Build 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together

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Sigh. Slow going. Gathering parts/equip to pull engine. Found a great old Carolina ShopHand 4000 engine hoist for $37 at a local auction. Had a blown cylinder, so got a new one for $70.

Now have a $100 US made hoist that'll last another 20 years. Bought a new 1250# engine stand (PowerBuilt) for $100 and an engine/load leveler (Torin) for $50?. Both were really good quality. I was pleased.

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Also purchased 4 M12 x 1.75 x 160mm bolts for the engine stand to hold the engine from BallerBolts.com. Pretty cool hardware site. They are Allen caps.

http://www.ballerbolts.com/asc-12160.html

Fastenal and other sites were about the same cost, but shipping was cheaper and I liked the 10.9 strength of these. Just looked it up. 10.9 metric strength bolts in M12 have a Proof Load of 830MPa where 1MPa = 1N/mm^2 = 145 lb/in^2, so that's ummmm, 120,350 lb/in^2.

I think that'll hold it.

EDIT:
DO NOT USE BALLER BOLTS. Several folks have complained of extremely long wait times and no product received. To top that he is extremely slow or unwilling to respond to customer requests for order status.

See these threads:
http://zilvia.net/f/businesses/362128-baller-bolts.html
http://www.bbb.org/central-northern...in-san-antonio-tx-1000016733/Customer-Reviews
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Balle...-Bolts-Dont-waste-your-money-Internet-1036895
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Balle...nternet-order-never-received-Internet-1027620
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Balle...O-NOT-WASTE-YOUR-MONEY-Internet-Texas-1053337
http://forums.evolutionm.net/vendor...review/594588-scammer-alert-baller-bolts.html
http://www.complaintboard.com/baller-bolts-l13780.html
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/57...cam-alert-dont-buy-anything-baller-bolts.html
http://www.reviewstalk.com/complaints-reviews/baller-bolts-l39884.html
 
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Nice lift at a great price.

I'm thinking you may want to extend the legs on that engine stand. The 2f will extend well beyond those front wheels. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to having that much cantilever. You're right about your fasteners. Those guys will never fail.

looking good. great work VV.
 
Vae Victus said:
This is turning into a frame off I'm afraid.... Ug. Not fully committed yet but it is getting close.
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You can always button it back up after you get the mechanical bits right. Then you can drive it around some while you make it a stunner..... just saying....:meh:

I've already resigned myself to letting mine be a bit ugly after I get it to work right. I think vehicles are happier wearing their battle scars.
 
FishTacos said:
Nice lift at a great price.

I'm thinking you may want to extend the legs on that engine stand. The 2f will extend well beyond those front wheels. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to having that much cantilever. You're right about your fasteners. Those guys will never fail.

looking good. great work VV.
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Hmmm. Yea, stand is not as beefy as the hoist. Not as pretty either. Although I'm sure it'll hold a 2F without the tranny and transfer on it, I plan to put them back on outside the vehicle. In that scenario, it will be 6' of engine hanging on 4 bolts - probably 2' past the end of the legs. Dang it Fish, now you got me thinkin'.

I guess I can keep the hoist on it or do as you suggest and extend the legs if it is rickety. We will see. The 2F is topping out at 800# loaded, as best as I can determine from reading here.
 
FishTacos said:
You can always button it back up after you get the mechanical bits right. Then you can drive it around some while you make it a stunner..... just saying....:meh:

I've already resigned myself to letting mine be a bit ugly after I get it to work right. I think vehicles are happier wearing their battle scars.
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I know me. Once I stop working on it and start driving it, I won't want to undo things again. I need to get all the BIG things done now. That includes knuckles, new gears, diffs, suspension, frame blasted and dipped, body painted, all that stuff. I'm ready for clutch and transmission (I think - still wavering on tranny, but I'm pretty sure I can do it).

Maybe I'll drive it before I paint it. Some.
 
I think your stand will be fine for doing the engine work and once completed, it is easy to lift it from the stand with your hoist, lower it to rest on the floor or wooden blocks and then install the bellhousing, clutch, and trans. That is when your hoist and leveler will get a real workout. I don't see any occasion where the engine and trans would need to be on the stand.
 
Vae Victus said:
Sigh. Slow going. Gathering parts/equip to pull engine. Found a great old Carolina ShopHand 4000 engine hoist for $37 at a local auction. Had a blown cylinder, so got a new one for $70.

Now have a $100 US made hoist that'll last another 20 years. Bought a new 1250# engine stand (PowerBuilt) for $100 and an engine/load leveler (Torin) for $50?. Both were really good quality. I was pleased.
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Nicely done! For the same price you could have gotten one at Horrible Freight made in China which lasts for two engine pulls.
 
