Builds Doc's 1978 FJ40 Rebuild

[TractorDoc]

Progress. . .

While it has been too nice outside to spend much time in the shop during the day I did utilize the twilight hours for sanding/buffing. Took lunch with me on the road today and stopped in for a test fitting.

So far I am liking what I am seeing!

 

[White Stripe]

Progress. . .

While it has been too nice outside to spend much time in the shop during the day I did utilize the twilight hours for sanding/buffing. Took lunch with me on the road today and stopped in for a test fitting.

View attachment 1581909

So far I am liking what I am seeing!

Looks great sir!

 

[TractorDoc]

After sanding/compounding both doors I moved forward with mounting. For installation I first mated the two hinge halves/dropped in the pin and while holding the door I started the bolts. This was quite the balancing act made even trickier by having a rubber gasket placed between the hinge and door that I cut from my inner tube. While door alignment was close to correct I found I had to thread my arm up under the dash to loosen the hinge to cowl mounting bolts for adjustment/a proper fit.

I liked the fact that the inner panel of the doors were solid and that I did not have to make new door cards.

This did make installing the door innards a challenge. More than once I dropped a nut inside the door and spent some time fishing it out -- door was too skinny to fit my hand/arm in and stainless hardware is not magnetic! CCOT does provide all the pieces necessary for inside the door (I like) but most of those pieces are aftermarket (did not like). The orientation of the locking levers is also different from factory (due to a shorter door height) so fitting everything together inside took some modification. No instructions were provided with the kit so I had to wing it -- I do believe installing the latch mechanisms took longer than actually painting the doors. At least it seemed that way.

View from the passenger side:

The doors combined with the top provide a sense of coziness; and they cut down on the amount of wind to the face/legs as you are driving.

Had a chance to get out and drive a bit with mild late November weather. I am in no rush to cover the 40 up and put it away for the winter with temps still in the 50s/60s. The leaves may be blown off the trees but the Autumn sun lower on the horizon still allows for decent picture taking.

There are a few more little tweaks Id like to make here and there but this what you should see hitting the road in 2018.

Work on the full doors/hard top sides will start soon but I bought a Massey 255 Tractor for scrap price because it had a flat rear tire and the PO wanted it gone. I was going to swap out the tire and flip it for 40 funds but dad laid eyes on it and has visions of using it for the haying operation. The tractor is currently in the shop and split in two awaiting installation of a new clutch. . .

 

[billmc]

I have to say Doc, it's come out fantastic! Really keeps the spirit of the original. I can only dream that my VT rustbucket rebuild comes out half as nice as yours did (but it likely won't).
My dad just sold off his Massey that we used for haying, at 85 he just got too old and impatient with it's fussy unreliability. Hay waits for no man, or tractor. He does all his mowing with his Super C which never fails him. The Kubota pulls the hay bine and bailer.

 

[Flatlanderfj40]

One of my favorites on Mud.

 

[handcannon]

I like the pics of your 40. Taking them with the grass all around, and the fields in the background, puts it into an element that fits. With the sun lower in the sky/horizon you will get better, more pleasing color in your outdoor pics. Your outdoor pics of your 40 show additional color, which is most likely from the lower sun. The sunlight has to travel through a bit more of our atmosphere, which adds more depth of color. You can get the same effect in the summer time with pics taken very early in the morning, or very late in the evening.

Don

ps- I've heard/read from others about the lack of adequate directions from CCOT.

 

[White Stripe]

What are u going to use for weatherstripping?

 

[gator25]

Damn Doc, that's a good looking truck.

 

[MScruiser]

Beautiful. Beautiful.

 

[Hoperichb]

Doc, stumbled upon this earlier this week and started from the beginning while resisting the temptation to fast forward to the end. I grew up not far from you near Salem and currently reside far enough outside of Columbus to get some breathing room.

Very impressive. Guessing our paths will cross some day.

Ben

 

[TractorDoc]

Looks great sir!

