Builds 1966 FJ40 Frame-Off Build (3rd Generation Owner) (3 Viewers)

[Rock40]

Jason, I also looked at the brake union bolts and the unions themselves. They are all pretty crusty as you are aware.

I got the seal washer off of it (totally stuck in place) then put this in the blaster. The bolt is steel and cleans up well, I only focused on the head when it was in the media blaster. I think we should be able to have all these CAD plated unless somebody else on the forum thinks otherwise?

 

[Rock40]

Made this tool after stealing the design from the FJ40 tool section. It's functional and pulled the rear semi-float axle bearings well. The "slide" could be a bit heavier but I made it out of scrap I had lying around.

I then started attacking the front axle 3rd member prior to pulling all the 3rd member studs and pulling the 3rd. This is after an hour of scrubbing and an entire can of brake cleaner

The front axle/3rd member is fully functional but gross, really gross

 

[Rock40]

Before this project, I did not know that the older 40's (ball and claw axle style) completely lack front axle seals. Besides the bushings, there is nothing to isolate the gear oil from the knuckle. Not a great design and it's pretty obvious why Toyota started putting seals in the front axle. Yuck...

There is so much grease/gear oil cross contamination in the front axle housing that it just about made grease stalagmites.

I started swabbing it all out using a copious amount of paper towels...this was by far the messiest part of this entire job so far.

Look, a grease slug

 

[Rock40]

The axles are now "done" and are ready for media blasting and powder coating. I'm ready to start working on some clean parts...

The only piece left which has yet to be disassembled/addressed is the F135 engine. I rolled it out to do a compression test this afternoon. Jason told me this engine has only 70,000 original miles on it. I figure that at a minimum, the head needs to be pulled to try to figure out how coolant is reaching the oil.

To reiterate, coolant came out with the oil when I drained the engine oil. I'd estimate about 2oz or so. I rigged it up for the compression test with the battery out of my 84' Toyota truck. The engine itself is supported with the hoist and ratchet straps down onto the pallet.

Here are the compression test #'s
Dry, cylinders 1-6: 150, 149, 152, 129, 150, 156
Light oil (WD40) cylinders 1-6: 153, 152, 155, 132, 155, 158
Clean engine oil, cylinders 1-6: 165, 170, 170, 142, 165, 170
I trust this compression tester, I've owned it over 20 years and it's of good quality. This unfortunately, is about the best reading I could get on cylinder #4. It does hold pressure pretty well, it bled down about 10psi in 20 minutes or so.

Cylinder #4 looks to be our problem as it is vastly different from the other 5

I pulled the valve cover next, the valve cover nuts were very over-torqued here. The rocker assembly looks super clean

And then I noticed this...what the hell?? I'm assuming somebody put it there because they were concerned the oil union was going to "float" off of the rocker???

 

[Rock40]

I'm looking for suggestions from educated "F" engine folks on where to proceed next with this. Obviously the head will be the next part to come off. At this point I'm thinking of having the head magnafluxed and checked for cracks. I'm also hoping I can clear out the coolant passages in the block with the head off. Please chime in here with advice

 

[Rock40]

The head is now off and I suspect this is not for the first time. There is evidence of some water intrusion in cylinders #3 and #4 especially. The head gasket was intact. I also managed to un-plug the rear coolant passage enough in order to drain the coolant from the block.

 

[Rock40]

Finally!!

 

[Rock40]

Totally stripped the external block this evening...

Everything shows signs of disassembly at some point. There is red RTV caked everywhere and many of the bolts are mixed up and not of the right length. Pull the pan, crankshaft pulley and timing cover and this is ready to go to rebuild though.

 

[Jason Reed]

Totally stripped the external block this evening...
View attachment 1406239

Everything shows signs of disassembly at some point. There is red RTV caked everywhere and many of the bolts are mixed up and not of the right length. Pull the pan, crankshaft pulley and timing cover and this is ready to go to rebuild though.
View attachment 1406240

And it continues to get more interesting. . As @Rock40 and I talked today, a prime example of why you don't let people work on these in depth as to the engine, trans, transfer, diffs, etc... that have zero expeirience in these. My Dad had no clue, just that he needed his Cruiser fixed when he had he problem in Vegas in '96/97. It's nice to know that his thing is going to be done right. Really happy with the progress @Rock40 has made on this and the direction we are going. Full rebuild ahead to match this entire frame off, nut/bolt resto.

