Builds 1972 fj40 build-up thread (1 Viewer)

[mattcrandle]

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

sorry for taking so long to get back to you. if you have not already found another air cleaner and carb, i still have mine. i dont know if they are stock or not, or what kind of carb it even is (havent looked at it in over a year), but i can find out all of that information and let you know.

 

[cabron]

That frame looks really good. Nice work

 

[mattcrandle]

The power steering conversion was going to be the last major fabrication project that I tackled, so I was anxious to get going on it. I considered the Scout conversion and the FJ60 conversion, but the Saginaw seemed like the way to go. But upon further research, I found an even better solution in the Astro box. Using the steering box out of an Astro Van allowed the steering box to be mounted *behind* the front crossmember instead of out front near the bumper. This meant that I would not have to cut a large hole in my front crossmember, and the steering box would be protected in the engine compartment. So, it was off to the junkyard to find an Astro steering box.

The Astro swap is not as common as the other swaps, so I was only able to find a couple of good technical write-ups about it (Todd Ballard, HI^C, and dmaddox had good information). In every instance, the folks doing the swap fabbed up their own mounting system for the steering box. However, after finding a box in the local junkyard, I realized that it had the same external casting as the normal Saginaw boxes. The only difference was that the internal working were changed around so that the pitman arm could operate in reverse rotation. Based on this discovery, I posted up and asked fellow MUDders if anyone could verify this discovery. Thanks to a few helpful people on this board, it was determined that the standard Saginaw mounting plates would work with the Astro box. As luck would have it, orangefj45 was offering up some plates for sale so i bought two sets. For added strength, I decided to use a second plate on the outside of the frame to spread the load, and some 1/2" black gas pipe to sleeve the bolts and prevent the frame from squeezing together (three used, only two shown). The bolts and washers were the grade 8 hardware straight out of the Astro van.

To get the box to mount where I wanted it, it was necessary to cut the radiused corners off of the back of the front crossmember to make a 90° corner. I also cut the long legs off of the bottom of the driver's side radiator mount to clear the box. The frame begins to angle upward near here, so the box was angled up naturally, which put it at the correct mounting angle.

On the outside of the frame, I trimmed the second mounting plate to clear the shock tower and sit flush against the frame. In this configuration, the top mounting hole goes through the frame, and the lower two holes are both below the bottom of the frame.

With the box mounted in this position, it sits relatively low in the engine compartment. This is good in that the box is fully protected by the front crossmember and the flat pitman arm that I have will probably work good. However, this position makes the steering shaft have a greater vertical angle to it. It was necessary to notch the motor mount in order to get the shaft to fit correctly. By mounting the box higher, I could have minimized the notching, but then the box would possibly start running into the bottom of the power steering pump. (In this picture, the shaft seems to be rubbing the motor mount, but the shaft is not in its final position).

After getting everything lined up how I wanted it, I drilled a hole through the frame for the top mounting bolt. Some primer and paint for good measure, and i bolted the mounts into place to make sure everything was still lining up properly.

Here you can see the standard mounting plate used on the inside of the frame rail. On the Astro box, only three mounting bolts are used. I also cut the top-most corner off of the plate so that it followed the lines of the frame.

I cut three short pieces of black gas pipe to serve as sleeves for the bolts. The top sleeve was cut slightly shorter so that it could fit between the inner frame rails. This should help prevent the frame from collapsing from the torque on the bolts as well as provide a rigid support for the stress from the box.

On the other end, I had to deal with the steering column. I cut the column so that it was three inches shorter than the steering shaft. Normally on the early (pre-72) columns, a bronze bushing is used to center and support the shaft in the column. Later years can use a pillow block bearing for this purpose. Although I have the early column, I plan to use a bearing for the support. The trick here is that the hole in the firewall for early models is very narrow, so I had to come up with a trick mounting system that would allow the use of the pillow block *and* allow the column to be removed from the vehicle. More pics of that set up will follow.

The steering shaft has just enough clearance around the exhaust manifold. This is not the best picture, but there is at least 3/8" of clearance.

Just showing how much I had to notch the motor mount for proper clearance. The u-joint at the steering box is a slip joint, so the shaft can move freely inside of it. This provides a level of saftey in an accident (so that the steering wheel doesnt impale the driver) and allows for some frame flex in off-road situations that would otherwise put stress on the steering box input shaft.

With the box in place, here is the completed set up. Still need to permanently weld the mounting plates in place and finish up the steering column modifications, but otherwise this swap is finally done.

 

[bandy rooster]

looks great man... the instructions said not to weld that plate on there just bolt it? i would go the extra step to weld it. You do nice clean work, i like it

 

[74fj40]

good work!!

