Build 1978 FJ40 - Lovely “Linda”

[knuckle47]

You’re gonna love that sniper.

If you’re interested in any of the settings, I am using. I’ll be happy to share them with you. I was always curious as to what other guys are using and I have had quite a few people share their experiences with me, which I’ve proven to be very helpful. Currently my sniper is running beautifully. It starts instantly summer and winter and the performance has been quite responsive ….don’t make the mistake I did and touch the IAC control until the operating temperature is at 160 or over. It’s in the book but like so many things at the time of installation it’s easy to gloss over it.

 

[nabbasi]

You’re gonna love that sniper.

If you’re interested in any of the settings, I am using. I’ll be happy to share them with you. I was always curious as to what other guys are using and I have had quite a few people share their experiences with me, which I’ve proven to be very helpful. Currently my sniper is running beautifully. It starts instantly summer and winter and the performance has been quite responsive ….don’t make the mistake I did and touch the IAC control until the operating temperature is at 160 or over. It’s in the book but like so many things at the time of installation it’s easy to gloss over it.

I am very interested in your settings! I’ll take any tips/ tricks / pointers you (or anybody else!) has. I’ve read through many of the threads here, but haven’t researched much on settings.

I had originally planned on putting a sniper on my ‘67, but the thing has run so well since I installed a Fuji carb (and ran new fuel lines, and installed a new pedal, and linkage, and distributor, and coil…), that I didn’t want to mess with the magic.

I usually don’t mind a carburetor, but when you have as many vacuum lines and electrical connectors as you do on ‘78, I figured it wasn’t much different than a sniper

 

[knuckle47]

I was just having this discussion with a friend of mine about 30 minutes ago… my FJ40 sniper is running so well, I told him as I have said here, I can drive it like an MG or other 4/6 cylinder sports car. Pedal is super responsive and currently with so many other “modernizations”, it misses nothing in shifting, starting or stomping on the accelerator. On occasion with 40 mph type roads, I have a tendency to lug around some turns. I should downshift but it doesn't know that and catches right up quickly. The new 3.70 differential gears make a huge difference. I just can’t drive it enough and with the new seats and suspension it should make a very comfortable difference

The 45 has a stock Aisin carb and it runs well so I don’t want to “mess with the magic’ either but you can tell the difference that the sniper does start easier when not used for a month, idles better and cruises better

 

[huminajumina]

Looks like great progress, loving the work on this thing! Great find man. I alway wonder if mine was more complete when I bought it would I be chasing gremlins and bad grounds....the time spent troubleshooting always gets less recognition around here that sniper setup looks like its gonna be real nice.

 

[nabbasi]

Looks like great progress, loving the work on this thing! Great find man. I alway wonder if mine was more complete when I bought it would I be chasing gremlins and bad grounds....the time spent troubleshooting always gets less recognition around here that sniper setup looks like its gonna be real nice.

Thanks! I like stock-ish beacuse it makes it easier to troubleshoot things, and I did try to keep it original. But sometimes you gotta try something new/ different.

 

[nabbasi]

It’s been months since my last update, but honestly it’s because it’s been months since I last worked on Linda - until about 3 weeks ago!

With 2 young ones with their own time consuming activities, the holidays, etc, Linda sat on dollies in the corner of the shop for a few months.

I snuck away a day or two in October to modify the accelerator pedal with the clevis provided in the Mosley kit (Loksr part?).

Then finally a few weeks ago, with the help of some friends, spent some time on wiring, got the exhaust hooked back up, and fired her up for the first time in months.

Then Christmas festivities kicked off, and I didn’t have time, but a few buddies cleaned up the wiring further, and her 2nd attempt had her idling, albeit at about 2100rpm.

As expected, (I didn’t know any better…) I had a heavy leak where the manifolds meet the head using the OEM gasket.

I’ve got some old jto headers on my ‘67 (installed by a PO), but they’ve been out of stock, so I took the opportunity to upgrade, since my muffler is under the driver seat.

Trimeki “Whole Enchilada” inbound!

 

[tls3601]

Great reading here!

You can tighten the tiny phillips (JIS) screws on the floppy plastic outside rear view mirrors so that they stay put....

Also have a ‘78, yes that helps! Very nice thread enjoying!

 

[nabbasi]

I should wait to verify the leaks are truly gone, but wanted to share a few lessons learned while removing / reinstalling the sniper, intake manifold, and exhaust manifold/ Trimek headers.