Chamba said:
Nicely done! For the same price you could have gotten one at Horrible Freight made in China which lasts for two engine pulls.
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Yes, I lucked onto the Carolina ShopHand. It was a restaurant equipment auction house that happened upon a storage unit. And in this unit: the old hoist.
 
vtgbeemer said:
I think your stand will be fine for doing the engine work and once completed, it is easy to lift it from the stand with your hoist, lower it to rest on the floor or wooden blocks and then install the bellhousing, clutch, and trans. That is when your hoist and leveler will get a real workout. I don't see any occasion where the engine and trans would need to be on the stand.
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So do the clutch on the stand but put tranny/tcase on the ground.
 
On an inline 6 like your 2F I always strip the rear of the engine to the bare block (no bellhousing or flywheel) and bolt the rear of the block to the engine stand. That allows you to work on the engine with full access to most everything. You may not achieve 360 degrees of rotation but you should be able to access things safely.
Once you have completed the engine you can remove it from the stand and secure it with your hoist to install components from the flywheel back.
 
Be very careful with that type of engine stand , an inline 6 @800lbs can create some serious leverage against the main leg where it's bolted to the rear support member . Make sure those are good grade bolts and properly torqued , a lot of manufacturers use cheap hardware here - not a good idea .

At the rate your knocking things out , it will go fairly quick .
Sarge
 
Weber Sarge said:
Be very careful with that type of engine stand , an inline 6 @800lbs can create some serious leverage against the main leg where it's bolted to the rear support member . Make sure those are good grade bolts and properly torqued , a lot of manufacturers use cheap hardware here - not a good idea .

At the rate your knocking things out , it will go fairly quick .
Sarge
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Thanks Sarge. I'll go slow and be careful. Stand has hefty hardware. It is 8.8 stuff. The engine bolts i bought are 10.9.

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I'm learning that fairly quickly simply means a fraction of the age of the truck.
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Fast Eddy/dmaddox/FishTacos all have my vote too-get the running stuff in good order(incld the tie rod), then drive it. The body can wait a little longer(it's waited 30+ years so far, so 1 or 2 more won't hurt) Put something on that carb to keep the gunk out(an old sock will work).
Good luck on the build--everyone here can help somehow, no matter how simple or complicated your question.
 
sggoat said:
Fast Eddy/dmaddox/FishTacos all have my vote too-get the running stuff in good order(incld the tie rod), then drive it. The body can wait a little longer(it's waited 30+ years so far, so 1 or 2 more won't hurt) Put something on that carb to keep the gunk out(an old sock will work).
Good luck on the build--everyone here can help somehow, no matter how simple or complicated your question.
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Thanks Goat. You should read the next 16 pages of the thread - I've gone in deep unfortunately.
 
Vae Victus said:
Thanks Goat. You should read the next 16 pages of the thread - I've gone in deep unfortunately.
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No-one will ever accuse you of being indecisive. Pedantic of OCD perhaps, but not indecisive.
 
Found some great gloves I've got to tell about. Bought a box of expensive gloves ($16) from Home Depot a month or two ago. I was not impressed.

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$16 for these, and not satisfied with the quality.

I own restaurants so I know that gloves can be bought much cheaper so I hated to get the $16 box. The ones we use in our restaurants are about $4/box, and vinyl, not nitrile, so I couldn't use them. Too loose.

The nitriles were nice, kept me clean and had good grip. The only problem was they broke really easily. 5 - 10 minutes and I'd have a hole somewhere.

When the black gloves started to run out, I went to the Internet and started looking, convinced I'd buy some for $8 box. Read about approximately 50 brands of nitrile and settled on the Kimberly Clarke. They were about $12/box, which I still thought was high. But on reading the reviews, people just bragged on the quality of these. (Amazon of course).

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When I got these, I realized the reviews were right. These are far superior to the cheap but pricey Home Depot/Autozone ones. They are so thick that I've yet to break a pair, or even get a hole in them (not exaggerating). They are still very responsive (I can pick things up, feel what I'm doing, etc). I'm throwing them away only after they get so disgusting that I can't bear to clean them any more. I've only used two pairs in 2 days (couple of hours each day) but I'd normally go thru 5-6 pairs in that time. The 3rd pair is on the table waiting for me to put them back on. I bought 3 boxes of 100 pcs. Probably never use them all.

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Used pair waiting on my return

Just thought I'd share.
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Cracks me up - I used to work for a scientific company that distributed Kimberly Clark products. Those purple nitrile gloves are awesome. Superior to their blue nitrile ones. Having spent the majority of my working life in a lab, they have saved me from getting nasty carcinogenic chemicals, strong acids, etc. on myself quite a few times. Never thought I would see them put to automotive work!
 
That is great to know. I bought a box at Horrible Freight and go through them like condoms at a brothel; I so much as look at a sharp object and they rip.
 
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