1972 (9/72) FJ40 with a 350 conversion

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SheilaFJ40

SheilaFJ40

1972 FJ40 with 350 SBC conversion
Joined
Nov 23, 2020
Threads
1
Messages
9
Location
SoCal
My name is Ryan and I am introducing you all to Sheila, a 1972 FJ40 with an already converted Chevy 350. She's a rust bucket who runs but doesnt move (more on that shortly). Been a fun beach mobile for years until the city recently towed the vehicle off my street as a neighbor called it in as an abandoned vehicle. Once getting the car back I noticed that they towed the car onto the flatbed while the car was still in gear and now something is up with the clutch, transfer case or transmission and though the car will shift into gear, it will not move forward or in reverse so gears are not engaging. Im here to figure it out and learn more than just this fix. Ive lurked for too long and now it's time to participate and absorb as much as I can.
 
Pics please 🤣 Sounds like a very good start.

I’m guessing the transfer case may be in neutral, I’d doubt that towing it the short distance up the tow ramp would damage anything
 
Rock40 said:
Pics please 🤣 Sounds like a very good start.

I’m guessing the transfer case may be in neutral, I’d doubt that towing it the short distance up the tow ramp would damage anything
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I was hoping that was the case too. Ive confirmed the transfer case isnt in neitral and tried in both 4H and 4L to see if the gears catch when shifting into 1 or reverse. No movement. Clutch feels normal so I dont think its a clutch issue and theres no grinding of any sorts. Next plan is to get it up on some jacks and see if we have any power / movement to the rear driveshaft when in gear, or even see if I can put it in gear without the engine on and manually spin the rear driveshaft. If it spins, then the driveshaft is not transmitting power and is therefore in neutral and/or broken. If it doesnt spin then the issue is further down the line. Ill explore further after the next test.

Attached some photos of the car and Ill get more tomorrow.

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I abhor ignorant neighbors with petty insecurity of the “perceived material value” of their “dwelling. Your truck is the last thought I would have as “abandoned”. One reason I dont leave in a HOA setting. Petty s***s.

Sorry.

Was going to ask if they disconnected the rear drive shaft. But based on above it looks like it is connected. Good plan to jack it up and check. You can disconnect rear drive shaft at transfer case and rotate shaft with rear wheels are jacked off the ground. If it does, then its upstream. If not its your rear differential/axle.
 
ceylonfj40nut said:
I abhor ignorant neighbors with petty insecurity of the “perceived material value” of their “dwelling. Your truck is the last thought I would have as “abandoned”. One reason I dont leave in a HOA setting. Petty s***s.

Sorry.

Was going to ask if they disconnected the rear drive shaft. But based on above it looks like it is connected. Good plan to jack it up and check. You can disconnect rear drive shaft at transfer case and rotate shaft with rear wheels are jacked off the ground. If it does, then its upstream. If not its your rear differential/axle.
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Yea. The cops were pretty honest that it was called in by a neighbor and I dont even live in an HOA area so they were very aware of the law and said all the right things in order for it to get a tow. Seems like whoever it is is on a rampage as there were 2 other neighbor cars towed this week as well. If anything, its allowing us to narrow down who it might be that is calling!

When you say "rotate shaft with rear wheels" are you saying just spin the wheels to see if the rear drive shaft also spins?
 
SheilaFJ40 said:
Yea. The cops were pretty honest that it was called in by a neighbor and I dont even live in an HOA area so they were very aware of the law and said all the right things in order for it to get a tow. Seems like whoever it is is on a rampage as there were 2 other neighbor cars towed this week as well. If anything, its allowing us to narrow down who it might be that is calling!

When you say "rotate shaft with rear wheels" are you saying just spin the wheels to see if the rear drive shaft also spins?
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Either way. Try spin the driveshaft or spin one wheel to see if other wheel spins and drive shaft turns
 
Have you bothered to look underneath it to determine if the driveshaft had been disconnected?

Normally, your car should have had the tires caulked (to determine if the vehicle has been moved) and red tagged (usually placed under the wiper blade or slid into the side window and weather strip) advising that it will be towed as abandoned in 3 days. If that wasn't followed you may have grounds to recover towing and storage costs.

I assume you've corrected your bezel issue. :)
 
B y r o n said:
Have you bothered to look underneath it to determine if the driveshaft had been disconnected?

Normally, your car should have had the tires caulked (to determine if the vehicle has been moved) and red tagged (usually placed under the wiper blade or slid into the side window and weather strip) advising that it will be towed as abandoned in 3 days. If that wasn't followed you may have grounds to recover towing and storage costs.

I assume you've corrected your bezel issue. :)
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Yes. I have confirmed that nothing is disconnected. It was in the tow yard for all of 15 minutes as I basically followed it up there. I wasn't there when they offloaded the car and I ended up towing it back to my house rather than driving it due to a dead battery. This doesnt seem like a simple or blatant fix unfortunately.
 
With the car stuck in 'neutral' and the prospect of needing to access the transmission and/or transfer case I decided to focus on some smaller projects that will also give me access to the transmission tunnel if needed. I removed the back and front heater and will likely rebuild both and possibly sell both of them. Both were working and original but they need a refresh. Also removed the wiper motor and will do a clean / rebuild of this in the next few days. I noticed one of the solder points on the wires was broken so it gives me a good reason to get it all working.

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Also, I have question that someone here might be able to answer and I cant seem to find a solution for it.

I have removed the drivers side window regulator because as the window closed the regulator would skip/slip. What I found was the metal flange that holds the regulator gear in place allows for too much play in the gear and it slips off of the other gear as more force (weight from a higher window) is applied. Are there any fixes for this? Ive tried clamping the piece down but it just springs right back to this same position. Ive attached two photos. One on them I am applying pressure, and that pressure seats the gears together (but you can see the gap between the gear and the metal flange) and the other photo is no pressure and the gear pops out toward the flange and doesnt allow the gears to engage. Curious what other thoughts here are.

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