1987 FJ60 build

[JohninFla]

Just came back in from fighting that spring some more.

I ended up taking it off, and then attaching it to the axle. I thought it might be easier to get the ends of the spring to align with the frame mounts, instead of fighting with the pin under the axle.

So.....now it's bolted to the axle, truck on jack stands, and the front fixed greasable pin halfway through, and I ran out of daylight. It really shouldn't be this hard!

I was thinking that I might take the other spring off, to let the axle have some free play, and then get both springs mounted to the axle, line up both front pins and get them in there, THEN try to install the shackles. Any reason not to?

More fun!!

 

[JohninFla]

Thanks FJ60 Dave - and yes, a Gen 1 chevy will go in there, eventually.

 

[JohninFla]

A good evening out there.

I decided to take the second old rear spring off, and see what that did. It ended up coming off pretty easily, (relatively), and I stuck a new spring in there.

With the truck level, and the weight off the springs, I could jockey the axle around pretty easily and get everything lined up. Kicking myself for not doing it Sunday. I have both springs mounted on the fixed forward pin, u bolts installed, and the rear shackles to install, with jack stands holding it up, right at about where it will sit. I will poke those rear shackles in tomorrow after work.

Pics......before and after...

 

[JohninFla]

Good day here, got a bunch of stuff done.

Slave cylinder hydraulic line re routed, cut and flanged.

Front center brake soft line replaced.

Flushed both heater boxes. Not terrible, but the rear heater was funky.

Cut and chiseled out the engine mounts. Passenger side mount came out with a few bangs of the 5 lb and a chisel. I had to move the steering to get at the driver's mount, but it finally gave in.

Bought a Hummer spare tire mount off Craigslist, cause my ADD kicked in this morning, and I was thinking, "I need to get my engine bay ready for the Small Block - oooh, building a rear bumber will be fun!"

More to come...

 

[JohninFla]

Rear brake shoes replaced, drums turned.

Yanked the front carpet out, its wet. Been having some heavy rain for the last month, not surprised. I need to take the wiper motor access panel off and clean out the leaves, I think. I kept the carpet to use for a pattern, I really want something I can hose off down there. Thinking an old rubber bedliner, cut to fit.

Bought S10 truck with 1985 SBC in it for a donor. Guy left all the wiring harness for the 4.3L V6 in there. Tight fit, I spent this afternoon disconnecting everything after I got it home.

Had a 6 inch structural steel beam for a rear bumper, looked like raw material for me to play with making one that looks good!

Good fun!

 

[Elbert]

a tip...

a short ratchet strap will help you muscle around the axle housing to get bolts lined up, thats what I used when I did my spring swap.

 

[JohninFla]

Elbert that is exactly what I ended up doing. I think I read it in one of your posts. Thanks!!! It worked!

 

[JohninFla]

Been traveling in South America for work, came back and decided to actually get something done!

I did my front axle seals, new brake disks, modified the dust shields to remove the brake line there. Installed all new bearings, repacked everything, got filthy and cleaned up again. I wanted to post "new calipers" but, in my excitement to get my core charge back, I gave them the large clips that hold the pads under the pins. So I get to buy new ones, THEN post that my new calipers and brake lines are installed. Won't take much, hard part is over.

First side went slowly, kinda feeling my way through it with the FSM opened in the garage. Second one was easy. I remembered all the torque settings, put everything together correctly, and figured out how to be more efficient doing it, (packing ALL the bearings at once, rebuilding the hub and greasing at the same time I greased everything else.)

The body count: two rolls of paper towels, a full trash can, 3 tubs of grease, 3 cans of brake cleaner, one fish scale that is covered in greasy finger prints, one bump on the head, standing up too fast and hitting the fender, and lots of dirt in my clothes. Kurt's kit of parts was complete, and easy.

I don't have any pics, but I will post some photos of cruisers I saw in Brazil when I get to my work computer, to make up for it.

More to come, the engine is the only hard part left, everything else is just small tasks, as far as I can tell.

 

[norsk]

you are right! Your engine hole does look my mine - lol - save your paint is much cleaner than my brown stuff. I am pulling wheel wells and fenders and treating them with some elbow grease and new paint - at least on the inside, since I am keeping the black stuff on the outside - THAT reduces the visible scratches from the trail trees

You are doing the whole hog real fast. My OME springs were done a couple of years ago, along with bears, brakes and the same stuff you're doing.

My engine will still take some time, since - if you read my thread - I am building the SBC from crankshaft up.

dougbert

 

[JohninFla]

in Brazil

Old FJ trucks I saw in Brazil - totally off topic, but I thought it was interesting.

 

[JohninFla]

Sorry about the upside down FJ with my thumb in the photo.

Here is the gasoline truck that crashed into my hotel one night

 

[TallCanDan]

Here is the gasoline truck that crashed into my hotel one night

More info please!

 

[JohninFla]

Tall Can Dan

There is not much to tell - I was in the Holiday Inn Fortaleza, I went to sleep after traveling all day to get there, and heard something loud enough to wake me on the 18th floor at 4am. I looked out the window, saw a bunch of flashing lights. They drive pretty wacky down there, so I guessed "accident, long overdue" and went back to sleep.

Next morning, I could see the truck stuck in the side of the hotel while I are breakfast. A taxi had cut it off, and it jack knifed, and slammed into the building. The tanker in the rear was ok, but the diesel tank on the tractor had leaked, I could smell it from the restaurant.

They called in a crane to get it out, blocked the street off completely. It took a good while, and it was Saturday, I was off, so I got a Capparouchka, (totally spelled wrong, Vodka, ice, limes), and watched for a while. Good entertainment for me!

