Builds Bluebonnet - 5.3/H55 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[FJBen]

We are trying to resurrect the 327 to burn some rubber. It would be a thing to say we did in a 40. We had high hopes of adding some ATF or Marvel Mystery oil to the cylinders last weekend. Tried all the spark plug sockets I had for cruisers and more. None of them worked.. Heading to the barn with @SipLife this week to do a Take 2. We tried to push bump the motor in gear but the crankshaft pulley whistled Dixie.

Oh I"m 100% for getting it running as is just to drive it. I have nothing against a V8 in a 40 at all. Good luck on the engine, I think it's worth spending a little time trying to get it rolling.

So, I've been doing some thinking about Bluebonnet's Future Mechanical setup and need some advice:

I've been thinking about doing a 4 wheel disk break setup on Bluebonnet. I already sourced FJ62 front disk break components for the front axle and am considering the JT outfitters rear disk break conversion kit for the rear drum axle. We also have a spare H55 and Split Case in the shop that could be put to use in Bluebonnet. The only issue is when swapping from a single to split case I will loose the parking break on the T-Case. I have been doing some research on Mud and IMO the best option is adding the parking break to the rear axle. It would be cheaper than sourcing an 80+ FJ40 rear PB axle. The only downside is that I would have to shorten the rear driveshaft. What are your thoughts on this? What PB setup would you recommend and why?

Here is a helpful thread I found on FJ40 PB options:

FJ40 Parking Brake Options

forum.ih8mud.com

H55 would be great in here. I had the JT outfitters rear disc on a 40 before and it worked well. The parking brake on the kit worked OK at best. IF you buy it all new thats $600 from them. Looks like they still use the monte carlo calipers.

Food for thought:

T-case parking brake. This is an option, however I remember people stating it wasn't quite strong enough to hold on big inclines. Now maybe it's my fading memory? Maybe they don't make these anymore, I haven't had to search in awhile. Also, possible drive-shaft shortening issues.

70 series axle: I believe they are about 1" wider than the 40 series axle. This would also give you fine spline and help with matching the front if you are swapping to 62 front brakes as I believe those make it wider as well. I know @joekatana is in Texas and has lots of 70 parts. Most people want the full floater, so it's possible you could pick up a semi-float 70 axle with drum brake/parking setup, upgrade your axle and be good to go?

60 series rear drum parts. Now these are much easier to get, but...I don't know if they bolt up to a 40 series axle. It might take some research on that and what is all involved. I'm sure you could distract @CaptClose long enough to borrow parts from his 60.

Line Locks. These are cheap and work great. However they don't work in a hydraulic line failure issue and it's possible some cruiser events won't let you pass inspection for trails with one. I believe Cruise Moab is one such event, I'm not sure if any others have that stipulation.

All of these ways will require you to figure out a parking brake handle/cable setup.

They all have pros/cons so check them out and see which would be the best fit.

 

[pigmony]

T-case parking brakes have a tendency to get contaminated with oil and then stop functioning. Keeping that rear seal on the t-case in good condition will prevent issues, but it's still not an ideal setup. Breaking the rear differential or driveshaft means you don't have a parking brake. Hopefully you wont be breaking your rear differential or driveshaft, but doing so offroad could be problematic and dangerous. I like the idea of the parking brake being on the rear disk. The entire driveline could be broken and you'd still be able to use the parking brake. I broken and been around lots of broken vehicles in the Army and sometimes they break in scary ways. So I may be a bit overly cautious. And anyway, if things are that broken you're probably just going to put the truck on a flatbed and a functional parking brake isn't going to matter.

The way that you want to use this truck should dictate the choices you make in the build. There's nothing wrong with building it up to drive you and your friends to the beach on paved roads. That's a great use of a vehicle. There's nothing wrong with building it up to drive hundreds of miles on pavement, do some serious offroading, and then drive home. Just make sure you build it to be what you want it to be. Don't build it to be somebody else's dream.

 

[SipLife]

Oh I"m 100% for getting it running as is just to drive it. I have nothing against a V8 in a 40 at all. Good luck on the engine, I think it's worth spending a little time trying to get it rolling.




H55 would be great in here. I had the JT outfitters rear disc on a 40 before and it worked well. The parking brake on the kit worked OK at best. IF you buy it all new thats $600 from them. Looks like they still use the monte carlo calipers.

Food for thought:

T-case parking brake. This is an option, however I remember people stating it wasn't quite strong enough to hold on big inclines. Now maybe it's my fading memory? Maybe they don't make these anymore, I haven't had to search in awhile. Also, possible drive-shaft shortening issues.

70 series axle: I believe they are about 1" wider than the 40 series axle. This would also give you fine spline and help with matching the front if you are swapping to 62 front brakes as I believe those make it wider as well. I know @joekatana is in Texas and has lots of 70 parts. Most people want the full floater, so it's possible you could pick up a semi-float 70 axle with drum brake/parking setup, upgrade your axle and be good to go?

60 series rear drum parts. Now these are much easier to get, but...I don't know if they bolt up to a 40 series axle. It might take some research on that and what is all involved. I'm sure you could distract @CaptClose long enough to borrow parts from his 60.

