Builds 77 FJ40 Build, It begins...and may take a while

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picked up my fj62 today. I had a 1hdt with a h55 swapped into it!! hilltop cruisers did the work. while I was there though I picked up a new aisin hub and a outter birfield. hopefully I'll get to a wrecker in the next couple weeks to get those mini truck hubs. then I'll really have everything I need to get these things together. now I just have to get my adapter kit!! this is soooo painful.
 
the shop looks like this right now. I've got to put them together just to make space!!
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SuperBuickGuy said:
It depends on the shackle length, but I'd avoid cross bars if at all possible. The idea behind them is to keep your vehicle tracking straight down the road - the issue with them is it puts a tremendous strain on the bolts and you lose some flexibility off road. On a jacked up Camaro, it's not an issue - but on a 4x4, you wear the bolt because all of the twist is now on the bolt, and the spring can't twist. If it can't twist, it's like bending an edge in metal, it makes it stiffer. OTH, if you have long shackles, you don't really have a choice. I'd consider a set of Teraflex shackles... you could get different widths on either end and solve the problem along with getting better (read, more predictable) flex.
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Seems like a place to ask this question: anyone ever use Orbit Eyes? Looking for someones opinion on them. Seems like they might be too loose for the highway.
 
64Rotorhead said:
Seems like a place to ask this question: anyone ever use Orbit Eyes? Looking for someones opinion on them. Seems like they might be too loose for the highway.
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not I

as to the spread out shop. I have parking, inside, for 8 cars. I have 7 cars, only 3 are inside.... I know this story well.
 
ha ha.

I looked into orbit eyes. they apparently flex real nice but are really noisy. they squeak a lot. I didn't want that
 
i put some of my old parts up for sale and someone asked about the head. i haven't pulled the 2F apart yet to see what seized it. i pulled the head tonight. there are a few burnt valves i think but maybe someone can diagnose part of what was going on. cylinder 4 looks like a coral growing on the valve. there wasn't anything in the top of the cylinders in terms of shavings or damage to the visible parts of the cylinder walls. there i'm sure will be more to the story when i pull the bottom end apart but that may be a while. i have so many other projects on the go.
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finally got some other projects done around my house so had a little time to play on the 40! I setup my new sandblasted and started cleaning a few parts.
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my compressor doesn't keep up super well so it's a little slow but does a pretty good job. once I get things cleaned up I'll be able to start assembling the axles. hope I remember how everything goes! :). once spring comes and it warms up I'll start painting the parts I hope
 
quick question as I may have mixed the backing plates up. does the hardline come off the fitting to the rear? it would make sense to me that is does as that's where the caliper is but just wanted to double check
 
thanks. the compressor is a little small but it works.

I'm getting tired of waiting for my adapter. it's coming up two years and no movement. I'm now looking for alternatives. does anyone know if the Koch adapters have been used with an NV4500? Ive emailed them but haven't heard back yet. I can't find anything through Google to say they have. I figure that if the bell housing is the same pattern for a sm465 and their adapter works on it then it should work for the nv4500 too.
 
the main piece I need is a fly wheel adapter to mount a Chevy flywheel to the crank. the spacer plate also bolts the bell housing to the block of course. then there's the position of starter mount. I don't have the tools or knowledge to build my own in terms of tolerances etc. this is one part I think I need to buy from someone who has done r and d
 
I've adapted a turbo 350 to a 215 Buick. That required a plate for the transmission to bolt on (which required re-alignment of the transmission's center point), and a hub mount to adapt the flywheel to the Buick motor along with a mid-plate to position the starter.... On another motor I adapted a manual transmission to it...

I say this as background behind - give a few notes and I might be able to help...

One thing that always helps in building adapters - find your respective center lines then look at what it takes to make the fit. With a manual transmission it's a bit easier because the input shaft rides in the center of the crank, and clutch disks come in a fairly standard set of overall dimensions... thus, using the flywheel and pressure plate from the motor side, and the correct disk from the pressure side and your only real issue is adapting the bellhousing.

If I remember correctly, you're adapting an 2F motor to a NV4500 transmission?
 
