FJ40 project build...from Tasmania!!!

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Lol - I'm suppose to go tune a Weber on one sometime in Chicago - the guy is an old Suzuki buddy from Uhwarrie board that actually wheels one pretty hard , and it takes it with a smile .
Butt ugly , totally utilitarian but they actually had some good ideas there . I hear the headlight wipers usually run for the first day after purchase , then die a horrible death .
Odd part is the Fiat engine - tough as nails .
Sarge

there were all kinds of them here for a while ... cheap 4x4 ... they've all disappeared ... among other things the body didn't hold up in the salt ... t worked with a guy that owned a Lada, new, pos that he got rid of in a hurry ... maybe they were part of the Russian cold war strategy, ha, ha ...
:cheers:
 
Well,in the spirit of this build....s***s broken again...
The big rig was running worse slowly,and started backfiring through the carb...
After a lot of time troubleshooting coil,dizzy,carb,i whizzed the rocker cover off and found a coupla valves were lazy bludgers,and werent moving as much as the others.

Diagnosis...camshaft gave itself a breast reduction,and a coupla bumps got smaller...

But,theres a silver lining here...I decided to put off the diesel swap a bit longer,and persevere with the ford donk...I picked up a set of secondhand extractors,taking the alloy head in to get a touch machined off it for more compression,and im getting new camshaft breasts :).
Its not a lola ferrari OMFG bumpstick,its more of a nice,firm D cup camshaft :).

Buuut...it wouldnt be my 40 without a issue...my crank pulley wont come off.
Bought a proper bolt on harmonic balancer puller,have heaps of tension on the centre bolt of the puller,enough for the cenre bolt to be starting to bend...but balancer wont budge....gunna spray some inox around it tomorrow,if not,i might have to ask around if I can borrow an oxy acetalene set to put a bit of heat on it to free it.....stay tuned
 
Well,stuff is happening :).
At the moment crow cam/lifters/double row timing chain are here,as well as gasket kit.
Got head checked,valves were a lil leaky,so its been reconditioned,with heavy duty valve springs and 40 thou shaved off the face...should be ready to pick up tomorrow :)...hopefully ill have it all screwed back together by the end of the week :)
 
ohhh,and also bought an albright solenoid for my old winch..so I wont have to belt my solenoid box with a big stick anymore :D
 
On those Lada's, if you get a flat tyre, you stand the spare tyre upright on the opposite against the front door, get 3 or 4 bloke and lift the side of the car that has the flat and lean it against the spare tyre at 45deg, then change the tyre and drop in back down. Then run round and check the door for a dent where it was resting against the tyre, there won't be one, the steel on those things is that thick.

PS. A sunroof in a 40?
 
That is absolutely true about the Lada as well as any of the older International trucks , way overbuilt sheet metal . There used to be a guy that wheeled the snot out of a Niva at the Badlands in Indiana , just bounced it off the trees and such with not a dent found .
Slow as a snail , ugly as sin but dumb enough to take a serious beating and keep going .
Sarge
 
Yes,thats a sunroof on a 40 :P ...PO job,not mine :)
no leaks from sunroof,but rainwater getting in under the windscreen panel..my old alpine CD player dies when it rains,and resurrects itself after a coupla days...it must think its jesus christ :).
Some people like ladas...fortunatly,I like ladas as much as I like picking bits of dog turd out of my workboots with a bit of stick....which isnt very much :).When the kids get a bit older they can thrash it around the scrub on my uncles block.
And the old binder truck :)...after the 40s sorted mechanically,fit decent dropped down towbar,and fix the brakes/buy electric winch for the car trailer,it will be time to start project rat rod binder truck :)
 
Can't say I really like the Lada , it's just such a different and somewhat unique car with a certain mutt personality . It's amazing any of them still run with the way they were built . The Binders , now that is a real truck made to be used and abused for a long time . A Rat Binder could be pretty interesting for sure .

I have a top with a sunroof courtesy of the po as well , and leaks like crazy too . In a way it's nice to have the extra ventilation and light in the interior and it may be replaced with a better one and re-installed .
Sarge
 
Well,going by tradition with my 40...things didnt quite go as planned :(

Day 1
within 3 minutes of starting work on it,i sliced my finger open..it was an omen of what was to come.
Put it all back together,wound it over..tried to fire,but didnt...moved dizzy,got it to run rough..had to move the dizzy over 1 tooth to get it running.and was running like s***.kept it running for 30 mins to bed in the new cam.tried different coil,played with carb..run out of daylight,so gave up.

