Builds 1978 FJ40. Waking up the ol’ girl! (2 Viewers)

[EStein]

Changed the differential, transfer case, and transmission oil… Son of a gun! Anyone ever used one of these stupid little plastic pumps to get gear oil out? Maybe due to the awkward angle or the hundreds if not thousands of pumps required! I’m going to be legitimately sore tomorrow.

Transmission, transfer case and rear differential actually all looked pretty good. Then I got to the front! Yuck!

 

[EStein]

Had the engine running fairly smooth… Wouldn’t idle though. Anyway my expert buddy came over and thought it would be a good idea to spray carburetor cleaner down the carb as it was running to see if we can get it cleaned out a little bit and get it to idle… Now it runs terrible. Rough and backfires. ugh. I was planning on pulling the carb anyway and getting it rebuilt but geez! I didn’t even get a Day!

 

[wimberosa]

Had the engine running fairly smooth… Wouldn’t idle though. Anyway my expert buddy came over and thought it would be a good idea to spray carburetor cleaner down the carb as it was running to see if we can get it cleaned out a little bit and get it to idle… Now it runs terrible. Rough and backfires. ugh. I was planning on pulling the carb anyway and getting it rebuilt but geez! I didn’t even get a Day!

Thats probably just moved the shellac and other gunk around. It's a common thing to try but it does sound like the carb is in need of some loving. I tend to think your expert buddy wasn't totally wrong.

 

[JMZ400]

Congrats to you man. She'll remember that moment forever

 

[Suntreemcanic]

I also have a '78. My daughter drove the'78 all through high school. She said it was a boy magnet. She was driving it in the spring one time up in the mountains and the tires dropped through the packed snow and it went down to the frame. Sat there for 4 days before it froze hard enough to drive it out. My daughter gained a lot of confidence in her abilities changing oil and doing general maintenance. It rubs off and gave her confidence in a lot of other areas .

 

[Steady 360]

Hey Wrong Way, when are you going to get to the steering box rebuild. My 72 fj has a lot of play. You will more than likely put power steering in place .

 

[EStein]

Thats probably just moved the shellac and other gunk around. It's a common thing to try but it does sound like the carb is in need of some loving. I tend to think your expert buddy wasn't totally wrong.

Agreed!

 

[EStein]

I also have a '78. My daughter drove the'78 all through high school. She said it was a boy magnet. She was driving it in the spring one time up in the mountains and the tires dropped through the packed snow and it went down to the frame. Sat there for 4 days before it froze hard enough to drive it out. My daughter gained a lot of confidence in her abilities changing oil and doing general maintenance. It rubs off and gave her confidence in a lot of other areas .

That’s Really cool! Thanks!

 

[EStein]

Congrats to you man. She'll remember that moment forever

Agreed!! Thanks!

 

[EStein]

I decided to pull the plugs and check compression tonight just out of curiosity… The condition of the plugs was interesting. Probably 20 minutes of running time on them. i’m not smart enough to know what it means but it doesn’t look good! Running really rich? Number one didn’t look like it was firing at all.

#1 is on the right

compression is

1. 170
2. 150
3. 150
4. 60. Then 80 when I added some oil
5. 150
6. 170

Carb will be sent off in a couple days. May even consider a valve job while it’s gone. That’s easy...to take in, not do myself.

Cleaned the plugs and still runs terrible since we “fixed” the carb. any thoughts appreciated.

 

[EStein]

Compression test prob not totally accurate. Engine was warm but throttle not open. Didn’t know I was supposed to do that.

 

[mrboatman]

Check and adjust valves.
JP

 

[EStein]

Shoes off. 20 years out in Eastern Washington in a field was not kind to the tires. Took them down to my local tire shop. Going with BFG AT 31x10.5x15. Going to keep the white spoked wheels for now but eventually would like to get back to the stock steelies.

 

[EStein]

It’s a mess but at least it appears solid!

 

[EStein]

Couldn’t put it off any longer...time to dig into the rear bed. I hadn't really seen cause a thick rubber mat had been screwed down many years ago. Also I was curious what was in the box of parts back there. You’re probably wondering how I could’ve waited so long but I’ve been really busy. Also part of me didn’t want to know. Soo..I think the parts are mostly smog items that were removed. Recognize anything? Couple of broken door handles, a wire that I don’t know what it does, and a receipt from 1982. That’s kind of cool. Pretty much as I expected. Rust goes about a third of the way up the bed. Wheel wells probably could use replacing but not as bad as I thought they were going to be. I’ve seen worse...that’s what I keep telling myself.

Anybody want to come get this gun rack? Also removed the Ramsey winch off the front. That was fun. Had to cut the bolts off. PTO was already gone.

 

[EStein]

Few more

 

[KingAir Driver]

Nice rig! Reminds me of when I found my Freeborn 77 in Colville. That wire is your ignition switch (back of key cylinder, runs down steering shaft and plugs into the harness). The other stuff is your smog equipment (smog pump, egr valve, etc... someone in a smog state might be looking for that at some point. I keep mine in a box in the garage.

 

[EStein]

Ok cool. I’ll hang on to it. Thanks!

 

[65swb45]

Got your message. Will try and connect with you around 1 tomorrow.

 

[-MaTTi-]

I think the "build" will be given by the moderators.

I don’t know, I have tried 3 times by pm and got no answer. Or is @cruiserbrett wrong person?