Build Bought our newborn a Toy

[avicenna110]

Also if you ever need an extra hand give me a shout. I’m in Danville.

Hey I will take you up on your offer, don’t see many people due Covid, let alone people that love FJ40s so it would be nice. and you do the same, I’ve build a good set of tools by now.

 

[MOTOV8R]

This is in regards to the spring leafs correct? Mine all have + originally so I painted them the same. From what I understood they indicate which is the shorter side, and hence the side that gets connected to the fixed part of the frame. But I did also read somewhere that + means over spec and - means under spec, perhaps this is related to your point. Can you shed some light on this if you know, I don't think I fully understand it yet. Thanks

Cruiser Outfitters

This part:
What do the +,o,- marks on my spring mean?

OME/Dakar spring will often have a +, o, or a - painted on one end of the leaf spring, so what does that mean? The + means slightly over spec, and when we say slightly it wasn't enough to consider the spring an error rather it is by design. The o is exactly at spec and the - slightly below spec, again by design. As the drivers side of a vehicle often has more weight, its common to use a + on the drivers side and a o or a - on the passenger side. Or, a o on the drivers side and a - on the passenger. The total difference side to side is likely just 1/8"-1/4" but it can be just the right amount to level the vehicle. This is particularly important when A and B springs are not offered such as many of the newer spring applications.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

melting the switch or knob ?

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Here is your replacement knob , my reproduction pin wrench nut and 2 Allen keys

I got weary years ago of screwing around with those case hardened lock shackle set screws i update anything that comes into contact with me

Stainless steel recessed hex


It’s simply the bomb !

I PM u also reply back shipping addy these in the mail to you …

Holiday spirt you know


Oh special update LED green Lumens oem
Color code period correct too

 

[avicenna110]

Cruiser Outfitters

This part:
What do the +,o,- marks on my spring mean?

OME/Dakar spring will often have a +, o, or a - painted on one end of the leaf spring, so what does that mean? The + means slightly over spec, and when we say slightly it wasn't enough to consider the spring an error rather it is by design. The o is exactly at spec and the - slightly below spec, again by design. As the drivers side of a vehicle often has more weight, its common to use a + on the drivers side and a o or a - on the passenger side. Or, a o on the drivers side and a - on the passenger. The total difference side to side is likely just 1/8"-1/4" but it can be just the right amount to level the vehicle. This is particularly important when A and B springs are not offered such as many of the newer spring applications.

Ok got it thank you! so if I understood correctly in my case that they’re all + I just have to live with whatever I get.

 

[avicenna110]

Here is your replacement knob , my reproduction pin wrench nut and 2 Allen keys

I got weary years ago of screwing around with those case hardened lock shackle set screws i update anything that comes into contact with me

Stainless steel recessed hex


It’s simply the bomb !

I PM u also reply back shipping addy these in the mail to you …

Holiday spirt you know


Oh special update LED green Lumens oem
Color code period correct too




View attachment 2848998View attachment 2848999View attachment 2849000View attachment 2849001View attachment 2849002View attachment 2849004

The knobs I have aren’t in great shape, I melted/broke mine and the other one I got is scratched up. Those you have are sure pretty. PM’ing you. Thanks for letting me know you have these.

 

[MOTOV8R]

Ok got it thank you! so if I understood correctly in my case that they’re all + I just have to live with whatever I get.

Ok got it, just making sure some maybe weren’t readable so you made them all +

 

[avicenna110]

Ok got it, just making sure some maybe weren’t readable so you made them all +

You made me doubt myself , fortunately I’ve been taking videos and pictures of everything so the before picture of the front (cleaned and degreased) is this one:

 

[MOTOV8R]

Awesome work, those springs look better than new. I am also a fan of the Eastwood internal frame paint.

 

[avicenna110]

Awesome work, those springs look better than new. I am also a fan of the Eastwood internal frame paint.

Thanks! I am hoping the paint holds. I considered using POR15 on the leafs too but I was worried it would not be flexible enough. I’ve read good things about Steel-it and it’s quality stuff so we’ll see.

I haven’t seen new springs before in person but was very disappointed in the paint quality of new OME steering stabilizer I bought. I’m repainting it along with all the other shocks.

 

[avicenna110]

@ToyotaMatt kindly offered a gift for our project for Thanksgiving! I spoke to him around 11pm his time on a Saturday afternoon while he was putting orders in boxes. He was still in a good mood to chat and guide me through the installation of this beauty below. Thanks man! Bonus was that I really was in need of two key chains, one for the ‘85 pickup and the other for the FJ40. Thanks man!

 

[avicenna110]

I gave the old shocks a reface.

