Builds FJ40 in a barn

[C6H12O6]

Ok, time for an update. A little explanation for the missing info. Shortly after my last post, we got this for Christmas:

Her name is Raven, but I call her s***bird most of the time. She's earned it. Here she is more recently after digging up and eating sprinkler heads in the back yard. She is the devil.

After the holidays, I had some time to play with the truck a bit more. It was driving, but rough. It would run, but cough and sputter unless you had the choke out. It was driving me nuts, so I decided to rebuild the carb. I'd checked everywhere for vacuum leaks and addressed everything I could find, and it was still bucking. Check this thread for info.

Long story short, I rebuilt the carb, and it was better. Adjusted the valves again, and it was better. Took the carb apart again to replace the garbage accelerator pump that came with the Keyster kit. Better still. Everything I did made it better, but nothing really fixed it all the way. I think I ended up taking parts of the carb apart three or four times and cleaning passages over and over again, and it was better. Just not perfect.

I started thinking it might be having advance issues, and noticed the distributor bushing was making noise, so I took the distributor apart and cleaned it up. Freshly cleaned and lubed properly, I put it back in and... still making noise and the timing was still jumping around. I replaced it with a new/old OEM distributor (w/ vacuum advance, if I ever get around to adding the port on the carb), and... better but not perfect.

I tested the fuel pump, and the output seemed ok. Took it apart to check the internal stuff out and everything looked ok, but the diaphragm was pretty cracked up. No visible tears, but old and worn looking. I replaced it with a new OEM unit and... boom goes the dynamite. No more bucking, no more hesitation, no more need to keep the choke on. Runs like it should. Truly, I can't attribute this all to the fuel pump, as I kept checking valves, adjusting timing, adjusting carb on an endless loop every time I would replace something. Incremental changes and improvements, then after the fuel pump, voila!

Truly, the other thing that probably made as much of a difference as anything was properly finishing the desmog the PO had started. Talking with @FJ40Jim (thanks, Jim!) about the issues I was having and discussing how the existing smog "computer" was hooked up, he had me pull everything that was left, cap off some vacuum plugs, and re-route some others. Honestly, that was probably the "voila" part of this whole thing. The rest was just me spending money on new parts I won't have to worry about for a while. Still $$ well spent.

 

[C6H12O6]

The doldrums of winter found me tackling things like this:

Totally low priority, but nice to arrest the damage-causing metal-on-metal on the fenders. Not OEM, but probably better.

I also fixed the parking brake and rear TC leak that had been staining the garage floor. Easy job once I finally just got the parts ordered and got to it. I ended up with a free spare drum and parking brake assembly from a local guy who felt bad for making me drive an hour to find out his disc brake parts were missing the steering arms for the knuckles. Dang. Cleaned up the best drum, new seal in the TC, and assembled the best parking brake I could from the parts I had. So nice to be able to park and come back and have the truck where I left it.

Lots of other little jobs through the winter, driving it when I could, and cleaning it up in between trips. So fun to drive. Makes me mad when I have to drive the 100. Just isn't the same.

 

[C6H12O6]

Spring brought this:

And some nicer days to drive the truck to work and park next to my friend's sweet Galaxie.

I knocked out a few things on the list, like:

1. Front end service done with the disc hubs. The brakes are working fine for now, and I wanted to freshen up what I could before I kept driving it on 25+ year old grease. All new bearings (wheel and trunion), new Marlin seals, fresh grease... Such a better driving experience. Should have done this earlier.
2. Leaf spring bushings. Went with the Energy kit. So far so good. Went in pretty easy, but was a pain to line up with the bent shackles. Pounded them straight as best I could. We'll sort that out if/when the lift gets figured out.
3. Inspected and greased the rest of the front end. Some of the steering linkage is a little funky, and some of the tie rod ends need to be re-booted, but I can still keep them greased enough if I keep and eye on them.

 

[C6H12O6]

Summer brought way too many distractions in the form of this:

And an almost 4K mile road trip in the 100 to do more of this:

Add in another week in Colorado for work (ok, and fishing), a new job with insane hours, and general life distractions, and 40 time has been mostly limited to just driving it to work and around town. Still so fun to drive. Here is the latest:

• New Energy body mount kit. Made a huge difference. So much smoother. Between that and the front end service, it's downright smooth now. Except train tracks. It hates train tracks.
• New windshield mount mirrors. Just ok. I don't really like them. I like the OEM look, but the mirrors suck. Pretty awful quality and even the larger rectangle mirrors are still so dang small. Add in hard to adjust correctly, and they're mostly for show. The only good thing is that I haven't sliced my head open hitting the sharp, rusty round ones hard-mounted on the door since I made the switch.
• New OME steering stabilizer. Honestly, not that much different than the OEM unit that was in there, but the mounts were pretty crusty, so not a bad upgrade. Still the same 30-year-old Rancho 5000 shocks, but those will get sorted out once I can make up my mind on what I'm doing with the suspension.
• Welded up some cracks and holes in the doors, in preparation for the new CityRacer door molding. Also fixed the door stops where they rusted and broke. I had to fab one from scratch, as I didn't have the piece that broke out of the door, but it turned out great. Sadly, my garbage, pigeon-s**t welding lasted all of about a week on the DS door limit. Just too much rust and thin metal. Need to build a new plate and weld to better metal.

 

[C6H12O6]

Impressions after driving it all year? I would daily drive it in a heartbeat if it didn't leak in the rain so bad. It's so fun to drive, I'm just having a blast. I'm really amazed that this truck honestly seems to drive better every time I take it out. I told my wife it's like the truck is healing itself as I drive it. Maybe it's the old Italian tune-up, maybe it is self-aware like Christine. No idea, but it drives more smoothly, starts easier, revs cleaner, smells better, accelerates more smoothly... It's really like it wants to be driven. I sweat it's as happy as I am when I drive it.

