A first attempt at restoring a 78 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

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lenross1 said:
Big job there. Even with the kit. When you feel ready to take on such a task, let is know. Do some research on it to make sure that's what you want to do. You need to attend some more wrenching sessions ;)
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Agreed. I would show up more if I wasn't working so many of the weekends, like this one.
 
Gauge Frustration

I finally got the new radiator and hoses installed and no leaks yet. One victory.

I then went on to attempt to tackle the bad fuel/temp gauges seen as I installed new cooling equipment. There is a good amount of info on mud about the bad gauges. Bascially the fuel gauge sends power to the temp gauge through a circuit that opens and closes so the power is split between the two.

Here is one of them
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/170755-fuel-temp-gauges.html

I removed and cleaned the fuel and temp gauges from the cluster and reinstalled them, but no change. I did not see any obvious burned or broken wires. I am getting frustrated. Does anyone have experience with gauges? It sounds like I need to test the ohms to each gauge, but I do not have the tools or nohow currently to do it. I could get a new fuel gauge from SOR that could fix the problem, but it is $75 and there is not gaurantee it will work. I could also say forget the stock gauges and put in a mechanical temp gauge, but that won't help me with the fuel.

Any thoughts?
gauge cluster back.webp
fuel gauge back.webp
fuel gauge side 2.webp
 
wngrog said:
I would look at getting a new gauge pod out of a parted rig. Kinda sucks redoing the odometer, but easier in the end to find one that works.
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Don't let the odometer worry you any vehicle over 10 years old is exempt from milage anyway.
 
Sounds good. I'm on the search for a used instrument cluster.
 
I think I parked my truck to close to yours and the 78 gave the 76 an electrical bug....she won't turn over AT ALL, but the battery is good.....im diving into mud for starter/solenoid/ ground wire/electric insanity help......how's the cluster coming?

by the way im obviously back in town....til friday
 
Finally got the gauges working by replacing the fuel and temp gauges with used ones.

I also decided to tackle the bondo this morning. It had a thick coat of bondo over the rear quarter panel that I removed at first by chiseling and the by wire wheeling. The pics aren't loading but I will load some later.

Now it is bare metal I have to decide whether to refloat it with bondo or just paint it with the few rust holes and dents.
 
rust bullet that rust!!! or cut it out....then bondo

let's see the carnage!!!!
 
Here is an after, midway, and bondo thickness pics. I stopped at the fender flare because the bondo kept going and going. It was supposedly hit back when it was new so I guess they did a 1/4 inch smear instead of banging out the dents????
image-410389136.webp
image-4027004572.webp
image-1152274887.webp
 
Let's hope that was the case.......you still have alot better situation than me. Atleast you have a rear sill and SOME of your corners left! i can't see the 3rd pic but want to come see progress when I get back home this pm
 
Well 4 months later, I finally finished getting the rear quarter panel down to bare metal. It is amazing how your life shifts after having a baby. Now that he is a little older and the weather is cooler I plan to get after the turd polishing again.

I used a wire wheel on an angle grinder to get rid of the thick bondo and paint. After emerging from the cloud of dust, I found the body wasn't that bad underneath so I plan to use a small amount of bondo to cover a few holes and 1 bigger dent. Then I will prime and paint with the rattle can like I did the bib. If it turns out ok I will keep moving by sections until I finish the body. In areas where the body doesn't have tons of bondo and cracks I may just sand the few remaining spots of clear coat and prime over the paint.
image-3607313041.webp
 
I know the lighting is bad, but here you can see some of the small holes I hope to fill. I can get to the back of them from the wheel well so I am going to try to put some body filler from the back as well. I've never worked with the stuff so we will have to see how it turns out.
image-3067741157.webp
 
Mix a little bondo up and practice on something. So you can get the mix right, to much hardener makes it clump up real quick or to little it will not harden up. Pretty easy to work with once you get the mixing right. Good luck.
 
Nice job. I bought a gun. Gimme a shout tomorrow o sometime this week an I can give you the ins and outs of bondo.
 
Great work Andy.
 
I used the rust oleum rust converter. I took off the door panel and vacuumed the leaves and dirt that blocked the drain holes. I sprayed the inside and out of the bottom with converter, then painted over the converter.
 
I've decided right now is not the time to get a 100 and to instead use the money I would have blown on process of buying a 100 on my 40.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/530915-low-mileage-2f-ks.html

I found this 76 supposedly low mileage 2F in KS. The question is whether it is worth the freight and risk to do a swap with an unknown engine or just overhaul mine. I want to get it running well enough so that I can drive and not smell like a tailpipe. I've enjoyed learning and working on it so far, but I'm tempted to drop it off at a mechanic to have the engine overhauled. My time to work on it is substantially less now and I am afraid I will end up with a dismantled engine in my garage with no way to get back together.
 
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