78 FJ 40 project Frank (2 Viewers)

[alabamatacomaguy]

I see Beno threw in a cozy and pen in your order also, very cool of him.

Yea what's funny is I'll probably set it on the wall or something in the garage but if I use it I will end up loosing it and Toyota stuff like that seems rare and neat to me.
He was great with my order I sent him a list of 20 plus parts everything from pads to odd screws and random gaskets and some with or without part numbers he had them delivered before my card was even charged by the bank. I panicked when I saw the pads were nla so I placed my order earlier before I could research all the part numbers. He was great and got everything correct which is hard to believe on a 35 year old vehicle with many part numbers that have changed or been substituted for over the years.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

I was able to pick it up on Saturday but because of work I'll have to park it a few weeks before messing with it. It was about 25 miles north of me at a body guys house. I towed it just to minimize risk on the 40 since it's not been moving since I drove it there. He replaced the rocker panels on both sides with real steels, the drivers floor pan was cut out and a replaced. He repaired the transmission cover, a few holes on the body, passenger floorboard, under the gas tank and in the bed area and the rear quarter panels. I'm very happy with the work he did. To be useful for others ill post up what he charged 2300, I feel like it was a fair price for both of us, I paid 300 for the real steel rockers and the replacement driver floor pan was included with my 40 when I bought it. I found him by searching welders on craigslist, very nice guy and a professional so his work is great. If your in the south Alabama, south ga or north west fl area I would recommend him if you can't weld like me, very nice guy that is a professional welder and does projects at home on the side.

Old rusted parts cut off

I set the grill on just to see what it would look like

Back home waiting for a day I can work on it.

Hopefully in a week or two I can start working on it for longer than 5 minutes. It ran great even on regular gas when I pulled in on the trailer and the short drive to inside the unit. I will fill up with non ethanol gas next time I run it for piece of mind.



I almost forgot while he was working on my 40 he would send me update videos on YouTube I will post some up and clean up this post tonight as I get time.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Traveling for work I passed by my grandfathers garage I inherited about five years ago. He was American made only all the way through so not much metric stuff but it's a 4000sqft basement of tools he used over his lifetime. WW2 vet and steel worker after. He was a mechanic on the side for extra income.

This will come in handy for the 40!

I always get excited to visit but work keeps me about 5 hours away so it's not often, it's a shame to as it would be the perfect garage for my 40 and some growing room to make a collection

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

when I started buying my own tools, I looked at what my dad had and bought the same stuff - many times, stuff that was out of production and had to be sourced at pawn shops... I still have some of those tools now because they simply don't break.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Amen to that , some of my best files are ones from my grandfather , now well past 50yrs old . That old Dayton grinder if it's greater than 3/4hp is worth some coin , keep it . Watch out for some of those old chemicals as they are amazingly poisonous ...
Sarge

 

[sterling]

No room for the 40 in Grandpa's inherited garage?
Judging from the old school tools pictured, the 40 would be right at home with his friends

Nice work so far on the truck BTW

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Amen to that , some of my best files are ones from my grandfather , now well past 50yrs old . That old Dayton grinder if it's greater than 3/4hp is worth some coin , keep it . Watch out for some of those old chemicals as they are amazingly poisonous ...
Sarge

Yes he did have some nasty stuff that probably hadn't been legal for decades when he first passed some family members made a couple trips to the hazardous waste drop off day the city does. My grandmother thought they would be shocked when they brought dynamite to dispose of but the people running it didn't bat an eye.
I don't plan on selling any of his tools.

No room for the 40 in Grandpa's inherited garage?
Judging from the old school tools pictured, the 40 would be right at home with his friends

Nice work so far on the truck BTW

His garage is big enough for probably 8 to 12 40s and granny's grocery getter Buick. What stinks is it's alittle over 4.5 hours from me.


Here's some more stuff going through memory lane while I'm home for another day or so.


This is a bench grinder he gave me about 15 years ago. He found it in a neighbors trash and rewired it for me.

Some more pics around his garage.

220v compressor. Still had sears & robuck tag on it.

Alittle clutter on the work bench, it's heavy. 4x4 legs, 20 years ago the movers said it was the worst thing they had ever moved, can't remember how many men it took but I think it was five.

