Builds Build: Rusty Pumpkin Project 74' FJ40 (2 Viewers)

[locklaw]

Well I think it made sense to follow up the plug check with a compression test. After seeing number 4 I figured this cylinder would not test well.

Here is what got:

View attachment 3719797

Also pulled the fuse panel, cleaned all the contacts and fuse holders.

View attachment 3719798

And I’ve got spark so I need to revisit the fuel because maybe it’s not actually getting any. Been reading about the Weber setups and issues to see what to check next.

I set my phone up on video and went around and cranked the engine. I picked up a remote starter trigger but got a little stumped when I tried to figure out where to put the ground.
View attachment 3719801

Not sure if you have figured it out yet but the black wire on a remote trigger is not a ground but rather the connector is used at the starter relay (mostly on the spade connector) and the other end goes to the battery positive post. The wiring colors can fool with your head since all the switch really is is a wire between two points with a trigger in the middle, but then someone decided to change up the colors of the sides to the switch.

 

[knuckle47]

Looks like you’re getting a lot done since I started reading your posts yesterday…nice job. Good Luck!

 

[bdawg23]

Looks like you’re getting a lot done since I started reading your posts yesterday…nice job. Good Luck!

thanks! doesn't' always feel like a lot is getting done but its all progress

 

[knuckle47]

thanks! doesn't' always feel like a lot is getting done but its all progress

It took me 2 weeks to install my Sniper EFI. I felt I was getting nowhere…and here’s a better one : I have been trying to get the rear ambulance window
glass back into the new weather seal for a month !!!

 

[bdawg23]

It took me 2 weeks to install my Sniper EFI. I felt I was getting nowhere…and here’s a better one : I have been trying to get the rear ambulance window
glass back into the new weather seal for a month !!!

View attachment 3720085

well it would be a life long obsession if it only took a few minutes or a day to complete every project right?

 

[bdawg23]

Switched gears from the engine bay to a leaky output shaft at the e-brake. I received a dual seal unit from Valley Hybrids that I wanted to get started on.

I removed the rear drive shaft to start. I made a mark on it so I when I reinstall the drive shaft I can orient it the same way it was installed previously. Once the driveshaft was out I removed the nut and the e-brake drum slide right off. You can't see it in this picture but I only 3 bolts holding on the e-brake drum. One was missing. The black gas line is the new stuff I ran from that poly tank everybody loves (kidding of course, if you stumbled upon this looking for poly tank feedback read this thread first wish I did!).

The drum pads were not coated in gear oil to my surprise but when I removed the driveshaft I had a nice helping of gear oil come out from behind the drive shaft.

I also have a speedi sleeve that is ready to be installed on the e-brake drum. Going to clean this up a bit and then look at installing it.

I also confirmed why my speedo isn't working. The teeth are pretty much worn off of the nylon gear. I'm in the hunt for one of these as well. Need to re-count the teeth on the nylon gear and see if I can find a part. Low on the list for now.

Hopefully I can get this back together before I leave for work trip in a few days if not it will be here when I get back.

I also was reading up on compression test procedures and best practices and I'm going to re-do mine with the info I learned and report back again with the process.

I also found this pollux orange hat from @Cruiser Cult and had to pick it up because it matched my rig

 

[knuckle47]

@bdawg fortunately you don’t need to hunt for that speedo gear…it’s out there. I need to do a dual seal on mine …not leaking but it’s a future proof thing for me… I’m on the cusp of either rocker arms or rocking chair! In that scenario, I’d better do it sooner than later

There was a thread here on what you have found in your cruiser from previous owners….nice hat

 

[bdawg23]

@bdawg fortunately you don’t need to hunt for that speedo gear…it’s out there. I need to do a dual seal on mine …not leaking but it’s a future proof thing for me… I’m on the cusp of either rocker arms or rocking chair! In that scenario, I’d better do it sooner than later

There was a thread here on what you have found in your cruiser from previous owners….nice hat

Found one from SOR. It was a 17 tooth. If I recall the 4 speed and transfer case on my truck were replaced from another 40 but I don’t know what year 40.

