevrolet engine. I don't know my Chevy engines but I was later told by someone that it wasn't a 283 and appeared to be a 350 or 305 so who knows. The engine conversion appeared to be well executed, the 2f bell housing was in the original location and had a roughly 6 inch adapter of sorts, mating the GM engine to the toyota bell housing. Someone had built a nice fan shroud for the v8 and the ram horn manifolds provided ample clearances throughout.

 

[roma042987]

Fast forward 3 years to March of 2021, one of my co-workers in Yuma tells me about an fj40 sitting in a guys back yard, I get the where abouts and go check it out. What do you know it's the same 40, it didn't change hands, turns out the owner just brought it home from his buddies house. Timing is a little better this time and we strike a deal.

The 40 hasn't been started in close to 6 years at this point but he tells me the SBC had a leaky fuel pump which he already has a replacement for and probably only needs a battery and carb resealed. We put the battery on the charger, and I came back the next day and installed the fuel pump. It fires right up, the carb leak is barely a seep so I take the top off and take it for a 130 or so mile first day shake down run out to Picacho.

 

[roma042987]

The roll bar had this funky second hoop welded on I presume to make the bikini top a little more tolerable.

 

[roma042987]

 

[roma042987]

The guy I bought the 40 from was a mechanic on an army base by trade so he had went through the drum brakes at some point and did a few other things. He had picked the 40 up from another military guy from around 29 palms or China Lake I don't recall exactly. Allegedly that a****** was who thought it would be a good idea to toss the heater. Someone installed these ubolt skids and made a decent skid plate for it.

 

[roma042987]

 

[roma042987]

I stay in a hotel when I'm in Yuma and don't really have a ton of access for storage in terms of tools and such so I had to be somewhat creative working on my cruisers out here. I'd fly out with parts and tools for whatever project I was wanting to work on for that particular trip. Having said that there were a few decisions made right out of the gate. The hardtop had a rusty gutter and was incorrect for a 75 so it was sold. With the proceeds I ordered some factory style bows. My friend Tucker donated a bunch of parts from the two trucks we built together so I already had a mint factory style canvas style top for it.
I made a list of tools and parts to bring out on my next Yuma trip. Back then I had to resort to working on it in hotel or whatever kind of empty parking lot I could find. I have access to MWR shops here in town but you have to pay by the hour at those and I rarely needed to utilize them for most projects.
I took the Rochester carb home and cleaned it up and installed a rebuild kit.

These frame gussets and one tow hook were missing so I brought out and installed a set of those.

 

[roma042987]

I found a 1975 license plate to register the truck with my initials on it to boot. I brought out the bumperettes and tag bracket.

This 120 degree summer was particularly hot so I used a school parking lot to work on the 40. It had shade structures and no school activities on weekends so that was convenient. I brought out my cordless grinder and removed the extra hoop from the roll bar this trip. Also installed a factory 75 steering wheel.

 

[roma042987]

The seats got reupholstered twice because a cat at my hotel decided the seat backs would look better perforated literally the day after i had them done. I also installed a seat riser and extension kit I had laying around. It was missing the rear brackets so I used some extra passenger side ones I had from another truck. Then I made extensions to move it back even further. Which actually made it comfortable to drive.

 

[roma042987]

 

[roma042987]

The old seat covers before upholstery

 

[roma042987]

Despite the drum brakes being rebuilt they were still sketchy, especially rolling backwards down an incline. They probably needed adjusted but I'm not a fan of drums up front so I started looking for parts to do a conversion. In March of last year I found a disk brake 40 axle in Phoenix. I drove over from Yuma and stuffed it in the back of the rental. A friend of mine let me use his garage to get it under the 40.

 

[cruisermatt]

awesome, do you just keep it in a storage unit when you are back east?

 

[roma042987]

awesome, do you just keep it in a storage unit when you are back east?

yeah, I have a couple of toys out here in a storage unit. Have been house shopping but prices are a bit crazy now.

 

[roma042987]

The axle I picked up appeared to be freshly rebuilt, even the rotors had no surface rust on them. The excitement was short lived however, the trunion bearings felt crunchy and upon the initial drive around the block the rotor got chewed up from the bearings being improperly adjusted on one side. The inner seal was incorrectly installed and the caliper bolts were stripped on one of the knuckles. Apparently some hack job rebuilt the axle. I bought new Toyota rotors and pads, installed Time-Serts into the knuckle, and rebuilt the kuckles with a Sumo kit and Koyo wheel bearings. I've generally used Terrain Tamer kits in the past and was pleasantly surprised the Sumo kit is a step up with spindle washers and nuts some of which this truck turned out to be missing. I didn't have a knuckle centering tool with me in Yuma so Jimmy @CenTXFJ60 was kind enough to ship me his to my hotel. More hotel parking lot shenanigans.

 

[roma042987]

The free wheel hubs were nasty so, I took them home and vapor honed them and powder coated the dials. Also installed new hardware.

 

[roma042987]

Mid summer I got a storage unit and a little better place to work on the 40. These 40s drive like ass with no power steering so that was up next. Since I have minimal tools and no welder in AZ I welded the column, drag link and boxing plate, back home and installed it using a lower column bearing from Kurt. I had to get creative with how to box the frame with a bolt in solution. Started clearancing the tower for the box.

 

[roma042987]

 

[roma042987]

Added this Saginaw pump kit to the small block

I initially installed this cooler but wasn't happy with it and ended up removing it. Had a high pressure hose made up locally.