Day 2
Woke up fresh,and had a think about things overnight,and decided it was cam timing.Nosecone off,radiator out,winch off harmonic balancer again :) ,remove timing cover,sure enough,it was 1 tooth out on the cam gear...so,i moved cam,put dizzy in,and thought ...hmmm...should propaply try to start it...so I did.
it started,ran,then keyway flew out of crank :( After about an hour searching my front lawn for the keyway,I found it,set timing up again,put it all back together...it ran,but only on 5 cylinders :(...by this stage im swearing,so I had a smoke,had a coffee...and pulled plugs out,done compression test...number 3 cylinder no compression...enter swearing,smoke and coffee break again.

Get motivated enough to pull rocker cover off...hold on,whats this?1 pushrod has bent like a banana...i go through my spare parts pile,dig out a good pushrod,replace it,put it back together...and....Success :) ...runs sweet,cam gives a bit of a lumpy idle,and pulls well right through the rev range...didnt get to fit my extractors yet as i need to heatproof wrap them due to them sitting close to the battery...ill try to get that done on my next day off work :)
Pic is halfway through day 1

Picture 110.webp
 
Er, re the Lada's, the only reason they have a demister in the rear window is to keep your hands warm while pushing them..


Gaz...
 
I think i need to put the lada back window in my 40 then :p...its already proved itself more reliable than my 40 :).
Buuut,touch wood,all is going well with the 40 at the moment..been driving it to work all week...its better on fuel and i dont need to use the throttle as an on/off switch :)
Im learning how to use the kids ipod,so ill try to upload a coupla videos...has an exhaust leak at the moment,but extractors on shortly






 
Well,after being distracted by a few other projects,I got outside,brushed the spiders away,and started installing the rancho adjustables,and F250 shock towers...yes yes,i know,ranchos arent the best,but im trying to cure its bad manners on the road..the old EFS shocks were completly stuffed,and she would get the sways zoomin down the highway to work..forgot to get pics.ill take some tomorrow
 
Hi nice to see another taswegian on here!!!

For a while there he was quite a prolific poster on this forum but he's been having a hiatus

(Strange really ... because nothing should really interrupt ones land cruiser obsession. :D)
 
picture009.webp
For a while there he was quite a prolific poster on this forum but he's been having a hiatus

(Strange really ... because nothing should really interrupt ones land cruiser obsession. :D)

Yea,I have had a bit of a break from the interwebz....ive currently been on a "home reno" mission....see,I need a shed....a biiiig shed.But the only way that was going to happen is by compromising with the woman of the house :p.
She wanted a new kitchen,and the house remodelled.
So,the last few months ive been painting,plastering,sanding floorboards,building features,designing kitchen,restoring an antique mantlepiece and fireplace...so my fleet of vehicles has been sorta forgotten...but theres a new addition to take a spot in my soon to be built new garage....a 1951 mk7 jaguar barn find :)
 
The yellow thing is a 1977 Ford XC falcon panelvan.To the international audience not familiar with aussie fords,its basically the panelvan version of the MFP yellow and blue sedans and black coupe in Mad Max.

Most manufacturers in australia offered a panelvan variant of the standard sedan/coupe/ute variants in the 1970s..they were very popular.I have 2...the yellow one pictured is a factory 250ci 6 cylinder (which is now installed in my 40).
The white very rusty one I have was a factory 351 cleveland/fmx auto/9 inch diff.The drivetrain has been removed,waiting till I have some time to install it into my yellow body :)
 
I had a suspicion that was the animal - not like I haven't seen that movie a few times , lol . I would assume it has the aluminum head crossflow engine ? Friend of mine was trying to find one of those heads for his '65 Falcon Delivery wagon - shipping killed the deal and those heads had an issue with rotting in the coolant passages . The crossflow sure made for a better motor all around , though . Always wanted to set him up with a 2x3 Weber DCOM sidedraft setup on one of those heads .
Sarge
 
I had a suspicion that was the animal - not like I haven't seen that movie a few times , lol . I would assume it has the aluminum head crossflow engine ? Friend of mine was trying to find one of those heads for his '65 Falcon Delivery wagon - shipping killed the deal and those heads had an issue with rotting in the coolant passages . The crossflow sure made for a better motor all around , though . Always wanted to set him up with a 2x3 Weber DCOM sidedraft setup on one of those heads .
Sarge


Yea,was an alloy head crossflow motor....the 40,the blue f100 and the white falcon ute with fibreglass canopy are all running the alloy head crossflow donks :)....once i find a turbo diesel 60 series to wreck and repower my cruiser,the cruiser 250 will go in the F100...the poor old effie motor is tired :)
 

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