Most of the basement cinder block walls have been coated with a moisture barrier/water proof paint so that should help keep everything safe waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.
He sold the cool stuff like his boat and truck years ago before I turned 16 to keep me and my brother from getting into trouble with them.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Just a suggestion - take a day and look for any tools that have machined surfaces or very valuable - and coat them with Fluid Film to prevent rust . Basements have odd moisture levels that really promote rust on tools , use the stuff on my machinist drill press table and band saw as well as the old Enco lathe . Yeah , 1200lbs into the basement , that wasn't fun ...or the 2-stage air compressor .
That old Sears , if it's the model I think it is builds some serious air for it's size and they are highly sought after .
Sarge

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Just a suggestion - take a day and look for any tools that have machined surfaces or very valuable - and coat them with Fluid Film to prevent rust . Basements have odd moisture levels that really promote rust on tools , use the stuff on my machinist drill press table and band saw as well as the old Enco lathe . Yeah , 1200lbs into the basement , that wasn't fun ...or the 2-stage air compressor .
That old Sears , if it's the model I think it is builds some serious air for it's size and they are highly sought after .
Sarge

I was surprised when I first used the compressor at how fast it filled up a 33 in tire. I'm used to waiting time for a tire to fill up and with that it almost instantly filled it up to 90psi, I was trying for 30.
It seems to be a very powerful unit. I've got to learn more about it. Good thing for me is he took care of his stuff and the price tag is still on the handle, so I can know what it is.
I am new to power tools so I need to make sure it doesn't need oil or anything, or if it does how to do it properly and correct to make sure it lasts my lifetime as well. One thing I do when I am finished using it is to hold the key chain type valve to empty the air tank to room pressure.

Sears was his brand for years but something turned him off of them around the end of the 80s so he stopped using their products. Knowing him it was probably something he heard about sourcing foreign labor. He was the kind of guy that because he had a ford with a bad motor in the early 60s he never had one again, GM ONLY. He jokingly told me he would stab my tires when I was looking at Toyotas 15 years ago, had he been alittle younger at the time I wouldn't be surprised if he did.
Once when my mother was a child she threatened to jump out of a car when she was mad at him. The next day her door had a lock on the outside bolting her in.

About 4 years ago I went through the garage and coated everything metal I could in a oil mix he had just to keep it coated and keep rust at bay.

Sadly I think someone over the years has taken some things like his antique animal traps he would use on his property over the years, mostly humane from what I remember, he did the dirty work. I think I still have a few but being from a small family his stuff belongs to me and my brother but he couldn't care.


The funny thing about his garage is growing up I would stay there in the summer. I could move a single item on the table a half a inch and expect a knock on the head as soon as he returned. Haha

 

[Weber Sarge]

That little compressor runs close to 13-15cfm , pretty respectable for it's size . Best thing is make certain the drain the water from the tank and change the oil in the pump , make certain to use proper good quality oil - not that Campbell Hausfeld crap . If it has one of the t-handle style drain valves in the bottom I'd swap it out for a small ball valve to clear out debris - those t-handles usually break off anyway . A friend of mine has two of those and enough parts to build a 3rd - they are just that good .

In the late 80's Sears decided to go the cheap route to compete with other chains , much to their downfall in quality .
Sarge

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

That little compressor runs close to 13-15cfm , pretty respectable for it's size . Best thing is make certain the drain the water from the tank and change the oil in the pump , make certain to use proper good quality oil - not that Campbell Hausfeld crap . If it has one of the t-handle style drain valves in the bottom I'd swap it out for a small ball valve to clear out debris - those t-handles usually break off anyway . A friend of mine has two of those and enough parts to build a 3rd - they are just that good .

In the late 80's Sears decided to go the cheap route to compete with other chains , much to their downfall in quality .
Sarge

Thanks for your advice I swung by on my way home tonight and drained the tank. Would have never known that valve was there. It was a T type valve like you mentioned. I wasn't sure if I was draining water or something else. (I've not spent much time in a garage or around tools). I loosened the valve and a greasy/milky/water type substance came out. Almost half a gallon. I guess the condensation builds up inside from the motor heat? He had a drain pain he had fabbed up years ago right under where the valve was. The current valve seemed to work pretty well it let everything I could tell out and didn't seem fragile by any means, I will still look into your advice as I hope to keep this for my lifetime in good shape. Anyway thanks for the tip. I'm hoping to spend some more time in there in the next month or two when I can make the trip back. If you have any suggestions on oil to use for it I would be up for it. He probably has some already. Like your friend he had spare parts and belts for the compressor I guess he knew it was good.

I guess this is his version of a portable tank.

 

[Weber Sarge]

The condensation comes from compressing humid air and running it through a hot pump , when it cools the water condenses .
Those small propane cylinders converted to air tanks are common , not much cubic feet in storage but they help with small things .
Sarge

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

After a month I finally got some time to get by the cruiser and the weather somewhat cooperated. I put in a couple gallons of non-ethanol 89 and let it idle for 20 minutes. Seems to run good for it's age and it hadn't been started in a month. It does have a sputter at times and alittle smoke from the exhaust every now and then but otherwise runs good from what I can tell. I will try and post a video when I can get it uploaded to YouTube.