Line Locks. These are cheap and work great. However they don't work in a hydraulic line failure issue and it's possible some cruiser events won't let you pass inspection for trails with one. I believe Cruise Moab is one such event, I'm not sure if any others have that stipulation.

All of these ways will require you to figure out a parking brake handle/cable setup.

They all have pros/cons so check them out and see which would be the best fit.

I like the idea of using a 70 series rear drum axle. Overall the 70 series drum stopping power is superior to the 60 series drums. I would rather spend a little more $ to get the more beefy components in addition. In the end it will be around the same price as the JT Outfitters kit with the El Dorado PB upgrade. We will be using a 70 series rear drum PB axle on our HJ45 “Old Landy” which weighs in at around 6000 lbs. Bluebonnet probably weighs in around 3500 lbs. 70 series drums should be more than enough for a PB

 

[SipLife]

T-case parking brakes have a tendency to get contaminated with oil and then stop functioning. Keeping that rear seal on the t-case in good condition will prevent issues, but it's still not an ideal setup. Breaking the rear differential or driveshaft means you don't have a parking brake. Hopefully you wont be breaking your rear differential or driveshaft, but doing so offroad could be problematic and dangerous. I like the idea of the parking brake being on the rear disk. The entire driveline could be broken and you'd still be able to use the parking brake. I broken and been around lots of broken vehicles in the Army and sometimes they break in scary ways. So I may be a bit overly cautious. And anyway, if things are that broken you're probably just going to put the truck on a flatbed and a functional parking brake isn't going to matter.

The way that you want to use this truck should dictate the choices you make in the build. There's nothing wrong with building it up to drive you and your friends to the beach on paved roads. That's a great use of a vehicle. There's nothing wrong with building it up to drive hundreds of miles on pavement, do some serious offroading, and then drive home. Just make sure you build it to be what you want it to be. Don't build it to be somebody else's dream.

I don’t plan on doing any hardcore rock crawling that would result in a broken driveshaft or differential. I plan to use Bluebonnet as somewhat of a DD (I drive my dads 3x locked 80 series now) and weekend/vacation cruising/wheeling rig.

 

[FJBen]

I like the idea of using a 70 series rear drum axle. Overall the 70 series drum stopping power is superior to the 60 series drums. I would rather spend a little more $ to get the more beefy components in addition. In the end it will be around the same price as the JT Outfitters kit with the El Dorado PB upgrade. We will be using a 70 series rear drum PB axle on our HJ45 “Old Landy” which weighs in at around 6000 lbs. Bluebonnet probably weighs in around 3500 lbs. 70 series drums should be more than enough for a PB

Yeah I'm not sure how much difference there is in the drums of the 60 series vs the 70 series in terms of performance. I think if your goal is to stop good and have parking brakes built in, you have a few options. A disc/drum setup can work really well.

Now if @ceylonfj40nut opens up the checkbook , then I'd go 70 series full floater with a locker and kill a few birds with one stone. You might have to move the spring perches slightly on a 70 series axle.

 

[SipLife]

Yeah I'm not sure how much difference there is in the drums of the 60 series vs the 70 series in terms of performance. I think if your goal is to stop good and have parking brakes built in, you have a few options. A disc/drum setup can work really well.

Now if @ceylonfj40nut opens up the checkbook , then I'd go 70 series full floater with a locker and kill a few birds with one stone. You might have to move the spring perches slightly on a 70 series axle.

He might have to sell his left kidney before we can afford that one . Especially after that turbo stunt you pulled earlier . I’m helping him out with my 80 series part out on Mud. The parts I sell will go towards Bluebonnet, any funds are appreciated.

 

[FJBen]

Well he’s got 2, so sell that kidney!

Turbo, lockers, lift, tires...

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Well he’s got 2, so sell that kidney!

Turbo, lockers, lift, tires...

I wish I owned Toyota stock. Spam dinners for a while.

 

[FJBen]

I wish I owned Toyota stock. Spam dinners for a while.

Yeah 1 cruiser does me in! Good luck!

 

[SipLife]

Decided to pull the valve covers on the 327 this week to inspect the rocker arms and valve springs. Once the covers were off I noticed that 7 of the rocker arms had visible pitting and spider cracking. Figures, typical GM crap. When we were taking apart Old Landy’s 2H engine I never saw a single crack or sign of pitting after 300k miles. Everything was well within factory spec, gotta love Toyota design!

Then we hauled Bluebonnet to our barn in East Texas. We rolled her off the trailer and into the Elf Barn, where all the cruiser magic happens!