 

[Cammy]

what size were the Bling wheels that were stolen? It seemed from your pics that you had alot of clearance for your rear calipers.

 

[wtmtnterror]

Looking good, I'm getting into the same project right now with my 74. Also using the downey kit with a 700r4 and 350tbi. Is that an AA x-member you are using? Anu worries about that holding up?

 

[mattcrandle]

what size were the Bling wheels that were stolen? It seemed from your pics that you had alot of clearance for your rear calipers.

the original aluminium wheels were 15", but i dont know what backspacing. i did the disk brake conversion after they were stolen, so i never tried to fit those wheels on with the calipers.

the new white spoke wheels are 15" with 3.5" backspacing and fit nicely at all four corners.

 

[mattcrandle]

Looking good, I'm getting into the same project right now with my 74. Also using the downey kit with a 700r4 and 350tbi. Is that an AA x-member you are using? Anu worries about that holding up?

yeah, that is the AA transfer case mount. i know that with an automatic that you can use the 'under the transmission' mount, but this is what i had already, so i used it. there is a brace on the bottom of the transmission that bolts to the adaptor that will hopefully help prevent rotational forces. guess i will find out...

 

[Ullr]

Looks SWEET!
I was wondering, what kit for the rear brakes did you use?
Keep up the great work!

Ditto, I like the "Grade 8" mounting plates, who makes those?

Thats really nice work man, inspires me to get back in the garage and finish my junk.

 

[fjandic]

are you selling the sloted mags

 

[mattcrandle]

the rear disc brake kit i used was from jt outfitters. i know they are not the most popular vendor on here, and i have had my share of trouble with them as well, but i had ordered these up a long time ago so that is what i used. i think that most of the commerically available kits are about the same (btb etc), or you can make the brackets yourself using the template in the tech section.

these brackets actually fit good and it was the easiest big modification i have done. havent actually tried them out since the rig isnt running yet, but i am sure it will be a great improvement.

Ditto, I like the "Grade 8" mounting plates, who makes those?

Thats really nice work man, inspires me to get back in the garage and finish my junk.

 

[mattcrandle]

are you selling the sloted mags

the aluminium rims arent for sale because they were stolen. =(

 

[fjandic]

that sucks thos r awwsome wheels...

 

[Gundy]

Thank you

This is great to watch. I have a blue 72. Incredible fun to watch
your progress. Keep up the good work and photos.

 

[wtmtnterror]

Any updates on this??

 

[mattcrandle]

shifter

My dad is coming down to help get the engine started in a week or so, so I decided to do some small stuff in the meantime. Figured I would mount up the Lokar shifter since it seemed pretty straight forward. All of the shiny new parts arrived and I dove in.

The install was really straight-forward and easy. The only small issue at all was the fact that the main mounting plate is usually secured to the transmission tailhousing, but with the transfer case and adapter, this was not possible. The Lokar website says not to worry about it because the front tensioning bolt makes it secure, but I might try to fabricate a mount for the rear just the same.

I had heard that getting the linkage all adjusted just right was quite a chore, but it couldnt have been easier. The shifter seems to work smoothly and goes through all of the gears just like it should with no binding.

The control module is used in conjunctin with the lighted indicator display that is built into the boot ring, so you know what gear you are in.

 

[mattcrandle]

starting on the body

Since the mechanical work will hopefully be wrapping up next week, it was time to start dealing with the body. The fastest and easiest way to strip the old paint and rust was to have the whole thing media-blasted. I loaded up the tub, fenders, doors, and a bunch of small parts and took them out to AZ Pro-Strip in Mesa - the same guy who sandblasted my frame several months ago and did a great job.

I dropped of all of the parts on Monday and Patrick had them ready at the end of the week.

Patrick did a great job and I am very happy with the results. Most of the tub looks pretty good, actually better than I had originally thought.

Also had him do the doors, front bib, bezel, ...

... fenders, side aprons, transmission hump, door frames, running boards, pedal assembly, ...

... and a whole pile of small parts. I didnt have him do the windshield frame since I didnt want to mask off the glass and rubber and the metal and paint on there is in great shape. Also didnt have him do the hood because mine is pretty banged up and I will hopefully be getting a different one.

Of course, along with the good, there is plenty of bad. The driver's side floorpan is the worst spot of all. The floor is completely rusted through with a big hole in it. The previous-previous-owner had put a thick layer of tar over the hole and covered it up with a piece of plastic that he riveted to the old rusty floor.

The rust also continues forward and backwards, creeping up the floorboard towards the firewall, and extending underneath the factory toolbox.

The passenger-side floor is starting to go as well, but luckily it is a much smaller area. The shallow pan where the gas tank sits is perfect, and the rust does not extend forward past the seam where the floor meets the bottom of the firewall.