 

[Rock40]

Initial magnaflux of the head indicates that it's NOT cracked and the head is currently being hot tanked. It will get checked again for any cracks when totally clean and prior to assembly. That's GOOD news.

In the meantime, I'm working on paring down the pile of parts which need to be media blasted and painted. I'm filling this box right up. Fortunately the pile of dirty parts is a bit smaller than the clean pile currently.

 

[Rock40]

Jason has already seen pics of this new development...I pulled the coffin cover on my way out the door to work this afternoon and saw this...

I knew it was a bit buggered up but the extent of it (along with the big kink) was unexpected. I'm imagining that the mechanic back in Vegas 20 years ago snagged and bent the feed tube while trying to put the head back on with the backwards head gasket. At this point, I could quite literally punch that mechanic in the face

 

[Jason Reed]

Poor Ross is so over the Vegas guy, I'm gonna owe him so much beer over my invoice it's not even funny.

 

[Rock40]

Poor Ross is so over the Vegas guy, I'm gonna owe him so much beer over my invoice it's not even funny.

Yes, and I do enjoy a nice IPA
I tore into the steering box this morning. The oil was pretty nasty but could have been worse.

Worm gear and sector shaft exposed

I think this seal is our culprit for the atrocious leak Jason. The rubber was very, very hard and the lips of the seal were significantly worn down.

Is this a factory way of securing this nut in place? It looks a bit messy, there is also some weld spatter all over the surrounding area on the sector shaft

 

[Rock40]

All the associated steering box parts are now clean and ready for reassembly.

As far as I can tell, there is no seal on the "input" shaft coming into the box. I'm indicating to the area with the screwdriver. I'm assuming Toyota figured good ol' gravity was just going to keep the gear oil in its place? Is this really correct?

 

[Jason Reed]

Here on my end in CA. Passenger rear 1/4, pass. floor, pass. & drivers inner/outer rockers, rear sill plate - all IN. Drivers 1/4 left and body is done and all welded in.

 

[Rock40]

When I said the engine is caked in red RTV this is what I mean...

This chunk of RTV around the timing cover is probably 3/8" think in places.

Made a redneck puller to remove the crankshaft pulley. Just like the Toyota SST except it cost me nothing

The crankshaft pulley looks to be in fine shape along with the woodruff key, that's good.

Aligning the crankshaft and camshaft timing marks...

Please note the hammer strikes on the face of the crankshaft gear...there's more to come

 

[Rock40]

Today was "make a free puller" day at my shop. I got a bit creative to pull the crankshaft gear as the gear is threaded for a bit of an oddball 10mmx1.5 bolt. I had bolts, but they weren't long enough hence cutting the heads off and welding 3/8x16 nuts onto them. You can laugh, but it worked flawlessly.

And here are two pics of just how much punishment the camshaft gear took at some point. Obviously, somebody removed the gear at some point and then in a rage, proceeded to pound it back onto the camshaft with a BFH during assembly. The gear surface is pretty beat up and the camshaft is missing a chunk out of the end of it.

I removed the camshaft then used a puller to pull the gear. It came off relatively easily but there are some marks on the cam (where the gear seats) which indicate it's possibly a bit out of round.

 

[Rock40]

Just heard back from the engine rebuilder regarding the head also. Great news is it's not cracked!! However, 11 of 12 valve guides were totally shot and he will be replacing all of them with new bronze bushings.

In addition, he decked .004 off the head as it was no longer flat. He will also verify that the intake/exhaust sealing surface is flat.

All OEM valves are being ground and he is going to put Viton valve seals in the head instead of the Toyota ones as the OEM seals actually only sit on top of the valve stem and do not seal around it. It should come back Saturday and be perfect when he's done with it.

 

[Rock40]

Oh, and I believe the camshaft gear was likely beaten onto the cam itself while the cam was installed in the block. Look at the surface of the #1 cam bearing

 

[Jason Reed]

Good job Vegas guy, great work!