Got a FJ40 & joined the forum (1 Viewer)

[JohnnyC]

sounds like some work ahead of ya...

take some shots of the front sring mounts and shackels

also the rear tail lights ....are they just un pluged or is the wiring torn out...thats going to be a PITA if it is

welcome to MUD

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Sure thing, I'll get some pics. Ya'll won't be able to hear from me on the weekends... no internet at home right now. All my posts for now will be M-F 8-5 from work. The rear tailights are missing and the wiring has been cut. It's still dangling from underneath so I'm gonna have to come up with something. Read some good FAQs about LEDs, might try that. The first FAQ I read was about the bezel... It's in the position that most agree is right side up, but I gotta admit I was clueless about what ya'll were talking about at first!

 

[Jonny Tsunami]

That the kind of rig you hunt big game with, Welcome!

 

[71AZFJ]

Ya gotta love it. On MUD at work. Good Man.

 

[3jvj]

I've always been partial to 78's

Welcome.

 

[scott johnson]

Need more pic's

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I'm sorry, no new pics today... the FJ kicked my butt this weekend!! So Friday I was sure I was gonna get a battery, clean the tank, and fire it up. It ran 3 years ago. So put in the new battery and the engine was seized! The force was strong with the starter, it was doing its best, but nothin. So I soaked the cylinders with Marvel Mystery oil, motor oil, seafoam additive, and a little gas for good measure. Finally I had to crawl under it, remove the front driveshaft so that I could remove the flywheel dust cover, and put a metal bar on the teeth and pry on it. That did it! It turns over good now. I filed the points and got the coil to start firing, but not getting any fire to the plug wires. Gonna get a cap, rotor, points, condenser, and a new coil for good measure and try again. My slave cylinder rebuild kit should be here Wednesday, so I'm hoping to drive by this next weekend. We'll see.

 

[SteveH]

You might remove the valve cover, and dump a quart of oil all over the entire valvetrain, before you start it up. And change the oil, of course.

 

[Funkytown 40]

Good looking rig, and I like the A&M sticker on it. Leave the tower on it, back it up to a lake and you have a highdive!

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Yeah, I had the valve cover off and dumped lots of oil there. Also removed the distibutor and primed the oil pump with a drill. Ok, waiting on parts, so went home and took pictures... and I tried to upload them, but it exceeds my quota? I'm probably doin something wrong, any tips?

 

[ArkansasLarry]

Hey GMonkey, good luck on your project. I just bought a '78 FJ40 last week and plan on doing a full restore. I gotta find my way around this board and get some ideas (FAQ was a great place to start). What size tires do you have?

 

[coinoperated40]

Yeah, I had the valve cover off and dumped lots of oil there. Also removed the distibutor and primed the oil pump with a drill. Ok, waiting on parts, so went home and took pictures... and I tried to upload them, but it exceeds my quota? I'm probably doin something wrong, any tips?

I think buying a star for the support of the forum is the thing to do. Let's you upload pictures plus it helps the forum stay alive.
As everyone else has said Welcome to the show...
Shane

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Hey GMonkey, good luck on your project. I just bought a '78 FJ40 last week and plan on doing a full restore. I gotta find my way around this board and get some ideas (FAQ was a great place to start). What size tires do you have?

Yeah the FAQ is great! The tires are 31x10.5 15 Cooper Destination STTs but they aren't on factory rims and I think there is a lot more offset than factory on these. I kinda like the look. Good luck on yours also!

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Ok, there we go. Pic 1 is the front of the sping, pic 2 is the rear (with the shackle) and pic 3 is the axle an inch behind the bump stop. Unless they don't post in the order I uploaded them in. Yeah silver star looks like a good deal for unlimited pics. I've gotta state job, so I get paid on the first of the month

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Here's my bezel...

 

[GreaseMonkey]

So in buying parts this week I have discovered something: I don't have a '78 distributor. The cap on a '78 should be the screw down style, whereas mine is the type held down with 2 clamps. Also has a different rotor. But my build date is October of '77. So is that style distributor the one from '77? I think it is. Has anyone ever heard of an early '78 coming with the older ignition system, or is it more likely it was replaced at some point in the past?

 

[JohnnyC]

looks like the PO did a shackle reversal on the front

 

[GreaseMonkey]

If I want to change it back is it just a matter of moving the shackle to the front ? Will it get my axle back to the right spot? I'm sure I'll have to adjust some TREs if I did that too.

 

[JohnnyC]

you may want to check the length of the springs....from front pin to center and rear pin to center...it may be as easy as reversing the springs

 

[GreaseMonkey]

HAHA! I got it running on Friday! I had to fix the clutch fork where it connects to the throwout bearing with that little spring pin, that was all messed up which is why I destroyed the slave cylinder that I rebuilt. So had to buy a new slave cylinder. Then adjusted the points and put on a new coil. Then went for a ride! It blows oil out of the side pushrod cover and over 35 mph has a bad death wobble but I set the timing right at 7 deg btdc and it will fire right up every time! And it's a miracle, but I didn't hurt the rings when I forced the engine to un-seize. It doesn't smoke or anything. The valvetrain is noisy, but I noticed that the valves needed to be lashed when I had the valve cover off, so gotta do that. The only electrical that works is the starter and one headlight, so it needs wiring plus a hundred other things, but I'm crazy excited!