Builds 1972 fj40 build-up thread (1 Viewer)

[Adventure Teq]

That looks fantastic. Wish my attempted resto would have gone according to plan. Looks fun man. The tires kick arse, ran the same wheel combo for a while they look nice.


It's just super nice looking.

 

[beaufort-fj60]

looks great sofar, what did you do with the stylin' rims?

 

[Cdaniel]

......Just some more shots of the whole works all installed. Notice the new ($$$) parking brake cable and speedometer cable. I hope that they are long enough with the added length of the new transmission.

In case you need a possible solution for that P-brake being short (like I did).
I cut a notch in the front of the floor pan and routed it up through the hole in the bottom of the tub to get a little more length out of the stock one.

 

[mattcrandle]

In case you need a possible solution for that P-brake being short (like I did).
I cut a notch in the front of the floor pan and routed it up through the hole in the bottom of the tub to get a little more length out of the stock one.

thanks for the tip, cliff. i will give it a shot if the cable is too short. any suggestions for a too-short speedometer cable? i have seen those 8" extensions (i think some people run them when running a ToyBox or other longer drivetrains), but they cost more than the whole cable.

 

[mattcrandle]

looks great sofar, what did you do with the stylin' rims?

well, someone took care of that for me by stealing them a few days after i took them off of the rig. =(

 

[beaufort-fj60]

well, someone took care of that for me by stealing them a few days after i took them off of the rig. =(

do not see to many like that around here. Should be easy to spot on the thiefs truck.

 

[Cdaniel]

thanks for the tip, cliff. i will give it a shot if the cable is too short. any suggestions for a too-short speedometer cable? i have seen those 8" extensions (i think some people run them when running a ToyBox or other longer drivetrains), but they cost more than the whole cable.

My stock one had enough slack to make it. But if you need one, Dick's Speed-O-Tach can make them to order.

 

[camcruiser13]

that is money right there, me likes, keep them photos rollin

 

[mattcrandle]

My stock one had enough slack to make it. But if you need one, Dick's Speed-O-Tach can make them to order.

cool - that place is right down the street from me and whenever i drive by, i always wondered if i would be stopping in there any time soon. thanks for the info!

 

[bustanutley]

dood, SOA

looks great, you have way, way more patience than me, I normally don't even paint my raw metal after fab work

 

[mattcrandle]

After reading a ton of information on how to best cool a V8 in an FJ40, I felt more confused than when I started. Some people said to ditch the stock radiator and get an aluminium one. Some said the aftermarket radiators were no good, the stock radiator would be fine with a good mechanical fan and proper shroud. Still others said the stock radiator was good, but it needed to be recored - some said more rows, some said fewer rows.

Due to my longer drivetrain, I figued I would have some space issues up front near the radiator. As such, I decided that an electric fan would be the way to go. Most of the reviews of aftermarket electrical fans were not too good, but several people had great things to say about the fans out of the 3.8L V6 Ford Taurus (Mercury Sable, etc). Since these were cheap and easy to come by, I figured it was worth a shot.

The Taurus fan is almost a perfect fit for the stock FJ40 radiator. One side even has a convenient mounting flange that I just bolted to the radiator frame. The other side of the fan was a little more tricky, but not too bad. I had a couple of little brackets laying around that looked like they would work perfectly (they came off of the Landcruiser somewhere, and they were in the 'I dont need these anymore' pile, but I cant remember where they were originally used). By standing these up vertically, they provided a secure mounting point for the fan.

The brackets side inside (underneath) the fan when installed, so getting a wrench on them would be impossible. To solve this problem, the nuts on the inside are tacked to the bracket.

By mounting the fan this way, it is secured directly to the radiator, and not to the radiator mounting frame. Since I knew space would be tight up front, I figured I would be pulling the radiator out whenever I needed to access the front of the engine. I wanted to make sure i could pull just the fan or just the fan and radiator with ease. Also, the stock radiator mounting frame has not been modified at all in case I ever decide to go with a different setup.

It is amazing how closely the Taurus fan fits the Landcruiser radiator. Almost looks like it was made for it.

Because of my longer-than-stock drivetrain, my engine is sitting about an inch forward of the optimal location. As such, the nose of the water pump was interfering with the Taurus fan. I had a couple of options: trim the fan shroud to reduce the depth; run a short-style water pump; move the radiator back away from the water pump (toward the front of the vehicle). I didnt want to trim the fan because it would make replacing it in the future a pain if this one ever craps out on me. I didnt want to run the short-style water pump because the accessory brackets are harder to come by. So the only option left was to move the radiator.

