Builds Found an Arabian FJ40

[Honger]

I had a nice holiday here for the Muslim holiday of Eid, so I loaded up the 40 with all my tools and the required parts and headed to the shop to start work.

They graciously let me use a lift. Heck, I actually had two helpers most of the day. It was nice!

I already had fine splines and upon inspecting the ball I thought it looked already ground a bit.

However, they were the long fine-splines and I needed to swap in the shorter fine-splines that came off the 70-series axle. So we had to grind.

We removed all that grease and recleaned the whole ball after grinding.

We sent the hubs out to have the new bearings/seals pressed in.

I’d previously rebuilt the Aisin locking hubs.

Here’s my team!

And here’s the nearly-finished product.

I put in all new studs and nuts for the steering arms and bearing plates. The calipers were rebuilt there in the shop by one of the guys. I bought the kit and he tore them down completely. He really did a great job. He also rebuild the centering arm for me.

Nearly there

Only problem was sourcing a 54mm socket. They didn’t have one… and couldn’t find one. I ordered one off Amazon (next day shipped to my forwarding address). Typically I get items forwarded within 5 days. It got lost in the New York forwarding center and I was pressed for time. I managed to find a 54mm impact socket but it’s walls were too thick for the hub. And it was a 1-inch drive. I bought it… and a 1-inch to three-quarter adapter… and a three-quarter adapter to half-inch adapter. We sent it out for a quick machine job…

It worked like a champ.

This ended up being a multi-day project. While we had it torn down I went ahead and had the power steering gearbox pulled so I could rebuild it. You can see more of that in the Power Steering thread I started.

Here it is installed.

And with new softlines brazed onto the original fittings.

Sad thing is that the new master cylinder was bad. The front piston was frozen in place. We tried to bleed it and no pressure came through the front outlet. We removed the rear piston and tried to use air pressure to free up the front… to no avail. I sent a note to CruiserParts and they immediately shipped another along with a return shipping label. That’s on its way to me now. In the meantime the old master is back in place.

Here she is nearly wrapped up and with my 80-series on the lift in the background… getting a front axle overhaul as well.

It’s done now… and it’s driving a lot better. The new TRE’s have really tightened up the steering. No more ATF fluid on the driveway from the power steering box. I still have some brake proportioning issues to work out once the new master is installed.

This was the major mechanical work that I wanted to be complete before I took her out for playing in the desert. =)

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Now start getting all those axles and engines stateside!

 

[boozewz]

Great stuff Joel!

I see you're using Aramex. Try out myus.com. I find their service a lot more efficient, and their site is user friendly, with better shipping options and rates.

Any plans to change out the seat upholstery? Its looking like you're enjoying the local flavored style in the 40!

 

[Honger]

Now start getting all those axles and engines stateside!

Right?! I wish it were that easy. And the shop knows what they've got, so the prices aren't exactly a steal.

Great stuff Joel!

I see you're using Aramex. Try out myus.com. I find their service a lot more efficient, and their site is user friendly, with better shipping options and rates.

Any plans to change out the seat upholstery? Its looking like you're enjoying the local flavored style in the 40!

I'll be checking out myus.com... thanks for the pointer.

Yes, the rear seat upholstery will get redone to match the front... with will get redone to a stockish colored vinyl material. The local flavor, as you put it, is some chincy carpeting tacked over the seat to cover the wholes in the original material. =)

My folks visited the UAE for Christmas and brought me a treat. I picked up an old 8274 in need of a rebuild off Craigslist in the USA. Had a friend in Indy pick it up... and ship it to my dad. My dad dismantled it, bead-blasted it, and brought it over here in pieces in his bags.

Dad even had the drum powdercoated black for me. Very excited to rebuild this and mount it up!

 

[Weber Sarge]

That had to be an interesting day at the airport with those metal parts and the TSA....lol .
Sarge

 

[Pin_Head]

I see you're using Aramex. Try out myus.com. I find their service a lot more efficient, and their site is user friendly, with better shipping options and rates.

Great looking cruiser. My boys grew up with my FJ40 and by the time they were 18, they had beaten it up, broken it and dumped in in my driveway for me to fix. It served its purpose.

Thanks for the tip about myus. Aramex at LAX is horrible. I have been waiting for 4 weeks for them to pick up a box for KAU in Jeddah. They have asked me for the address 3 times. It is like nobody actually works there.

 

[Honger]

That had to be an interesting day at the airport with those metal parts and the TSA....lol .
Sarge

Yes, every single bag had the little note in it saying that TSA had opened the bag for additional inspection. =)

Great looking cruiser. My boys grew up with my FJ40 and by the time they were 18, they had beaten it up, broken it and dumped in in my driveway for me to fix. It served its purpose.

Thanks for the tip about myus. Aramex at LAX is horrible. I have been waiting for 4 weeks for them to pick up a box for KAU in Jeddah. They have asked me for the address 3 times. It is like nobody actually works there.

Yeah, I've been having numerous problems with Aramex/ShopandShip the last couple months. I've had shipments that arrive at the address in NY and then don't register in the system for over a week... and I have to call them to get them to find it. Oh well...

 

[antFJ]

what brings you to abu dabi?

 

[AYM707]

I'm impressed!

I'm thinking of converting my drums over the summer; any chance you can help me find the parts and do the conversion?

 

[Honger]

what brings you to abu dabi?

I'm a civil engineer that specializes in airfield work... runways, taxiways, lighting. At this point a project manager for Abu Dhabi International Airport.

