Builds Doc's 1978 FJ40 Rebuild (1 Viewer)

[TractorDoc]

Spent most of my day off at work again trying to fix the x-ray developer machine. . . I am still using film vs. going digital because other upgrades have taken priority at the clinic. The developer machine consists of many little rollers driven by an assortment of gears and the developing chemicals have built up a crust on the gears causing things to jam up. Everything is apart and soaking for the evening but I did sneak in a little shop time afterwards.

In fact I dragged Mrs. TractorDoc over to the shop with me again (she is usually a good sport about things and I think she secretly likes to help) to assist me with installing two bolts. Two bolts do not usually amount to much on a project like this but these two bolts were special because they secure the front cowl to the frame. She helped me carry the cowl over and onto the frame and held it steady while I installed the bolts into the new OEM mounts.

Some pictures of the result, rear view:

And from the front:

And a little closer from the front:

So far I am happy with the Blue. It varies depending on the light it is in and the angle/direction that you look at it. . . I asked the Mrs. what she thought and all she came up with was "Well, its bright. . . " -- perhaps she just needs to see more of the truck together. Considering I picked the color from a small paint chip it is very close to what I wanted. I think the white top/bezel, gray stock rims, and black seats/other misc. should all compliment each other well, but we will know for sure once all those elements are added. No turning back now!

Once a new rag joint and the steering column are installed it should be stable; right now there is a little wiggle forward and back considering just those two mounting bolts are holding it from the bottom. I will eventually set the tub on the back again to test fit everything once more before its paint job.

Along with adding more pieces to the engine I am also thinking about running my refurbished wiring harness from @Coolerman -- originally I thought Id wire everything new with an aftermarket harness but after looking at the original harness it really seemed to be in good condition. I sent it off to Mark and he used his magic touch to make it like new again -- he provides a great service and it will be much easier to install his clean, factory harness vs. me trying to run wire and install a completely new one. He even lables the connectors so I know where everything goes!

I may try to run some of the wire yet this weekend. . . the problem I am having now is I spend a lot of time standing and staring at the truck now that things are starting to come together. The FJ40 casts a spell the moment I walk thru the shop door and it is cutting down on my productivity!

 

[mrboatman]

All of your work looks really great. One thing you may consider is some tape over the intake were the carb sits. Just a thought.

Good Luck
JP

 

[TractorDoc]

Thanks JP,
You have a good attention for detail! Right now the intake/exhaust manifold are not bolted up for good. . . I still need to put the heat riser back in the exhaust and see if I need to trim the baffle any to account for the plate I plan to install between the two. Otherwise it would be sealed off for sure!

 

[DSB345]

Beautiful! Love that color. @Coolerman did a fantastic job on that harness. I cant wait to get where you are with the my build. You have a lot to be proud of there for sure.

 

[TractorDoc]

Thanks Dave!
You will be there before you know it. . . especially with Mark's help. The MUD community has been a super valuable resource for me and many Mudd Members have given me great guidance and advice.
I will say again that having Coolerman refurbish the harness was a smart move. . . he was and has been super helpful before and after taking the job on. He was also able to make my '78 harness compatible with my '72 tail lights (I liked the round lights better) which I would not likely have been able to accomplish.
I know I have strayed from the path of a true OEM nut and bolt restoration. . . I am the kind of guy that would take a Model A back to stock before I would make a hot rod out of it so having the aluminum tub and mixing several years of 40 parts feels a bit unnatural. It shows my lack of experience/knowledge when I entered the game as I thought the aluminum tub would be an advantage after reading all the posts/topics on rust repair. When I found a partially worked complete truck for less than what the tub by itself cost I thought "that is the one for me" and have not looked back. I say all this because I think highly of your attempt to restore your FJ40 back to period correct status. I know it takes a lot more work and specificity but you will have a fabulous finished product to be proud of yourself!! I know a lot of the general public will not care that you have rear drum brakes vs. discs or that a body is steel vs. aluminum but your efforts will be well worth it when a true 40 nut picks up on all those little details you took the time to make right.

 

[DSB345]

Thx, I plan to keep it simple on the next one.

