1970 in CT (1 Viewer)

[ryanwk628]

Not a lot of time this weekend with my mother moving out of her house into a condo. However I did get the 40 rolled out and my wife gave me a hand pulling the seat frame. Then she helped me push the rig back in. With the seat frame out I can lay in the truck with my head under the dash and see what Im doing, but it took two people and the truck being outside to make it happen.

The passenger side of the harness is labeled and pulled. I think I'm going to end up pulling the whole thing and doing it on the bench. Thankfully I just redid everything so it should go easy. Wiring doesn't make for great content, which is why it is left out of most of the car videos online, but it sure is important!

 

[ryanwk628]

So it’s been a while since I updated this. My father was tragically killed while my harness was out and that has been consuming my life for the last year. Criminal stuff. Being the administrator on his estate. Cleaning out garages and barns. Selling his projects. Maintaining three houses.

If you have a collection of car parts do your kids a favor and put labels on them: what they are and what they are worth otherwise it’s a nightmare investigative exercise.

The harness went in a lot easier the second time. I put numbered wire labels on the individual bullet connectors and having the cowl vent out made things easier. Wired the relay in with an inline fuse on both sides as a CYA.

I had dropped the HEI right in pointed where the old vac retard dizzy had been. Cranked it a few times before firing. Vac advance is capped. Made sure #1 was pointed at #4 spark plug and it fired right up with good oil pressure. I need to get it outside and put the timing light on it, but I’m glad it’s running. Sounded great right out of the box!

 

[Green Bean]

So it’s been a while since I updated this. My father was tragically killed while my harness was out and that has been consuming my life for the last year. Criminal stuff. Being the administrator on his estate. Cleaning out garages and barns. Selling his projects. Maintaining three houses.

If you have a collection of car parts do your kids a favor and put labels on them: what they are and what they are worth otherwise it’s a nightmare investigative exercise.

The harness went in a lot easier the second time. I put numbered wire labels on the individual bullet connectors and having the cowl vent out made things easier. Wired the relay in with an inline fuse on both sides as a CYA.

I had dropped the HEI right in pointed where the old vac retard dizzy had been. Cranked it a few times before firing. Vac advance is capped. Made sure #1 was pointed at #4 spark plug and it fired right up with good oil pressure. I need to get it outside and put the timing light on it, but I’m glad it’s running. Sounded great right out of the box!

Condolences on the tragic and sudden loss of your father.

 

[ryanwk628]

So while I haven’t had much time to work on the 40, I have been collecting parts. My next project is going to be a 4 speed (4 on the tree perhaps? TBD.) I picked up a 4 speed with t case. Crusty but it seems to go through the gears pretty well but I haven’t opened it. Working on these is my next project

With news of Aqualu closing I also pulled the trigger on a tub. This is a ways off but I’d kick myself if I missed the opportunity to get one

They had this one set up for a rear tank and that’s my plan. I got a steel rear tank that a tanks inc fuel pump should work perfectly in.

Lots to look forward to!

 

[70fj40]

Man what a legacy your dad left. It takes a special person to have a such a strong, positive affect on that many lives. I know a little about what you are facing. I lost my dad unexpectedly March 9 2022 and I am currently going through his stuff.

 

[White Stripe]

Very sorry about your Dad. Very tragic.

 

[ryanwk628]

I got it up and running and timed it. Running manifold advance made it difficult to get the idle down. I want to take it to a mechanic to go through. Drove it around the block with my “bucket” seats

Addressing oil leaks first. I need some bigger washers for the push rod cover. At least I hope it’s the push rod cover and not from the dizzy base.

I ordered a seal to replace the manual steering box output shaft seal. Will need to pull the pitman arm to replace that.

Adding speakers and a blue tooth marine head unit to the seat frame and tuffy console.

 

[ryanwk628]

Just buttoning up small things as I have time. My defrost hoses were shot and torn when I got it. They were coiled wire wrapped in a fabric tape. In terms of diameter they were almost the same as my wet dry vac hose so I picked up a replacement at HD and reused the ends. $33 got 7' which would easily do two pairs of hoses. The plastic shop vac hose was just a hair smaller and I did not want to glue it in, but a few wraps of harness wrap added the 1/16th or so it needed to fit snugly.

job.

 

[ryanwk628]

I havent had the hard top on in a while and have been running the soft doors. My brother made a classic passive aggressive car show comment about them... "black doors, bold choice." I didnt like them to begin with but that was enough that I had to make a change.

I thought about getting them recovered in a canvas, perhaps with a bikini top and trail cover to match. I may still some day, but before I invested that money I tried upholstery paint after seeing people use it to restore or recolor soft tops on convertibles. I made sure to pick a flat paint. Honestly, for $20 on canvas I already planned to replace, it was a low risk experiment and I am happy with the results. I taped off all the metal. One can just did both doors.

