Builds 76 FJ40 in South Texas

[South Texas 97]

Now to tackle the sheet metal.

How this got as bad as this don’t know, so here we go.

Some cracks at the top

Insert a piece of previously cut 18 ga steel. Using fitzee fab cut and shut method more or less. Fit one side in, and tack weld, then push the other side and tack. Then using a cutting wheel cut out and push in and retack.

Had to chase a few holes I burned, but it works pretty well.

 

[South Texas 97]

The spare tire mount is made very solidly

With the 33x12.5 tire will need to offset the mount.

And will need to weld up the over center latch.

And then figure out how to lift a 90lb tire and rim four feet in the air…. It used to be easy, but not as much anymore

 

[RevISK]

Lift with your spleen in a bendy twisty motion.

 

[RevISK]

Lift with your spleen in a bendy twisty motion.

The spare tire mount is made very solidly View attachment 3594750
With the 33x12.5 tire will need to offset the mount.
View attachment 3594751
And will need to weld up the over center latch.View attachment 3594752
And then figure out how to lift a 90lb tire and rim four feet in the air…. It used to be easy, but not as much anymore

also, great job on that patch.

 

[OlYellr]

I'd act like your struggling to the point a neighbor spots the commotion & comes and does it for you. You hand a beverage over, show of the sweet patch work. Life is good.

 

[Chungas Revenge]

The spare tire mount is made very solidly
With the 33x12.5 tire will need to offset the mount.

A wheel spacer will work on your tire mount.

 

[South Texas 97]

A wheel spacer that is a good idea, thanks
Welded up the hook and the over center latch, not perfect but it should work.

And the latch

It does not seem to lock over center very well. Will see how it goes with the tire in place.
Thanks for all the informative and kind comments.

 

[South Texas 97]

The offset needed for the 33x12.5 tire is just under 2 inches, so found some 3/16 rectangular tube. 2x3 inch. Perhaps overkill but it should work.

 

[South Texas 97]

Been awhile since I did Olympic weightlifting but it did not feel too bad. Tire installed!

And about 5mm clearance.

 

[South Texas 97]

Driving around with my new spare firmly in place, noticed the fuel gauge is not working.
troubleshooting performed
1. Fuel sensor measures 28 ohms, seems about right for the fuel level in the tank
2. Checked wire continuity from tank to round connector on back of gauge
3. Followed FSM Well, Haynes manual on checking gauge 3.4w bulb, flashing, etc. however, needle does not move.
Terminals B and C measure 26 ohms
12 volts at terminal A and then fluctuates although hard to tell looks like it is 2v to 8v

Looks like I might have to dig deeper into the gauge cluster.
suggestions welcome

 

[South Texas 97]

Watched a couple of good videos on the tube, one by @JVZii and one by Hodakaguy. Sorry don’t know his handle on Mud.

How to test the fuel gauge. Both excellent videos. Removed the gauge and did the recommended tests. Used my trusty 3.8W bulb tester. This has been very useful for all sorts of troubleshooting.
Initially nothing on the sensor pin. Hodakaguy suggested lightly sanding the voltage dropper, and sanded the ground as well.

And it worked a charm. The needle comes up to about half

Now to find the neon orange paint for the needles.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

you always do such fundamental FSM traditional step by step work .....

i have not seen the light bulb SST you make in the chassis body fsm , shown here on MUD in many many years ~!

you have the Factory Fit Form and Function thing going on , it's super kool, to still see this here on MUD ..
keep it up !
matt ......
...

1976 FJ40LV - KCJA usa-spec. sales brochure ,,,,,



,

 

[South Texas 97]

Thank you for the kind words.
In a kind of while I was in there moment, removed and cleaned the glass and the rubber gaskets. There was at least a couple of ounces of Idaho dust cleaned out between the front of the instrument panel and the rubber gasket for the glass.

Found the perfect paint for the needles
Testors Neon Orange fluorescent 2.99 at my nearest craft store, or 3.65 online.

To this, will put another couple of layers.

Need some foam around the high beam light so it does not bleed over.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Thank you for the kind words.
In a kind of while I was in there moment, removed and cleaned the glass and the rubber gaskets. There was at least a couple of ounces of Idaho dust cleaned out between the front of the instrument panel and the rubber gasket for the glass.View attachment 3611626
Found the perfect paint for the needles
Testors Neon Orange fluorescent 2.99 at my nearest craft store, or 3.65 online.
View attachment 3611627
To this, will put another couple of layers.
View attachment 3611628
Need some foam around the high beam light so it does not bleed over.

i personally use this and vouch for the OEM oarnge , and OEM JIS JDM Yellow too ... below ! DTM , no primer required / 2-3 light coats ( foam cue tip ) is the way here ......


fellow member and Western Hemisphere YAZAKI cluster meter concept vision oaracal @

 

[South Texas 97]

And it works! I have the temp gauge on a small autometer set which is why temp is zeroed out.
The small tach is just temporary for me to adjust my head to the expected RPM’s at highway speed.

 

[South Texas 97]

Drove around a bit on the weekend, 100 miles or so, and noticed a few drips from the clutch master cylinder - ordered a rebuild kit and new boot from Toyota. It's quite amazing these parts are still available from Toyota directly. Will rebuild the original.

 

[South Texas 97]

I just realized something - with my 33" tires, doing 50mph per the speedometer, I am actually doing 55 per my phones GPS speedometer.
This means I am
1. Actually driving further than my odometer tells me - not much, but it adds up over time.
2. I am getting 'better' gas mileage than I thought I was.

​	Speedometer​	GPS Speedometer​
Speed in MPH​	50​	55​
Odometer​	71820​	71820​
in one hour​	71870​	71875​
Fuel Gallons​	5​	5​
MPG​	10​	11​

interesting - I can be a bit slow at times.

 

[OlYellr]

I have the same issue - use the gps on longer drives and recorded odometer vs gps and have a conversion factor (I averaged all the various gps vs odometer) and apply to odometer for MPG calc etc.

Made a spreadsheet on my phone and now type in speedometer & gallons and it adjusts based on the correction factor above.

 

[RevISK]

Nerd

 

[RevISK]

However, I’ve been attempting the same thing in both my trucks but I constantly forget to record various data points and for some reason my spreadsheet looks like a Jackson Pollock painting