BamaBleach's FJ40 buildup

[BamaBleach]

Thanks guys!

The little stuff can become overwhelming if you let it. This weekend the weather was nice so Saturday I spent a lot of time under the FJ62 since it's parked outside. I raided all the hard lines going down the frame rail and started taking off some misc stuff I can sell later to recoup some funds.

 

[BamaBleach]

Got some work done over the weekend. The weather was nice so it felt good to get the shop doors open.

I decided to take the rear springs off the FJ62 and use those springs instead of the FJ60 springs I had acquired for the build. The 62 springs looked to be in better shape. I'm admitting my lack of knowledge on the FJ6x series but I didn't know the 62 rear spring pack had 8 leafs while the 60 pack only had 6. I assume that both packs are stock. I digress...

Rear axle with some primer:

Axle and springs painted up:

I went with glossy black because it seems the clay mud around here seems to slide off a bit easier with the glossy paint.

 

[BamaBleach]

Here's the external fuel pump I plan to use. I've heard mixed reviews on the MSD 2225 after doing a little digging around. I'm going to run it and see how things go.

I ordered it online at Summit Racing. A little tip for those buying online: always do a google search for promo codes. I did "summit racing promo code" and found one for free shipping. Not much but every little bit counts. And it works for more than just summit racing. I try it with all my online shopping.

 

[BamaBleach]

I also picked up a pair of these seats from a forum vendor over on Pirate. They are EMPI Race Trim. Got 'em on a sweet deal.

 

[BamaBleach]

We also did the comp cut on my rear fenders. For stray purist that may still be reading, the previous owner did a hack job on the back of my 40. This guy had a real love for galvanized steel and bondo.

 

[BamaBleach]

Well, she is now rolling on all 4 wheels again. Don't have any pictures at this time but we got the rear axle back under it. The FJ62 springs + the mounting position we chose has yielded an overall wheel base of 101". That will increase once I flip the front springs.

My pinion angle also looks good and my shackle angle is pretty good so I'm pleased with the way everything turned out.

 

[JBC0217]

The extra length is going to make a HUGE difference on the trails.

 

[Ron B]

Looking Good!

 

[hillbillysteve]

X2 looking good! I am jealous, I have all kinds of sweet plans/ideas for my 40 but no $$$. I count on the builds on this site to help keep my dreams alive!!. Keep up the good work!

 

[BamaBleach]

Time for another round of updates.

Here's the rear axle back under the back of the truck:

Nice pinion angle

Pretty good departure angle for leaf springs

 

[BamaBleach]

Forgot to weld the keystock for the Toybox so the shifter range would be limited to lateral movement (H-N-L).

So instead of tearing back into the box we came up with a bracket to place over the shifter:

Also sprayed some rubberized undercoating on the bottom of the gas tank while it was out:

 

[BamaBleach]

On Thursday night I spent some time at Dad's machine shop and he made me a cone air filter adapter. It turned out pretty sweet.

 

[BamaBleach]

Yesterday we finally got the fuel pump plumbed up.

 

[BamaBleach]

I saved the best update of the weekend for last!

 

[BamaBleach]

So a few notes for those who actually watched the video:

- that was the first time I tried to fire it up
- my starter needs new contacts...lol
- I had one wire on the ALT that was out of place, which wouldn't allow the switch to kill the engine. It was the only wire on the entire diagram that we were unsure about. So we knew right where to go when tracing down the problem. Nick done a jam up job on my wiring.

Everything seems to be working fine. Dad and Dan even patched a driveshaft together so I could drive around just a bit to make sure my Toybox was working. I'm happy to say she pulled back into the shop under it's on power!

Big thanks to Dad, Dan, & Nick for helping me make this happen. It was a great feeling!

 

[Elbert]

cool....now you just need to "Save up " for a V-8 swap.

Oh yea.... you gotta do a "victory dance" now!

 

[2fpower]

Congrats -- great video. Look forward to the day my son runs around the corner and gives me a high five after it runs.

 

[BamaBleach]

Congrats -- great video. Look forward to the day my son runs around the corner and gives me a high five after it runs.

Me too!
That was my buddy Dan's (the camera man in the video) boy.

 

[BamaBleach]

cool....now you just need to "Save up " for a V-8 swap.

Oh yea.... you gotta do a "victory dance" now!

Glad they didn't record the victory dance!

 

[BamaBleach]

Time for another update. I don't have any pictures to share because there really isn't much to add on that front. Got a few issues worked out:

Issue #1 (clutch):
When it pulled under it's on power for the first time I quickly realized that something wasn't right with my clutch assembly. I was getting a lot of chatter when I used the full range of motion on my pedal. If I went about halfway down the clutch would engage enough for me to shift.

Dad tried to adjust the slave to see if that would help but that didn't do much. Sounded like something was out of place. So I took the inspection covers off on the BH and noticed my clutch fork was not seated properly. My best guess is that it got bumped while we were dropping the drivetrain into the truck. So now it's back in it's rightful place and my clutch is working properly. This was a huge relief since we didn't have to drop the tranny.

Issue #2 (starter):
If you watched my video you'll see that my starter wasn't working properly. We took it out and pulled the back cover off and sure enough, one of the contacts was almost completely destroyed. The other one was still in great shape. I should have got some pics of this but I didn't think about it. My buddy, Nick, hooked me up with a replacement contact and now my starter works like a charm. So if you're having starter problems I would suggest checking the contacts before you go buy a whole new starter (most probably already know that but somebody reading may not).

Issue #3 (CEL):
We finally got the check engine light working in my factory cluster. At first it wasn't working because it was wired up backwards. The CEL wire for the 3FE is yellow and we had it ran to the bulb and then had a ground for the other bulb wire.

Well the yellow CEL wire is actually the ground so the other wire for the bulb needs to be run to a HOT. When I went to get my starter fixed at Nick's house he told me had figured out why it wasn't working while working on another toyota project that was setup the same way. I'm sure it's straightforward if you look at the wiring diagram but it wasn't a pressing issue so we really hadn't tried to troubleshoot it. Now we don't have to!