Thanks Dave!
You will be there before you know it. . . especially with Mark's help. The MUD community has been a super valuable resource for me and many Mudd Members have given me great guidance and advice.
I will say again that having Coolerman refurbish the harness was a smart move. . . he was and has been super helpful before and after taking the job on. He was also able to make my '78 harness compatible with my '72 tail lights (I liked the round lights better) which I would not likely have been able to accomplish.
I know I have strayed from the path of a true OEM nut and bolt restoration. . . I am the kind of guy that would take a Model A back to stock before I would make a hot rod out of it so having the aluminum tub and mixing several years of 40 parts feels a bit unnatural. It shows my lack of experience/knowledge when I entered the game as I thought the aluminum tub would be an advantage after reading all the posts/topics on rust repair. When I found a partially worked complete truck for less than what the tub by itself cost I thought "that is the one for me" and have not looked back. I say all this because I think highly of your attempt to restore your FJ40 back to period correct status. I know it takes a lot more work and specificity but you will have a fabulous finished product to be proud of yourself!! I know a lot of the general public will not care that you have rear drum brakes vs. discs or that a body is steel vs. aluminum but your efforts will be well worth it when a true 40 nut picks up on all those little details you took the time to make right.

 

[emac]

TractorDoc, that thing is looking awesome. Keep posting pictures. I really like how the black and blue contrast. My rig was originally blue and you are making me think twice about changing it. I second Coolerman kudos. A great resource. I cant wait to see it back together and running.

As for the auto developer. Those things are a real pain, I remember them from school and they were always broken. In my office I went from dipping tanks straight to digital, skipping the auto developer era. We went from the 1960's to 2000's in one day! One of my best days at the office.

 

[TractorDoc]

Thanks emac.
The developer is back up and running again. . . I ended up having to take a small three jaw puller into the office as one of the gears was so crusted onto the idler shaft that I had to pull it off. Probably due to poor maintenance on my part but I have a guy that is supposed to come in once a month or so and keep an eye on this stuff for me. . . Ill have to start keeping an eye on him!

Taking it kind of easy with some family stuff this weekend. I did test fit the radiator and clutch fan assembly and it appears I will have some clearance issues. There is probably less than a quarter inch between the fan and radiator at the bottom.

A little too close for my liking. I had another one of my nephew's with me helping out. . . he told me that eight inches is a little to far from the engine block to the front of the fan.

I had to stop and think about this situation for a bit. The clutch fan fit before I took everything apart. . . I remember the fit was tight but I do not remember it being this tight. I tried looking thru my old pictures but none of them focused on fan to radiator spacing. I compared both radiator frames and placement is the same. I compared the new vs. the old water pump and distance from the engine block to the pulley hub is the same. I measured engine mount to radiator frame distance on the '78 and '72 frames and both are the same. The only difference I was able to see/find was between the two radiators. The new radiator has a thicker core (four core vs. three?) that sits about a 1/2 inch or so closer to the engine/fan than the old radiator. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the two side by side but I will make sure to do so and include it in the next post. That 1/2 inch would make a big difference in my comfort level with how close the fan is/was to the radiator.
It looks like I may have to go the way of a fixed fan setup like so many others have used (from archive searches). I thought I had two thirds of the needed parts because I was able to pull a fixed fan hub from a parts engine/water pump I acquired early on in the project. I thought I could pull the clutch fan hub from the new water pump (and I thought that would be the easy part) but that thing is on there tight/does not want to move with my puller setup. Wondering if lock-tite or some other adhesive is used at the factory when they are pushed on. . . anyway I was hoping to swap hubs but now I may have to swap water pumps as well. I dont want to break the pulley hub, heat the hub up and damage the seal, etc. and render the new pump useless. The pulley should work from the parts engine and I will have to acquire a new fan as the old fan's blades are chipped. I will save the fan clutch pump for a future purpose or perhaps help another Mudder out down the road with it.
Not the worst problem I could have encountered . . . a good reason to test fit parts. I was just not expecting this issue considering I was using the same parts I took off. . . except for the radiator of course.

 

[emac]

If you are planning on adding A/C you may need all the room you can get. My A/C install included opening up the holes for the radiator support and moving it closer to the fan. My 77 has/had plenty of room between the radiator and fan. I have a fan clutch.

I dont think something is right. I have 9.5 inches from the front of the block to the radiator. I have about 2 inches of clearance at my fan blade. Stock radiator. Are you sure your rear motor/tranny mounts are properly assembled? Just trying to give you some other data. Excuse the water stains, I had a coolant mishap!