Valley Hybrids doesn’t show any dual seals in stock but a quick email via their contact form and I had a quote for a new part. Came with new hardware and new gasket too.

 

[knuckle47]

Going there right now…..thanks

EDIT: DONE

@bdawg. Don’t know if you saw this

Dual seal and parking brake upgrade

I couldn't find a clear set of instructions for upgrading the rear output shaft seal to the Valley Hybrid dual seal housing. This is my attempt to create one. Thanks for all the help for @orangefj45 working through this. What came in the package: -New dual seal housing -Paper gasket -2 new...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[bdawg23]

Going there right now…..thanks

EDIT: DONE

@bdawg. Don’t know if you saw this

Dual seal and parking brake upgrade

I couldn't find a clear set of instructions for upgrading the rear output shaft seal to the Valley Hybrid dual seal housing. This is my attempt to create one. Thanks for all the help for @orangefj45 working through this. What came in the package: -New dual seal housing -Paper gasket -2 new...

forum.ih8mud.com

Good share! I hadn't seen that yet! THANK YOU!

I had watched this video by @Cruiser Cult as my starting point

 

[bdawg23]

Quick update before I leave for a work trip and I put this on pause.

- ordered new e-brake rebuild kit from SOR along with the speedo nylon gear drive

- went to re-run the compression tests and disconnected the fuel line and pinned the carb to WOT only to realize no gas was being pumped through the line!
This had me really confused but I pulled the pump, disassembled and inspected, couldn't find anything wrong with it or see debris in the there. Reinstalled and now gas is flowing again. Guess what....with gas in the carb the darn thing started right up. Learned a good lesson here that if you think it can't be something to check it because it probably is!

- I also went and paid for antique plates, when I got the rig the PO had regular plates on it and said it would pass no problem. Yes, that's how naive I was about this thing. Cost me around $200 between state fees and the notary fees here in PA. Next year my 100 series will be eligible for classic plates

I also installed a new gas tank filler neck as the filler neck was dry rot and cracked. I was hoping I got lucky and installed the hose clamps in a way that would not require me to remove the seat and I did! I was able to get to the clamps without much fuss and got this replaced in a short amount of time. The filler neck has a little rust starting to form in it so that may need replaced soon. I'll do that when I buy another OEM steel tank to replace the poly tank

I then worked on and installed the speedi sleeve to prep for the install of the dual seal. I used fine grit sand paper to sand down the part until it felt smooth. Wanted to try and increase the chances the speedi sleeve went on without any headaches. Def took some force to get going but once on the sleeve slide down into place nicely. Removing the lip went smooth despite the feeling that you think you're about to ruin the sleeve you just installed. Hopefully the sleeve will line up nicely with the dual seals, this was the only thing that I sort of had concerns about but we'll find out in a week or so!

I'm off to PHX and then Tahoe for work trip and then I'll be back at it!

Thanks to everyone that has been following along and offering suggestions and guidance!

 

[bdawg23]

Happy Sunday!

Dual seal install is complete!
- not to self and others, make sure the parking brake adjuster is properly oriented.
- the drum wouldn’t go on all the way and I took me a few minutes to realize my mistake

Here are all the new parts installed. Ended up purchasing a e-brake rebuild kit from SOR for new pads, springs, etc.

Also picked up a new Speedo gear. Here you can see how worn the old vs new gear is:

Here are the parts: new gear (mine was 17 tooth), o-rings for the Speedo bullet, and a small felt-like insert that fits between the cable and housing.

I spun the Speedo cable with a drill and the speedometer moved so I’m hopeful the new gear will fix it.

I also replaced the gear oil in the transfer case, transmission, and rear diff while I was under there.

At this point the truck runs but it’s inconsistent. Seems to start up and then idle and then I can move it out of the garage and then it will not re-start. It sounds like it wants to but never kicks off. Randomly it will start and I can’t pull back in the garage.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get it sorted eventually. Hopefully before it starts snowing here in the northeast!