(Root beer-HJ60, Bluebonnet, Old Landy-HJ45)

 

[SipLife]

As soon as Bluebonnet was situated in the barn we put the tranny and transfer in gear in order to bump the motor. It took the three of us (Me, @ceylonfj40nut, @Cowboy45) heaving as hard as we could just to rock the front tire. It was no use, the crankshaft was hopelessly stuck. So we moved to plan B. I pulled the spark plugs with a 13/16 socket. All except the 3rd cylinder on the ds because there wasn’t enough clearance near the steering box. From first glance they appeared to be in good condition with no rust to indicate water in the cylinders. Then, I filled up a squeeze bottle with Marvel mystery oil and injected a little into each cylinder to sit for a few days. Fingers crossed she turns when we come back

I ended up getting a good deal on a 70 series SF rear PB drum axle from @joekatana . I decided to jump on the offer and we met Joe at his home on Sunday morning. We drove around back and he hoisted it up with his forklift into the bed of our Tacoma.

 

[SipLife]

Then, we headed out front to check out his wheeling rig. It was a mean looking 70 series from the front end, but it’s heart packed the bigger punch. It was powered by none other than the 4.2L 1HDT. She started right up and ran just like clockwork. Joe took me for a ride just down the road and we did some donuts in an open field. Definitely a ride to remember. Thanks Joe! In fact, she ran so well I decided to make Joe an offer on the truck, and he accepted! I’m the new proud owner of a HDJ73!

Or at least that’s how I wished it played out. Sadly it was not to be, we drove back to the barn and dropped off the axle. I plan to rebuild it as soon as I finish working on the Mustang. I’m at the final stretch. All wetsanded, buffed, and polished! Isn’t she perrty.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Then, we headed out front to check out his wheeling rig. It was a mean looking 70 series from the front end, but it’s heart packed the bigger punch. It was powered by none other than the 4.2L 1HDT. She started right up and ran just like clockwork. Joe took me for a ride just down the road and we did some donuts in an open field. Definitely a ride to remember. Thanks Joe! In fact, she ran so well I decided to make Joe an offer on the truck, and he accepted! I’m the new proud owner of a HDJ73!

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Or at least that’s how I wished it played out. Sadly it was not to be, we drove back to the barn and dropped off the axle. I plan to rebuild it as soon as I finish working on the Mustang. I’m at the final stretch. All wetsanded, buffed, and polished! Isn’t she perrty.

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Hey I wanted to post up a pic of my new Gucci sweat rag. You beat me to it!!

 

[SipLife]

I had purchased a complete 73’ FJ40 wiring harness to patch the hacked wiring points near the ignition on Bluebonnet. I received it in the mail yesterday and inspected it for any hacked points today.

I found it best to lay out the harness from the front to rear of the truck. Then try to picture where the connectors would connect on the truck. The left and right headlights trail out towards the right in the picture below. The dash usually has the most connections, which is located in the center of the picture. The rear harness connects closer to the ps and trails out toward the top of the picture. Hope this helps anybody who thinks the task is too daunting, just dive into it!

Even Ivy helped out with the inspection:

I found three hacked areas:

Ignition connector - Should be a round connector. Should have a PPL/RED, BLK/RED, BLK/YEL, BLK/WHT

Light control switch - Should have RED, 2 GRN, RED/WHT

Trailer Harness Connector - Odd BLK wiring tapping into the rear harness

 

[SipLife]

Here is the complete wiring diagram for a 73 FJ40 if anyone needs it:

 

[cruisermatt]

Have you tried turning the motor over with a breaker bar on the crankshaft? I think you might have a easier time with that then trying to push the whole truck. Because you have the stack up of gears, the weight of the truck you’re trying to push, etc
Before you try to run it break out your Harbor Freight Orange deadblow hammer and give every rocker arm a nice “bop”. This will prevent a stuck valve. Those rocker arms looks fine to me those cracks you see is from when they were formed, nothing to worry about there.

 

[SipLife]

Have you tried turning the motor over with a breaker bar on the crankshaft? I think you might have a easier time with that then trying to push the whole truck. Because you have the stack up of gears, the weight of the truck you’re trying to push, etc
Before you try to run it break out your Harbor Freight Orange deadblow hammer and give every rocker arm a nice “bop”. This will prevent a stuck valve. Those rocker arms looks fine to me those cracks you see is from when they were formed, nothing to worry about there.

That is the next step Matt, I need to remove the crankshaft pulley to get to the bolt and try to turn the motor. Thanks for the tip, I’ll give it a go before I turn it.

Are you sure the cracks on the arms are from when they were formed, because I don’t remember seeing those same cracks on the new arms I got from the parts haul.

 

[Dizzy]

There is a frozen 2F on my driveway with a chunk of the starter motor's casting wedged between the flywheel and bellhousing. If I had pulled the rebuilt starter and inspected it, I would have saved some time. It is just aluminum that is stuck up there, but knowing that now, I would have tried turning the motor the other way, not the clockwise-from-the-front direction that probably seized the thing in the first place.

 

[SipLife]

There is a frozen 2F on my driveway with a chunk of the starter motor's casting wedged between the flywheel and bellhousing. If I had pulled the rebuilt starter and inspected it, I would have saved some time. It is just aluminum that is stuck up there, but knowing that now, I would have tried turning the motor the other way, not the clockwise-from-the-front direction that probably seized the thing in the first place.

Thanks Dizzy, I’ll have a look at the starter too

 

[Dizzy]