One of my favorites on Mud.

I have to say Doc, it's come out fantastic!

Damn Doc, that's a good looking truck.

Beautiful. Beautiful.

Very impressive.

A very big Thank You to all of you. You all have fine rigs of your own and I appreciate you taking the time to read about this one. I like the looks, toughness, and capability of White Stripe's truck -- I think they should make a Matchbox toy out of it. I am envious of Flatlander's originality -- would love to find a truck in similar condition someday. MSCruiser and Gator keep me on my toes when it comes to the details and Ive probably learned several things from each of your builds. Still need to do a little more research on Bill and Ben but I bet I will like what I see. The MUD support group is fantastic!

Hay waits for no man, or tractor. He does all his mowing with his Super C which never fails him. The Kubota pulls the hay bine and bailer.

Well said Bill. I do not miss the days of being on the wagon. . .

Dad traded the open station 4020 in on a newer Deere cab tractor with air conditioning years ago when he retired from the fire department. Switching to round bales simplified my life -- until he decides to make hay for the donkeys and the square bailer emerges from the barn.

The sunlight has to travel through a bit more of our atmosphere, which adds more depth of color. You can get the same effect in the summer time with pics taken very early in the morning, or very late in the evening.

Good advice Don! I have also found colors/pictures taken the day after a rainstorm can be more appealing.

Spent a little time in the shop today working on the Massey -- Id say a new clutch will be beneficial.

I also found another problem; see that gear tooth stuck to the end of my magnet stick?

Looks like the new hay rake tractor will be getting a transmission overhaul.

A lot of time out collecting firewood the last few days. This pile might last a month and a half if we are lucky.

Bringing things back to 40 tech. . .

What are u going to use for weatherstripping?

The CCOT door kit actually includes weather strip and a small tube of adhesive.

Doc, stumbled upon this earlier this week and started from the beginning while resisting the temptation to fast forward to the end.

You have excellent self control. Twenty Nine pages is a lot to read -- especially as long as some of my posts are. Look forward to crossing paths. . . there are several other Ohio 40 owners that Id like to meet personally. Thinking about it -- Id be honored to shake the hand of nearly everyone on this forum. Anyone travelling thru the Northern half of the Buckeye State is welcome for the 40 cent tour!

 

[handcannon]

I know this isn't Cruiser related, but I'm an information junkie. I see you've got an outdoor boiler. How do you like it? Do you use it for your house, or out buildings, or both? I have often wished I knew more about them. I'm not aware of anybody close to me that has one. I've worked in several houses that had in floor heat, and I really enjoyed/appreciated that type of heat. But they had other sources for heating the water.

Do you use less/more wood? Or maybe heat more square footage because of the ease of adding more area? Here where I live my choices for heating are electricity, oil, propane, and wood. Wood is the best heat, and cheapest, of all. I'm sold on wood heat. I wish we had natural gas available as that is what we used when we lived in town (best type of heat after wood heat).

Don

 

[TheHardWay]

What do you do with all the ashes? We have natural gas where I live, so I use in floor tubing and a special nat gas water heater that eliminated the need for a boiler. LOVE IT.

 

[handcannon]

What do you do with all the ashes? We have natural gas where I live, so I use in floor tubing and a special nat gas water heater that eliminated the need for a boiler. LOVE IT.

It depends on the species of wood just how much ash you get. Oak, considered one of the best heat woods leaves a lot of ash. I need to dump the stove ash tray about twice a week. Willow, a low grade heat wood, but cheap for me since I got a tree to cut up just for cleaning up the area. I got somewhere around six cord out of the tree, but it leaves me dumping the ash tray at least three, or more, times a week. Fir, considered not as good as oak, is low on ash. I can go as long as two weeks before needing to dump the ash tray. Madrona, a wood that is very heavy when green and very hard to split, has as much heat, or more, built into it as oak, but has no more ash than fir.

