1st build - 1976 FJ40

[Charliemurphy]

Before I begin I want to thank everyone for sharing your knowledge, stories, ideas, and experience. Without this community I wouldn't be starting my own FJ40 story.

Star Date: August 17, 2018
Situation: Mid 40's, post midlife crisis, mechanical engineer purchases 1976 FJ40. The fun begins...


Pre-beginning: I sold a 1971 gmc jimmy several years ago that had been my baby. Everything I know about working on old cars I learned from that hunk of rust on the dirt under a tree. It was my sole means of transportation for 3 years so I would drive it during the week, tear it apart on Friday evening, and try to get it back together by Monday morning before work. So as I said I sold it, was a few years ago, and I have been missing working on something everyday since then. Im not fast or especially graceful at fixing things but eventually get it figured out. My favorite thing is to sit under the frame and look up all the mismatched bolts, bends, scratches and wonder what history the vehicle has seen. I love tearing something apart , putting it back together better than before. So last year I noticed a friend's 1972 FJ40 and fell in love. I can't say why. They're kinda boxy and they don't look like they ride very well.

But I think Transformers are kickass so that's probably the appeal.

I spent the year reading this website, talking to people and surfing craigslist. Was ideally looking for the 2F, the 4 Speed, and disk brakes. Finally, came across this green 1976 FJ40 that was about 98% complete and uncut(accept for some low quality body repair in the back). It started but didn't run and the rear was full of holes. I dollied it home and that where this all starts.

The general goals over the next 2 years are to get it running, get it inspectable, add a slight spring lift, upgrade to some 33", add power steering(electric or Saginaw), get the sheet metal fixed, take the top off and just have fun with it. IF I get all that done I will likely upgrade the engine to the 2UZ or Cummins R2.8 and a five speed but that's $10,000s down the road.
Now to the FJ40 porn with obligatory beer.

\

 

[Charliemurphy]

First Order of business: Get it running.
Before I bought this 1976 '40 the PO and I noticed the sight glass in the Aisan carburetor did not show any fuel. There was a cheap electric fuel pump that did run but was supplying unknown pressure/flow, and the gas cap was missing. We poured some gas down the carb and that got it running for a few seconds but then died, even when the choke was pulled out. That means it wasn't a battery, distributor, or motor issue. Its a fuel problem. So I started at the beginning.

1. It could just be out of gas,
2. the fuel lines could be clogged,
3. the fuel filter could be clogged
4. the fuel pump might not be supplying enough fuel
5. the carb needed cleaning, possibly rebuilding
6. Some linkage or vacuum line was out of wack (that's a technical term, right?)

I replaced the fuel filter with a transparent one from O'Reillys. I bought some fresh gas and a gas cap. After several times turning ove rthe engine with the starter, no luck. didn't even catch. I could see that the fuel pump was pulling fuel from the tank and through the fuel filter. The fuel in the filter looked reasonably clean. The sight glass in the carb didn't show any fuel something is happening down stream of the fuel pump. That means 1-4 are pretty much crossed out. On to the carb!

A standard Aisan 2 barrel carb for a 2F. Did I mention this has all the smog accessories in place? Im both happy and sad about it since it means I could sell it in California but it lends itself to a complex engine compartment.

I view carburetors as black majic but a buddy of mine said he could get it off, cleaned, and reinstalled in a fgew hours. HAHAHAHAHAH.
In hindsight I shouldn't have let him pull it apart since its now sitting in pieces and he's gone for a week.

But I did find out a few things. The banjo fittings looked a little wet so maybe some of the gas was getting to the carb. The first large chamber with the float and plunger was bone dry and one the barrels was all gunked up with some dark brown goo. Bingo. Carb needs cleaning and rebuilding. So that's where I am at today. Gotta figure out which carb rebuild kit to buy.

 

[cruiserkev]

Good luck! I also have a early 76 in green. One of the best years and colors in my opinion.

