- Thread starter
- #161
77 FJ55 Montana to Florida
- Thread starter MacDaddyRabbit
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #162
Gave Sophia her first soap and water bath today... then her first CLR bath...in a very light rain... going to have to work on this patina a bit...
and I'm thinking it's going to take several attempts on my part to learn how best to do this... learning...
- Thread starter
- #163
- Thread starter
- #165
I think she's wearing her wheels already... she came with the original 4 OEM wheels and hubcaps so leaning that direction... new tires once she's on the road...Tires and Wheels will make Piggy Happy
- Thread starter
- #166
my thoughts this morning re CLR bath is I used two materials to apply the CLR...
one was a shop rag in some areas, the other was a 'non-scratch' pad bought at home depot... the patina responded much better, CLR worked much better with the more abrasive non-scratch pad.. my thought is where the patina is crusty and no paint, I need to use a scrubbing pad of some sort to knock the scale down... and maybe the rag where I have paint remaining.. Am I in the correct thought arena?
Yes. The paint you have left is really thin. Save it for a cut / buff later. Focus your CLR efforts on the rusty sections. Knock off as much surface crud as you can. Then polish the painted areas and Penetrol the rusty ones. The CLR will work great on the bumpers too. Another rust remover that I like to use is Whink. It's like CLR on steroids. Basically low percentage hydroflouric acid. Wear gloves. It's nasty stuff, but it works great.
Whink Rust Stain Remover - https://www.instacart.com/landing?product_id=94796&retailer_id=57®ion_id=480796907&mrid=244466437&utm_source=instacart_bing&utm_medium=sem_shopping&utm_campaign=ad_demand_shopping_food_ga_atlanta_bing&utm_content=accountid-146005746_campaignid-367693857_adgroupid-1207264211259040_device-c&utm_term=matchtype-e_keyword-_targetid-pla-4579053616336882_locationid-&msclkid=b405caceb6201ed4179fa8e74751d7d8
- Thread starter
- #168
Got the refurbished hinges installed on the front doors... great..
Got Sophia cranked today and within seconds of running a loud squeak was coming from the front of the motor... My fear was the water pump..?? Placed my hand on the alternator and it was a bit hot... turned Sophia off, removed the alternator, and the bearing was frozen on it... Installed a new in the box alternator that had come in as a parts bundle with the red/white 77 55... Cranked Sophia and she's getting close to road ready I think,... maybe two more weeks is hopeful thinking... I'm still flushing the fuel tank,,, not getting any debris at all, but the gas that was in there had 'aged' in the tank and what's coming out is still cleaning the old fuel out... Not in a hurry.. obviously trying not to remove the tank here, maybe that's a mistake... but my current thought is no debris, no water... continue to purge 2-3 gallons of gas thru the tank after letting it sit for a day or two in the tank... It's much cleaner now than it was... running Sophia off an independent qas can... and this week sometime I'm doing the oil galley tap and plug...
- Thread starter
- #170
I've been thinking I needed to pull the carb and take a look at it... holy crud...caked on baked on crud..innards and out... it's amazing the truck was capable of starting.. once I got it off (I screwed up and no pics, sorry.) and took a look at it from the 360 of a bench and light there was every indicator of it having been unmoletsted for 45 years, and indicators of accumulated internal dried crud most likely sat dormant for the last 5-10 years... so as opposed to continuing to toy w it to get it and keep it running, it's off to Jim C at TLC Performance... he's done my 82 40 and my other 77 55 so he gets to work his skill sets on this one as well,,, until then going to look at the tranny, transfer case, front and rear diffs, and the front end... I was trying to get it ready for the Carolina Relic Rally but aint going to happen... drop back and punt... I have enough to do to bring this pig back to the road.... march on...
- Thread starter
- #171
Went at the oil galley plug today w a 1/8" drill bit and a bolt extractor.. I drilled just far enough into the plug for the extractor to catch good, then secured a set of pliers on the shaft and tapped it w a hammer and it came right out...
Next drilled the galley out w a bit just smaller than the 8mm tap. that went painlessly, then of course the tap, following guidance received here on mud to go slow, with it greased up good to catch filings, a half turn each time then remove, clean, repeat... once I had ten complete revolutions on the tap, I cleaned the galley (again w a magnet first), then flushed with WD40 w the nozzle all the way in.. my thinking was the force of the spray would eject anything out left in there.. I had gone to Lowe's and Home Depot, and could not find the allen head plug. I cut the head off a 8mm x1.25 bolt, cut a groove in the head, and for now its temporarily screwed in... not permanent yet... I'll wrap it in pipe thread teflon when ready... It'll be several months before she runs again so no hurries..
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #172
Wondering if anyone up near Bozeman Montana remembers this motor and piggie? Anyone have a history of it? The immediate PO doesnt have any 411 on it...
My thought is because of the total engine being painted blue, it's possibly been rebuilt... no oil cooler which is interesting... any guesses on the markings on the valve cover? Is it "Intake .008 and Exhaust .014" ??? what would that mean if so? I have no idea.....Engine number confirms it's a may 77 block...
Last edited:
Well to be sure the markings are valve clearances, no idea if hot or cold though...
My '77 doesn't have an oil cooler and I'm pretty sure the engine is original, other than the desmog that the PO had done.
- Thread starter
- #175
Valve clearance numbers are today's research topic... totally alien to me... time to learn. thank you
- Thread starter
- #176
Removed the below bolt on's for a trip to the powder coater... ensuring a longer life.. Sophia has every splash guard and heat guard intact.... freshen up the underside a bit while waiting on the carb return...
..
I’ve always used this chart to set my valves cold. Started using this for my 60 but used it on my 40 and 45 with good success. I have no desire to adjust valves leaning over a furnace or even worse with the engine running.
@MacDaddyRabbit did your air cleaner have all the internals? I was talked out of powder coating my heater box by pighead over in the 40/55 section but my air cleaner NEEDS to be media blasted and powder coated. I’m having a bear of a time removing the little rusted screws holding all the internals in…been soaking them for going on a week. Might try heat next.
- Thread starter
- #179
easiest for me is utilizing either channel locks or a heavy set of good pliers with a 'flat' profile or face. I maneuver the pliers to really get a good grip on the screw head and slowly turn it just enough to break free, maybe a quarter of a turn. once it's free the screw driver works of course... on those small screws I've damaged more screws than I can count until I decided to try this... and it saves the screws...FWIW....
Vice Grips work best. Pretty sure I used them on one or two of those same screws. I use them straight on and not sideways like a wrench if that makes sense.