 

[TractorDoc]

Thanks for the pictures emac.
I am still trying to wrap my brain around my dimensions. . . especially after seeing your pictures. I have seen other pictures/topics in the archives that describe the same situation I am in. The big difference off the top of my head is I have a 1972 Frame with '78 engine, water pump, radiator, etc. I did measure front engine mount to radiator mount distance in both frames and I thought they were the same. . . but I will remeasure to be sure. The mounts on the engine fit the mounts in the frame without any modification.
Several guys have put later model (80's) 2F engines in their builds and they have had to drop the fan clutch for a fixed fan due to clearance issues. Not sure if that was due to the later water pump and fans or due to the larger engine. I believe I have the original 2F engine from 1978 but I will take down the engine number the next time I am in the shop and look that up/make sure.
Here is a picture of the new radiator next to what I thought was the old radiator:

In hindsight the old radiator could have come from the '72 truck but I thought it made more sense to be from the '78 because the fan would clear nicely with the extra room between the core and mounting flange.
To make things even more interesting I have three different fan shrouds. . . with three different opening diameters: 17, 18, and 19 inches.

The 17" came from the '72 truck, the 18" came from my 2F parts engine (1975ish) and the 19" came from the 1978.
I was trying to figure out what diameter fixed fan I would need from the different offerings out there.
For now I will take a step back and see if I am missing something obvious. . . it would not be the first time I was staring at a simple answer and made it a complicated situation.

 

[emac]

Your situation is above my pay grade but I am sure other Mudders have seen this before. Let me know if you need any other measurements or pictures.

You may wake up in the middle of the night with the answer. If you do, put some clothes on before you head to the garage.....I know I have been caught in my briefs, late at night in the garage, more than once!

 

[FJ40Jim]

The fan/rad interference issue is normal when installing a fan clutch in a 74-earlier frame. The holes in the radiator mounts on frt crossmember can be redrilled farther forward, but watch out for clearance between frt of radiator frame and back of headlight buckets.

 

[TractorDoc]

Big Thank You Jim.
Thought I had measured everything out but it looks like I need to revisit my dimensions. Second time in a week you have had to help me with numbers. . . I really passed all my math courses in years of school. . . Honest!

@Jdc1 suggested I consider moving the radiator support/mount forward as well. Looks like I may be pulling some fenders/bib/etc. from the barn for some test fitting if I go with the fan clutch.

 

[FJ40Jim]

There is little room between the early fully enclosed headlight buckets (E-1971?) & the rad frame.
There is more room to scooch forward behind a 73-newer bib & headlight assembly.

 

[TractorDoc]

A quick follow up to yesterday's post(s).
Measured the Radiator Support Mounting Brackets on the 1978 Frame from the front cross member towards the engine:

And on my 1972 Frame:

It appears the earlier brackets were 1/2" longer in general and the hole for the radiator support is just over an inch closer to the engine on the earlier frame.
Makes sense why I had two different lengths of radiator support rods:

And why the front splash shields are different (1972 left top, 1978 right top):

Put the radiator supports side by side and the 1972 frame (painted black) does have an extra metal lip that extends about an inch forward that is not on the 1978 frame. It appears there may also be a height difference between the two but part of that could be the angle of the picture. I originally cleaned up/painted the 1972 frame by chance because it had less broken bolts stuck in it and one of the captive nuts is missing on the '78 (OK, I was lazy). Looks like I will be cleaning up the '78 frame after all. The small expanded metal mesh across the top also needs fixed or replaced.

Provided the front bib/headlights clear the radiator support the most cost effective move at this point is to drill two new radiator support holes farther forward on my 1972 frame. I can then use my new water pump and fan clutch as designed, and much cheaper than buying a new water pump and fan.

Apologies if this is common knowledge. . . I went thru 40 some pages of archives before I found any mention of it (back in 2005) after FJ40Jim brought the difference to my attention. Perhaps I am not using the right key words in the search box. . .

You may wake up in the middle of the night with the answer. If you do, put some clothes on before you head to the garage.....I know I have been caught in my briefs, late at night in the garage, more than once!

And for the record I have been tempted to sneak out in the night to "check" on things. . . I suppose that is one of the benefits to having the shop a couple miles away. Id have to at least put pants and shoes on to make that journey. . . especially this time of year!

 

[Honger]

Not sure how I missed this build before... very cool! Great progress and looking forward to watching it continue.

