Build '73 FJ40 rebuild - family wheeler

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Well, everything is disconnected and the engine is ready to pull. I have decided to leave the trans and cases in the 40 for now because it will be easier to pull (F + SM456 + 203 + LC case = really long!) and I really don't have the floor space to have it lying around right now. Tonight, I just need to unbolt the engine from the trans and yank it out of there.

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Lets see the work... Im about to get into a 74 resto so I'll be posting pics also.
 
I didn’t get a ton done this weekend on the 40, but I did get to take my Lexus out in the woods on Saturday. It was a much needed break:

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Then I bolted the front clip back on the 40 and started devising a plan to get it on the trailer. Like I mentioned before, I am doing a side job with my old engine and need the garage space. That means my 40 needs to go away for a bit to give me room. Without the engine, I knew I wanted to load it backwards on the trailer. Unfortunately, my trailer doesn’t have a winch and neither does my 40. After discussing the dilemma with my wife, she gave me the go ahead to buy what I needed to put a winch on my trailer! Unfortunately, my welding leads weren’t long enough to mount the winch onto the trailer, so it got temporarily attached to the 40.

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With help from a buddy and my wife, my 40 is safely on the trailer and stored away for a bit. Once the side job is done, it will be back and the real work will begin.

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Well, I finally finished putting my old F motor into a buddies '73 FJ40. Now I have my 40 back in the garage and I'm ready to start working on it!

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After a lot of pondering, I think I have a list in chronological order. For those of you that have been down this path before, please let me know if I am missing anything or need to change the order!

1. Remove exhaust, seats, heater, and trans tunnel. (List heater for sale.)
2. Remove drive shafts, trans, and t-cases.
3. Clean, reseal, and paint trans and t-cases.
4. Remove front clip.
5. Clean and paint firewall and bottom of tub.
6. Remove factory motor and trans mounts.
7. Clean and paint engine.
8. Mate engine to trans/t-cases with new clutch.
9. Install as many accessories to engine as possible.
10. Mock placement of drivetrain.
11. Fabricate motor mounts and cross members.
12. Weld shackle stops for the front shackles.
13. Clean , finish weld motor / cross member mounts, stitch weld , & paint frame.
14. Install drivetrain.
15. Install GM steering column and attach to steering box.
16. Buy and install radiator and power steering cooler.
17. Clean, paint, and install front clip and trans hump.
18. Install fuel system; including cell, lines, pump, filter, vent, return, and pickup.
19. Install wiring harness, gauges, lights, and switches.
20. Build new seat brackets and install seats.
21. Test fire engine!
22. Build exhaust.
23. Clean, reseal, and paint axles.
24. Buy and install drive shafts.
25. Build winch bumper and install winch.

With some luck, I hope to be wheeling it this spring...
 
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With the help of Brian (@tonsofun ), we got some stuff done on the 40. We pulled the seats, heaters, trans tunnel, and drive shafts first. This was surprisingly easy since every bolt was hand tight. Literally 1/8” – 1/16” with a wrench and you could get the rest with your fingers… I can’t believe she didn’t fall apart on the trail!

After some staring and a step 6 or two, we were able to rig up my trailer winch to a snatch block on the roll cage, then to the drivetrain. Next step was to remove the cross member/skid plate monstrosity. I finally broke out the cutoff disc as it will all be re-engineered anyway. Once that was out of the way, we were able to slowly lower the SM465/203/3-sp to a furniture dolly. It work WAY better than I could have imagined and now I get to start cleaning and painting…

Here are the pics that Brian got:
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It worked very well. That little HF winch has saved my butt a few times. And the trans is a SM465. I have it mated to the reduction box of a NP205 transfer case that is adapted to the stock Land Cruisers transfer case. It is very heavy!

The Cadi is a hybred, so it is only good for short trips. LOL
 
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I'll have to agree with SBG. That is a neat hoist setup you put together there.

Your third pic in post 129 is very unique. The lighting is such that the eye is focused directly on the dash/floorboard area. Then the additional light from the work light brings the final focus down to the sling. This brings out visual curiosity, what is being supported there?

Crop the pic just above the license plate to minimize the dark foreground, and to equalize the bottom to the sides, and you'd have a great avatar pic.

Keep posting. I'm interested in how this pans out.

Don
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
and I'll say it again, neat setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

handcannon said:
I'll have to agree with SBG. That is a neat hoist setup you put together there.

Your third pic in post 129 is very unique. The lighting is such that the eye is focused directly on the dash/floorboard area. Then the additional light from the work light brings the final focus down to the sling. This brings out visual curiosity, what is being supported there?

Crop the pic just above the license plate to minimize the dark foreground, and to equalize the bottom to the sides, and you'd have a great avatar pic.

Keep posting. I'm interested in how this pans out.

Don
Click to expand...

Thank you! The lighting sucks in my garage, so taking pics is difficult with the use of shop lights and such. That pic is showing the winch holding up the drivetrain while I remove the cross member / skid plate. That is a good idea on the avatar. I may have to play with that.
 
I should have been clearer with what I wrote. I was aware what the sling was holding. I was trying to explain what the question was that the pic seemed to be asking. Sorry for the confusion.

Don
 
No pics but the front clip is back off, all the wiring is out of the engine compartment, heaters are out (Anybody want to buy some FJ40 heaters?), and pretty much everything that can be unbolted is. I still want to pull the master cylinders off the firewall so I can start prepping it for paint. I figure the brake fluid probably needs to be replaced anyway. Who knows how old that is! I also need to remove the current motor and trans mounts and prep the frame for stitch welding and new mounts... But it is getting worked on!
 
Quick update: Last week I went out and stripped the front clip back off the 40 and started cleaning up the firewall. Last night I started with this:


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I finished pulling the master cylinders and brake / clutch lines out of the way and started degreasing, wire brushing, and sanding the firewall. Even though I know I will need to sand it off, I couldn’t help but shoot a little color on. It’s a bit brighter than I was expecting, but I think it will look good. Hopefully I will have the Type 1 Diabetes awareness ribbons on Monday so I can make sure the shade is correct. What do you guys think?


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Well, I got my ribbons! Unfortunately, I think the Safety Blue is too bright. The pics don’t show it real well, but it makes the ribbon look like a weird purple-ish color. I did think about custom matching paint to the ribbon, but I’m worried that it will blend in too much. That would totally defeat the purpose… What does everybody think of a darker blue? Like Ford tractor blue?

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