Eastwood rust encapsulator applied:

I also bought the OME steering damper, but was very unhappy with the paint job it came with. So I decided to paint that too, the one on the left below is my painted old shock, on the right is the new steering damper:

the paint I chose was this, I was overall happy with it. I applied too many coats at once so it took forever to dry

And the results:

I bought all new hardware (except for a couple pieces I painted), all from Toyota apart from the bushings. I think the hardware is used in other cars also so they still make them

 

[avicenna110]

Like many of you I'm dealing with a lot of rust. I've spent a lot of time reading about how to remove them and prevent them. For hardware (bolts, nuts, etc...) I considered zinc, nickel coating and tried both. Zinc is cheaper and I can tell that the part is getting plated. With nickel I couldn't tell. Also yellow Zinc plating is how the hw of the car originally came with. The plating kits that are out there are just way too expensive to try out so I decided to do the plating on the cheap, and buy the yellow Chromate from Caswell (it's <$40 for just the solution, it's not included in the kit anyways). This is what I have:

- power supply + alligator clips (from amazon for ~$70, needed this for other things)
- Zinc strips for roofing (quite cheap on amazon)
- lots of vinegar (from Costco for $4)
- Salt
- lots of distiller water
- yellow Chromate (~$40)
- black Chromate ($40)

When you plate zinc what you get is a very dull looking, non-smooth surface, but it can be polished very easily with steel wool as Zinc is a soft metal. Here is an example, it's part of the center arm kit that I bought, which of course came un-plated and just greased. I would hate to see rust on new parts in a few weeks so I plated it:

It's polished in seconds:

The feel of Zinc is just different to the touch even polished, so I've learned quickly to be able to tell that it's there. This is another piece polished, it's the pitman arm of the steering box:

and then dipped in yellow Chromate:

I ended up painting the above part just because I don't wanna take it apart. So I have layers of rust encapsulator + paint that has Zinc plating underneath, pretty sure it won't rust for a while...

I am Zinc plating all the spindles as well, pretty much anything that I think will rust. I disliked very much taking rusty pieces apart and had to wrestle with the pitman arms so I'd like to avoid that again. Here is the end result:

And even applied a clear coat to some to make them prettier, they look much nicer in person:

I think this solution works for me vs sending parts to get plated. I am taking my time to do things, fixing one piece at a time so I won't be able to send batches to get plated. Overall very happy with the result, but it did take quite a bit of work and trial/error.

 

[avicenna110]

Center Arm Rebuild:

Bought this from @cims1970fj40 (thanks bro). It was a bit rusty but was moving freely and in good condition. Mine was functioning fine as well but had a piece of the bracket chipped so I wasn't gonna put that on the car. I struggled with removing the arm attached to it till I bought the right tool.

This pitman arm puller (OTC 8150) is sold on Amazon and makes the job much easier:

struggling a bit at first:

then trying a better anchor. All my benches are occupied with parts so I am using a long bar with my foot on it to keep the vice on the ground

took it apart and cleaned all the parts:

I Zinc plated the top and the arm, but ended up painting the arm as well:

The kit I bought was from cruiser corps for $48. They're not plated so I wouldn't buy it again from there. I decided to plate the spindle portion otherwise it would rust within days. I even Zinc plated the grease valve

Now I have everything ready to put together. It feels like I am constantly prepping things with not much time spent on assembling but it's getting there. The front end has many more pieces than I knew, and they're all connected to each other. So it seems like it's taking forever...

 

[cruisermatt]

Cant wait to see your kid Telsa swap it when he’s 18

 

[avicenna110]

Cant wait to see your kid Telsa swap it when he’s 18

Someone else made the same comment earlier us cruiser heads think the same and have the same nightmare. But jokes aside I’m hoping by then you can have proper electric engine kits that you can use. Not ones that you are not able to buy parts for. I don’t mind building an electric cruiser at that point.

 

[majdomo]

Awesome build!!

 

[1MAC]

Nice work. I’m definitely stealing your recipe for zinc plating. It’s like deja vu reading your thread, as I’m early in the process of a total build of a 77. Just did my steering and had to buy the same Pitman arm puller from Amazon!
I found that indiscriminate use of a MAPP torch was a big help. My 40 also shares the garage with a 2018 GSA.

 

[avicenna110]

Nice work. I’m definitely stealing your recipe for zinc plating. It’s like deja vu reading your thread, as I’m early in the process of a total build of a 77. Just did my steering and had to buy the same Pitman arm puller from Amazon!
I found that indiscriminate use of a MAPP torch was a big help. My 40 also shares the garage with a 2018 GSA.

Glad you found it useful. Post some pictures of the results and any tips you learn along the way, I’d love to improve how I’m doing it.

I’d heard using heat before but do you know if there are any concerns on damaging seals when using heat? I would imagine the seal next to the pitman arm would also get heated up but I’m not sure if it’s designed to withstand the heat or not. Probably yes but worth asking.

 

[1MAC]

I’m replacing the seals anyway, so I wasn’t concerned about heat. The one that seals the pitman arm definitely got hot. Would have been more careful if trying to preserve the seals.