Build Ed’s Un-Did FJ40

[Rock40]

Put a few fresh brake line tabs on the frame.

Received the Japanese joints, thx again @cruiseroutfit

The V-Band clamps for the exhaust build also arrived. These are indexed, I’ve used them several times on other builds and will never use a different exhaust disconnect again. They’re awesome

 

[Rock40]

Steering links are done and they are FLAT. Should be perfect

Got creative with the stabilizer since the normal clamps won’t fit the much larger OD DOM tubing. Using a 6 bolt clamp and welded a tab on. That way the clamp can be appropriately rotated when the toe is set

Made a bracket with a gusset and welded that to the frame side. Neither Ed or I liked the “clamp it to the axle” route

 

[Rock40]

Rear driveshaft is DUN. Joint angles look great

Last hardline for the brakes is done.

Used two old Toyota line clamps to hold it securely

3AN fittings for front/rear brake supply from the master cylinder. Should make it VERY easy to hook it all up later

 

[Rock40]

Well… the easy side is done. Not fully welded yet but it’s there. Breaks down nicely into 3 pieces

Hanger on the OEM crossmember, mounted with a 3/8”-16 weldsert

Hanger on the AA mount. Drilled and tapped for a 3/8” bolt

 

[Rock40]

Front driveshaft time

Old OEM Toyota tubing next to the replacement tube

 

[boots4]

Do you take these anywhere to get balanced after you've welded them up?

 

[Rock40]

Do you take these anywhere to get balanced after you've welded them up?

No, not yet. Going to see how they run. Flanges press on straight so they will likely be ok. The 1410 u-joint shaft I did for my 40 has been just fine with no balance. Easy enough to balance them later if it’s needed

 

[Rock40]

Front shaft is welded up now, that went really well.

 

[Rock40]

We’re still picking away at it, nearly exactly 3 months from when the frame came back from blasting.

Finalized the toe adjustment, it’s right at 3/32” of toe in

Made a fuel line that properly adapts the pump to the Edelbrock carburetor. Yeah, I dislike rubber fuel hose and worm clamps

 

[Rock40]

The GEN I GM small blocks are all internally bypassed for the cooling system to properly vent and purge and there is a small water passage that’s covered by the passenger side of the water pump. I tapped it for an 1/8” NPT plug and plugged it. The reverse rotation serpentine pump does not have a provision for the internal bypass

This is the external bypass we now have as the pump has (2) 5/8” hose connections. One for the external bypass up to the water jacket near the thermostat and the other for a heater core return. In addition to the bypass mods, we also drilled several small holes into the thermostat to help it purge air. I do NOT want this 400 SBC to run hot

And the exhaust is done, except for all the welding. You CAN have dual 2.5” exhaust on a 40 if you want it bad enough

 

[Rock40]

Pulled the PS pump can and added a stainless 3/8” NPT bung. It’ll be for the hydroboost low pressure return line when the time comes

All 4 shocks finally arrived and those are mounted. Took nearly 10 weeks to get them from Skyjacker on backorder

Pulled the entire driver side exhaust assembly off, got that fully welded which took some doing

Front driveshaft was painted and fully assembled. It’s laughably straight for assembling it from scratch, maybe out of round by a few thousandths, I doubt factory is much better

 

[Rock40]

It runs!

 

[Rock40]

After sitting nearly 25 years post rebuild the SBC 400 fired up. Had the usual, small coolant leak on the lower hose, and the carb needed quite a bit of adjustment out of the box. Broke in the RV cam, engine is making 75 psi of oil pressure cold. Set the initial timing, checked overall timing and tuned it. Got both sides right near perfect on the air/fuel ratio using a drop in O2 sniffer.

Jacked up the rear, started it in gear and let the transmission, transfer and both differentials get fully oiled. Should be very close to where it needs to be now

We did toss another junkyard power steering pump on it because we ran it without fluid. Hard to care about a $20 pump. Engine is also charging at 14+ volts and we had zero issues with the serpentine setup

 

[peesalot]

Rock, is that slave bracket from AA ?

 

[Rock40]

Rock, is that slave bracket from AA ?

Yes, that’s the one specifically for the AA NV4500 bellhousing

 

[Rock40]

Little home made bumper fab…

Fully boxed

Lower mounts for the Warn 8274 are sleeved with .25” DOM and pass through the inner/outer plate. No way to crush that during winching

And we did shorten it up some, the stock ones are just too dang wide

 

[Rock40]

Fixing the “I did a V8 swap and cut the shifter hole with tin snips” issue. Should have taken a before pic of the jagged, uneven hole. Not pretty

Cut ALL the nonsense out with the plasma and put a new piece of 16g in it

DA’d. Not worried about getting it ultra flat since this will get Line-x

Then blew a 4.5” hole in it with the plasma. Which removed the majority of the metal I’d just put back into it

Relieved it for the top cover bolts on the NV4500. On to the AA twin stick hole…

 

[clrussell]

The quality of work here is

 

[Rock40]

The quality of work here is

Thx! We aim for bizarre pleasantries like that shifter hole cutout

 

[Rock40]

So…the AA twin stick shifters didn’t play well with the factory tunnel. Didn’t want to bend the boot and retainer to the strange tunnel contours. So, BLAMMO! No more contours

Box it…

Weld it…

Cut another hole in it, pretty close to done.