'78 FJ40 Project - In the Blue Grass

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RMally said:
Nice story, enjoy your 40. I am in the same boat (just bought one a few weeks ago) but decided to dive right in......:steer:

Looking forward to your updates, I always enjoy reading about these things. Just something about a 40 that I can't explain.

Take care,
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You are right... There is just something about a 40. Even my little one knows it. Several weeks ago, he wanted me to drive him to pre-school in the 40. It was about 50 degress out and I had the top off, but how do you say no to a little kid with such an honorable desire! I wrapped him up in a blanket and set off. We pulled up to the school and a lady came out to walk him in. She bent down to him with a big smile on her face and said " Will, did you get to ride to school in that cool Jeep?" he confidently answered.." That's not a jeep... That's a Landcruiser FJ40!" I gave him a high 5 and said "that's right buddy!!!!"

There is just something about a 40.

ps. I was just reading your thread earlier today! Looks like a great rig to start with.
 
I'm planning on keeping mine. I have a pretty significant exhaust leak at the header which is causing an annoying backfire now and then (especially since it has a weber 38 on it). Other than that, it is running pretty well. I would love to get into a 3bt or similar in the future (mainly because of fuel prices and I'd love to be able to afford to drive it every day) but I think it will be quite a while before I can get to that.

What are you considering? Vortec, SBC, Diesel?
 
Project 1 - Pass Sheriff's Inspection

Since I purchase the 40 out of state, I had to pass an Sheriff’s inspection. There were several issues with the truck that would not allow me to pass.
1. The truck was not running reliably. I read up on carburetor tuning. This was first time messing with a carb… unfortunately it is a weber 38. (I hope to purchase a trollhole at some point). It ran quite a bit better after the adjustment. It was also blowing white smoke for a while at start up but would then go away. I was concerned that it was a head gasket issue at first, but the fact that it went away after a while (and since the oil and coolant looked clean and not like mud) made me lean toward water in the fuel. After some MUD research, I decided to try to clean up the fuel system a bit. I ran through some B12 stabilizer http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d....oap?ck=Search_N0404_-1_-1&pt=N0404&ppt=C0126 and it made a big improvement.
2. The wipers did not work. I read up on some wiper threads and decided to disassemble the system, give it a good clean and grease, verify the electricals and give it a go. Found out that the linkages were frozen and the gear set was pretty gunked up. After a clean, grease and install, everything the wipers were back at it after who knows how long of being down! I have a feeling that there will be a lot of cases where a good cleaning will get things back in running order.

When I pulled up for the inspection, I made sure not to shut the truck off bc I had an electrical issue that I had not run down yet that was draining my battery when off (and I was not sure how charge up I was). Luckily the inspector was kind and allowed me to pass with a few minor issues that I was not previously aware of.

I was finally legally on the road! That was around mid December 2012
 
Project 2 - Refurbish Front Heater

The heater was not working at all when I picked up the 40. That took top priority now since I was chomping at the bit to get on the road, and it was winter. I found that the water control valve was full of junk. I pulled that off, cleaned it up with a hose and pipe brush and shot it with some WD40. That got the valve working almost like new. Then I decided to refurb the heater (front only at this point). It was in decent shape to start with (just some surface rust, scratches, rotten gaskets, and a dirty heat exchanger).
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I pulled everything apart. Scrapped off all of the gaskets and used goo gone to get the residue off. Then hit the metal parts with a wire wheel and some loc-tite rust dissolver for the tight spots. I sprayed the cleaned up parts with rustoleum primer and paint. I went with 3 coats and it turned out better than I expected (I had almost no experience with spray painting). I used duplicolor bumper paint for the plastic parts ( I made sure to rough them up a bit with some sand paper prior to spraying with the prep spray and color)

I used some door gasket material from home depot for the gaskets.
I cleaned the heat exchanger with CLR several times with great results.
It was a very low cost way of doing it, but it blows hot air and look great. (especially when it is the only thing inside the cabin that has been painted in the last 35 years!)
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I have not decided if I am going to put the rear heater back in the truck or not. It seems like it would be in the way (or abused by) the little feet in the back. We may need it this winter.. We will see.
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First off; congratulations on the acquisition. Smart move on your part to research on what you think needs be done, how you plan on doing it, and what sort of workforce (your beautiful kids :)) are going to assist you in doing it.

Cool DIY with the heater. I'm currently doing exactly the same with a Heater (and air conditioner) of my own, so I'll be definitely looking to this post as a resource. I loved the last picture: the heater sitting imperiously in the typical roughed up state of an FJ40 interior.