 

[Charliemurphy]

Good luck! I also have a early 76 in green. One of the best years and colors in my opinion.

Thanks, Kevin! Im glad another one is out there I can see as a go by.

 

[mrboatman]

Congrats Looks like fun times
JP

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Having gone through a similar refurbishment of a 1st gen 4runner I am keen to follow this '40s refurbishment. Best of luck to you. You've got heaps of help on the way from these 40-series guys.

 

[Simcoe]

Congrats and good luck! Looks like a fun project for sure

 

[Charliemurphy]

Latest update:
The aftermarket electric fuelpump was sucking gas through the new translucent fuel filter but no gas could be seen in the glass sight located on the front of the carb. It looked like the original Aisan carburetor needing rebuilding/cleaning. Took it apart and immediately saw that the front bowl was bone dry. Mostly, fuel was not getting into the front bowl and the secondary butterfly value was stuck. Taking it apart was not too tough. Used some PB blaster on the 4x 12mm nuts holding the carb down. I used parts from two carb kits. One from Spector and one I just picked up from Advanced Autoparts down the street in Arvada, CO. Cost about $35 per kit. I discovered that some kits have more parts than others. For instance, the kit I picked at O'reillys had the diaphragm plus some extra gaskets. There was a little filter in the carb that was clogged and the plugger looked pretty worn. replaced a few parts (but not the diaphragm since it looked pliable with no holes). It started right up after that. It backfired a bit when I'd rev it so I when to CCOT website and picked up spark plug wires ($49.83 PN:20919-91322), distributor cap ( $24.53 PN:49101-11010), rotor ($13.72 PN:49102-15150), and some denzo spark plugs from Advance Autoparts. Also picked up the necessary manuals. It helped the backfiring but didn't stop it completely. I suspect there is just some old gunk in the gas tank, the fuel lines, or in the carb that is going to have to go through the motor and out the back. The old spar plug wires and distributor parts actually looked ok. The spark plugs had some dark coking on them but weren't wet nor really worn looking. Still replaced it all. So for now I'm good with that and moving on to the electrical. Thanks to my pal Brian (pictured below) for helping me pull off, clean, and reassembly the carb. Somehow he memorized exactly how everything came off and went back together without any diagrams! And best of all he only takes beer in payment!

 

[Rooster47]

Congrats on the rig! Looks like you're already making some good progress. I ended up taking the easy way out of my carb troubles and picked one up from Trollhole. Definitely would recommend his, if it comes to that.

 

[Charliemurphy]

Congrats on the rig! Looks like you're already making some good progress. I ended up taking the easy way out of my carb troubles and picked one up from Trollhole. Definitely would recommend his, if it comes to that.

Thanks! Do you have a link or contact for him? Also, I think I need to stay smog compliant if I want to get it registered here in Colorado. Im actually totally ignorant about the whole smog/non smog issue.

 

[Rooster47]

I don't know about the smog/non smog setup... But here's a link to the Trollhole carbs.

New F & 2F carbs

 

[dmaddox]

Cool! Congrats. Keep up the good work (and originality). How fun is it to crack open the factory service manual and get the details over a beer?? The best. Enjoy - and lean on the community!

 

[Charliemurphy]

I love the first few months or year of owning and old vehicle. Figuring out all the weird, unique stuff about it. Last night is an example. I may have figured out, at least one reason, why my side lights don't work. One of the POs just cut the wires to them. .
There's also 4 wires coming out of the passenger side light assembly instead of two because the fender was too rusted to be a reliable ground.
I did check all the fuses and they seem intact. So that's good I guess. On the other hand, I need to either weld material into the fender or get a new or used fender. The big Rising Sun-run Swap meet is this weekend so I'm going to bring some cash and see if anyone has a pair they will sell. Any year works right? They're all the same?

 

[76classic]

Congratulations on the 1976 fj40. I have same year same color also. I think mine may be earlier or later in the run because I have the infamous carb cooling fan. March 1976. Feel free to reach out if you need reference pics while going through her.

