Aussie Pig

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V

v8slrtorana

10 Year
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Threads
5
Messages
92
Location
Palmerston NT Australia
Hi all.
I brought my 1st FJ55 last Friday within 15mins of 1st laying eyes on it. It weird beast that i just had to have.
Its a aussie 78 with a chevy 350.
Its 99.9% rust free. I live on the tropical cost. Rust free is un heard off !
I had a flat bed pick him up as it wasn't registered & the previous owner said the motor got hot quickly.
This pic was taken 5 mins after i got it home, last night. My brother has started to flush the motor.
IMAG0312.jpg

A few hours later, I fitted this 4 core tripple bypass radiator out of my HX holden from when we had a chevy motor in it.
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The interior as of last night.
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I fitted my spare 33" muddies from my hilux as the original tires had perished.
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I took it to the mechanics today for a registration inspection & it passed. So ill pay the rego tomorrow & i can start to drive him on the road. Im so happy. :D
 
Paid the registration today so its legal to drive on the road:bounce:
Plan of attack is
1. locate & replace spring bushes.
2. Detail interior
3. Look at distributor, its hard to start runs hot so I'm thinking it needs re curving. I think its just a cheap crappy eBay unit.
4. Remove large dent from right hand rear tail light area.
5. Look for some original type 16" split rims & cheese cutters. The muddies look tuff but howl & i cant hear the radio.
 
Are the door hinges repairable at all ?

Cleaned the interior after work today with a mild bleach & water mix. Came up like new. Very happy.
Need to do some minor repairs to the front bench for it to be 99%

Are the door hinges repairable at all ? My drivers door needs slamming or lifting to shut correctly.
 
v8slrtorana said:
Cleaned the interior after work today with a mild bleach & water mix. Came up like new. Very happy.
Need to do some minor repairs to the front bench for it to be 99%

Are the door hinges repairable at all ? My drivers door needs slamming or lifting to shut correctly.
Click to expand...

Yes hinges are repairable!
Two things cause door to sag, cracks in sheet metal that can be welded, or worn out bushings in hinge. Pins can be driven out (one direction only) and the bushings appear to be the same as bushings used for 40 series doors!
Or I bet one of your mates in the States could trade you as we don't use our right side doors as often as you do. Especially if you had some decent left side door hinges.
 
v8slrtorana said:
Cleaned the interior after work today with a mild bleach & water mix. Came up like new. Very happy.
Need to do some minor repairs to the front bench for it to be 99%

Are the door hinges repairable at all ? My drivers door needs slamming or lifting to shut correctly.
Click to expand...

I'm going through this issue with mine. What I have found is the hinge and pins are in good shape but there is a plastic or nylon bushing that is the main culprit for hinge problems.

This bushing needs to be replaced. I'm not sure but I'm guessing these are the same bushings used on fj40 doors and hood hinges.

I know cruisercorps sells a pin kit. I'm sure you could find the bushings elsewhere. I had access to a lathe so I made my own.


FJ40 Door Pins w/ (2) Piece Bushing Set - Pair

The other issue I found, was the metal on my door had fatigued and cracked causing problems with alignment. Nothing a welder can't fix.
 
So i did some more reading, about 6hrs worth and 40 hinge bushes don't fit. However people are making them fit by drilling the original hinge, fitting the larger 40's bush & most importantly a new 40's pin. Ill give this ago :)

I was giving the little SBC a oil change today. I don't think its been done in about 4 years. I can't believe i had to pay $23 for a oil filter :mad:

Gave the motor a nice clean up with some aluminum cleaner
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Not 100%, but will do for now
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I also pressured cleaned some grease & grime from MR-PIG's underbelly and i noticed this :-
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I know piggies have drum brake on the tail shaft but that gearbox looked familiar. So i crawled out, jumped in the cab & found i had a 5 speed cog box. Yippppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

On another + side. I went for a 37mile drive this arvo in 93' heat and the water temp at cruise was 190'. Still a tad high. The down side is it still creeps up on idle, so i reckon its got a lot to do with ignition timing.
 
Look into a fan shroud for the radiator, that will help focus the air travel from the motor, and keep your piggie cooler.
Very nice pig!
 