Best of luck.
 
Looking for winter project ideas

So the 40 is sitting outside in the snow with a cover on it for the winter (getting it out in the snow is really enticing, but I decided to keep it out of the salt for the season).

I'm looking for some winter project ideas that I can do in my basement. I thought about pulling the weber off of it and rebuilding it (have the kit already). I also thought about pulling the locking hubs off and cleaning them up. https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/326495-warn-hub-coarse-spline-cleaning-rebuilding.html


Any other suggestions?
 
Congrats and excellent project! After I got mine, my teenage daughter is willing to be seen with me only if we take the 40 out. She's also started to introduce me to a few of her friends. Lol! Enjoy!
 
Just got my 78 fj40 last weekend and I need to look for a power steering unit for it. The manual steering has got to go. Any good thoughts on this that would not cost a ton?
 
Chris,

Congrats on the purchase.

On this site there is an expert in each category..

"Pinhead" is the resident electrical guru
There is also a guy on here that sells a less expensive pwr steering set-up
I think his name is Georg at valley hybrids...i could be wrong.
Take more pics of the babies in the rig...then thirty years from now they will posting their own "rebuild" thread

Chris
 
Georg is definitely your guy for all your power steering, axle, knuckle stuff and much more. Goes by orange45 on mud. Coolerman is also great for all things electrical. Good luck!
 
Big problem here with the toolbox---it's not insulated--popsicles will melt

Pin_head is more into carbs, I think--watch his videos on youtube to learn how to rebuild an Aisan carb--I have a weber, but fast approaching the change back to OEM.

Bluegrass40 said:
Good word on keeping the kids involved. I've been trying to do that as much as possible (it takes some patience and selflessness). The first time me and my son worked on the truck together, he was in charge of eating Popsicles and handing me tools. We both had a blast!
After seeing how much fun he had with the tools, I made this stainless steel toolbox for his 4th birthday.


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I'm hoping for many years of wrenching with the kids!
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Good call on an insulated tool/popscicle box!! Make take a while to perfect the design. Better set aside a weekend and get a case of popscicles so me and Will can start testing!

I have a weber and header (with a hole in it) an want to get back to stock too.
 
Gas pump not shutting off.

Ever since I have had the 40, the gas pump has never shut off on its own in time to not dump fuel out of the bottom of the truck. It looks like there is some type of overflow hose that come out of the bottom of the truck. Is that normal? Any ideas what may be causing the gas pumps to not shut off?
I do have a poly aftermarket tank.
 
Sounds like you have a hacked up carburetor set up. Which is pretty usual these days. Do you have an electric fuel pump? I used to have a aftermarket carb on mine, I tried and tried to get that thing to run right for years and I finally changed to fuel injection years ago. One of the best mods I ever did. If you don't have the money for that now, I would try and source a used aisin carb, take it to a good cruiser shop and have it rebuilt and tuned. And put a factory fuel pump on. While your at it maybe put a new header on? But for like another 700 bucks you could put fuel injection on, which I would just save up for if it was me. If you cant afford any of that then maybe rebuild the 38 and put a factory pump on, the factory ones are pretty reliable. But honestly youll never get it perfect. I would really try to get the motor running smoothly and make that a priority becuz it gives motivation to keep up with the restoration. Sounds like your doing everything right. Oh and good idea on not driving your cruiser in the winter, that salt will destroy a cruiser.
 
White Stripe.

Thx for the response. You are right on. I have an electric fuel pump. It has been making some pretty loud noise intermittently and I think it may need to be replaced. I am leaning toward a mechanical pump. Wish I could find a used one and a rebuild kit, but seems like rebuild kits are no longer available..

I really want to get the motor running smoothly, but honestly don't even know what that means for a 2F. Not sure what it should sound like etc. I have adjusted the timing, did a valve adjustment, checked compression (between 120 and 112) which was kind of low, and tuned the weber 38. The hole in the header (which I think is causing a backfire when shifting gears) and the old muffler are throwing me off. This is also the first time I have really ever worked on an engine and my first experience with a carbureted vehicle.

You think it would help if I put a video of the truck running on line to get some feedback from the experts?
 
Sggoat, Thx for the reply. I drove the 40 several times this weekend and there was no smoke. Possibly bc the ambient temp was 20 degrees higher than the previous starts that resulted in white smoke???? I also tuned the carb befor the weekend. It was running really rich previously. Could that have caused the smoke?

I shot a message to 2thdoc today and hope to meet up with him before too long. Sounds like there is a lot to learn from him!
 
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