Chet's 1974 FJ55 Build

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cruiserbrett said:
dont forget to make sure its brake grease, cause its formulated to prevent melting and dripping onto brake linings. learned that the hard way.

kragen will have permatex brand packets of it for cheap. look for caliper grease. works the same.
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Thanks! I would of used some Mobile 1 Synthetic stuff I have laying around :whoops:
This place is great :beer:
 
Been a while since I've posted. I finally had the seats mounted correctly, brakes are working. I failed emissions for the second time, it seems my carb is dumping gas like crazy when at cruising speed. It passed three out of the 4 tests. Burning a lot of oil and some blowback. I ended up getting historic plates and I'm now emission exempt :) I've been debating rebuilding the motor or picking up a 2F motor. Not sure on how hard it is to mount the 2F and the one I'm looking at has 200k+ miles on it. I'm just not sure how much $$ I'd have into the swap. Still need a lot of work done but at least I can drive the pig now.
 
I had the same thing happen. The easiest swap out is to another F, or 2F. Very little along the driveline needs to be modded. Same thing happened to my F, except it wasn't a shop I could finger as the culprit, it was me. Good luck! It's been over a year since my pig has tasted freedom-hoping by march she'll be back up and running.
 
Well I picked up a 2F out of a 85 FJ60, it also came with the starter, tranny, a/c compressor, & power steering pump. The guy that took it out is doing a V8 Swap and said the compression #'s were great and it didn't burn any oil. He got a good deal on the new motor and I end up with a newer motor too. Now I just need to figure out what will work with what. I know I need a new radiator anyway so I'll be picking up an FJ60 one. Do I go with the new tranny and hook it up to my transfer case? I'm guessing the motor mounts are different too. I've been searching the forums for someone who did the swap and took a lot of pictures but so far no luck. I did read in the 2F motor thread that the 85 2F was a great year so yippee for me :) As always thanks for any tips.
 
'85 is a good year - flat top pistons, so you could run a 3FE head if you wanted to!

60 rad does not fit 55.

What is wrong with your rad?

55 rads aren't the easiest to come by, you could send yours out for a re-core while you are dropping in the new 2F?
 
My radiator looks like it was re-cored in 1998. It is leaking along the top, sides and bottom... I will bring it in and have it looked at but I'm not sure anything can be done for it. What would the benefit be using the 3FE head? Thanks.

PabloCruise said:
'85 is a good year - flat top pistons, so you could run a 3FE head if you wanted to!

60 rad does not fit 55.

What is wrong with your rad?

55 rads aren't the easiest to come by, you could send yours out for a re-core while you are dropping in the new 2F?
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I'll have to bring it in and have them take a look at it.
I'd love the "Fool-Injection" but It's not in the budget right now :crybaby:


PabloCruise said:
A good radiator shop will not have any problem with a leaker like you described. Re-core will give you brand new flow in the original pig dimensions...

3FE head gives you fool-injection!!! As in " I pity the fool who takes on my 2FE!!!"
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Well the piggy decided to leave me stranded the other day. I think my new pertronix electronic ignition took a crap on me. I never left the ignition on but I'm not getting any spark. I don't suppose they sell just the internal replacement parts do they? I don't really want to dump too much $$ into it until I get the other motor in. I guess I could go back to points & condensor for now.

My ignition switch is pretty much shot and probably the cause of the distr. meltdown. My keys will fall out while driving. When you buy a replacement switch do you have to bring it in to get re-keyed?
 
I have the electronic one in the 2F motor, could I use that one until I get the 2f in? It has a ton of vacuum lines in it (smog crap) I'd have to find out which one to keep (vac advance) and plug the rest.
 
Well I guess next time I should check the fuse box.... dumb.... blew the ignition fuse, changed it and it started right up.
 
Well the piggy has been doing pretty good for the last couple of months, making the trip to work and back (83 miles or so each day) Other than sucking $$$ out of my wallet for gas. Friday on the way home it had no get up and go whatsoever and started dieing on me. Sounded like it was flooding and smelled like gas really bad. Talked to Mark A. who rebuilt the carb and he said to check the vacuum pressure. So saturday I checked it and I had maybe 11lbs at the nipple for the brake booster hose. He said I should be at 16lbs. The only thing I can think that might be leaking is the intake/ehaust gasket, which looks pretty dried out and craked in areas. I'm going to have the intake/ehaust manifold machined flat and have a new gasket on order. Any other areas that could cause the low vac pressure?
 
PabloCruise said:
Check for vacuum leaks with an unlit plumber's torch around the base of the carb, or where the manifolds meet the head.
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Do you use any gasket sealer on the carb insulator gaskets? I didn't before but I'm wondering now if I should. I'm having the manifold machined tomorrow. The ehaust ports were not aligned with the intake ports.
 
Dropped off my manifold at 9 this morning and it was ready for me at 5. $25 dollars out the door. I had ordered a gasket set from O'reilys this weekend and it came in, it's a felpro? gasket and it has the main manifold gasket plus 2 of the smaller one that fits between the intake and exhaust. Why do they come with 2? I'm going to use the remflex gasket I have coming but wasn't sure about the 2 little ones.

Some pictures,

IMG_2967.jpg


Is it normal for the intake and exhaust holes to line up so bad?

IMG_2971.jpg


Anything special I should do to motor before putting it all back on?

IMG_2973.jpg
 
cml25 said:
Why do they come with 2? I'm going to use the remflex gasket I have coming but wasn't sure about the 2 little ones.

Is it normal for the intake and exhaust holes to line up so bad?

Anything special I should do to motor before putting it all back on?
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Generally they come with 2 of the 2F 5 hole gaskets(needed with 2F style manifold) and none of the F three hole gaskets... only need one.

Yes, the one piece exhaust manifolds bow over the years. Clean up the hole openings to fit the F studs with a little sanding drum on a dremel. works well, did mine yesterday.

Did you spot face the surface on the other side of the manifold where the washer torque down the manifold to the head? Its worth the trouble if they are even a few thousandths out. Even clamping load = happy gaskets.
 
PabloCruise said:
They give you two of the little gaskets that go between the intake and exhaust because there is a steel plate that gets sandwiched btwn the two gaskets.

It is a deflector that shields the bottom of the intake from exhaust gasses.
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That is the case on a 2F manifold, no deflector thingy on F manifold so only one gasket.
 
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