Next up:

• Need to finish the job on the doors and repaint some grind marks so I can get the new weatherstripping on there. The doors rattle something awful. I got new glass runs, too. Should help a bunch. The stress cracks aren't staying welded, so I probably need to pull the doors apart and see what's up. My guess is the tabs that hold the door solid/straight are busted and the inner and outer pieces are just flexing too much. We'll see. More 'MUD searching to do.
• Three-point seatbelts. My typical passenger is too big across the middle for the stock lap belt. And, the stock belts are gross. The webbing is old and dirty and the buckles are nasty, front and back. This isn't a show piece. I need something safer for the wife and kid. And me, I guess, though if I died driving the 40, they'd have to wipe the smile off my face before rigor mortis set in, or I'd creep people out at the funeral.
• Wheel spacers? By DS tire (31/10.50 Cooper AT3s on OEM 60 chrome wagon wheels) rubs the front end of the relay (?) rod. I can't keep the names of all the steering linkage straight. The one that runs front-to-back from the steering box. It rubs and tears the boot. Not sure if I want spacers, or just need to check my alignment (which is way out of spec, I'm sure). The wheel is a little off to the right, when going straight. It only rubs at full lock, turning to the right, but need to fix that.
• Motor mounts from CityRacer are in the garage now. Newer style fronts, and fresh round ones for the rear. The old ones are pretty crusty.

On the fence about where to go next. As I dig into this truck, it isn't as pristine of a survivor as I thought. The body is rust-free, but has been resprayed in places, for sure. The top was replaced and rattle-canned red that doesn't match. I already repainted the inside to address some rust and re-seal the seams that were about to become a problem. Still love the patina look, but the top needs to be sorted out and it will just look silly having a freshly painted top and an old, patina bottom. No hurry for anything cosmetic, but it does affect my decisions on where to go with this build. We'll see. One day I want to lift it for bigger tires and wheel it, the next day I just want to go with a small lift and 33x10.50 tires and enjoy it around town and easy trails in the woods. I'm about at the end of Phase I (get it running) and Phase II (get it driving safely). Phase III is to build the suspension for whatever I'm planning with this truck. Just need to figure out what that is. Either way, these shocks are terrible. The springs and shackles are working, but with the shackles bent up, it definitely drives like a farm truck.

 

[reddog90]

Be sure to post up how your door work goes. My windows rattle like hell inside my doors if they are rolled down. Just hasn't made it to the top of my to-do list yet.

The steering rod you mentioned is the drag link. I tried a DIY alignment after I rebuilt my knuckles but I still needed a professional job. You could try adjusting the stops on the back of the knuckles to get rid of the rub? You can also pop the steering wheel off and recenter it. But don't chase your tail doing this.

Don't think you can go wrong with an OME kit and 33/10.5/15s.

 

[FJBen]

I vacillated on almost all of my Land Cruisers on whether I wanted 35's and larger and custom suspension or the 33's and 2.5" DD part time wheeler. An FJ40 on 33's and 2.5" lift with a locker can go a ton of places with the body being the usual limiting factor.
I don't like body damage so I'm limiting my wheeling against the harder off-roading. I just enjoy wheeling and getting out.

Some days I miss the bigger tires, but overall the 33's are plenty. 35's would be no issue to daily drive but it's just harder on everything, power loss etc.

 

[C6H12O6]

35's would be no issue to daily drive but it's just harder on everything, power loss etc.

That's the rub, right? I walked that line with my 80, with my current 100, and with this 40. The better you make it at some things, the worse it gets at others. I could probably go the 33" route and live with it quite happily for a long, long time. Taking the jump to 35-37" tires, and I'm probably looking at SOA, adding power steering for sure, discs all the way around, and then I need to make some hard decisions about cutting up rust-free fenders. The F engine is fine and runs really well now that I've got it dialed in a little better, but it doesn't have a ton of power. I'm sure I'd want/need some gearing help in some way to run bigger tires with the current drivetrain. No interest in a V8 swap on this truck.

The more I drive it, the more I'm thinking the 33" occasional wheeler and around town truck is the way to go. If I outgrow that, I could always go big, but it's harder to go backward. I'd love to run the Rubicon with my uncle sometime soon, but building this particular truck up for that one run seems silly when I'd be able to do 99% of what I want around here with 33s and a couple inches of lift. I'd probably be better off to just buy a different truck to run the Rubicon, and sell it after I'm done. Or keep both. My wife would love that.

 

[FJBen]

That's the rub, right? I walked that line with my 80, with my current 100, and with this 40. The better you make it at some things, the worse it gets at others. I could probably go the 33" route and live with it quite happily for a long, long time. Taking the jump to 35-37" tires, and I'm probably looking at SOA, adding power steering for sure, discs all the way around, and then I need to make some hard decisions about cutting up rust-free fenders. The F engine is fine and runs really well now that I've got it dialed in a little better, but it doesn't have a ton of power. I'm sure I'd want/need some gearing help in some way to run bigger tires with the current drivetrain. No interest in a V8 swap on this truck.

The more I drive it, the more I'm thinking the 33" occasional wheeler and around town truck is the way to go. If I outgrow that, I could always go big, but it's harder to go backward. I'd love to run the Rubicon with my uncle sometime soon, but building this particular truck up for that one run seems silly when I'd be able to do 99% of what I want around here with 33s and a couple inches of lift. I'd probably be better off to just buy a different truck to run the Rubicon, and sell it after I'm done. Or keep both. My wife would love that.

Always buy more and keep both!


You could always buy/build a mini-truck for the rubicon and smash away on it.