Sunday, I left for Trairi, and had a more primitive hotel, but MUCH quieter. Right on the beach, tiny room, no glass windows, just shutters, and I slept like a rock listening to the waves crash each night.

One of my better work adventures!

John

 

[JohninFla]

Really good weekend, as far as the Landcruiser goes:

1. I got the correct banjo bolts, attached the lines to the new calipers, stuck a speed bleeder in, and bled the brakes. Good clearance to the shock, although the line might be a little longer than it needs to be. I have solid brakes, all new calipers, rotors, lines all around.

2. I made some inner fender liners, and found some plastic clips at the surplus store for 0.20 each - installed them in 5 minutes. Functional. I could have made them so the lines in the material are all oriented the same, but that is just my OCD kicking in.

3. Got to work on the Chevy V8. New Thermostat, removed plugs and put in heater hose fittings on the intake and water pump. Removed valve covers and oil pans for new gaskets, painted them, and installed with all new gaskets and seals. Removed all the valve springs, put in new valve seals and o rings while the valve covers were off. checked and tightened a whole bunch of bolts on the engine, since I found many were only finger tight, (exhaust manifold!) Everything is back together, not too much left to get it ready to put in the truck.

4. Found a Chevy factory air cleaner and fan with clutch on Craigslist. $20 total, and the clutch still feels right. I am still shopping for an inspection cover for the bell housing......

It is still really hot here, I melted out there today. I think it was around 95, but the humidity made it feel like 103, according to the weather guy.

More next weekend, I need to finish the under hood work so I can weld in the mounts. The pile of parts in my laundry room is shrinking, I have several ruined T shirts full of grease, and my checkbook is feeling the pain. I must be making progress!!

 

[JohninFla]

fender liners.

 

[JohninFla]

Made some progress, then got stuck.

In the past two weekends, I welded in the Advanced Adapters engine mounts, using a bare block as a fixture to locate them. I had to cut the angle mounts that get welded to the frame, and the drivers side engine mount. I replaced their rubber mounts with something else, since their rubber mounts totally collapsed under the weight of the bare block. I think it was a $90 kit, I ended up hacking it to pieces. I should have just bought steel and made it from scratch. I am sure it would have been at least as good, or better. All ended well, although it was hard to get underneath the drivers mount to weld along the bottom.

I got the engine ready to go in, and used Advanced Adapters bracket to mount the clutch slave cylinder to the bell housing. More grinding on their "custom" part to take out interference with the bell housing, and let the bolt go in. The slave cylinder is still not aligned with the clutch fork, I have some work left there to do. Not thrilled.

We mic'd the back of the Ranger Torque splitter to check the clearance to the Landcruiser transmission input shaft bearing, and found that it's not right. There were two Landcruiser bearing sizes, 3.544, or 3.625. I have the 3.625 bearing, and the 3.544 Ranger rear plate. I will see what they suggest, either a new rear plate for the Ranger, or a whole new on. So I am stopped on the engine install until I hear back. My target of Labor day fire up just got pushed out some, I think.

More to come!

 

[AZBIG1]

Very nice thread! What PN# from Advanced Adaptors did you use? Assuming Chevy to Stock Toyota Tranny?

 

[JohninFla]

I used the Ranger with 27% overdrive. If you order, you need to measure the input bearing and specify what yours is. This issue was the fault of the person ordering it, no question there.

I called Advanced Adapters first thing this morning, and got a guy named Gino in technical support. GREAT guy. Dropped what he was doing, advised me to buy a new back plate for the adapter, and return the existing one. Ok, sure. $125 plus shipping and new gasket and seal. THEN, he walks out to the shop to talk to the assembly guy, to make sure it's do able. Walks out to the warehouse, finds out there is a back plate in my size on the shelf. Calls me right back, sets up the paperwork, takes a credit card, and sticks it in UPS, delivery Thursday, so I can install my engine over the weekend.

Then, I talked with him about the engine mount and slave cylinder mount. No promises of a fix, but he will look at the engine mount rubber if I stick it in the box with the return back plate. Good enough for him, I appreciated the quick, and knowledgeable help this morning.

So I am only a week off track, which is not bad.

 

[Jokenring]

Gino is great to work with. He helped me out of a pickle too.


Glad to hear things are progressing.

 

[JohninFla]

Big progress!!

Went out there last night and made sure the new plate from Advance Adapters fit my tranny, then mounted the Ranger on the tranny. Did some stuff on the engine to make sure it was ready to go in, (painted exhaust manifolds and mounted them, stuff like that).

Got out early today, and yanked the hood, stuffed the engine in. Didn't QUITE go that quickly, but it's in there! YAAAA! Now I have 100 little things to do.

One good thing I found was an accelerator cable from a 1983 C10 truck will work with my carb, and it's the right length to get back to my firewall. Real patient guy at Advance Auto last night, with nothing better to do, (store was empty except for me, him and another guy working there), went through a bunch until we found this one. The length is on the computer screen when he looks them up. 24 + inches long, with the right ends. Pics with part number are here.

I just have to find the right fan clutch set up, my serpentine belt system sits a normal fan clutch from an early 1980's chevy too far out, it hits the radiator.

Drill hole for accelerator cable.
Figure out radiator hoses, (I think I have this licked)
Figure out the CS130D alternator to Toyota wiring, (too much info out there on this, I am confused with the plug wiring, I am not sure what is what, and don't want to burn up anything.)
bleed clutch slave cylinder, (too f'ing hot outside now)
Make exhaust, (fun with wire welder)
Power steering is connected, using stock Toyota high pressure line. It's way too long, I might fish around a junkyard for shorter.
Install radiator.
Fill all fluids
Fire it up!

Great day for me, I am happy, I feel like I jumped ahead a lot!