Ive asked 3 of my mates about a radiator shroud. No luck :(
Might have to buy a new one off eBay. At least the make repo's for the model I took the radiator from :D

I ordered 4 new bushes for the door tops where the lock knob comes through. $2 ea genuine
I ordered 24 new genuine spring rubber bushes. Although it was double the cost of aftermarket poly type, at least they will last longer then 12months considering I don't have grease able shackles.
I also picked up a genuine shifter bush & seat for the H55

Drove it to work again today. Its so much fun :hillbilly:
 
For the last 4hrs I have been adjusting the tune.
I hooked up a vac gauge & had 11" of vacuum.
Adjusted the initial timing to 14 deg as this gave me the highest vac reading. Then adjusted the carb screws & got a total of 14" of vacuum.
This engine must have some sort of aftermarket camshaft as i can't get it any better. It revs & pulls much harder then a stock SBC. :flipoff2:
All i know about the engine is its a 350cu, has 1.94 & 1.5 valves in the heads by the casting numbers.
It has a 1850-3 600CFM vac sec holley & a Weiand Stealth 8151P inlet manifold.
I also found the float level was way to high, so i adjusted it to i had to rock the car to get the fuel to come out of the bowl on idle.
I also noticed fuel was dripping from the transfer slot, so I fitted my spare phenolic spacer which seemed to stop that.
With any luck the initial 2 deg advancement wont cause it to ping. If it does ill hook the vac advance up to intake manifold & return the timing to back the way it was.
Hoping its easier to start now, but either way its getting new spark plugs on pay day.
 
So i fitted new spark plugs today. Doubled checked they were the right thread length. Made a difference to running & idle especially whilst still warming up but still doesn't start as it should.

Also fitted the new geuine shifter seat & bush. Found it didn't have the bush & the seat was missing a rubber spacer. Much tighter now.
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Still chasing a fan shroud locally. I noticed today it pulls air through the radiator but it doesn't blow it across the engine :(

I also swapped out the accelerator pump cam on the Holley for one that actually pumps immediately.
 
Last edited:
tried changing or removing the thermostat?

got a $740 4core radiator in mine with a shroud and it doesnt get the slightest bit hot. infact when first started i swear the gauge gets colder. a new thermostat or removing it prolly help if she been sittin awhile before u got it.
coolant instead of water helps too.
good luck!
 
the ultimate, final and definitive fix for an overheating cruiser with an SBC:

engine.jpg


It does a great job at keeping cool with a stock radiator, fan and shrowd.


Just heckling ya.
Run what ya brung.
 
I would think you, or a sheet metal guy should be able to fab a shroud w/o too much difficulty. I know there are guidelines about how much fan you want sticking out of the shroud.
If the engine is too close to the firewall, you will have a hard time getting air movement over the engine and then down and out the rear of the engine compartment. These Piggies don't have a very long engine bay.
I'd keep a thermostat in the engine, but that is just me!
 
I'm not sure if i mentioned MR-PIG came without a thermostat. Payday tomorrow & the plan is go buy a standard flow 160F stat.
My theory is the water is moving too fast ( looks like ) & the water is not spending enough time there.

A shroud. I found a few on eBay for $40 + $40 shipping. I might have to got this way, but still hoping with a little more asking ill find a local unit.

Have you guys heard of a HQ Holden ? That's what the radiator is from. It was untill just a few years ago Australias most popular car ever sold. 480,000+ sales u would really think it aint that hard to find a shroud. !
The radiator is a 4 core triple bypass unit from Home

Anyway it was p!ss!ng down with rain on the way home from work. Could barely see the end of the bonnet & water temp was 155F the whole slow drive home.

Also, if i did change the engine. It would probably be a chevy V8 diesel :hillbilly:

As a refrigeration mechanic by trade, we was always taught to build a shroud that exposed approx 1/3rd of the blade for maximum efficiency. I'm a diesel TA now for CROWN forklifts. How life changes hey :)
 
I fitted a new Tridon 160F standard flow thermostat this afternoon.
Let it idle for roughly 1/2hr. After the thermostat opened, the temp creeped approx 2deg F every 5 mins. This is great news as it would raise 10F every 2mins on idle without the thermostat.
Still no shroud, but Ive located one locally i think i can have for free :D
 
been busy

Been a productive day.
Wife told me she is going to apply for "MR-PIG" number plates for me.
She has MSPIGY on her car, so that will be cool. If its taken ill apply for IRONPIG.
15 of the 24 genuine Toyota rubber spring bushes arrived yesterday so i started to fit them. Rather then leave the rest untouched, i temporary replaced the rest with some 2nd hand Hilux poly bushes. (5mm shorter)
This is photo of the old bushes.
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I also noticed the front shocks were lazy, so i fitted my used Old Man Emu Hilux/60 series cruiser shocks.
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I don't have a shed or garage to work in so I had to improvise
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I also went hard with the grease gun. Could not believe the tail shaft universals took 9pumps each to crack the air !
 
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