Also, the better/hotter the wood is burned, the more controlled the burn, the more the ash can be consumed during the burning process. It is hard to get a real good burn in a wood stove, but from all I've read it is more controllable in the newest boilers.

Madrona is my first choice for wood, when I can get it, which is not very often as it is not very common. Fir is my next choice since it is low on ash production. But, I will take anything that is cheap or no cost to me except time. I even have some cottonwood seasoning right now. I have never burned cottonwood, but I'm expecting it to be similar to willow.

Using ash really depends on how much property you have, the ph of your soil, etc. It can be a very good supplement for your garden if the ph is off. At minimum you can put the ash into a metal container, hold it for at least a week to let the chunks in it to loose all heat/fire, and then put it into the garbage to be taken out.

I wish we had natural gas available here because I would use it in an instant for hot water heating, and backup heat for the house. With natural gas available I wouldn't be as concerned about keeping the wood stove burning 24/7 in the winter. But, I am constrained by local conditions.

Well, I've got to get to work outside since it is not raining here. It doesn't NOT rain here very often in the winter time so I need to make as much use of the dry times as possible.

Don

ps- What you have there is the best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned. Those are the kind of houses I really enjoyed setting cabinets in. I could set my tools down on the floor, pick them up later and they were WARM.

 

[TractorDoc]

Don,
We use the wood burner to heat the shop (where Ive been working on the 40) and the greenhouse. The shop has radiant floor heat and a portion of the greenhouse has a concrete slab with the piping in it as well. It works very well for both areas but we do have to supplement the greenhouse at times with overhead propane heaters because only a quarter of the floor area is heated.

When I first moved out to the area I bought a piece of ground that connected to dad's. I (we -- the Mrs. refers to these times as the dark years) lived in a smaller mobile home sized building while I remodeled the farmhouse on the property and used the wood burner for heat. The heated water flowed thru baseboard vents and was very effective -- I had a system of loading the burner up AM/PM; there was also some kind of powder that was added a spoonful at a time that helped reduce the amount of accumulated ashes. Its been about 10 years or so, but I only remember needing to clean the ashes out two or three times a season.

Using the burner for the current setup is a little different as we are heating a much larger area. Wood can be added as often as three times a day (but AM/PM is still the norm); dad's and my system of adding wood differ (he fills it up as much as possible, I leave a little open space for the fire to breathe) and he ends up needing to clean the ashes out much more often. He stopped using the ash powder -- too much extra effort I suppose.

I would say that we like it. There is enough firewood available here to last several lifetimes -- and that is just the down and dead trees. You know the old saying. . . firewood keeps you warm all kinds of ways: first when you cut it, then when you split it, then when you stack it, and finally when you burn it. You do not have to split the wood going into the burner, but we will divvy up the larger chunks just to make throwing it in easier. It has kept me comfortable in the shop and really cuts down on the costs of greenhouse heat. I remember the burner costing in the $5K range when we bought it -- I imagine it has paid for itself vs. gas over time especially when natural gas was pricey years back. There have been rumblings over the past years about the EPA regulating the acquisition/use of wood burners; not sure where that stands at the moment though. One other downside is you smell like smoke for half the year. Even a quick open/close of the door will leave a smoky essence that sticks to you -- the office always notices my Eau De Campfire Cologne when temps cool off outside.

My favorite burning woods are Red Elm, Cherry, Black Locust, and Maple. Red Elm burns hotter and leaves less ash than most any other wood. Sadly the trees have been nearly wiped out by the Dutch Elm Disease. The Locust is a close second in heat but its thicker bark is ashier. I like Cherry and Maple because they emit a sweet smell when burned. We are lucky to have plenty of hardwoods here -- we stay away from the pines, cottonwoods, buckeye, poplars, etc. as they just burn too quickly. I imagine your options are not as diverse out West.

For the record my actual house is heated by natural gas. Much less labor intensive.

What do you do with all the ashes?

