The best part is seeing all the acorns, nuts, and nest material shoot out of the exhaust!!!
1966 FJ45LV Resurrection
- Thread starter FJinTegaCay
- Start date
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- Joined
- Jan 16, 2003
- Threads
- 345
- Messages
- 3,656
- Location
- Charleston
- Website
- www.oldenorthstatecruisers.com
David this is awesome. Still can't wait to see this truck in person.
- Thread starter
- #23
This was a very uneventful week. I managed to remove the old clutch master cylinder (tricky given the brake booster blocked one of the bolts) and I adhered my first sticker.
- Thread starter
- #25
I made decent progress this last week thanks to help from a neighbor, @forrest5000 and @Roxx. Things crossed off my to-do list include: Installation of the new clutch master and slave cylinders; bled the brakes; replaced the rear pinion seal (thanks @beno for getting it to me so quickly!); installed the repaired driveshaft; base-lined the fluids in the transmission, transfer case and rear differential; and lubed all the zerk fittings I could access. I checked the grease in the knuckles and surprisingly it looked fresh and plentiful.
Unfortunately, the gas tank proved more difficult than expected for the radiator shop to clean. They are hoping to have it ready before next weekend. If they do, I am hoping to have it, a new fuel line and a used Optima Red Top battery (purchased from an ONSC member - thanks @addicted56 ) installed by this time next week as I am dying to see it move under its own power.
The waterpump appears to have failed as coolant is slowly dripping from the weep hole. Beno said and ClemsonCruiser confirmed I cannot get OEM. Looks like I'll be placing an order with $OR and replacing it with an aftermarket water pump unless someone else has a good idea.
Unfortunately, the gas tank proved more difficult than expected for the radiator shop to clean. They are hoping to have it ready before next weekend. If they do, I am hoping to have it, a new fuel line and a used Optima Red Top battery (purchased from an ONSC member - thanks @addicted56 ) installed by this time next week as I am dying to see it move under its own power.
The waterpump appears to have failed as coolant is slowly dripping from the weep hole. Beno said and ClemsonCruiser confirmed I cannot get OEM. Looks like I'll be placing an order with $OR and replacing it with an aftermarket water pump unless someone else has a good idea.
- Thread starter
- #26
This was another milestone weekend. The LV moved under its own power. 
As I have not yet reinstalled the fuel tank, with a gas can bungeed to the passenger side fender I drove the LV twice this weekend, staying within a couple hundred yards of my house.
Thankfully, there were no surprises and on the second short outing my wife and girls climbed in the front seat with me.
As I have not yet reinstalled the fuel tank, with a gas can bungeed to the passenger side fender I drove the LV twice this weekend, staying within a couple hundred yards of my house.
Thankfully, there were no surprises and on the second short outing my wife and girls climbed in the front seat with me.
Before the naysayer pitch on, I have seen the video so it did happen 
Congrats David!
Congrats David!
- Thread starter
- #29
Progress has continued on the LV despite my lack of updates.
I was able to get the freshly painted fuel tank and straps reinstalled. As expected, doing it by myself was more difficult than was taking it down. As I expect to clean up the frame in the future, rather than installing a new hard fuel line I picked up some new fuel hose at my local Advance Auto to replace what had been there and ran in inside the frame rail. I hope to soon have it running without the auxilary fuel take (read here: without the gas can bungeed to the fender).
As Thanksgiving is later this month, let me go ahead and thank some people:
As the waterpump arrived from SOR earlier this week, installing it and taking the radiator to the shop are now very high on my to-do list. I hope it will be possible to keep the momentum I've had going recently.
I was able to get the freshly painted fuel tank and straps reinstalled. As expected, doing it by myself was more difficult than was taking it down. As I expect to clean up the frame in the future, rather than installing a new hard fuel line I picked up some new fuel hose at my local Advance Auto to replace what had been there and ran in inside the frame rail. I hope to soon have it running without the auxilary fuel take (read here: without the gas can bungeed to the fender).
As Thanksgiving is later this month, let me go ahead and thank some people:
Thanks to @forrest5000 (Eric) for his help with the truck's electrical over the weekend. While not as exciting as getting the LV moving under its own power, together we were able to get the front and rear heater blowers, windsheild wipers and passenger side turn signals working. I was so happy, I called the wife and kids out into the garage to see and listen. Eric and I also confirmed the fuel tank sending unit is functional and the headlight and marker light bulbs are good (after a little cleaning up). Unfortunately, we have not gotten the headlights to work and the brakelights no longer work. I am hopeful it is something simple like a ground.
Thanks to @roadstr6 (Dave) for dropping by to assess the floors and for looking over the electrical. He showed me that the driver side turn signals are not functioning due to "slop" in the turn signal assembly on the steering wheel. I'm hoping there is a relatively simple fix for this as well.