1. The Remflex gasket (7009A) is superior to the OEM gasket. it's also THICK.
2. Having said the above, I think it would have been better to keep the original intake and exhaust manifolds loose before installing to help level out any variation in their thickness(es) prior to install.
3. One of the 4 bolts holding the Mr. Gasket manifold adapter to the intake manifold was a bit long. I had to moderately shorten the rear left (closest to the brake booster) bolt so that it would not sit proud. I had cleaned out the holes and chased the threads - it was the only one that had an issue.
4. This is mentioned in one of the Trimeki threads, but both the steering box heat shield and the splash shield needed to be removed for the headers to fit.

I'll get some pictures up later today after I button up the reconnection of hoses and wiring from the sniper re-install, and re-install the passenger seat. With this almost finished up, back to the list:

Next up:
Rear brakes - new drums, wheel cylinders, shoes and hardware.
Rear brake junction & bleed brakes
Parking brake adjustment
Dome light install - In progress - installed, but no power
Thermostat Housing Gasket (slow leak)
Track Ignition Issues (De-Smog Attempt, New Distributor, New Coil, Ignition Relay to bypass igniter)--> Sniper Install
Radiator Hoses
GR Starter + New Battery Cables
Headers + Exhaust
Sniper Tuning
Drive Linda to work

 

[nabbasi]

Exhaust installed - and fired up! Time for some tuning - @knuckle47 (and/or anybody with some settings), let me know what tweaking I should do. Temp didn’t get above 150°, but I was a bit impatient since it was late.

A few shots of the Trimeki Full Enchilada installed.

 

[nabbasi]

I realized that I wasn’t impatient, but rather timed the motor using vacuum while it had a leak with the exhaust manifolds installed. Without the exhaust leaks, combustion was happening sooner, so my timing was too late/ retarded. With the help of @Ruski, yanked & re-stabbed the distributor. Retimed at ~13-14* BTDC, it fired up and idled beautifully (Huge thanks to @knuckle47 for his help with pictures of his sniper screens/ comments/ videos (featuring @wngrog , whose knowledge and threads have been immensely helpful during the sniper install)).

And with the timing set, it got to temp, and I was able to adjust IAC (which I'm stilling having to mess with a bit). After a quick test drive where the acceleration is noticeably punchier, I had to adjust the throttle cable since it was too tight to allow a proper return. I asked a friend to test drive, but he killed it, and I couldn't get it to restart. Only starting once had been noticed in testing previously. It would start the first time, and you could run it as long as you need, but the battery voltage slowly dropped, and would not re-start again until the next day.

The first thought was the battery (battery is relatively new...last 6 months, and hasn't been used much). It was fine.
Second thought was regulator (seemed mostly fine...)
Third thought was grounds (I was talked out of this by my old American iron loving friends...)
Fourth thought was alternator. Also tested out fine.

On an attempt to start, smoke came from the wiring harness near the alternator and battery. Unfortunately, I had a set of battery cables from @Fourrunner sitting in the package, and not installed. Also unfortunately, path of least resistance was the ground wire from the alternator to the voltage regulator.

After unwrapping a bit of the harness, seeing friend ground wire, and installing a temporary wire, and installing the new battery cables, repeated starts are no longer a problem, and the voltage reads just fine. A little too fine...

We tried bending the tabs a bit, but I've got a reman voltage regulator from toyota on the way. I'm hoping that buttons this up and I can move on to driving, knocking a few more things off the list.

Next up:
Parking brake adjustment
Dome light install - In progress - installed, but no power
GR Starter + New Battery Cables
Headers + Exhaust
Sniper Tuning
Drive Linda to work
Headlight Relay
Terrain Tamer Lift?

 

[knuckle47]

@nabbasi glad you got this short cleared up. I may suggest you go to the setup configurations to set the tachometer to no more than 4 or 5000 rpm….i have mine at 4000. The visual resolution is easier than looking at 20000 rpm in a large segment. Congratulations…. Once you fine tune it, your gonna enjoy it and starting is a breeze

Fwiw: my iac took a bit of fumbling, tightening and adjusting… it maxes out at 20 when driving and at idle floats very slowly to 0 from 10… not textbook but…. RUNS GREAT!!

 

[knuckle47]

@nabbasi when your in the parking brake if you should discover a drip or leak, look into the double seal housing swap from Georg@valleyhybrids. Just a thought

 

[nabbasi]

Well, today I planned to check the rest of the wiring for damage from the short issue, wrap everything back up, and wait for the new voltage regulator.

Unfortunately, I kept finding damage, until I gave up hope and removed the full harness. I figured I could take this opportunity to repair anything else that may be missing or damaged, and remove (or at least separate) the unneeded wiring related to the carburetor, vacuum switches, carb cooling fan, etc.

Next up:
Parking brake adjustment
Wire harness repair
GR Starter + New Battery Cables
Headers + Exhaust
Sniper Tuning
Drive Linda to work
Terrain Tamer Lift?

