'77 FJ40 buildup in Charlotte (finally)

[Cirbo]

Early in the thread you talked about removing some springs from the front and rear packs. I have the same kit from man-a-fre and i dont like the shackle angles either. i was wondering which springs you removed, i want better ride quality and m hopeing for a little more flex too. how did removing these springs help on ride quality and flex?

Oh btw fantastic build man, really perrrdy

I went out to the garage to check before responding. It appears that we've pulled the smallest two leaves on each pack. While the shackle angles still aren't right, I will be adding some additional weight with a front and rear bumpers, tire carrier, and winch.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on the ride, as it still hasn't been fired yet.......

 

[josharre2000]

Nice looking ride! Definitly will make a lot of folks green with envy in the Queen City.

 

[71cruiser71]

removing springs from pack

Thanks for checking

 

[1973Guppie]

nice build, love the drivetrain, how short is your rear shaft? did you need to flip the rear springs to get more length??

 

[jackbrad]

Beautiful Jim.

 

[Cirbo]

nice build, love the drivetrain, how short is your rear shaft? did you need to flip the rear springs to get more length??

Yes, the rear springs have been flipped. (mentioned in this thread) The rear shaft (with CV) ended up being 18 inches. I pushed the engine as far forward as I could with this in mind, while still accomidating the radiator and AC condenser. I also attempted to center the fan in the radiator at the same time.

 

[Cirbo]

Yo Jack! When are we going to tool around town in our cruisers?

 

[marks69cruiser]

I just read your entire thread and am amazed at your level of craftsmanship and dedication!! Great job man. You should be proud of the build up! Thanks for the pics and inspiration. Mark

 

[tmarx]

...Thanks for the pics and inspiration. Mark

Ditto

 

[jimhendrixx]

WOW, that is one sweet rig my friend!

 

[Chris123]

Very nice work. That is one Bad A.... Cruiser.

 

[Cirbo]

Thanks for all the kind words. Lots of folks here contributed with ideas, help and advice. Then there are those who's ideas I just ripped off.

DomSmith
JackBrad
Poser
Georg
Drew (LakeNormanFJ40)
among others....

It's funny how quickly you can see a cruiser that puts your work to shame though. There are some sick rigs out there.

 

[Cirbo]

Finished the fuel system. It's got an 80 micron prefilter, high flow Holley electric pump, and standard GM cartridge filter on the outer frame rail for easy access.

 

[Cirbo]

Welded up some brackets on the battery tray and changed its location to allow for the AC drier and lines. Decided to use the stock overflow bottle from the old motor.

 

[77cruiser]

I cant wait to hear that thing crank and leave your garage! I bet you feel the same!

 

[Cirbo]

You bet. We bled the brakes and topped all the fluids off today. Add fuel and wiring tomorrow. If we get enough of that done, we'll try to fire it tomorrow.

Stay tuned,

jC

 

[DomSmith]

Jim-

Looks great man. Watching your thread has motivated me to finish mine. Don't let my issues give you anxiety. I haven't gotten there on my write-up yet but be absolutely sure to wire up the battery wire to a battery source like the starter as suggested in the instructions. I tested mine 3 times and was SURE I had it wired right and somehow it wasn't. Turned out to be switched power and reset the ECM each time I shut off the motor. I could not get it out of green mode and it would never rev above 4000 RPM. I eventually took it to a boat shop with a marine reader and determined it had zero hours on it. That led me to diagnose the power issue.

Good Luck!

 

[Cirbo]

The wiring harness on the truck had it's issues. Greg had reported that the lights would go out without warning at the most inconvenient times. He had also stressed the idea of a bullet-proof harness during our planning stage. With all this in mind, I had purchased an American Autowire harness after doing some MUD research. I bought the Highway 22 after considering the fuel injection and AC plans.

The one thing you guys didn't tell me about American Autowire is the fact that (to do it all right) you need a special Delphi crimper to terminate many of the wires! You can either buy these at about $100 each, or rent them for a month from AA for $25 each. Not wanting to cut corners and bend tabs over with a pair of needle-nose pliers, I opted to rent them from the folks at AA.

 

[Cirbo]

The next thing to do was look into the original harness to decide what (if anything) we need to salvage or reuse in the way of switches or controls.

The one thing I wasn't smart enough to do was to take a picture of the switch layout when we pulled the whole thing apart. (enter more research on MUD)

I had labeled the harness and stored it in a box. When I pulled it back out and began to spread it out on the floor, it became obvious that there were three distinct parts.

Firewall/dash harness (headlights to dash)
Rear harness (twin plugs at dash to tail lights)
S.P.O.T. harness (Stupid Previous Owner Tricks harness)

I pulled and dumped the SPOT harness first. The rear harness was junk from previous attempts to splice in trailer plugs, so it went too. What that left was a (relatively) decent looking firewall harness.

 

[Cirbo]

The main harness is in decent shape, but I need the plug that attaches to the instrument panel. Does anyone have a roached harness that I can steal one of those plugs from?

I mounted the 175 amp mega-fuse at the back of the engine on the firewall. I didn't think I'd want that thing in the passenger compartment if it decided to blow. I mounted the 50 amp main fuse for the engine harness just above the heater blower.

All wires will be dressed in loom when this whole project wraps up.