I determined that the radiator needed to go 'back' an inch and up about 3/4 or an inch. I fabbed up some spacers that allow the radiator to bolt into its new position and then attach to the stock radiator supports using the original holes. By using some 1" by 1/2" channel, the radiator mounting frame bolt nuts are tucked up inside. To gain the additional height, I used some 3/4" square tube cut to the correct height as a spacer.

With these new spacers in place, the radiator sits perfectly in its new position and everything is completely bolt-on so it is easy to undo in the future if the need ever arises. I could also raise the radiator or move it fore-and-aft just by changing out the spacers and drilling a new hole.

With the Taurus fan mounted to the radiator and the radiator spaced up into its new position, things look much better. I have plenty of space between the water pump now and hopefully an efficient and effective cooling system.

 

[largenfirm]

Excellent work! Some good tips, there.

I would recommend having the radiator rodded and cored, and both tanks resoldered - the OEM solder always gives way, and it's best to start with a good radiator.

Incidently, I suspect you will need to upgrade - my new OEM radiator came from a guy who tried to cool a 350 with it - OK on the highway, overheated around town and on the trail, even with the taurus fan. YMMV.

Sweet setup, spiffy buildup.

Kirk

 

[Wireguy]

"The downside to the short Downey adapter is that the transmission pan interferes with the front driveshaft. To rememdy this, I had to get a smaller front output flange (not shown). Even with the smaller flange, some minor pan 'modification' was still necessary. "


Hi,

Great post - doing the same thing now......

About the Downey plate adaptor - are you going to use the AA / downey drive shaft kit with the small flange ? I have one sitting here and I cannot get it to work with my lift ( about 4 inch )

Please post pic's when you can of your solution - maybe I am doing something wrong !

Thanks,

Paul

 

[pbgbottle]

great pics . keep em comin . i have been running smallblock . with stock rad for 8 yrs no overheating issues here . i used a electric flexalite fan . engine did not overheat got hot tho, now i am using a stock chevy clutch fan no shroud , and still have no overheating issues ( this works great for me ). in the summer will be trying the taurus fan , i like the option of turning the fan off for river crossings . . thanks for the pics will be mounting mine soon . my smallblock works with stock rad . i'm not sure if it is from a f ,2f ,or diesel tho ( the rad ), it has the fill neck and rad hose connections on opposite sides compared to everyone elses pics i've seen . keep up the great work

 

[aksnowryder]

Old Carb

The pics look great! I'm just starting on my 72 as well. I'm going to use the Toyota motor though. My motor is now at the machine shop. My question for you is this, what did you do with the old Toyota Carb and Air Cleaner assembly? I'd be happy to purchase them from you if you don't have any plans for them. Mine has an old Motorcraft carb on it and I'd rather go back to original.

Thanks

 

[mattcrandle]

The pics look great! I'm just starting on my 72 as well. I'm going to use the Toyota motor though. My motor is now at the machine shop. My question for you is this, what did you do with the old Toyota Carb and Air Cleaner assembly? I'd be happy to purchase them from you if you don't have any plans for them. Mine has an old Motorcraft carb on it and I'd rather go back to original.

Thanks

i still have the carb and air cleaner (and everything else off of the F engine). PM me and we can discuss.

 

[aksnowryder]

Haven't heard anything from you, did you get my PM?

 

[bandy rooster]

at the point your at now... how long have you been working on this? not counting the days inbetween where you haven't worked on it... your doing a great job man don't be afraid to post some more pics haha we all love that

 

[mattcrandle]

at the point your at now... how long have you been working on this? not counting the days inbetween where you haven't worked on it... your doing a great job man don't be afraid to post some more pics haha we all love that

i have no idea how long i have been working on it. i mean, i tore it apart in a single weekend, then did nothing for a couple months. then started getting the chassis back together a few hours here and there, then stopped working on it again. now that the engine/drivetrain is in, i work on it a couple of days a week, a few hours at a time. i would like to work on it more, but time and money are sometimes scarce.

i would say though that when you do get on a roll, it is easy to accomplish quite a bit in a short amount of time.

i got the transfer case linkage and mount all sorted out today and installed. i will post up some pics soon...

 

[aksnowryder]

Are you still interested in selling the carb and air cleaner assembly? Please PM me either way.