The color I used is probably a better match with the later beige (see where PO sprayed beige on the rockers before putting diamond plate on it) but I dont mind the contrast. The photos make it look like more than it is

 

[ryanwk628]

Pulled the clutch inspection cover to look into the leak it has had since I got it. It seems to be getting worse. I believe it needs a transmission input seal (which I am in no rush to do as I plan to swap in the 4 speed) but it also looks like there is still oil coming out of the engine side. (I had hoped it was from the old stamped valve cover as the PO had insisted.) If its RMS I could do that without pulling the engine, but would have to drop the pan, pull the trans and clutch. Not sure if I wait until I have the 4 speed ready.

I also need to remove and reseal the push rod cover. I took it off and painted it when I did the distributor. After my concern of using too much gasket maker and over tightening, now I cant get it to seal up above where the engine number is stamped into the casting

 

[ryanwk628]

As I am cleaning up my late father's that situation has moved the 2F I have stored in one of his garages up to the front of the line. There is going to be an estate sale and I want to get this out beforehand. I got this in 2020, put it on a stand, fogged it and cashed it away for the future. The photos with the flash on make it look more crusty than it is, most of that on the Aluminum will buff right off. I didnt know much about building engines, he had a lot more experience there, but Ill get into it and see whats what when I can get to it.

According to the number it is from the spring of 1978. I was told it had been rebuilt and there are some signs of that. It rotates nicely. I started stripping it down yesterday so I can move it as a long block.

Carb and distributor will be looking for new homes. Possibly the manifolds too.

 

[RIDGEROCK49]

Got tired of the polished aluminum diamond plate the PO put on to cover rust. I’m not getting rid of them or investing in this tub (aqualu is the plan) but in the meantime painting them will work and I needed to do it before I mount the tire carrier.

I taped it up and masked it. Scuffed the entire surface with scotch brite, then etched it with this Zep degreaser which is supposed to work better than oven cleaner for etching AL. I rinsed it well and dried it with compressed air and a quick blast with my heat gun. All before a couple coats of etching primer
View attachment 2772158
View attachment 2772159
Final paint was with a a spray can that I was able to order in T451 Coronado beige. It seemed close enough. Topped that with some clear, but didn’t bury it because of the chalky fade on other parts of the truck
View attachment 2772160
View attachment 2772162
View attachment 2772164
I’m happy with it. Put the lights and doors back on last night. Back to the tire carrier!

thanks for that spray paint photo. it's just what i was hoping to find to repaint my '68 fj40 door hinges.

 

[ryanwk628]

thanks for that spray paint photo. it's just what i was hoping to find to repaint my '68 fj40 door hinges.

Glad it was helpful! The early color was hard to find.

Not a ton to report, still tied up with probate. After multiple 30 and 40 yard dumpsters, estate auctions and bon fires we got my late father's garage cleaned out so I may move the 40 there to mess with it over the winter.

The rig is running better than it ever has. When I put the DUI in, I went down a rabbit hole of ported vs manifold vacuum and saw an email from DUI that said it should have manifold vac. However since this is not a big cammed engine with a lot of overlap it does not have low vac at idle, and would fall on its face a soon as I gave it any gas (because obviously the vac went from 18 to zero.) Before I had the DUI dizzy I ran a capped vac retard unit on mechanical advance only and it worked OK, and before that I had the emissions stuff that I dont think worked right along with a failing fuel pump. After trying to tune and drive around the downsides of manifold vacuum, I zoomed out and realized how foolish that was, especially considering I had no vac advance/retard previously and it ran better. I set the base timing, then did the lean drop method. Now the F really pulls!

I got deal on an Auburn LSD so I plan to drop the 3rd member and put it in. The additive was busted in the box and stunk up my basement. I am not planning on regearing so I shouldnt need to touch the pinion, only the backlash. I will throw it in the back now and can always swap it to the front in the future. Measuring the diff it looks like Timken LM603049-LM603014 should work, but we will find out.

The 4 speed rebuild is pending, that is a winter project. Also trying something with some jump seats.

 

[EWheeler]

The rig is running better than it ever has. When I put the DUI in, I went down a rabbit hole of ported vs manifold vacuum and saw an email from DUI that said it should have manifold vac. However since this is not a big cammed engine with a lot of overlap it does not have low vac at idle, and would fall on its face a soon as I gave it any gas (because obviously the vac went from 18 to zero.) Before I had the DUI dizzy I ran a capped vac retard unit on mechanical advance only and it worked OK, and before that I had the emissions stuff that I dont think worked right along with a failing fuel pump. After trying to tune and drive around the downsides of manifold vacuum, I zoomed out and realized how foolish that was, especially considering I had no vac advance/retard previously and it ran better. I set the base timing, then did the lean drop method. Now the F really pulls!

