'78 FJ40 Build - The Potato

[Lycent]

Still driving without windshield wipers. I have tried about all I could try on the old piece and it just doesn't want to turn. I'll just buy new parts but we are basically done with rainy weather until late fall so I have some time.

In the meantime, I got out of the business partnership I have been in and now have some downtime before starting my next gig. Project time! I'd really like to start cutting and replacing panels but we are moving so I don't want it to be in parts when that happens and I can't do a 7, 10, 12, or even 180 day resto...not that good at this stuff!

Instead, I took the family fishing a couple times during spring break. He doesn't look too excited but he had a blast (and so did I). Wifey got some good reading done and my daughter had fun spin casting.

While I had all the parts off the windshield, I stripped all the old paint and rust and corrosion and repainted it matte black since I had some. Not a permanent fix but it should stop the rot for a little bit. Don't look too close or you will see what a crappy job I did.

I filed down the gears on the rear door handle. It had been sticky since I bought it. There were a couple small dents where the gears hit that prevented it from opening smoothly, especially using the outside handle. Filed, greased, and put it back together. It is glorious to open and close now. No stickiness or force needed, it just opens. I imagine this is what it was like when it was brand new. You can see the shiny part in the pic and another that you can't see on the other gear. It took almost no metal removal to get it smooth.

I read @JohnnyC 's post about refinishing his bezel today so I pulled, stripped, cleaned, and am currently waiting for the primer to dry. Should be awesome to have it bright white again! Super excited about this one since the metal on my bezel is in near perfect shape and I'd like to keep it that way.

Last week I changed fluids. Engine oil looked good (it's only been about 800 miles since I changed it last but it has been about 3 years). Transfer case is leaking into the transmission so I'll need to get one of those bypass hoses. Fluid looked good on both and on the front diff. Rear diff was a bit dark and smelled a little burned. It had a few metal shavings in it too. Not many and they were tiny, but they came from somewhere so that is concerning. Ever since changing the fluid the rear diff whines a bit. :/ Not real excited about that. Probably needs a rebuild and definitely needs me to add a locker.

Another pretty concerning thing happened while fishing. We went off the road and dropped into a little hole. Nothing major, but there was a pop and my spare tire rack busted a big chunk of bondo out and is hanging loose to some scraps of rusted body metal. BIG thanks to the PO for creating body panels from bondo. Ugh. I removed the spare so it doesn't cause more damage before I get it fixed.

More pics in the next post...

 

[Lycent]

You can see the difference in water level at the reservoir. The pick in this post was about 6 weeks ago. The pick in last post was last week. It filled up quick! In the glared, washed out pick you can spot (kinda) an elk across the river from where we were fishing. We also saw 3 bald eagles that day and since I don't live in Alaska, that is always a cool thing to see. Yesterday I even saw an osprey diving for fish. I didn't see it come up with any.

 

[JohnnyC]

Great pics, nice scenery ... I used to have a ton of bondo... Glad that is gone now ... It's easier to weld to real steel than to plastic steel lol

Have some good friends in Boise ... Absolutely beautiful area you have there

 

[Lycent]

It is beautiful and we have extremely close access to everything outdoors. I'm sad to leave. I can walk to the Boise river in about 10 minutes. There are 3 dams close to me on the river with the first one about a 5 minute drive (a little diverson dam but still creates a nice puddle for trout), the second about 10 minutes - Lucky Peak is beautiful and full of rainbow and bull trout, kokanee salmon, and who knows what else. The next dam, Arrowrock, is about 30 minutes. It and in the river above the reservoir is where we did most of our fishing. I've seen deer, elk, coyotes, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, osprey, beavers, red fox, rattlesnakes...you don't see them often but there are also mountain lions and bobcats all over the place up there. If you go a little farther you get into wolf country.

Back to tech...

I started work on my accelerator linkage. The whole thing is really loose and feels sloppy. Sometimes when I let off the gas, the engine dies and and sometimes it runs at about 2k rpm. I think my issue is with the point where the horizontal rod connects to the bracket on the firewall. I think there is supposed to be a grommet and a bushing that the rod sits and rotates in. When I got it there was nothing and the rod would sometimes catch with the throttle wide open (part of it would snag on the manifold if I remember correctly). I rigged it up with a bearing from an inline skate wheel and it worked beautifully but those poor bearings aren't made for the kind of abuse that lives under my hood so it eventually seized up. I then put a grommet and a bushing in but it all fell apart. Am I missing something?

