Da 40 (1 Viewer)

[jynx]

Well I figure it's about time I collected all my misc thoughts and started a thread for the 40.

We bought the 40 from Andy S. in March of 2018. I am pretty sure there is a whole story that goes with it being built by someone in the community, but I don't know any of it, so I will start with what I know about it.

1978 FJ40
2F/ 4spd/ rockbox/ 4spd case
Stock axles
4" sua lift

Detroit rear/ arb front
36" swampers on steel wheels

Front fenders have been cut, most of the rear behind the b-pilar is diamond plate. There was a box of trail spares in the back and the back doors are made of wood.

We took delivery and we did a little test drive.

Hannah approved

 

[jynx]

When we got it it was obvious that it had pretty much been a trail truck. It was terrifying to drive on the road. I couldn't get it above 30 without the death wobble trying to earn its name. Since the tires weren't really my cup of tea and because I mostly wanted it for just riding around I figured I'd start there.

I decided on a set of Mickey Thompson MTZ tires mounted on a set if Raceline wheels.

Mounted

And since these wheels have a shallow back spacing, I picked up a set of spidertrax spacers.

So to make it all go I first had to find some spares to swap around.

Big baller

Stuck the 36s on the brown 80 just cause.
Beast mode activated

The old tires got sold off to help fund the new tires and for whatever else I blew it on.

 

[jynx]

Before during and after

It's really interesting how much the spacers helped clearance.

Front before and after

Rear before and after

It made a world of difference in the driveability. Now we could take it over 30 without a fear of having to pull it out of the ditch.

 

[jynx]

I think before we did tires I picked up a Mastercraft Rear bench so we could have a family ride. The tj seat fits perfectly between the fenders.

And again, Hannah approved.

I also picked up a hardware set from @davework
to start replacing some of the misc bolts. I need to order another one soon, it is awesome to have around if you own anything Toyota.

And then we made roadtrip to the pre-Summer Ave shop and picked up this cage from one of @FJ60Cam 's early customers for a song.

Unfortunately the built up rear fenders are about 2" taller than a stock fender, so it won't bolt in without either cutting the legs or cutting holes in the fenders. So it is just chilling waiting for the back half of the tub to get replaced.

And here are a couple of random pics from an afternoon at the backyard range.

 

[jynx]

Then we took it to cruiser crawl and after beating ourselves to death we decided that we weren't built to trail ride the 40. It will be relegated to cruiser duty. And somewhere after this trip things kind of went off the rails.

I never really cared for the cut fenders and since I had a pile of parts from a 1969 that I acquired a few years earlier, I figured I'd doll up the front end.

This was the beginning, it got way deeper and I will get there, but for now, I'm tired of typing, so that's it for tonight.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Are those steel wheels you took off the 51-5883S 3.5"BS ProComps? If so, they do not make those anymore. They stopped this year. Last 15" wheel with 3.5" backspacing on the market in 8" width without having them made.
And WTH is up with the new cage from Cam?? I am looking for something just like that. Or maybe I will be a customer for the one you pull out in the meantime. Let me know. Also, Erin wants some of our old Xmas decorations. We need to figure out how to get them to y'all before the holidays.

 

[jynx]

Are those steel wheels you took off the 51-5883S 3.5"BS ProComps? If so, they do not make those anymore. They stopped this year. Last 15" wheel with 3.5" backspacing on the market in 8" width without having them made.
And WTH is up with the new cage from Cam?? I am looking for something just like that. Or maybe I will be a customer for the one you pull out in the meantime. Let me know. Also, Erin wants some of our old Xmas decorations. We need to figure out how to get them to y'all before the holidays.

Ima be honest I have no idea what wheels they were. They were 15s, but not sure if they were 8 or 10" They went with the swampers.

The cage was right place right time, pure luck. Worth the drive to Memphis. But I will say that was the day I decided that I had no need for a hard top. Taking it off and back on was like trying to build the spaceship out of erector sets without instructions... so many nuts and bolts to loose.

And I'm down for a trip down, maybe meet for dinner or lunch one weekend in chatt or something. I'll talk to E and text you.

How is the 40 coming along?

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Ima be honest I have no idea what wheels they were. They were 15s, but not sure if they were 8 or 10" They went with the swampers.

The cage was right place right time, pure luck. Worth the drive to Memphis. But I will say that was the day I decided that I had no need for a hard top. Taking it off and back on was like trying to build the spaceship out of erector sets without instructions... so many nuts and bolts to loose.

And I'm down for a trip down, maybe meet for dinner or lunch one weekend in chatt or something. I'll talk to E and text you.

How is the 40 coming along?

Hard top removal and install can be a pain.

Let us know on lunch or whatever. MH would be happy to get out.

I got wheels and found a resonable powder coatwr in Cartersville. Most of my spare time is breaking concrete.so not much has changed.