Today was a day of just letting it run and checking everything to make sure it was ok in the cold temps.

I pulled the battery holder out and cleaned it off and used naval jelly to kill the rust. I then gave it a coat of spray paint and put on a universal aftermarket battery tie down I picked up from cruiser corps. My battery seems like it may be smaller than the standard battery it should have but that's something I can look into down the road. It has a date on it from 4/2013 and seems to be strong so it's got some life left for me.

I came into today with a big list of to-dos but not much time to try.
I had planned on changing the oil today and starting the process to drain the radiator and replace the thermostat as the one on there doesn't seem to work right, my temp gauge rarely moves past cold. I have been soaking the thermostat housing bolts in penetrant oil for the last month so I figured that would help some but I still broke off the first bolt I tried. It snapped at the head. I was being careful and took more time than I should have and it still snapped right off. I picked up some replacement bolts for it when I ordered the thermostat from Beno so I don't have to find those. I'm hoping I can get it apart and use vise-grips or thread a nut on to get the remaining part of the bolt out once I get some time to try. I threw in the towel and didn't try on the back bolt, I can tell it will probably break as well.

I have a overflow bottle from a fj60 I would like to mount to the side of the radiator like others have done but this is there. Is this just a horn? I have a functioning horn on the other side of the radiator but this is not plugged up anywhere, I'm not sure what it is.

I would like to get rid of the current overflow bottle to make the engine compartment not look so thrown together.

. The old bottle functions but isn't the prettiest thing to see under a hood. At least it's Toyota? Haha

It was a good day, I could have made bigger problems then snapping a thermo housing bolt. I was able to organize some of the parts to go on, spray a lot more bolts in penetrant oil and hopefully in a month I'll have some more time to stop by and mess with it again, this is a busy month at work, if I'm lucky I might could sneak by and see my mistress for a hour or two.

 

[watrob]

Nice catch tank?

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Nice catch tank?

It was done by a previous owner my guess is at least ten years ago. The fluid in the radiator is now green not the red Toyota stuff that's expensive. Heck that bottle might cost more than the overflow bottle for a 60 I bought on here. It looks pretty decent I cleaned it up with magic erasers and elbow grease.



I had a couple questions I was hoping to get help with.
My thermostat bolt that's broke if anyone's dealt with that and how they would recommend going at the problem of getting the broken bolt out. And the best way to get the remaining bolt without breaking it to? Could I unbolt the whole thermo housing from the motor? I need to look into it more, hopefully I don't have to replace it or take it to a machine shop and have them take out the broken bolt. I would like to get in there sooner than later as the current thermostat most likely isn't working or there might not be one in there at all. Who knows with previous owners.

 

[onemanarmy]

yes, that is a horn. Maybe some wiring for it nearby?

On the broken bolt, since the housing was still in place it shouldn't be sheared off flush with the block, you should have something to grab onto with vise grips once the thermo housing is removed. The necks of those bolts (where the thread meets the flange) get eaten away over time and become a weak point and snap.

 

[chuckost]

I'm original owner 78 fj40. That horn sure looks exactly like my two originals. One on each side, slightly different tones. Mount and connections the same.

 

[Weber Sarge]

If you can get a grip on what's left of the bolt , heat it pretty hot and apply a generous amount of paraffin wax (canning wax from the grocery store) and let it cool almost completely - it will screw right out . If not enough meat left - you can do the above using whatever easy-out you have or just drill it on center very close to the threads and re-tap the hole to 8x1.25mm .
Use anti-seize on the new bolt , or I prefer to use a good quality stud and some blue lock-tite .
Sarge

 

[White Stripe]

I would just take the whole housing off the head and order another one used from online somewhere.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Sadly I won't get to get by the storage unit it's at longer than 5 minutes for a month or so until work calms down. But once I'm back I plan on spending a few days addressing issues.
I'm somewhat afraid of trying to take the thermostat housing off the motor I'm sure the bolts will be seized and I don't want to mess up something I'll have to end up at a machine shop to fix. Since I'm working out of a storage unit I might look at cheap heat sources to heat the bolt like a mini propane but I think I read that might not do any good as it's not strong enough.

I don't have much time tonight to be on here but I uploaded a video to YouTube of the 40 running. It has a slight sputter at times at the exhaust and every once and a while some smoke comes out of the exhaust but it is also rarely run the last year so I'm hoping even just idling it a couple times a month and running only non-ethanol might help if it's a fuel issue, until I can really work on it this spring should shake some cobwebs off.