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

[Vae Victus]

Scott I believe the clearance will be sufficient. You may need to check the nut on the arm from time to time. I think as you drive it the arm will loosen and need to be tightened thus driving the arm further onto the shaft where it belongs.

Also good to know.

 

[Vae Victus]

Mine is a work in progress. Its just that in four years no progress has been made by my wifes cousin.

Family mechanic = sticky situation.

 

[Vae Victus]

Worked on the clutch last weekend.

All went great....

This side toward the transmission

This side toward the motor

Hard to hold everything in place. I found resting the clutch on the flywheel peg at 6:00 position allowed me to hold everything up with my legs, put the plastic clutch alignment tool in place, and start a bolt or two.

Views attached.

Like I said it all went well... until...

 

[Vae Victus]

... until this happened:

Overtorqued the 8mm bolt and snapped it off. Almost the last one. I misread the chart and used the 10mm spec at 54 foot lbs instead of about 32. Such a bummer.

Nothing left to weld a nut to, so I started drilling. Of course I got the hole off Center so it made it more difficult.

Ended up drilling a lot out, using a Dremel carbide grinding bit, and getting some left handed bits to finally back it out. Took about 4 hours of careful chewing with the dremel bit to get it centered enough to use the left hand bit.

I was so relieved when it finally worked. Sweet! Bonus I only drilled out about 15% (ok maybe 25%) of the treads so I’m thinking it’ll hold just fine.

 

[Vae Victus]

Also got a special delivery today from Rainman’s Brake Lines. The famous Rainman himself brought them, and then helped me begin the install. I even put his link in my sig below.

Sweet box!

New connectors installed on the diffs. Called “Notch Heads” and available from Rainman’s Brake Lines. New kits come with self tapping screws.

Rainey does some clean, concours-quality work for a very fair price. He’s a buddy, so I’m pumping his stuff, but you can see the work for yourself as we get it installed.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Wow that is about the thinnest bolt carcas I have seen-- nice work on the extraction! I've had to re-tap to a larger size a couple of times already. It's surprisingly difficult to get a bit centered during extraction!

Also - those notch-heads are a nice line mount option! Very clean.

 

[Vae Victus]

Wow that is about the thinnest bolt carcas I have seen-- nice work on the extraction! I've had to re-tap to a larger size a couple of times already. It's surprisingly difficult to get a bit centered during extraction!

Also - those notch-heads are a nice line mount option! Very clean.

Yea, I even Center punched it. Wish I had access to a milling machine. Would’ve made quick work of that uneven bolt surface.

Hope you got your synchro bushings sorted.

 

[Vae Victus]

So I've not posted here since Nov 5. I walk by the project daily and just stare at the tranny waiting to be bolted to the motor.

After I do that, what's the next step?

Damn I've forgotten how many hundreds of hours I have in this project already!

 

[DSB345]

I'm with you buddy

 

[Boaf 32]

Man that looks good!

 

[Vae Victus]

I'm with you buddy

Thanks DSB! Sending middle son out your way to USC in the fall....

 

[Vae Victus]

Man that looks good!

Thanks sir!

 

[TheHardWay]

Dude, you were rolling - wha happen?

 

[Vae Victus]

Man I fe

Dude, you were rolling - wha happen?

Man I fell off the bandwagon for 7 months. Got burned out.

 

[Vae Victus]

Good news, I returned to my 12 step program for Addicted Truck Rebuilders, and began work on the '76 truck again today.

Finally attached the tranny to the bell housing. Only took about an hour to wrestle the thing up, onto the tranny jack and into the slot.

Just call me Captain McStabbin'!

Frame rolled out. You can see the '70 in the background.

Lifting the tranny over the frame onto the jack

On the jack. Jack adjusts two ways but is really crude and awkward. Have to strap the tranny on it.

 

[Vae Victus]

Lined up pretty easily after some fancy maneuvering to get the shaft above the bell housing bottom lip.

You'll never see a cleaner fly wheel and clutch....

Mated up perfectly. Put some anti seize on the shaft so it slid in easily. I just used the bolts to slowly work it into place.

Removed all the straps and jack. Woo hoo! Back in business.

Ok, so what do I do now? Fan, shroud, radiator....?

 

[Indestructible 47]

exhaust manifold? i'd do that before to much longer even moisture in the air can rust cylinders. keep at it

 

[White Stripe]

Me? I would do driveshafts and mount the body.

 

[V8FJ4078]

no throwout bearing?

 

[Jdc1]

Looks great, plus one on squaring away body and paint next while you chip away at the rest of the chassis/drivetrain.