Builds Hawkdriver’s 1975 FJ40 Refurb Thread (1 Viewer)

[reddog90]

Where did you get your knuckle kit?

 

[HawkDriver]

Where did you get your knuckle kit?

@cruiseroutfit here in SLC Utah. As well as most of my other parts. Best service, best quality options for parts and accessories, pure Cruiser peeps.

 

[reddog90]

@cruiseroutfit here in SLC Utah. As well as most of my other parts. Best service, best quality options for parts and accessories, pure Cruiser peeps.

Just checking, that's where I'm planning on ordering my knuckle kit and some other stuff.

 

[HawkDriver]

More new parts in. These rotors are super beef. Custom centers cut and shipped from @Poser at LCR 4WD.

 

[7mag]

After reading your rebuild progress it dawned on me that I might have traded you a small block 350 while you were at Fort Hood for a front bumper?

 

[HawkDriver]

After reading your rebuild progress it dawned on me that I might have traded you a small block 350 while you were at Fort Hood for a front bumper?

Right! I remember!

That’s the engine, mostly, that’s in in still. I’m planning to core it for a shop rebuilt one. That’ll be the last part of this build.

Hope your bumper held up well. And it was great working out that trade with ya!

 

[tucker74]

Great to see this beast getting some love, remember running Aggie highway and waterfall with you back in the day. Your tub is going to be a Gozzard and is fantastically overbuilt and solid. Just to ease your worries, have bolted the rear section & cross members in several 40/55s and they held up great for many years. Keep up the good work!

Tucker

 

[HawkDriver]

Great to see this beast getting some love, remember running Aggie highway and waterfall with you back in the day. Your tub is going to be a Gozzard and is fantastically overbuilt and solid. Just to ease your worries, have bolted the rear section & cross members in several 40/55s and they held up great for many years. Keep up the good work!

Tucker

Yeah!

Gozzard, that sounds familiar. It’s built like a tank for sure. No flimsy parts or spiderwebbing.

Good to see ya here on Mud again!

Now to get this front axle done...

 

[HawkDriver]

It's June. A six month update seems about on track with the pace I've established for this project. Winter was busy with work, but I managed a few items here and there. Its kind of hard to believe that it's been just about a year since I had the broken ankle which is what kicked this project into gear.

Today was a monumental milestone! We have a rolling chassis! But first, let me bring the timeline up to date with the last few month's progress.

 

[HawkDriver]

Where we left off was I was just beginning reassembly of the front knuckle. It literally took me until today to get both sides finished! Ugh...

I picked up 3 cans of this Moly EP grease for $4.99 each. From what I could tell, all the other brands on the shelf would have been fine too.

 

[HawkDriver]

This first picture is the only good one I have showing how I applied two coats of silver POR-15 well inside of the wiper seal surface. As compared to the heavily pitted steel ball, the new wiper seals slide nicely along the new surface.

Cruiser Outfitters carries this Trail Gear dust shield eliminator plate, it's about 1/16" thick. I just happened upon it on their website, wish I would have saved the POR-15 paint that I wasted on those dust shields, but not having to clean them up is real nice and clean.

 

[HawkDriver]

Nice and tidy.

 

[HawkDriver]

Between my 6 month old iphone picture file names, and getting just 5 pics at a time per post, things are getting a little out of order, but not too bad... Sorry.

 

[HawkDriver]

Bearing preload setting. And loctite on the bolts that don't have much torque.

 

[HawkDriver]

The RH side upper bearing was totally shot. Not sure if this was caused by improper preload setting on the last time it was rebuilt, or if water just got in and worked its way into that bearing. Keeping this one on the shelf for a demo! New Koyo's all around.

 

[HawkDriver]

Fully seated races with my trusty ol brass hammer.

 

[HawkDriver]

Hours and hours on the bench grinder wire wheel. A lot of parts I've sandblasted, but these ones didn't get that. My Craftsman bench grinder was pretty hot for a good bit there. I tried to give it a break here and there.

 

[HawkDriver]

First time these axles have seen the light of day! An entire winter came and went from the time I put them in my work shed til today.

 

[HawkDriver]

Fresh Toyota front discs from Cruiser Outfitters, and those rear custom cut discs from Poser. Beefy!

Because it'll be a looooooooooooooooooooong time before those pretty brakes get any action I'll have to keep vigilant with oiling them. They just have a nice coat of WD-40 on them for now.

 

[HawkDriver]

I actually have a lot of other parts that are done that are to be installed, but I just needed to get that frame off my trailer so I can get the river raft on there for our trip to the Gates of Lodore on the Green River!

Having space to walk around in my shed, liberating my trailer, and being able to clear my work bench of the tools I've kept out for 6 months is a relief beyond description!

Many of you are probably familiar with the "just in time" approach to parts/materials acquisition. If not, it's where manufacturers take in the supplies they need in an efficient manner, just in time for their utilization, rather than needing to keep mega tons of materials on hand for potential future production. Freeing my trailer up the day before I need to pack it, while achieving the rolling chassis at the same time; I like to think that I operate on a "just in time" model! LOL