Thanks to @wout for selling me his rear seat and mounting hardware. The girls and I look forward to their arrival in the next week or so.
Thanks to @Voodoocruisers for the period correct OEM single barrel carb.
Thanks to @roadstr6 (Dave) for dropping by to assess the floors and for looking over the electrical. He showed me that the driver side turn signals are not functioning due to "slop" in the turn signal assembly on the steering wheel. I'm hoping there is a relatively simple fix for this as well.
Thanks to @wout for selling me his rear seat and mounting hardware. The girls and I look forward to their arrival in the next week or so.
Thanks to @Voodoocruisers for the period correct OEM single barrel carb.
As the waterpump arrived from SOR earlier this week, installing it and taking the radiator to the shop are now very high on my to-do list. I hope it will be possible to keep the momentum I've had going recently.
- Thread starter
- #30
They say a picture is worth a thousand words...
Bright lights! Bright lights!
Who remembers the movie that line came from?
PS I am posting two rear quarter panels for FJ45LV in the classifieds in a few. I also have the emblem for the rear. (I am going to keep mine rusty, so I won't need those parts).
Who remembers the movie that line came from?
PS I am posting two rear quarter panels for FJ45LV in the classifieds in a few. I also have the emblem for the rear. (I am going to keep mine rusty, so I won't need those parts).
Gremlins. How much for emblem?
power....watch out you'll blow the globes
- Thread starter
- #34
More progress has been made over the last couple of weeks including the installation of the water pump, new thermostat, new heater and radiator hoses, and the freshly cleaned and painted radiator. All of this took longer than expected for a couple of reasons. I never could get coolant to flow from the block drain despite all the tips and tricks I found on mud (paint can opener, coat hanger, compressed air) and finally decided to move it to the bottom of my to-do list until I have the truck running. Secondly, I had been attempting to put the heater and radiator hoses back together in the configuration they had been in only to find out in talking to a mechanic at SOR that a PO had apparently not plumbed it as it has come from the factory. After doing some research and several trips to my local auto parts store, I finally got it back together just in time for a visit from @ClemsonCruiser (JP) this past Sunday.
JP and I didn't make as much progress as either of us had hoped as the seals on the period correct carb leaked, a jet got clogged shortly after installation and the heater core surprisingly sprung a leak. I'm hopeful the radiator shop I've been using can fix the heater core and JP kindly offered to rebuild the carb for me. We did get new brake cylinders on one of the rear wheels and I hope to install them on the other this week. Thanks again to JP for his help and frienship and making the 2+ hour trip to my small town.
JP and I didn't make as much progress as either of us had hoped as the seals on the period correct carb leaked, a jet got clogged shortly after installation and the heater core surprisingly sprung a leak. I'm hopeful the radiator shop I've been using can fix the heater core and JP kindly offered to rebuild the carb for me. We did get new brake cylinders on one of the rear wheels and I hope to install them on the other this week. Thanks again to JP for his help and frienship and making the 2+ hour trip to my small town.
- Thread starter
- #35
Unfortunately I still have not gotten the heater core repaired. This past Friday I picked up my heater core from the radiator shop I'd been relying on and I plan to take it by another shop later today in hopes that it can be repaired. Thanks to Trollhole, I sourced a heater core from a later model Land Cruiser but without modifications, it can't mounted into the heater box using the mounting screws. Thankfully, two people on mud have offered to sell me used heater cores and heater boxes.
Over the weekend, @forrest5000 buttoned up the wiring (Thanks Eric!) which I sourced from @Coolerman (Thanks again Mark!) while I finished installing brake cylinders, new brake shoes, soft brake lines and then bleeding the brakes (Thanks @elkaholic for letting me borrow your power bleeder). After bypassing the heater core yesterday afternoon, I filled up the radiator, cranked up the LV and took it for a few short drives around my neighborhood, including one with the wife riding shotgun. On a couple of outings I managed to hit 20+ mph and got into 2nd gear. The engine sounded good but the suspension leaves a lot to be desired and the brakes are in need of adjustment. Overall, I am very pleased with the progress that's been made and hope I can keep the momentum going.
Over the weekend, @forrest5000 buttoned up the wiring (Thanks Eric!) which I sourced from @Coolerman (Thanks again Mark!) while I finished installing brake cylinders, new brake shoes, soft brake lines and then bleeding the brakes (Thanks @elkaholic for letting me borrow your power bleeder). After bypassing the heater core yesterday afternoon, I filled up the radiator, cranked up the LV and took it for a few short drives around my neighborhood, including one with the wife riding shotgun. On a couple of outings I managed to hit 20+ mph and got into 2nd gear. The engine sounded good but the suspension leaves a lot to be desired and the brakes are in need of adjustment. Overall, I am very pleased with the progress that's been made and hope I can keep the momentum going.