 

[dmaddox]

Also, those fenders look restorable to me...

 

[BeerM3]

^^ I agree. I definitely would try to save some cash on those fenders. They look better than most. If you take them off and sandblast you'll have a clean jumping off point with no bondo surprises.

I have a 1/76 and have become quite the student of a lot of the nuances that 76/77 transition had, along with a lot of pictures and diagrams I've collected here and elsewhere, so don't hesitate to reach out. Tip #1: While you're fixing the turn signal wires, solder a new ground wire to the inside metal housing, route it alongside the green signal wires, and ground each side to a good spot inside the engine compartment.

 

[Charliemurphy]

Getting the lights working:

Learned some ridiculous lessons this last week:
1. Check to make sure everything is plugged in
2. check that your fuses are whole
3. check that you have light bulbs in the housings
4. check that you have wires running to your lights.

Sometimes it pays to just check to make sure everything is plugged in. The wiring harness plug to the headlight switch was not plugged in. Plugged it in, replaced some fuses and BLAMO, I have working headlights and the driver-side front turn signal. The passenger-side no longer had a good ground to fender, due to all the bondo, so as @dmaddox mentioned above I will have to run a ground wire (someone had already soldered one to the metal housing in the light assembly) into the engine compartment.

The rear light were dead. Opened up the covers to the assemblies: no light bulbs. just silver ducktape.
The wiring plugs were also cut from the wiring harness that ran from the front of the '40 to the back.

Herein lies my problem. The tail light assemblies have 4 wires running from 3 lightbulbs (1 reverse, 1 dual head-lights-on/braking, and 1 turn signal). The four wires run into a plug with 4 blades. The wire bundle from the front has 7 wires. I think 3 are for the left rear assembly(red, green, tan?), 3 are for the right rear assembly(red, green, tan), and a black one for the rear license plate light. If that's true then I have three wires that need to attach to a rear tail light assembly plug that has 4 bladed connections. I feel like Im missing something. What do I do?

Absent direction I got a voltage meter and will test out some circuits to see what the wires coming from the front do when I turn on the headlights,

Thanks!
Duck tape works for everything, right? Notice the amazing body work that some PO did.

7 Wire cable harness with no plugs....hmmmwhat goes where?

Tail light plug. four wires go in...three wires go out?

 

[BeerM3]

The all green wire (G) circuit is for parking/marker lights and the license plate light. Green with Black (abbreviated GB) tracer is your left turn signal / flasher. GY is your right turn / flasher. Red/Lavender (RL) is your back up lights. GW is your brake lights. I suspect your tail lights might be salvaged from another year? If they are that might explain the PO getting PO'd and cutting everything in a failed attempt to rewire it. The wire to the passenger rear side marker should have a pigtail for the license plate lights.

The '76 stock rear taillight connectors should be rectangular with one curved long edge both long edges curved. The problem is you can't buy the mate on the harness side anymore.

All that said, I'd highly recommend saving yourself a lot of headaches, splices and time and get on @Coolerman 's waiting list! He makes perfect rear harnesses from scratch because the originals are rarely intact enough to salvage. Yours looks like a good example of that. It's plug and play. Send him a pic of your existing tail lights and he'll include a diagram and connectors for a weathertight fitting that plugs into the new harness.

In the meantime, here are Haynes diagrams from his website. PM me your email and I'll send a high-res front harness collage from a 9/76 that someone posted on Mud a few years ago. It's too large to post, but very handy when trying to figure out "what the hell did that plug into?"

 

[JohnBoy]

Good stuff BeerM3

 

[BeerM3]

I should caveat the above with: Sometimes Toyota changed things midstream and the wire colors in these Haynes diagrams may not match 100%. But most of the colors to my knowledge should match your factory wires. It shouldn't be hard to figure out which one is the oddball anyway. And GB may be green-blue, not green-black...but i'm pretty sure it's the latter.