Mercedes om617 to nv4500. if these premise adapters don't pan out soon though I may take you up on some advice. I may have to get a machine shop to do some things like a flywheel adapter. I don't have a lathe or anything to make a balanced part
 
Hmmmm.... I've never done anything with the NV4500. But I see what you mean in your prior post about the 4 speed.
(e.g. Mercedes diesel info) that there are a lot of kits out there that could easily adapt to the 4 speed.... knowing GM, and especially now knowing the AX5 (it's an Aisin/Warner transmission), GM had Aisin make their transmission adapt to the GM style (pins all line up on the block no matter the bolt pattern)... so I'd guess that with the kit you're a flywheel away from success... with that said, many people have gotten into the fabrication business because they wanted something to fit and no one had a kit for it - then someone asked to buy (you don't get rich at this, but it is kind of fun) the same stuff...

that said, getting someone to drill a round piece of billet isn't terrible difficult to do or hard to find - price/wise it should be about $100-$150 to have it done specifically for you.

Balancing - is the OM619 internal or external balance? if it's internal, your job is much easier because then the adapter and flywheel simply need to be neutral balance.
 
as far as I know most guys run a neutral balanced flywheel so I assume its internally balanced. that being said the shop that rebuilt the engine for me said they can match balance a new fly wheel should I need it (they have pictures of the whole build and know exactly how the flywheel sat and I haven't turned the engine over yet.)

anyway here's where some prior confusion has come from and I only learned it myself this weekend...the nv4500 was a post 1996 transmission. the LS series chevy engines prior to 1985 all had the same bolt pattern therefore when asking these adapter makers if their adapters will work with the nv4500 they assumed I have a stock bell housing and therefore no they won't work. now as I was going through my parts list I realized that the advance adapters bell housing I have is a special one of theirs that fits the LS engine block. it isn't the stock bell housing. I talked to the guys as Koch adapters (mercedesdiesel4x4) and he said if my bellhousing will mate to the pre 1985 bolt pattern then it'll work. WOO HOO! step one done. his crank adapter is designed to use a pre 1985 flywheel and for my 11 inch clutch I will need a 168 tooth flywheel. well that's a stock chevy part so I should be able to find that too. step two!! lastly the adapter kit he designed uses a stock chevy starter and he carries ones he knows match so I ordered one of them too!! I also got a remote oil filter assembly and an egr delete from him for the om617. I have a kit ordered ! YAY!

I'll of course post up some info as I put it together. I hope it all works. next is seeing if what I have has a slave cylinder bracket. I ordered the advance adapters kit that allows me to use a stock fj40 slave. I know there are bolt on brackets I can buy if I don't have one.

and of course I'm not an expert in knowledge about these chevy parts so if I'm wrong please correct me.
 
I don't know Merc bolt patterns, but GM bolt pattern from 1955 through 1997 is all the same, in 1998, the LS motor simply doesn't use one hole (there's an oil passage there), but the pattern, and alignment are the same. Transmissions, manual get confusing after they started using the NV 4500 - however, there's lots of information about them and how they bolt up here
The Novak Guide to the NV4500 Transmission

Novak is also one of those vendors that you can call and bend their ear for hours and they're not concerned about whether or not you buy from them (of course, after bending their ear, I did buy from them)... point is, they're knowledgeable, don't get miffed you're taking '40, and quite helpful
 
between 1985 and 1996 I'll believe you the bolt patterns are the same. the flywheels change though somehow. all i know is that the nv4500 wouldn't fit the LS motor pattern without the bell housing I have. that ended up being my saving grace I think. we'll see when the parts get here. I can't believe I've been sitting on these parts for almost two years with out knowing this. I could have had the parts a long time ago. oh well. live and learn. I've been investing in my fj62 in the mean time!!
 
You are correct, the flywheel changed in 1986 when GM went to the one-piece rear main design. it changed again with the LS motor - though the interesting bit is it didn't change pattern, it changed where the bellhousing flange was in relation to the crankshaft end... strangely, the outer pattern, what the pressure plate bolts to - didn't change.

It's all a matter of who you hang out with - GM folks really aren't that bad ;)
 
lol. I have a chevelle so im kind of gm. you seem like a good guy too. my chevelle is auto. I'm new to clutches etc
 
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