Sounds like you are having a good time! Of course, more pictures would be nice......
- Thread starter
- #37
More pics as requested. The weather was so nice today I decided to take another spin through the neighborhood.Sounds like you are having a good time! Of course, more pictures would be nice......
Love it. Great looking ride! The patina on it is fantastic. Happy holidays!
- Thread starter
- #39
Time for an update...
I hosted a post-Christmas pot-luck for members of my cruiser club (Olde North State Cruisers) and we took the LV out for a couple trips around my neighborhood.
It was running really rich (black sooty exhaust) and the brakes showed signs of having air in the lines but it was still a crowd pleaser.
Thanks to @lk930 for selling me his heater box with heater core. I haven't installed it yet as I have much better access to all the wiring behind the dash with it out and I still need to address some electrical gremlins.
Thanks to @roadstr6 (Dave) for his help on Friday night. Dave dialed in the rear drum brakes and, after driving it around the neighborhood testing them out, we bled the brakes yet again. It seems the 4th time is the charm as we got some bubbles out and the pedal doesn't go quite to the floor.
Using some guidance found in the tech forum and a test light, Dave and I tested the oil pressure sender but unfortunately couldn't diagnose the problem. Thankfully, my fuel gauge appears to be working well (now that I've added ~5 gallons of fuel) but the temperature gauge surprised me this weekend, going past C after it warmed up (I read that a quirk of these older LC's is that the needle goes from past H towards C when it warms up). While the rear heater fan had worked over a month ago, it no longer does. Oh well, those are all projects for another weekend.
Despite having had it sitting around for months, I only recently noticed that the hinge bolts had snapped off and fused in the donor tailgate. I plan to have this rusty area addressed in the coming months but Dave and I managed to drill out and tap five of the six bolt holes. Thankfully, four of them lined up closely enough with the holes in the hinges and, with some help from my wife, I was able to temporarily mount the tailgate on Sunday afternoon. While I don't care for the color, it is an improvement. See pics below and form your own opinion.
I managed to adjust the carb so it isn't running as rich at idle and took my oldest daughter out for a spin.
I think the LV is growing on her as she actually waved at her friends as we drove by them. JP has the period correct carb I got from Voodoocruisers and the rebuild kit from Cruiser Corps. Plans are for him to rebuild it in the coming weeks in hopes of installing it along with a distributor vacuum line from Forrest5000 sometime in February. Once installed, we'll check and adjust the valves and perform a compression test.
I still hope to have her ready for the Olde North State Cruiser Meet and Greet in March. I guess it is about time for me to track down a vintage license plate.
I hosted a post-Christmas pot-luck for members of my cruiser club (Olde North State Cruisers) and we took the LV out for a couple trips around my neighborhood.
It was running really rich (black sooty exhaust) and the brakes showed signs of having air in the lines but it was still a crowd pleaser.Thanks to @lk930 for selling me his heater box with heater core. I haven't installed it yet as I have much better access to all the wiring behind the dash with it out and I still need to address some electrical gremlins.
Thanks to @roadstr6 (Dave) for his help on Friday night. Dave dialed in the rear drum brakes and, after driving it around the neighborhood testing them out, we bled the brakes yet again. It seems the 4th time is the charm as we got some bubbles out and the pedal doesn't go quite to the floor.
Using some guidance found in the tech forum and a test light, Dave and I tested the oil pressure sender but unfortunately couldn't diagnose the problem. Thankfully, my fuel gauge appears to be working well (now that I've added ~5 gallons of fuel) but the temperature gauge surprised me this weekend, going past C after it warmed up (I read that a quirk of these older LC's is that the needle goes from past H towards C when it warms up). While the rear heater fan had worked over a month ago, it no longer does. Oh well, those are all projects for another weekend.
Despite having had it sitting around for months, I only recently noticed that the hinge bolts had snapped off and fused in the donor tailgate. I plan to have this rusty area addressed in the coming months but Dave and I managed to drill out and tap five of the six bolt holes. Thankfully, four of them lined up closely enough with the holes in the hinges and, with some help from my wife, I was able to temporarily mount the tailgate on Sunday afternoon. While I don't care for the color, it is an improvement. See pics below and form your own opinion.
I managed to adjust the carb so it isn't running as rich at idle and took my oldest daughter out for a spin.
I think the LV is growing on her as she actually waved at her friends as we drove by them. JP has the period correct carb I got from Voodoocruisers and the rebuild kit from Cruiser Corps. Plans are for him to rebuild it in the coming weeks in hopes of installing it along with a distributor vacuum line from Forrest5000 sometime in February. Once installed, we'll check and adjust the valves and perform a compression test.I still hope to have her ready for the Olde North State Cruiser Meet and Greet in March. I guess it is about time for me to track down a vintage license plate.