 

[jynx]

Jumping a little ahead, but got my order in from @cruiseroutfit this week.

New rotors, battery tray, 11mm stud set and some brake lines. Have calipers and a terrain tamer knuckle kit on tap. Got some cleaning and painting to do so I can get the axle rebuilt.

 

[jynx]

Ok, so back in time to where we left off. After cruiser crawl and a few more rides around the block. I noticed the saginaw box was leaking, so I pulled it into the shop and initially just planned to replace the steering box.

With it already in the shop I figured I'd take the opportunity to clean up a few things. First I stripped off the front clip.

Then started working on the winch plate.

Ok, there were entirely too many random bolts holding this plate on.

Like I was about to just start grinding and cutting. And then I found this mess.

Because the plate kit for the saginaw kit was welded on too high and they had to space the plate up.

Bumper and plate off finally I could see the object which I was trying to get to.

So I got here and started making a plan.

 

[jynx]

With the fenders off, I started fiddling. Broke the batter box stud, so that was junk.

Broke a bolt in the frame pulling the fenders, so that will require a little Miller assist when the time comes.

Then there was all the madness.

The truck had a ton of misc wiring. I plan to clean all this mess up.

Then I started looking at the power steering pump setup. Best I can come up with, this is a man-a-fre kit and the adjuster is not my favorite.

So I called up Georg at Valley Hybrids and got one of his kits.

With the pump out, the box had to go. You can tell it had been leaking a while based on all the fluid on the frame, and that bottom bolt... doesn't seem like they thought this all the way thru before the burned it in.

I ordered a replacement box, but somehow got the next size up and it hits the shackle bolt, so I'm just going to send the one that came off to Blue Top and have it rebuilt since I know it fits.

 

[jynx]

So with the front clip off I started tearing down the front axle. The knuckles weren't awful, but the grease was due.

And got the passenger side torn down.

This was a nice surprise

And the ball was ready for some sanding to smooth out the rough

Also pulled the bump stops. Functional, yes. But that's about where it stopped.

I got an idea for replacements, but that is down on the list right now.

 

[jynx]

Picked up some fresh calipers from Napa, and just this week got a fresh set of rotors, so I think I've got everything to start putting it all back together.

So I think we're mostly caught up to present. Now that the 80 is up and going, the 40 is next on the get it running list.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Longfields? Dang. That is a nice surprise.

 

[jynx]

Figure with some of my projects getting caught up the 40 needs to be the next. Found a couple of pictures of the 40 fenders from last fall.

I need to get the original steering box out for rebuilding. Knuckle parts need to go in the washer and get ready for paint.

If I can get the bed back on the Ford tomorrow, I may see if I can get some those bits cleaned up and ready for some paint.

 

[jynx]

Need to get this thing back together so the girls can ride around this summer. I knocked off the old rotor and drove out the old bearings, races and seals this afternoon.

Should be ready to wash everything tomorrow and get a coat of gloss black on the outers so they can be drying.

Then I set my sights on the knuckle balls. They were pretty badly pitted. So I hit them with some filler primer and sanded them down.

I taped off the races and the face and cleaned everything up and hit the ball with some gloss machine grey.

I'll let that cure good for the next few days. I am pretty dang happy with the result. Not as good as a machined ball, but for a weekend cruiser, I'm gonna call it good.

Tomorrow cleaning and paint. Then I'll start putting all these new parts back together this week.

 

[LDowney]

Matt,
Like your attention to detail. I encountered similar pitting on the knuckle balls on the 70 (Canadian salt I guess). Approached it similarly, but my attention to detail and final quality was not up to your standard. Kudos to you

FYI At work, we apply paint with teflon in it for surfaces where a blade seal / wiper seal rubs against. I have never thought to look for it before, but your thorough efforts here has me wondering if a teflon paint would have a great top coat here.

Looks like I need to check on general availability of teflon paint and how user friendly it might be.

 

[jynx]

Thanks Larry. Didn't know that was a thing, but i may have to check it out. I know a 2 part epoxy would have been the jam. I didn't have any on hand. But I know when it cures it is super hard and would have been ideal for this application

 

[LDowney]

I checked McMaster-Carr and Grainger, but they do not appear to carry it. I also asked my (retired) manufacturing pre-planner because he would call exactly the material and process steps to be used on the shop floor, but he could not remember the material details either.

I will check with some others that may recall, but they would be long shots in comparison to the dead-end that I already checked..

 

[jynx]

Well there was no cleaning today. We did Mothers Day stuff. So Cleaning will be for nights and this weekend. I also found a really cool 8274 mount that goes behind teh factory bumper. I want to go back to a stock bumper, but would like to put a winch back on the front. The only thing about it is I don't know if it will clear the saginaw conversion on the frame.