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

[Rock40]

Just lovely

And here's the driver side knuckle, the grease is actually a bit more "grease" like on this side.

This shows just how much crud is caked on the back of the backing plates and the knuckles. The pressure washer wouldn't even touch this stuff.

It's apart

 

[Rock40]

Awesome, both sides suffered complete lower trunnion bearing failure. The little bearings just fell out like Chiclets and the inner race is stuck on the lower bearing caps. I've never seen this before, not even on a hard wheeled FJ40, I'm guessing this stuff is all original

Backing plate absolutely coated in junk

 

[Rock40]

Forgot to add this special pic...

This is the driver side and yeah, I've already removed the outer adjustment/lock nut. Then I realized...The star washer is on the WRONG side and doing absolutely nothing!! Who the hell put this together like this?? Again, chiseled nuts here...

 

[65swb45]

Welcome to my world!

You need to show Jason what the races look like in the axle housing. Chances are they rival my Wall of Shame.

 

[Rock40]

The trunnions races are horrible, like waves on the sea instead of nice and smooth. I'm saving them just to chuckle over

 

[Jason Reed]

Again, Ross killed it today. The front knuckle and parts look like fun, NOT... This thread keeps getting more interesting as I read it each night. . The progress is impressive and I can't thank Ross @Rock40 enough for posting this. Not only for others to see and learn from, but so I can show the family back home how this family FJ40 is coming back to life 50 years later. So stoked on this project.

 

[65swb45]

Jason

You are welcome to call the shop with additional parts requests. I do my level best to save my PM box for socializing; it is a constant challenge.

 

[Jason Reed]

10-

Jason

You are welcome to call the shop with additional parts requests. I do my level best to save my PM box for socializing; it is a constant challenge.

10-4 Mark. Will talk soon...

 

[Rock40]

Jason, these are the little sheet metal rings which go on the back of the knuckle. They retain the felt and rubber oil seals. Both sides (4 pieces) are pretty badly bent from over torque on the retention bolts and I would not trust them to seal correctly. You can source new OEM ones or Trail Gear (and I'm not a TG fan) makes a much thicker set. That's about the only TG part I'd ever recommend.

Started tearing down the hub dials after the passenger side knuckle parts sat in the parts washer overnight. Took some serious scrubbing but things are a bit cleaner today...

Hub dials had green, white and blue paint all over them. The white paint was definitely latex based

I ended up really liking these old Warn hubs as I got into them. They are super simplistic and obviously of quality craftsmanship. Good old days of USA parts

The only markings these have on them are "M470", that may help us ID them if you want to get new O-rings and whatnot

 

[Jason Reed]

Back here in California, I started to break out more of the smaller stuff for re-assemble and started inventorying and catagorizing.

Pedals and some misc. parts back from the powder coaters.

 

[Jason Reed]

I did my own 4WD transfer assembly (which is scary), but trying to self educate and do a few of the mechanical stuff my self on the small stuff, @Rock40 gets the bigger items. Took apart, cleaned the springs, seals, all was OK, did a nice paint on box and bracket was powder coated. Engages and dis-engages smooth now cleaned up the screen, new bolts and coffee pin

 

[Jason Reed]

More cool stuff back from the chrome shop and found all my new lights....

 

[Jason Reed]

The one thing I was most nervous about was re-conditioning these small plastic parts, but the guy in LA (a little pricey), but was super cool and work was quality to me.

 

[Jason Reed]

The one thing I was most nervous about was re-conditioning these small plastic parts, but the guy in LA (a little pricey), but was super cool and work was quality to me.

View attachment 1402370

My Dad lost the 4WD (F.D.) pull knob somewhere along the way. This one is t period correct, so that is my next find (hopefully). I think the one I picked up in the pic is for later model.

 

[Jason Reed]

The oil canister came out nice....

 

[Jason Reed]

And probably my best find so far besides that @Rock40 guy , is this period correct with all factory plugs wiring harness @Coolerman does. My God what a time saver and something nice to work with. So excited to get this.

 

[Rock40]

Old Man Emu stuff showed up today...

And it took a significant amount of work to get the knuckles to this point. I also pulled all the knuckle studs, only 2/16 were actually tight, the others were either loose entirely or hand tight. These have a few more steps to go before paint but they are close.

 

[Disasterman]

Very nice work on the chrome and especially the small parts. Name of the small parts shop?

Took a look at this whole thread, good read and a great story.

 

[jvincig01]

My Dad lost the 4WD (F.D.) pull knob somewhere along the way. This one is t period correct, so that is my next find (hopefully). I think the one I picked up in the pic is for later model.

I think I know where you can get one. Send me a PM and I will point you in the direction where I got mine.

 

[Rock40]

Worked on this a few more hours this morning, blasted quite a few parts that had been starting to pile up, removed old brake lines from unions, then started tearing down the rear axle.

Rear brakes on this actually looked pretty good, neither of the axle seals were leaking and the bearings appear to be good too.

Put the whole mess up on stands and started to scrape and degrease the 3rd member before disassembly. I'm not going to have either of the axle housings blasted and powdercoated with the 3rd's in place. Used a variety of brushes, wire wheels on a die grinder, brake cleaner and diesel fuel to get it to this point. The lovely orange paint is of course everywhere....

Tried to separate the 3rd from the housing at this point. ABSOULTELY no go. Pulled all the studs in the hopes of freeing it up more and finally got it separate with the help of a chisel, several screwdrivers and a lot of whacks with a dead blow hammer. The 3rd member itself is in fine shape, I'm just going to clean everything, prime, paint and install a new pinion seal.

Bare rear housing, just the axle bearings need to come out at this point.