Joel

 

[TractorDoc]

Not sure how I missed this build before... very cool! Great progress and looking forward to watching it continue.

Thanks Joel,
I find a new build thread each time I log on and spend more than a few minutes looking around. I appreciate the positive feedback and hope to have a mobile truck sometime this year.
I enjoyed reading thru your posts --you've had a good journey from acquisition to the point you are now able to take the young'uns out in the desert for some 40 fun!
I like how your shop was able to dress up a lot of the under hood components via plating them. . . I think the EPA makes it a little cost prohibitive to do on this side of the world. Keep posting your adventures. . . and try to keep those kids away from that tailpipe!

 

[TractorDoc]

Tried doing some test fitting today.
I cleaned up the '78 radiator support a bit and drilled two new holes in the frame supports. The radiator frame is as close as it can be to the front cross member. . . I am hoping that does not lead to problems down the road with any flexing of the frame that may occur. I bolted up the fan clutch/fan assembly and installed a four core radiator with the 18" opening fan shroud. I used an old radiator to avoid unnecessary bending of the cooling fins on the new radiator. Everything fit without a problem. . . minus the driver side radiator support rod. I think I can get away with an extra spacer between the rod an support to take up the extra space. The longer rod I had pictured in a previous post was actually too long.

I now measure about an inch and a quarter between the fan hub and radiator. . . just a bit over an inch from the fan fin at its closest point.

With this small victory I pulled a fender and a replacement front bib I picked up out of storage for a test fit. With the mounting holes lined up I still have about an inch between the radiator support and front bib/screen. Success!

I know its only temporary, but I like the personality the bib gives the truck. . . even if it is a little dirty and rusty.

I pulled everything back off the frame and will finish cleaning up the radiator support, fan shroud, fan clutch, and support rods. Hope to have them painted and maybe installed over the weekend. I am sure there will be more bumps in the road as things go back together, but hopefully we can put the cooling system in the rear view and call today a win!

 

[TractorDoc]

Had not been over to the shop for a couple days. . . was starting to have withdrawal symptoms!
Helped mom out Friday morning as she is starting to get her greenhouse up and ready for the growing season. Went to pickup little plants/plugs from a local auction that she will use/grow into hanging baskets to sell beginning around Mothers Day. Add in a dentist appointment and date night with wife and the entire day just flies by.

Did make it over today after work and of course I started to work on something completely different than I thought I was going to. It occurred to me that before I start putting wiring/steering/pedals in the cowl I needed to install the door hinges first. They are tucked up in a tight area that is better accessed without all the other stuff in the way. . . at least the top hinges are. They were one of the last things to come out so they should be one of the first to go back in. The rubber on my original set was in a sad state so I ordered a new set from cityracerllc.com -- @Racer65 's website is starting to come up in my "frequently visited" section of the web browser. I took them apart, gave them a light sand, taped off the rubber, and hit them with a coat of epoxy primer for today.

Also sprayed a few other pieces I had cleaned up including the fan shroud and radiator support. I am hoping I can get some blue sprayed on the hinges tomorrow. The little stand/cart is an old display from a K-mart that closed its doors. . . my brother "knows a guy" that supervises the closing process so he is always bringing stuff to the tractor shop that would otherwise be thrown out. I stole this stand for painting little pieces. . . it works great.

I also fabbed up a new top screen for the radiator support. The old thin wire had broken and stretched. . . is was a little too wimpy for my liking anyway. One of my faults is that I am a hoarder of anything that has potential to be used in a beneficial way. . . most of the time it results in me accumulating piles of miscellaneous stuff that get in the way. Today, however, I redeemed myself by pulling a piece of extruded metal and bar stock from a pile for the screen. It is a bit more stout and solid than the old screen. . . doubt it will restrict enough air to cause me to overheat. The old screen is on the floor in front of the primed support.

The older radiator supports did not have this screen but the 1978 bib has a shortened the grille/mesh assembly that the "Toyota" logo bolts to and exposes the radiator in the big gap between the hood/front bib.

Plan to spray more primer/paint tomorrow . . . at least that is what I think I will be doing.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Putting those damned hinges back is a nightmare. I will never do it again. I'm working on a mould to make replacement rubbers that can just be stretched over the hinge and pushed into the gap after paint. Putting the hinges back has was the worst and least rewarding of the whole build. Love your work.