Builds Hard Ways - Rigger's 1969 FJ40

[Rigger]

OK. Busy few days with work and all. My wife took our two little boys, and headed off to Palm Coast, FL to see her dad. It's kinda quiet here, so now to think about the '40 again.

My new headlight switch arrived, so I got that installed. Works fine. Buttoned up the instrument cluster. There's a few other issues associated with the cluster that I need to fix, but those are gonna be tasks for another day. Well, at the glacial pace that my project is moving along, they may even be tasks for another year.

When @65swb45 was here, he noted that the distributor shaft has some play in in, and that this may be responsible for how poorly the truck runs, rather than the carburetor. He said to sort out the distributor first. He asked me, "Do you have a dwell meter?", to which was my immediate answer, "Nope." So, I ordered a dwell meter. It's on the way. I have no idea how to use one, and only a vague idea of what 'dwell' is, but I'm not gonna let silly details get in the way. Mark suggested I tackle one thing at a time, and to go after the distributor problem first.

So . . . . . I'll check and adjust the dwell, I guess, and try to get it where it needs to be. Mark, where does the dwell need to be? I know I know you said write this down and I didn't, so I hope you'll tell me again.

I looked thru all of the parts I bought a while back, and I have new plugs, new plug wires, new coil wire, new rotor, new distributor cap, new points, and new condenser. Mark, shall I replace all of these parts now? Before I check and set the dwell? Or after I check and set the dwell?

Or shall I replace these parts one at a time, checking how it runs in between each replacement? Or maybe not? Or maybe it doesn't matter?

Or, shall I source up a new distributor, new (Pertronix) ignition system? Or is that a whole new can of worms? I'll stick with the old school distributor for now, I suppose.

I'm being guided by Mark's advice, but if anyone has any thought, I'd love to hear it, because I enjoy these discussions, and my wife is gone as I stated earlier, and I have nothing else to except yard work and porch painting which I may just hire out anyway.

 

[Rigger]

 

[Rigger]

Looked for spark plug gap info. Found 0.031" to be correct gap for an F engine in stock form. Is that correct?

 

[cruiserdan]

Yup.

 

[mrboatman]

That is correct I think the book says .028-.032 for the plug gap
JP

 

[cruiserdan]

If memory serves dwell should be 40 to 45 degrees.

 

[65swb45]

38-41.

1.Alfred, just change the points and set the dwell. THEN check point gap against dwell. If gap is less than .012”, points are going to fry quickly, and it’s time to move on to another dizzy.

2.But with a properly dwelled set of points, you should be able to get a better idea of vacuum to at least set a baseline before you change carbs.

3. If vacuum retard dizzy fails the point gap test, replace with a vac advance unit, set timing and recheck vacuum.

4.Provided the vacuum is ok, THEN change the carb.

 

[cruiserdan]

THAT, folks, is why Mark is a carbureted man in a fuel-injected world.

By the way, "carbureted" is correctly spelled but is so old that computer spell-check hates it

 

[Rigger]

Carburetors have mostly gone the way of the dodo bird.

 

[thebigredrocker]

If you can swing it, have Mark send you the early-68 small cap vac advance dissy he likes and ask him to set it up with Pertronix. He helped me get it set up in my 71. Night and day difference.

 

[Rigger]

Through a comedy of errors, I backed the 40 over my points that I was planning to install. What are the chances? Gotta order a new set.

 

[Rigger]

My dwell meter arrived.

 

[thebigredrocker]

Whoa! Made within our shores.

 

[Rigger]

OK. 4 months since I posted. At this rate, my '40 will be ready for me to drive it to my retirement party. I turned 58 a few days ago :-| and retirement is at least 7 years away.

I took a long lunch break today, and started the '40. It did not want to start. Used a few shots of starting fluid, and it finally started. I really need to work on the starting issues. But I'm not ready for that yet.

Weather is nice today, but we're definitely fall, and headed towards winter. So I have to get my pressure wash clean-up done soon. Gonna blast all the gumpta off the engine, transmission, & transfer case. That's on the list for tomorrow.

I notice that when I drive this thing, the top tank of the radiator gets hot, the upper hose gets hot, but the bottom tank stays cool, and the lower radiator hose stays cool. The bypass hose at the water pump gets hot. Does that make sense? Seems to me the whole radiator should be hot. Shouldn't it?

 

[brew8]

top hose comes off the engine top so it's the hot side the water pump pulls the cooled water from the bottom of the radiator, the small hose is a bypass around the radiator, sounds right.

 

[tlaporte]

Agree with @brew8, sounds like your radiator is doing a fine job!

 

[Rigger]

Good morning.

I have the worst-running FJ40 on these boards, bar none. It takes a few shots of starting fluid to get it to start, plus revving and feathering and fiddling with the choke knob. After a few minutes, it will idle erratically. Sometimes it dies. It's really bad. I've driven it a few times recently. It runs horribly. I hardly know what to do. When @65swb45 was here a few months ago, he suggested I focus on the ignition, specifically the dwell. So I have a dwell meter, and today I am going to check the dwell. Here's some pics . . . .

 

[Rigger]

I think the green is supposed to be connected to ground.

The other has to connect to the negative side of coil.

 

[Rigger]

Here's the coil. Odd pic, taken from below, because of the way the coil mounts.

One side of the coil has a wire that goes to the distributor.

The other side of the coil has a wire that goes into the wiring harness, and on into the cab, perhaps?

Which side of the coil is the negative side of the coil?

 

[Rigger]

I've always like pure, original Cruisers, but I can kinda (kinda) see why people put V8's in them. They just get sick of this stuff, I guess.

As you can read, I'm a bit frustrated, so I guess I need to calm down. Deep breaths.