 

[knuckle47]

Good to see your progression thru this system. Mine arrived Friday so once I get the rest of the “stuff”, I’m going in…I want to get the core back ASAP

 

[bdawg23]

Seeking advice on this one...


There was a plug in this opening that was leaking coolant so I wanted to pull the plug and get it sealed properly. It was a brass plug and not the correct thread. My plan was to pull it, order the correct threaded plug and then seal it back up however when I removed the plug quite a few of the threads came with it

There are no longer enough threads left to put a plug back in so I'm wondering what folks might think of doing here? This is a 74 model year with an F engine.

 

[locklaw]

Seeking advice on this one...


There was a plug in this opening that was leaking coolant so I wanted to pull the plug and get it sealed properly. It was a brass plug and not the correct thread. My plan was to pull it, order the correct threaded plug and then seal it back up however when I removed the plug quite a few of the threads came with it

There are no longer enough threads left to put a plug back in so I'm wondering what folks might think of doing here? This is a 74 model year with an F engine.
View attachment 3733110

Oh no, that is a bummer. I would think your only real option would be to drill and tap it to the next size plug you can find, otherwise to size it down to oe with a threaded insert.

 

[bdawg23]

With the recent broken threads on the head and my compression numbers showing a lot of variance across cylinders I figured I'm going to end up pulling the head and having to do some work on the piston/rings to fix given the wet test improved the compression results. Going to start with removing the head and then work on inspecting each piston/bore.

First I performed another dry test with the carb off to get some better baseline numbers. The firs time I performed the dry test the carb was installed, throttle was at idle and gas line was connected which from I've read doesn't show the best results. I did see an overall increase in compression by performing the test with the carb off. About a 9% increase in compression with the carb removed.

9-5 test with carb installed, at idle, with fuel connected
10-3 test with carb removed from intake manifold

Next I performed a wet test and the results improved again across most the cylinders except #2 and #3 didn't see the same % increase as #1, #4, #5, #6.

I put together a matrix showing the % var across cylinders for the wet test. My goal was to highlight any variances across cylinders that were greater than 10% with the goal of testing the rebuilt motor and we should see an all white matrix with no variances +/- 10%.

Engine Number on the block is F 406213 and based on the SOR chart product date could be estimated around July/August/September of 1972. My frame number places the manufacture date in October/November of 1973. Granted I have good reason to believe this was an imported truck from Costa Rica so not sure if the frame numbers still jive with proper manufacture date or not. Based on the frame date I think I would have expected to see an engine SN starting in the 5s not the 4s, but not sure on this.

If there is one thing I know its that it needs work so enough keyboard punching, time to get turning.

Now that I had what I feel like are good baseline numbers to compare to I started removing bolts;
- removed the weber carb
- removed valve cover
- removed rocker arm assembly. All rockers moved freely, some had a little notchy feeling but all moved pretty easily. The two o-rings where the oil line connected to were still in tact.
- intake/exhaust manifold bolts removed
- all head bolts came free without too much effort, which is both a problem and a nice thing. Some bolts were not very tight at all and easily loosened while I had one that was very reluctant to move at all.
- Still need to pull some more attached items but I'm excited to get this head off and see what more I can learn

Rocker Arm Assembly

 

[charliemeyer007]

So with better wet #'s doesn't that mean the rings/bores are worn?

 

[bdawg23]

So with better wet #'s doesn't that mean the rings/bores are worn?

YES! Thanks for the call out, when I was writing this up I was so focused on the comparison between dry tests with the carb installed/removed that I essentially forgot the biggest improvement I saw was with the wet test which as reminded me, means the pistons aren't sealing very well inside the bore.

 

[pb4ugo]

So with better wet #'s doesn't that mean the rings/bores are worn?

I agree. A 10psi increase I would consider an acceptable increase from dry to wet, but cylinders 1, 5, and 6 are red flags. Has the engine been sitting for a while?

 

[bdawg23]

I agree. A 10psi increase I would consider an acceptable increase from dry to wet, but cylinders 1, 5, and 6 are red flags. Has the engine been sitting for a while?

It has been sitting for a few weeks. What are you thinking?