Builds 1978 FJ-40 R2.8 Cummins Build - "Mater"

[rossl]

And with the body on, the twin stick shifter setup doesn't line up, which means I need to shift it to align correctly. Apparently things got moved just enough during paint and rust repair to set everything off a little. Luckily advanced adapters sells individual parts for the kit, so I ordered up some new handles and built some thinner blocks on the pivot arm so everything would fit better.

With everything in place and now correctly positioned with the body on the frame for the last time I tacked the new shifters together.

 

[rossl]

Wheels and tires have been acquired. 255/85R16 KM3s.

If you ignore the front half, it's starting to look like it could actually go somewhere.

 

[island45]

Sheesh, this is a very nice build. I see you are now hurtling headlong toward a shake-down road trip. When you get to Orcas, find Pickett's Lane and wind your way up Mt. Pickett. I'm at the 'Men Working' sign about a half mile up. If you hear banjo music, you probably missed my driveway and need to turn around.....

 

[rossl]

Sheesh, this is a very nice build. I see you are now hurtling headlong toward a shake-down road trip. When you get to Orcas, find Pickett's Lane and wind your way up Mt. Pickett. I'm at the 'Men Working' sign about a half mile up. If you hear banjo music, you probably missed my driveway and need to turn around.....

Thanks! I simultaneously feel close to a shake-down run and really far away. Right now it has to get back to the body shop to repair a couple small items, then I can really get down to getting the rest together. My hope is summer sometime, but I've been very wrong before. It takes what it takes I guess.

Orcas is my favorite island in the San Juans.

 

[rossl]

Spent most of today preparing a hoist to remove the top. Now that I've put in all the hard work to get it on the 40, it needs to come off the body so the body can make it back to the body shop for a couple repairs.

Prepared the frame and a motor to pull some cables on four corners. Will attach that to a frame which will attach to the hardtop above the front doors and to the sides of the rear hatch.

 

[rossl]

Cleaned up some of the rust holes that the body shop missed and installed the hood vent. The vent itself is now electronically actuated to save some space with the vintage air vents.

 

[rossl]

And wrapped up the passenger side door with VB2. Kind of cool how it molds to the surface, we'll see how much it helps with noise. A learning process to get it installed, but not too difficult.

I ended up pressing a little too hard and a little too much heat with the heat gun on the bottom left, but it won't be visible in the end.

And got the new door card installed. The only thing I didn't like about these were the screws - still trying to find some decent alternatives.

 

[rossl]

And put together a frame to hoist the hard top to the ceiling.

And then ensured it approximately fits:

 

[rossl]

And positioned the 40 underneath the new hoist. I still have to build support arms to grab the roof under the doors and lower brackets to pull the top in the back, but getting closer to being able to easily remove the top.

 

[sogncab]

I don't think dynamat in the doors is going to make a huge difference.

But. It won't hurt, and I plan on doing it as well.

 

[NicksFJ40]

Great work!

 

[rossl]

Added brackets to grab the hard top from underneath the door tops and attach to the rear ambulance door plates.

The picture makes it look like the arms are bent back pretty far, but it is really a 90 degree angle. The arms attach to the ambulance door mounting plates with a pin:

And then the front has a padded cradle to grab underneath the top of the roof.

The post coming down and slide in and out for easy connect/disconnect. I plan on eventually adding a pin onto the post as well to gain a positive lock, but it works well with friction at the moment.

And just like that, the top can be lifted directly up and off the 40 for summer.

And it pulls up and away enough to comfortably walk underneath it.

The only negative right now is that the hoist moves very fast and doesn't have a smooth start/stop. This makes it difficult to make precise adjustments up/down. At this point the top is off for a little while, so it is probably a problem for future me.

 

[rossl]

Installed a new OEM dash pad today. The metal support bracket was bent slightly, so I had to move it back a little bit (it looks like it is supposed to be 90 degrees to the face of the dash, mine was originally closer to 83 degrees.

 

[POPO AGIE]

Installed a new OEM dash pad today. The metal support bracket was bent slightly, so I had to move it back a little bit (it looks like it is supposed to be 90 degrees to the face of the dash, mine was originally closer to 83 degrees.

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Your progress is looking good.
I like the hoist for the top. I would still hit my head on the tubs that go into the tub. My rafters in my barn are over 16 feet so it would work with out me hitting my head.

 

[POPO AGIE]

I was working on my new radiator and got it and the shroud mounted to the frame and started working on mounting the intercooler. It is 3" thick and I don't thing the bib will engage the bolts on the aprons before it hits the intercooler.

Did you have to move your radiator toward the motor?

 

[rossl]

Your progress is looking good.
I like the hoist for the top. I would still hit my head on the tubs that go into the tub. My rafters in my barn are over 16 feet so it would work with out me hitting my head.

I'm 6'4" and clear, I've got a pretty tall ceiling. Don't let the top of the roll cage fool you - the 40 is pretty tall and it is currently on wheel skates, so a few inches taller than ride height. At some point I need to measure the overall clearance now that I have wheels and tires on it.

 

[rossl]

I was working on my new radiator and got it and the shroud mounted to the frame and started working on mounting the intercooler. It is 3" thick and I don't thing the bib will engage the bolts on the aprons before it hits the intercooler.

Did you have to move your radiator toward the motor?

I did move the radiator back to allow for clearance of both the intercooler and the a/c condenser. I thought about modifying the stock radiator support but ended up building my own to house the entire cooling stack as a single unit. See this post for a picture: Builds - 1978 FJ-40 R2.8 Cummins Build - "Mater" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1978-fj-40-r2-8-cummins-build-mater.1170001/post-14417467

 

[POPO AGIE]

I am 6'-3" and at work I am always finding pipes to hit my hard hat on.

When I went up to Montana to get my adapters Stephen asked my what I was doing driving a FJ40. I told him that head room was not a problem but being to close to the fire wall was an issue with the gas pedal. I am going take care of that by moving the seat back as far as I can and cruise control.

 

[rossl]

I am 6'-3" and at work I am always finding pipes to hit my hard hat on.

When I went up to Montana to get my adapters Stephen asked my what I was doing driving a FJ40. I told him that head room was not a problem but being to close to the fire wall was an issue with the gas pedal. I am going take care of that by moving the seat back as far as I can and cruise control.

yeah, I plan on moving the drivers seat back a couple of inches after I get the wiring and doors installed when it returns from the shop. I've already moved the steering column up a little bit over stock to gain just a little more room as well. It wasn't terrible to drive in stock form, but that was a decade ago now so maybe it was just wishful thinking.

 

[POPO AGIE]

I did move the radiator back to allow for clearance of both the intercooler and the a/c condenser. I thought about modifying the stock radiator support but ended up building my own to house the entire cooling stack as a single unit. See this post for a picture: Builds - 1978 FJ-40 R2.8 Cummins Build - "Mater" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1978-fj-40-r2-8-cummins-build-mater.1170001/post-14417467

My fabrication skills have really degraded in the last 30 years but that looks like a better way to go. My radiator support is tweaked from hitting the F350. But I was able to get all of the bolts in the holes.

I have a intercooler from Summit and looks like a good size from top to bottom and is just the right width. I hope I have enough of the radiator exposed on top and bottom.