I'm impressed!

I'm thinking of converting my drums over the summer; any chance you can help me find the parts and do the conversion?

I could definitely help you find the parts... but they are quite heavy. The hubs, knuckles, steering arms, and calipers alone are rather substantial. It could be done though.

My folks visited us in Abu Dhabi for Christmas and of course my dad was quite interested to check out the 40. My dad is the one who taught me to work on cars. Some of my favorite memories growing up are from wrenching with dad. It's been a long time since I've helped him with a tune-up so I saved the tune-up of the 40 for his visit.

I gathered the parts: points, distributor cap, plug wires, plugs, rotor
I had previously gathered the tools: timing light, tach/dwell meter, gap feeler gauge

And off we went...

There were 3 different types of plugs in the truck... 2 Denso, 2 Bosch, and 2 different Bosch. A few of them looked way overdue.

The points had quite a bit of oxidation on them.

Job done.

It runs much better now. Sooooo much better. Better idle, a bit better gas mileage, better acceleration. It was clear it'd not be done in a long time given how hard we had to search for the timing marks on the flywheel. We ended up using the rotor as an indication of where TDC should be and then scraping the flywheel to find the mark.

Working on an old truck with my dad. I love the memories this truck is giving me...

 

[Pin_Head]

The points look like they may be arcing. You might want to replace the condensor unless you have the transistorized, semi-electronic ignitor. I think that type of distributor may use an external condensor, but maybe not. If not it will be inside under the cap.

 

[Honger]

The points look like they may be arcing. You might want to replace the condensor unless you have the transistorized, semi-electronic ignitor. I think that type of distributor may use an external condensor, but maybe not. If not it will be inside under the cap.

This just confirms what my dad said about the points... and that I shoulda just done the condensor at the same time.

And as you say, the condensor is under the cap. It will be replaced soon (just have to pick up the part).

 

[Honger]

So I've searched quite a bit trying to find a name, part number, or any info on the end piece for the choke cable where it attaches to the carb. Mine was missing. The choke cable is there... it's clear where it should join up to the carb... but it's just a bare wire.

So I went hunting on the internet and finally found out that, among the moped crowd, this piece is called a "knarp". Anyway, after measuring the carb I determined that this piece from a website called 1977 mopeds would fit the bill. So I ordered 5. =)

And it worked like a champ!

Now I have a working choke.

That generated a list of questions for me regarding my carb.

1. If I pull the choke all the way it closes the choke plate. That should kill the engine, right?

2. Is there a way to determine if the lower chamber (as seen in this photo) actually works under heavy acceleration?

3. And finally, what is this?

 

[Honger]

Well, I got my carb questions answered here. My carb works normally. I don't have a choke breaker so the choke will indeed kill my truck. And I did the paperclip trick to see if vacuum secondary functions and it does.

After the tuneup with my dad we took both Land Cruisers (the 40 and the 80) out to the desert so my folks could enjoy the dunes and we could take some photos of the family. Of course, some nice photos of the 40 ensued. The 40 handled the dunes like a dream. This was my first time to take it out for a nice proper run in the sand with the passenger rated tires. The old LT tires on it wouldn't deform with reduced pressure and as a result handled the sand quite poorly. The passenger tires I have now widen quite nicely at the bottom and she floated over the sand.

Me, my dad, and my boys cruising (not sure why dad's belt is loose here).

The boys poking their heads out the window while I take a few shots.

Nice GoPro shot of the 40.

Final shot.

 

[boozewz]

@Honger your dad is probably Emirati at heart, which explains the seat belt

Great pics though!

 

[Bear]

Those two little jokers look a lot different than the last time we saw them with exhaust-pipe mustaches !

 

[DRWFJ40]

Nice pic Joel. That there is a calendar shot.

 

[Honger]

@Honger your dad is probably Emirati at heart, which explains the seat belt

Great pics though!

Yes, my dad was probably just adapting to local culture. When in Abu Dhabi...

Those two little jokers look a lot different than the last time we saw them with exhaust-pipe mustaches !

Yeah... they grow like weeds! Crazy how quick they are growing up.

Nice pic Joel. That there is a calendar shot.

Thanks Doug! Looking forward to some pics of yours running soon. =)

The two jokers have a sister now and she is already enamored with the FJ40.

The FJ40 got picked up today and hauled up to Dubai for a roll cage to be fab'd up. I want to use my 40 with the boys and I want some sort of internal protection as a "just in case" for driving in the desert. It'll be the primary anchor for the seatbelt not to mention much needed protection in the unlikely event of a roll. I'm using a great shop up in Dubai, Sebsports. The proprietor is a Cruiserhead and desert racer. His shop has three 40-series frame-off restos going right now, so they know what their doing.

Here's my cruiser saying hi to one of the other project rigs there in the shop.

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

Great thread, thank you Honger!
Hope to congratulate you in Abu Dabi soon!

Greetings from Germany!
Mits

 

[Honger]

Great thread, thank you Honger!
Hope to congratulate you in Abu Dabi soon!

Greetings from Germany!
Mits

Thanks Mits. Contact me if/when you visit here!

Progress on the roll bar. This isn't a full cage. It's designed to add safety in the event of a slow roll/tip.

I also want it to serve as an anchor point for seatbelt for the front and seatbelt for the jumpseats.

Had to modify the jumpseats just a tad. We shortened the back panels and put a kerf in the "arm rest".