Builds 1966 FJ40 Frame-Off Build (3rd Generation Owner) (1 Viewer)

[Rock40]

Transmission tear down....

Scraping 51 years worth of crud off the case....

Disassembly is fairly straightforward. Oh look...Chiclets!!

 

[Rock40]

Getting cleaner....

Unfortunatey, 1st gear is throwing in the towel. Between really heavy scale rust and chipped gear teeth, this gear is going to join the wall of shame...alongside other roasted FJ40 parts. It'll be right at home next to my collection of melted U-joints and spun transfer case output bearings.

 

[Rock40]

Transmission case is all cleaned, up, I'll wash all the transfer case and transmission housings multiple time before primer and paint

 

[Rock40]

Moved on to the steering box assembly...it's completely caked with very "wet" grease/gear oil. The box itself however feels very tight so I think we just need some new seals here.

Scraped and run through the parts washer

If I had to guess, I suspect the atrocious gear oil leak is coming from here. This is the sector shaft seal

 

[Rock40]

Stop being so noisy!!! I swear this his how my shepherd is going to monitor this frame off...

 

[Rigger]

This thread rocks!

 

[Bshaunessy]

Great thread. Love the pics. Just finished this whole process on a 1966 FJ45 /F engine/3 speed.
Got a chuckle from the comment "look...chiclets"!........I was surprised when they all showed up unexpectedly at the bottom of the transmission case....(I think there was supposed to be 56 of them....only counted 55 and had to get a whole fresh set of 56 from SOR.....NEVER did find the awol chiclet!)

 

[theamigo]

Yes, it's going to be blasted and powdercoated locally. I've had VERY good success with powdercoat parts on my 69' FJ40. The prep work is absolutely key.

How well can blasting get inside the frame rails? I'm trying to settle on how to treat my frame when I start...

 

[Rock40]

Great thread. Love the pics. Just finished this whole process on a 1966 FJ45 /F engine/3 speed.
Got a chuckle from the comment "look...chiclets"!........I was surprised when they all showed up unexpectedly at the bottom of the transmission case....(I think there was supposed to be 56 of them....only counted 55 and had to get a whole fresh set of 56 from SOR.....NEVER did find the awol chiclet!)

Yeah, there are a TON of them. I really wish Toyota would have designed these to run a bearing with a race; like the countershaft bearings for the transfer case. Those are so much easier to work with. It takes a bunch of grease to hold everything together during assembly.

 

[Rock40]

How well can blasting get inside the frame rails? I'm trying to settle on how to treat my frame when I start...

It'll do very well but it really depends on who is going to do the blasting. The commercial guns are capable of flowing a large amount of blast media very quickly. I'll make sure that they focus the blasting around all the frame ports and also run the gun up into both ends of the frame.

I used Sandblasters Inc. up in Marysville, WA and they have done very good work for me in the past. I brought in my 69' M416 trailer and they did a great job. Bottom line is there is no better way to prep metal for whatever coating you want to use. On this project, I'm going to take the frame up to Skagit Powder Coating in Burlington, WA because they will do the blasting and the powdercoating all on the same premises. They've done a bunch of work me in the past also and the again, their quality and attention to detail is very good.

Trailer had years of mostly brush applied paint all over it.

Tub is freshly blasted, onto the frame...

Frame during assembly and paint, I remember not taking a photo when it was done at the blasters because they were rushed and I was worried it was going to rain on the return home. Not good for bare metal obviously

 

[Rock40]

Daily update...

Clear coat on the transfer case, PTO cover, top shift cover and vacuum diaphragm will all be custom powdercoated in CA. Those parts in the pics are just extra I have lying around to keep the clear off the sealing surfaces

Primed the transmission case also

Then painted it

 

[Rock40]

Set the engine at TDC, verified it with the flywheel timing marker and checking that #1 cylinder was visible through the spark plug hole

And then things got interesting when I started to pull the engine. I'd already seen that the passenger side motor mount was shredded.