Sometimes they get spread into the garden, but with 200 acres between dad and I we can usually find someplace to put them!

 

[handcannon]

Good information there! Thank you!

I know wood boilers definitely are not cheap to purchase/set up. In the mean time I will use a wood stove. Our wood stove has two different doors, a normal front door (which we never use), and one on top. I like the top one as the stove will hold more wood if top loaded, and, I will continue to smell like "Eau De Campfire Cologne" during the heating season. Personally, I like the smell.

You are right, we don't have as many of the hardwood trees around here. Fir is the most common wood here, but the resins do mean you might have to clean the chimney more often, unless you burn things hot every once in a while. I will burn hot often enough to keep the creosote down in the chimney.

Now that we have the wood heat out of our systems, back to the cruisers.

Don

 

[TractorDoc]

Back to Cruisers.

No hands on work, but @RockAuto was kind enough to feature the FJ40 in their "Share your hard work" section of the December Newsletter.

RockAuto December Newsletter | Early Edition

I am sure the newsletter link will change over time so I cut/pasted the section featuring the 40 below. I am not usually one for showing off. . . but its nice to know they found the 40 worthy of their publication.

Dave's 1978 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser

I started working on this 1978 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser in June of 2016. Every nut, bolt, screw, etc. was removed down to the bare frame. These trucks are known to rust and this one was no exception. The frame was so compromised that a donor parts truck was acquired to supply a replacement. Piece by piece everything was cleaned, painted and reassembled. The chassis and drivetrain were completed over the winter. RockAuto supplied new brake, clutch and engine components. I was impressed/pleased that so many parts were available for a 40-year-old vehicle from your website!

Warmer months brought on the challenges of body work and painting. All mechanical and cosmetic aspects were completed by myself except for a few specialty items (upholstery, carburetor work, wiring harness, etc.). The first official road trip took place in August 2017, quite a rewarding experience after so many months in the workshop.

A big Thank You again to RockAuto for quality parts (many the same as OEM) at great prices. Shopping on the website was easy and I will be sure to stop back for my next project!

Thanks Again!
Dave in Ohio

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets or RockAuto social media. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

 

[imyahucklbrry]

I use the Toyota red antifreeze/coolant in my Tacoma but have not changed it in the 40 yet... see you have ‘gatorade’ in your 40.... wonderin if that’s what is preferable in general? (you, being such an attention to detail)

 

[TractorDoc]

you have ‘gatorade’ in your 40.... wonderin if that’s what is preferable in general?

You must choose. . . but choose wisely. (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- one of my favorite movies).

Let it be known that I am no expert when it comes to the proper answer.
Just like I tell people that come into my office there is the By the Rules/Textbook Option and there is the Real World/Common Sense route.

If you want your warranty to hold up you better use the Red Stuff. I figured mine was up long ago. . . I combined that with no real preference in archive posts (red vs. green) so I went with Prestone Green Stuff. It was more available and cost effective; and I believe it was labeled for all makes and models of vehicles. I certainly hope that I have not chosen poorly!

 

[imyahucklbrry]

You must choose. . . but choose wisely. (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- one of my favorite movies).

Let it be known that I am no expert when it comes to the proper answer.
Just like I tell people that come into my office there is the By the Rules/Textbook Option and there is the Real World/Common Sense route.

If you want your warranty to hold up you better use the Red Stuff. I figured mine was up long ago. . . I combined that with no real preference in archive posts (red vs. green) so I went with Prestone Green Stuff. It was more available and cost effective; and I believe it was labeled for all makes and models of vehicles. I certainly hope that I have not chosen poorly!

Truthfully, I’ve not done a quest for answers on this (was gonna piggyback off your due diligence!) but I currently have the green in the 40 from PO and it tested well below 0... also, unless my gauge is off, I am running pretty cool even in hot weather and since we do not get the extreme cold down here, maybe I will go with the “if it ain’t broke” mentality...... I’ll get around to flushing and replacing at some point!