Hello everyone!
I have been quietly planning my revenge on the failed parts of my pig... and now I have something to show for it!
I pulled the fuel tank out (and of course I had a full tank to drain first), and it was just as hard as everyone had said it was! My vent lines come out on all sides and corners of the tank, so it is quite challenging to get at all of them at the same time! So then I took the tank to my local old school radiator shop and they basically had to replace the entire bottom of the tank. Now I have a freshly lined and panted tank sitting in the back of the pig waiting to go back in... I have been procrastinating the reinstallation. I broke two of the mounting bolts off in the body when removing the tank, so I have yet to deal with those...
In the mean time I sourced rear discs from JT and did the typical swap. I got into the differential to remove the axles and everything looked good in there. I think this pig has had an easy life. Probably the most extreme things it did was drive up Mt. Hood in the snow, drive on the beach, or on a logging road to go camping.
The only thing I have not done on the rear brakes is hook up the lines. Other than that we are ready to go!
I also sent my carb to Mark to have it rebuilt. He said it was missing some jets and was generally a mess. Funny that it seemed to be running fine except needing to be quite rich. That is why I love these old Toyotas! I have yet to reinstall the rebuilt carb, but I am hopeful that it will run quite well now.
I also replaced all of the rod ends. New steering stabilizer and new shocks all around.
I sourced all of the parts (almost) for the front disc swap (including new booster and master cylinder) and I am now starting to tear down the existing knuckles. Again, everything looks to be in excellent condition! I don't know if anyone needs the old parts, but it seems a shame to just scrap them.
I realized that I can't reuse my coarse lockouts, so I am on the hunt for some 30 spline for the short birf if anyone knows of some that can be had.
Now for some questions:
Is the backing plate delete worth it? Or shall I just stay stock?
I am wondering if there is a trick for removing the inner snap ring on the birf. I know some guys just brake it off and then go without... I think you have to do the tack weld on the inner shaft to keep it in place right? I believe the reason for leaving the snap ring out all together is for easier field repairs, but I don't see myself wheeling hard and needing to get in there easily. Any thoughts?
The newer knuckles I got my hands on came cleaned and disassembled. So my next question is about the shims. Where do I start with the shims, and can I pull this off without the centering tool? I don't want to have to get back in here and replace a blown axle seal later on. Maybe someone has a centering too I could borrow? I don't mind doing if I can get me hands on a tool easy.
It looked like the original axle seal had held up well, and there was no gear oil in the knuckle. However it does look like there is some grease in the axle housing past the seal. Is this common? Maybe just left over from a previous rebuild? Or a sloppy install?
I have a Joint Fuji seal kit, but the felt seems to be different than that of the original. Seems like it is stiffer and maybe has some other material impregnated in it. Is this correct?
Thats all I have for now.
Enjoy the pictures!
Pulled into the workshop and time to start pulling it apart!
Ready to do some work!
RR all cleaned up and ready for the new parts.
LR with the new parts installed.
Fuel tank pulled and ready for repair:
forum.ih8mud.com