The drivers side mount was super loose and neither bolt had the required cotter pin installed to keep everything in place

And what's this? lug nuts are holding the front motor mounts on!! Jason said there is a story behind this, something about Vegas...? Please tell. Look at how nothing fits right, unsafe at best

 

[Rock40]

Engine out, it's now on a rolling pallet and out of the way until it's ready to be worked on

Got the frame up on big jackstands after pulling the engine. Pulled off the wheels and tires that are constantly going flat. This is what is waiting for me on the front axle rebuild, yuck

 

[Rock40]

Jason, at some point, the OEM studs holding on the rear differential cover where replaced with bolts. There are only 2/10 studs left. The differential looks good though, I pulled the semi-float C-clips in preparation of tearing down the rear axle.

I really MUST know what happened here. You can see where the rod has been rubbing on the differential also. So bent!!

Clear coated transfer case parts are ready for assembly

 

[Rock40]

Cleaned up all the 3 speed transmission components in preparation for reassembly. So many little needle bearings in this design

Then I saw this...who in the hell hit the front input shaft bearing surface with a cut off wheel?? Another part for the scrap pile. I'm headed to Elma, WA tomorrow first thing in the morning to pick up another 3 speed transmission for the 1st/reverse gear. I'm hoping that input shaft will be good.

I also had some time to put primer and color on a few parts that are starting to pile up. Here's the clutch release fork, transfer case parking brake backing plate and a shift pivot for the 4WD vacuum assembly

 

[65swb45]

Just saw this thread for the first time Jason. Now I understand why you are in Bakersfield, but you had me sent the parts to WA.

You're definitely going to have to pull the cylinder head. Have it tanked and mag'd. Chances are, it's cracked. When I finally changed the original head on my '64, I had been smelling puffs of coolant in the exhaust at start up for several years, but was adding less than 4 oz/month, so I wasn't worried about it.

After dropping a rebuilt head on the truck and putting it back together same-day, I sent the old head off to the machine shop just for sheits and giggles. They called me two days later and said 'you've got to be kidding: 7 cracks.

Unfortunately the F135 heads are prone to cracking. The replacement head lasted 6 months or so before I started smelling puffs of coolant on startup.

BTW, gramps swapped intakes as well as exhaust. That carb and manifold are not stock.

 

[Rock40]

Just saw this thread for the first time Jason. Now I understand why you are in Bakersfield, but you had me sent the parts to WA.

You're definitely going to have to pull the cylinder head. Have it tanked and mag'd. Chances are, it's cracked. When I finally changed the original head on my '64, I had been smelling puffs of coolant in the exhaust at start up for several years, but was adding less than 4 oz/month, so I wasn't worried about it.

After dropping a rebuilt head on the truck and putting it back together same-day, I sent the old head off to the machine shop just for sheits and giggles. They called me two days later and said 'you've got to be kidding: 7 cracks.

Unfortunately the F135 heads are prone to cracking. The replacement head lasted 6 months or so before I started smelling puffs of coolant on startup.

BTW, gramps swapped intakes as well as exhaust. That carb and manifold are not stock.

Yeah, I knew that exhaust had been fooled with (obvious with a 6-1 header) but I figured the intake manifold was still original, thanks for that tip. The two do not "coexist" well as the retainers/studs/washers are pretty funky. I too, would not be shocked if the head was cracked but we'll find out when the whole engine goes out for rebuild here. Would you try to locate a period correct head for replacement if necessary or swap a later year head onto it?

 

[Rock40]

I'm beginning to feel that I am simply the bearer of continual bad news...I went down this evening just to pull the steering links apart and found this...

I did not do this. The driver side steering knuckle arm is SEVERELY bent to the point where it's contacting the brake backing plate. I removed the tie rods with a puller and a small ball peen hammer when things got really stuck.

If I had to make a wild guess, I'd say somebody used the tie rod and drag link as a winch point. That's the only way we can explain why all the steering stuff is so badly bent on a more or less stock truck that's never been wheeled hard (or at all). And yeah, that tie rod head is mushroomed because I whacked it with the ball peen (maybe 1/2lb) but the arm was bent before that. The tie rods were REALLY stuck into the steering arms.

 

[65swb45]

I wouldn't spend another cent on the motor until the machine shop puts their blessing on it.

 

[Rock40]

That's where it's eventually headed in a few months, I guess we'll know then

I wouldn't spend another cent on the motor until the machine shop puts their blessing on it.