Curious if this means you are not running ported advance with the DUI unit, or no vacuum advance at all? Good to see you're making progress, even if its not as fast as you'd like.

 

[ryanwk628]

Curious if this means you are not running ported advance with the DUI unit, or no vacuum advance at all? Good to see you're making progress, even if its not as fast as you'd like.

To clarify I am now running ported vac from the carb to the DUI vac advancer. Part of why I went with the DUI is under load, like going up hills, it seemed like a dog and I wanted more than advance in those scenarios. I have the desmogged carb which is a clone of 21100-61012 and the one vacuum line is run to the ported vacuum on the carb near the idle mixture screw (confirmed it is ported with my vac guage.) I had seen this document from DUI and this article which suggested it was better for the engine. But the more I thought about it, the less running it to manifold made sense in this application.

I think base timing is going to end up where it wants to be, either compensating for the vac at idle or not, it was the loss of vac and thus retarding the timing when stepping on it that did not make sense for drivability.

I capped the barb on the manifold I had been using, but it was nice to have to hook my vac gage up to for tuning.

 

[ryanwk628]

Was browsing Facebook Marketplace looking at different folding options from Freedman and I picked up these jump seats from a commercial van that never really got used. (He has a second pair if anyone near NYC is looking.) They are basically new and the legs will come off. Very heavy duty. The lay back on the back portion can be adjusted and it looks like if I mount them to the wheel well they should fit nicely with the roll bar.

Freedman makes some other forward facing folding seats that fold down then the whole seat flips up, similar to the Land Rover seats I've seen used, some that mount to flat floors and some mount to van and bus wheel wells... but I have not been able to find any close enough to go measure.

 

[ryanwk628]

Update on the Freedman seats, these things are heavy duty, from the thick vinyl to the steel frame. There are two channels with captive nuts on the inside. I am debating making a plate thick enough to bury some flat heads or drilling through the fender to mount these.

They just fit when sat flush with the inner fender. This will be easier on the Aqualu tub, but I want to get a lot of other tasks sorted before I take that on. I like the grey color, which to my eye is darker than here with the flash. I will hold off on changing the color for now.

I cant decide if they should be centered in the roll bar opening or centered under the pad on the roll bar. The pad looks right from the inside but having it forward in the frame looks odd from the outside. If there were no pad, like on a Metal Tech kit I would center them up. I actually considered selling my roll bar and buying the Metal Tech set up for that reason, then mounting the seats to that base plate, but shipping was brutal.

Having these seats makes for a much more room than the inboard mounted long jump seats. However I end up mounting them, Im pretty happy with the quality.

 

[ryanwk628]

I also picked up a Fuji Carb from City Racer. This is a clone of 21100-61012 and made by Fuji in Japan. My current carb is also a copy of the same, but made in China. It worked well but lately it was inconsistent, even with the same settings. Rather than invest a ton of time and effort into trying to rebuild the Chinese one, for the price of the Fuji I figured I would run that while I clean and investigate the other - which I will keep as a spare.

Made In Japan. Nice to see this came with a spring on this accelerator pump arm, I had to make one on my other carb.

Dimensionally the same. The Fuji seems to move a little smoother. I transfered over the cable brackets I had. If I recall these came with the carb on the left and I would have needed them in my application.

As with the old carb, I had to cut the bar which would have hit the PCV input on the spacer.

 

[ryanwk628]

Anyone know a part number on the corresponding connector? Right now I have a female spade in there

The accelerator cable makes a looping bend but works fine.

All buttoned up and ready to test when the weather warms up

 

[ryanwk628]

For a 4 speed conversion I need a 4 speed bellhousing. I got one when I got the 2F which had one of the upper holes repaired with a helicoil and the other wallowed out. The helicoil was not seated and walked out when I put a bolt in it. No worries, it came with the engine so the price was right

I ordered a Big-Sert thread repair kit from Time-Sert. 5212 is M12x1.25. The 15mm insert length was just about perfect for the material thickeness. Project Farm did a review on thread repair kits and you get what you pay for. I also needed to go larger to replace the helicoil so Big-Sert was perfect.

This required drilling out the holes, counterboring, then tapping it. I like that the soil insert has a nice lead rather than a square edge like a coiled wire type. Also that it seats in against the shoulder. This all should make life easier when hanging a transmission.

The instructions say to oil the installer tool and use thread locker on the insert. It also has a dimple and the last 3 threads expand and you run the tool through it. The installer will turn the insert until it seats in the counter bore and then force through the last threads.

I degreased it, cleaned it up with a 3M bristle disc, warmed it over with mas gas and painted it with some high temp engine paint I had.

This is the bellhousing that allows for the fork to be mounted on either side. I hope these are the right brackets for what I am looking to do.