Butchered half-finished FJ40 on BAT (1 Viewer)

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Traditionally, should not the exhaust pipes go on top of the skid plate?
Yes. However, it is better than having the exhaust cooking the transfer case and driver floor as the skid plate acts as a heat shield. I wonder about doing a driver's floor section over the skid plate, of exhaust tube that is double-walled? As is below the plate, it doesn't hurt overall clearance (not below lowest hump in skid plate), looks dumb, but, it is on the driver side of the factory dent on the skid plate. Exhaust is consumable, like DOT 3 and air filters; the original 40 exhaust parts are extinct in complete assembly.

You know how much fun I would have straightening out all the mess. I'd happily take this vehicle and do what I've always done, which is starting with raw, basket-case-Cruiser, parts or whole.
 
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My first thought was Aqualu half tub or just fabbed the quarters from scratch. Yeah, definitely some issues, but the best part is reading all the purists get worked up. We got some Concours judges in training. :popcorn:

I would suggest you leave open a port on your intake manifold then drop your rear driveshaft and pull it apart and put it back together so the U joints don't match. Those have to do with how it runs/drivea and not just how concours to do with how concours it is. Most items like missing parts and major oil leaks are the same. Those you want to fix regardless. If it's not aluminum but Bondo that's a whole other issue. Either way I wouldn't touch it.

Traditionally, should not the exhaust pipes go on top of the skid plate?

Stock exhaust ran under the skid plate in the seventies until 1/79. 79/80 it ran under the frame. This is my 10/75 76 model model with 4,502 miles. Always been in AZ. Can see the flange that shows up on parts diagrams. Besides the heat to the transfer case with a factory PTO it's a very tight squeeze. I have a PTO with signs of the case melting from the exhaust pipe. I know that's what happened because I owned when it did.
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Mine doesn't sag like stock where there is daylight visible. That is pathetic.

The true dyed in the wool fanboys will tell you that Toyota did everything flawlessly. Infallible even.

Something I have noticed about people since the internet became a resource that we all have access to. We've become extremely polar. You see it in everything. Products, teams, ethos, political identity, virtually everything. "I am about option A and all other options are null, void, and dismissed." It's like a renaissance of intolerance. And very weird to go back to labeling the "others".

The allowance for grey area, or where two truths exist just isn't passable. (And the handle grayscale is what partially triggered this thought process and a chuckle)

I'm not a purist when it comes to these vehicles, but I do lean more towards that direction. In some areas.... Things like FJCO cleaning up the dashes bothers me, because I like that crowded dash full of crap and tactile switches, but the improvements to the suspension and driveline don't bother me in the slightest. So I exist in the grey.
I am a fanboy of certain things, but also recognize the shortcomings. The Cummins 6BT is a phenomenal engine, and just like the 2JZ, it is only because it is simple, overbuilt, and can take acres of abuse. The Supra while having nice lines, is a cheap ass coupe, with nothing special about it in the slightest. In the case of the Dodge or RAM pickups, the Cummins was the only thing it had going for it. I run in to Cummins nuts all the time. They jerk each other off when they find out about my 40 has a R2.8. I make no mistakes about the R2.8 being anything like a 6BT. One is a commercial engine that found it's way into a consumer product. The other is a consumer product that gets shoved into other consumer products. Besides, the 6BT suffered from poor castings, one horrifically bad injection pump, cranks that go clink when they hit a mathmatical rpm, and the killer dowel pin. The true fanboys dismiss those as nothing.

It's better to be in the grey in my opinion. All views need to be weighed and measured.
















Except for inline six engines. Everything else is stupid. LOL
 
Mine doesn't sag like stock where there is daylight visible. That is pathetic.


May be pathetic but that is the original exhaust. Know some claim Toyota ran the exhaust above the skid plate but the lack of any heat shield in the area would disprove that. 12/71-1/75 Toyota installed a heat shield over the muffler.
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Then 1/75 with the change in engine/exhaust two heat shields were added to the bottom of the tub.
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Above the skid plate Toyota would have added some type heat shielding. To be honest most the dents in exhaust and skid plates on all my 4X4s are caused by rocks hidden in tall grass in two track trails. The dent in the muffler was actually caused by backing off a trail in the dark. Down an embankment and ended with a boulder between the axles. Pulled it off with my PTO winch and went on my way. End of the it's how tough the 40 series was compared to every else available is why I became addicted.
 
Ok so this thread has moved into exhaust tech! I bought an OEM down pipe for my ‘63 45 from SOR. Motor is stock 1F as are mounts. There’s no way to get the exhaust run below the skid plate without an additional piece that would turn down, but I’ve never seen such. So are these different downpipes that are longer to get the run below the skid plate? If so, when did they go to these?
 
Ok so this thread has moved into exhaust tech! I bought an OEM down pipe for my ‘63 45 from SOR. Motor is stock 1F as are mounts. There’s no way to get the exhaust run below the skid plate without an additional piece that would turn down, but I’ve never seen such. So are these different downpipes that are longer to get the run below the skid plate? If so, when did they go to these?


My previous post stated the seventies up to 1/79. While I've never experienced it some said their early sixties 45s had it run above skid plate. I also know Man-A-Fre (Marv Specter worked there at the time) sold the first piece of exhaust designed to run above the skid plate. It would not work with a PTO winch. The header they sold would work with the PTao winch at that the time. Required filing the flange for the PTO winch driveshaft. Do not have access to my SOR early catalogs to see if Marv sold them.
 
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I would suggest you leave open a port on your intake manifold then drop your rear driveshaft and pull it apart and put it back together so the U joints don't match. Those have to do with how it runs/drivea and not just how concours to do with how concours it is. Most items like missing parts and major oil leaks are the same. Those you want to fix regardless. If it's not aluminum but Bondo that's a whole other issue. Either way I wouldn't touch it.
I do agree. I never said it was okay or to leave the mechanically screwed up issues. I've been building custom vehicles for 40 years and I know about driveshaft phasing, among other things. I'm with you in the gray area but I probably a lean little more liberal with modifications. I too don't much like the FJ Co dashes, but I like mods functional and tasteful. I hope Ryan Friedlinghaus never gets a hold of one of these machines, if he hasn't already. I just know there are folks here who get giddy pointing out things that are not factory. "If you don't know, it can't be explained," goes both ways. It's only original once.
 
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I like mods functional and tasteful.

That is an excellent way to put it.

I wasn't intentionally picking on anyone. More along the lines of Toyota did a lot of things well. They also did a lot of things very poorly.
 
Early OEM skid plate is stock trimmed to clear exhaust pipe run. The exhaust run is a good bit of distance from the T/C. I’ve measured the stock exhaust manifold temp, and it’s around 268-deg F at running temp. so the exhaust pipe temp would be lower a fair bit back here. I guess I could be concerned. I’m not 😂.
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The extra heat from a header, above the skid plate routing, was enough to melt the tar insulator on my floor, so although I'm past all that, it might help someone else being aware. I hate that tar patch; I hate the factory rubber floor mat, but, for those who are intent on stock, know that there is only so much heat that that tar will take before your heel sinks into it. I'd not be too upset if the tar was deleted, even if I owned a 'unicorn.'
 
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