The driver's side rocker panel had more rust than I originally noticed. Before the sandblasting, I thought that side was pretty solid. However, as you can see, the metal was thin and weak from the rust, both on the inside and outside.

The passenger-side rocker panel has a hole about the size of an orange along the rear edge. The small triangular brace that supported the rocker panel to the floor on the underside was completely rotted as well.

And finally, what FJ40 rust-review would be complete without including the rear quarter panels. Both sides are toasted, and the ends of the rear sill that support the quarterpanels is also pretty bad. Luckily, the rear sill under the bed is in fair shape.

 

[74fj40]

glad to see your making alot of progress

 

[mattcrandle]

getting the engine running

My dad was down in phoenix for a week, so I put him to work helping me get the motor finished up and running. Actually, he was doing a lot more than helping me - he pretty much had all of the knowledge and know-how (not to mention a big box of parts), and I was just sort of the wrench-fetcher. My dad had aquired a Rochester Quadrajet carb off of a 1972 Blazer and it looked to be in great shape, so that was one of the first items we tackled.

The distributor was an HEI unit out of a 1977 Chevy 1/2 Ton pickup. My dad had tested it before he sent it down, and it had a good strong spark. Most of the old wires were in good shape, so we just used those for this test.

The water pump and alternator were already installed, so we put on the belt and that was done. We also installed a new mechanical fuel pump and bent up a custom metal fuel line to the carburetor.

We mounted the radiator and then had the not-very-fun task of finding the correct radiator hoses. On our first attempt, the bottom hose we got ended up being the right length and shape, but didnt fit the water pump outlet correctly. We didnt know what upper hose would work, so had to settle for a flexible hose. However, the flexible hose also didnt fit over the thermostat housing correctly. We had to make a return trip to Napa, where the parts guys let up go upstairs and just browse all of their hoses. We found two that seemed like they would work, and when we returned home to try them out, both were a perfect fit. (For reference, the upper hose is Napa part number 7884, and the lower is 7651).

I re-used the stock Toyota oil pressure sending unit and temperature sending unit. The temperature sending unit screwed right in with a small adapter, but the oil pressure sending unit took a little bit of creative use of fittings to get things to connect up properly. I also installed the electric fan control module into the head, although we didnt hook up the rest of the wiring for this test (we just wired up the fan directly to a switch).

Finally, we wired up my stock instrument cluster so we could keep an eye on oil pressure and engine temperature. We also wired in some standard house AC switches to simulate the ignition (one to fire the starter, and one to the distributor so we could kill the power). There wasnt a fuse anywhere in the whole mess. Not probably the typical way of doing things, but it ended up working out really well for this test.

After finding out that no Napa or Checker stores in all of Phoenix had an oil pump priming tool for sale or rent, I finally found one at an Autozone. However, when we went to use it, something wasnt right. The tool wouldnt catch on the oil pump and kept slipping. We took it out and compared it to the distributor and found that the tooth that engages the gear was too large to fit into the groove. Frustrated, we finally ended up disassembling the tool and grinding down the flange, then putting the tool all back together. After our modification, it worked flawlessly. As we spun up the drill, the oil pressure gauge began to rise. Once we knew we had pressure, we put the distributor back on for the final time. We roughly set the timing using top dead center and then it was the moment of truth.

We hit the switch to turn on power to the distributor. Then I hit the switch to fire the starter. It cranked and cranked, but wouldnt fire. After much deliberation, we determined that the carb wasnt getting any fuel. We checked a few fittings and fixed the problem. Time to try again. This time, we hit the switch, and the motor fired and started! I had been waiting for that moment for almost a year and a half! My dad quickly dialed in the timing and the engine was running great. It sounds incredible and we only had one small leak that simply required tightening a hose clamp.

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click here to see the video of the engine starting​

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I was very excited to finally have an engine that ran. However, the joy was short-lived. After making a few adjustments, when we tried to fire it up again - nothing. The engine wouldnt fire. Argh! We determined that there was no spark. The distributor that was working so well and just had plenty of spark a few minutes earlier was no longer working. It was getting late and I was frustrated, so we called it a night and tackled it again in the morning.

The next morning, we did a few tests to try to isolate the problem. We figured it was either the coil, capacitor, or electronic module in the distributor. In order to avoid driving back and forth to the parts store all day, we just bought all three parts (my dad is going to put an HEI in his landcruiser soon, so any extra parts would not go to waste). We changed them out, one-by-one, so we could see what the root of the problem was. First the coil - reassemble and...nothing. Then the capacitor and terminal...nothing. Finally, we replaced the electronic module and put it all back together. I had bad thoughts of it still not starting, but i crossed my fingers anyway. I flicked the switch and the engine fired up - what a huge relief.

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