 

[knuckle47]

I’ve been a ham radio op…advanced class for over 44 years…. The ONE THING that scares me the most is that damn wiring harness….

Hope you get it smoothed out and perfect

 

[pb4ugo]

Well, today I planned to check the rest of the wiring for damage from the short issue, wrap everything back up, and wait for the new voltage regulator.

View attachment 4082983
Unfortunately, I kept finding damage, until I gave up hope and removed the full harness. I figured I could take this opportunity to repair anything else that may be missing or damaged, and remove (or at least separate) the unneeded wiring related to the carburetor, vacuum switches, carb cooling fan, etc.

Next up:
Parking brake adjustment
Wire harness repair
GR Starter + New Battery Cables
Headers + Exhaust
Sniper Tuning
Drive Linda to work
Terrain Tamer Lift?

Keep in mind, Coolerman sells color correct wires, along with terminals and plugs.

 

[nabbasi]

Keep in mind, Coolerman sells color correct wires, along with terminals and plugs.

I had already reached out to him last week and have a an order on the way, but once I get into the harness, I'll be sending another order his way. I have quite a bit of leftover wiring from the '67, but that one has a few more colors. Alot changed between 1967 and 1978!

I’ve been a ham radio op…advanced class for over 44 years…. The ONE THING that scares me the most is that damn wiring harness….

Hope you get it smoothed out and perfect

Wiring used to be my least favorite thing to deal with, but I don't mind it at all now (and mostly enjoy it). The peace of mind knowing that nothing has been chewed up, spliced improperly, burnt, etc should be worth it. The fact that I'll be able to optimize the harness a bit will be a bonus. I kept the original wire colors and circuits in the '67, and just made a new sub harness for the Dakota Digital that left all of the "original" wiring intact, so that I could revert back to the OEM cluster if I ever repair it. I did add the Toyota H4 relay kit, and a blade type fuse panel with a similar layout as the original since the original panel sparked alot and turned to dust when I removed it.

I know Linda was mostly original when I purchased her, but the project creep is real. Rust and rats are bad. With originality mostly out the window, I'm a bit torn as to what I want to do with the harness. I want to keep it mostly original, but I don't need all of the circuits. I've already started mocking up a new diagram, matching the layout of the original 1978 schematic, but with all of the weird late 1978 transitional things (like different colored wires from the factory because it's what Toyota had laying around). That way I can just slip it in the glovebox if anybody ever needs it in the future.

 

[knuckle47]

No doubt the peace of mind is a critical part. I would enjoy that as well its just getting to the stage of unwrapping the tape, sand and grit justbhas a way of going straight to a bad place for me....might have been those very first restorations that i followed the book on and still was stuck on the side of the road decades ago....BEST of luck to you !

 

[nabbasi]

2 weeks to the day that I removed the harness, I started the reinstall, which is a much, much slower process for me.

Here's an "in progress" picture with wires, connectors, tools, etc strewn across the living room (my wife is a very, very patient and understanding woman sometimes). This was 4-5 days as I was waiting on some wiring, while attempting to quarantine a 6 year old with flu. I inspected all of the wires, tested circuits, etc. I also removed all of the smog/ emissions wiring, which wasn't an insignificant amount of wires.

I got my relay box setup for reinstall. This will go near the battery under the hood, and handle the headlight relays, ignition relay, fuel pump relay, and sniper fuse.

And this was the harness just prior to reinstallation. For those that need to remove their harness/ reinstall their harness, the harness comes out the driver side door. It goes back in the same way.

I'm currently cleaning up wiring under the hood, then I'll work under the dash. I don't yet have a good solution for mounting the relay box, but I'm hoping a friend can mock something to mount the relay box and connectors. Toyota is mounting connectors and relays directly to the engine bay in new vehicles, so I won't feel so bad to just throw it on the fender.

Next up:
Parking brake adjustment
Wire harness repair (in progress - reinstalling)
GR Starter + New Battery Cables
Headers + Exhaust
Sniper Tuning
Drive Linda to work
Terrain Tamer Lift?

 

[knuckle47]

My hats off to you….anyone that goes in deep with the wire harness has something I just don’t find in my arsenal of testosterone. Maybe once I did it, I’d feel differently. I don’t think at this stage I will ever really find out. Love watching it though.

 

[nabbasi]

Thanks! Electrical used to scare me, but these old Toyotas forced me to face my fears, and it’s rather enjoyable to me now. It makes me feel better knowing there isn’t a fire hazard behind the dash.

I forgot to add this: while waiting on wires from coolerman, I fought the rusty screws and installed the Koito H4 headlights since I’ll have the relays now. It took everything in me not to blast and paint the bezel!