As a temporary fix, I used a hole saw to cut out an appropriate sized piece of wood, then bored a hole in the center of that to fit a rubber fitting I found in my garage that fits my bushing EXACTLY. I then screwed that into the bracket with the accel rod through the middle of the whole mess and zip tied it in place. It all looks very glamorous. I kind of wish these trucks were supposed to be made of wood. I'd whip out my circular saw and have a brand new one in a week and would never have to worry about rust! Anyway, I guess I'll try a new grommet and hope it makes it for a few more years :/

As soon as my phone is charged I'll upload some pics of my Rube Goldberg bushing so you can all have a good laugh!

 

[JohnnyC]

Been a long time since I seen a linkage throttle ... But... If your talking about the horizontal bar that slides into the bracket attached to the carb/base I think there is supposed to be a cotter pin to hold it from sliding out

Pics?

For just to see a wood mod if nothing else

 

[Lycent]

Alrighty-o the wood mod:

The two pics of parts are the mock ups. The actual piece is round and fully enclosed.

On the installed pic, you can see the red boot below the rod going through the firewall. On the other end of the rod there is a cotter pin holding it in (can't really see it) where it rotates another piece that rotates another piece that rotates anoth... It actually couldn't fall out even with no pin because the rod is penned in by the firewall.

If there is a better, more reliable set up, I'm all ears. Better and more reliable than the linkage throttle. Obviously everything is better and more reliable than the amalgamation that I am sporting!

 

[KingAir Driver]

CruiserCorps sells the accelerator linkage grommet for a few bucks. Mine was missing too and I picked up one from there. I'd show a pic if I was home.

FJ40, FJ45, FJ55 Accelerator Torque Rod Grommet - OEM

 

[diogenese]

I like the wooden one

 

[78fj40mg]

CruiserCorps sells the accelerator linkage grommet for a few bucks. Mine was missing too and I picked up one from there. I'd show a pic if I was home.

FJ40, FJ45, FJ55 Accelerator Torque Rod Grommet - OEM

Pricey little buggers when you add the shipping cost.

 

[Captn Conch]

Vinegar is way cheaper than molassas. If you need to remove/ loosen unfreeze bolts hinges etc, I've found good ole fowl diesel smelling cheap ass spray can engine degreaser has worked miracles when the PB blaster, Knocker loose, etc can't do the job, just let set overnight. Maybe spray the whole darn cruiser down with a gallon of cheap phosphoric acid (Home Depot, Lowes) to at least convert and slow the rusting down until you can get a handle on it.

 

[Lycent]

Long time no post...

Had a hard time getting as much done as I wanted to before the trip, but I drove it from Boise to Sacramento last week. The Potato has a new home! I took the scenic (read: long) route - west into Oregon, then south through Lakview into CA, then Susanville, over to Lake Almanor, then Quincy, then up some 18% grade roads to Buck's Lake and down more 18% roads to Oroville, then south through Yuba City and on into Sacramento. Needless to say, I wasn't on the shortest mileage path. I don't think that the speedo ever went over 55. It was a beautiful drive. I made pit stops every 2-3 hours to let the Potato rest and relax. I felt pretty good that my 40 did the drive with absolutely zero issues or complaints. Even my wooden/ziptied throttle linkage held strong.

It is going to be my daily driver for the next few weeks until I get settled in. Unfortunately, that means about 50 miles per day. On the plus side, I'm getting absolutely tons of people waving, thumbs-up'ing, and generally checking it out. Even better, I've had more people call it a LC than those that have called it a J**p!! Loving that!

As far as tech is concerned - I've been doing research on what I'll need to do to pass safety and emissions here in CA. So the question is - I know what the law says, but in practice what does a '78 FJ40 need installed to get it registered in CA? I welcome anyone's ideas/experience. Thanks!

I may have to think of a new name since it isn't an Idaho Potato anymore...