Build 1978 FJ40. Waking up the ol’ girl!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

New tubes in stock too. 😉

And yes, I am away from the office at the moment. Driving around the whine country, sampling coronavirus hysteria. :rolleyes:
 
Sweet man, I found your thread. That’s a cool patina on your 40. Are you gonna have to do a frame off ?
Hey man. Heck no on the frame off. Well I say that now but as I’ve mentioned, every time I start something, it creates five more jobs. I just want to get it driving and enjoy it for a little while. The body isn’t completely gone. I’d like to learn to weld and try my hand at body panels.
 
Steering box is OTW.

2EFF3D83-3EF3-4226-86C8-0DB4E21BCC10.webp
 
Haven’t done much in the last week or so. Work and family. Did clean up some parts today and painted.

Tried to get the pitman arm off my steering box....😡. Heat, PB blaster, breaker bar, impact wrench..hammer...just bending the puller. Mark, I may have to send you this box with the arm on! Soaked with PB again and off to work for a few days so hopefullyit will come off when I return. Any ideas? I’m all ears.

This steering box was in the back of my rig when I bought it. Is it Toyota? Just wondering if I should sell, give away, or dump.

486E9010-2ECD-43BA-9A67-53998A1A88DE.jpeg


58AA6A05-711E-48B0-A59D-D28141DDBCE6.jpeg
 
Eric

That is a steering box for a pre-73 FJ40. Assuming the sector roller is not damaged, it has value to me. Unfortunately, a lot of people end up damaging the housing, to the point it is no longer round at the seal surface, in attempting to get the pitman arm off. I have a very nice Snap On puller that is specifically for this one job. Heck of a funny story how I got it.

Send me the box as-is and I will remove the arm and return, probably with your carburetor, and give you credit for the box if it’s rebuildable.


Left you a VM on the carb earlier.
 
Eric

That is a steering box for a pre-73 FJ40. Assuming the sector roller is not damaged, it has value to me. Unfortunately, a lot of people end up damaging the housing, to the point it is no longer round at the seal surface, in attempting to get the pitman arm off. I have a very nice Snap On puller that is specifically for this one job. Heck of a funny story how I got it.

Send me the box as-is and I will remove the arm and return, probably with your carburetor, and give you credit for the box if it’s rebuildable.


Left you a VM on the carb earlier.
Got VM. Will call tomorrow.
 
Had a few hours to work today. Made some good progress. Installed the water pump, thermostat, pulled out the old steering box and installed the new. never done any of this before. Just tried to put it back the way it came out. Also spot painted a few areas on the frame that will be hard to get to when I get the fender back on. Attaching some photos for review. If you see anything that doesn’t look right please let me know. This is critical stuff here!

i’ve been putting off the knuckles. Kits are here. Will probably tackle that in the next couple days. Been watching lots of YouTube videos. Right now my plan is to get those done and get the wheels back on so I can push it outside and pressure wash the heck out of it. Would like to do that and get some things painted before I get the radiator and front put back on. Mark at Marks offroad has been deep into my carburetor and that should be done soon.

Again, please speak up if you see anything that looks weird.

DD9E6E21-D524-4ACA-99FB-42AE283FF074.jpeg


BC6156B1-C3C4-49A9-AF1C-DCDCBD2070F8.jpeg


726B2841-F27D-4731-9F18-F0B8F4B681A0.jpeg


39C133F7-4311-47A1-9AFA-C105F04E6159.jpeg


8F9E4B93-9A96-48E7-B49E-D028984B42EA.webp
 
Good job jumping in. This is exactly how you learn and build confidence in your vehicle.

That water pump looks aftermarket, so be sure it’s really sealed well on the back or you’ll have leaks.

I believe it’s a Japanese pump? Mark might want to chime in. Anyway I took the backing plate off and sealed that pretty well with Permatex water pump and thermostat gasket maker. Also put another bead of that where the pump meets the block on both sides of the gasket. Feel like it’s sealed pretty well. We will see!

I couldn’t do it without this forum and YouTube. Really enjoying wrenching on it though.
 
Worked on the front knuckles today. Taking longer than I’d hoped but I’m figuring it out. Fiddled with getting the axle in for 30 minutes. Walked away for awhile. Came back and tried again and it slipped right in! 😡. Had to add a couple small shims. Initial preload was 15 lbs or so. Got it to 7-8 lbs. Just trying to keep my mind off things. Weird times....

108B3145-A370-459C-8364-72DBE684C485.webp


61F5C105-9F8B-40D1-BAEB-5A705BDFEB54.webp


6363A541-3047-4A19-8DFB-CA351A61CDE5.webp
 
My daughter spent a few hours working with me today. Turned her loose disassembling the right front. I like to give her jobs and let her figure it out...helping if needed. Usually she does a really good job. She was a bit hard on a brake line! Dang it! Good lesson for us both. Guess I’ll be looking for a new one! 😂

5FDEFE72-CD28-48A6-A00C-59EE6A80A779.webp


B7792E54-716C-406F-A828-6729FC58190A.webp
 
Thought I was going to finish the driver side tonight! Started putting the hub and rotor together and then realized I have the wrong rotors. It’s the only one that OReilly lists for my 78...guess I’ll try to figure it out tomorrow. My wheel studs are mounted on the hub and don’t go through the rotor like some of the others I’ve seen. Am I missing something? Already had the bearings packed and things greased up!

7AAE3C24-C859-4363-8FC8-2A6FEE3F5F16.jpeg


0FEC3E36-24A3-4A10-B13E-7EDF541A546A.webp


32D8C53F-962B-4FB3-8E75-25AD6A5F8469.webp
 
Apparently the six hole brake rotors are not easy to get. O’Reillys doesn’t have them at all. Napa has one in the country, AutoZone can get me a set by Friday....ugh. Still calling around but I never thought it would be that hard to get. The eight hole rotors are in abundance apparently. i’m not excited about trying to modify. Stuck at home so I want to get moving!

update... Local Toyota can get them tomorrow at $115 each! Ouch. Autozone has them available Friday. $50 each. Maybe call NAPA and see if they’ll just turn the old ones...
 
Last edited:
Go with OEM brake rotors. I have replaced multiple rotors on my Toyota vehicles and the aftermarket ones are terrible. I live around big hills and the aftermarket rotors warp after 1-2 years from the heat from braking when going downhill. OEM rotors last forever.
 
Go with OEM brake rotors. I have replaced multiple rotors on my Toyota vehicles and the aftermarket ones are terrible. I live around big hills and the aftermarket rotors warp after 1-2 years from the heat from braking when going downhill. OEM rotors last forever.
Ok...good to know. Thanks
 
Back
Top Bottom