Builds Helga: 1966 FJ40 FST (3 Viewers)

[cruiseroutfit]

Final chapter of the t-case rear output leak saga, hopefully…

Got a new set of parking brake shoes form Kurt @cruiseroutfit like I should’ve done at the beginning with the dual seal housing. Obviously the old set was trashed with years of gear oil soaking them. As @wngrog has pointed out in his builds, one needs to thin out the attachment points on the new shoes as they are a bit thicker than the original ones. I ground all four connection points and a little bit of the profile where the lever arm connects just to make sure the attachment pin didn’t contact during operation. I’m not sure that it would but it seems like it might. The stock shoes also have thinner profile in that section.

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A quick coat of leftover high heat radiator paint on the ground side just for giggles and s***s and they were ready to install.
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Attached the hardware and installed. I tried installing it backwards at first and had to reference the picture I took back when I did this the first time.

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Done! Hopefully the third time is in fact the charm. It all went back together well enough. If I cared enough I would’ve thinned the material on the shoes where the springs attach. Hopefully I don’t regret the decision not to do that.

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Just need to fine tune the adjustment on the cam adjuster and I should have a nice, completely functional parking brake (as functional as it ever was anyway).

Mounting feet can require a trim on the early 4x applications. I need to make a note of that on our website. Toyota superseded these all over the place and I'm a bit fuzzy on exactly when they changed the corresponsing parts that made the switch to wide. I'll have to bust out the microfiche

 

[KennyBob]

Meanwhile, I decided to splurge on some new suspension for the old girl. The ride was spine jarring and kidney abusing to say the least. Not to mention my fancy new 33” Kenda tires were less than inch from the wheel well in the back. This resulted in rubbing on even the smallest of articulation by the rear axle. The original springs were definitely tired. The rear springs seemed to be sagging much more than the front making me think she was used fairly hard at some point in its life.

Anywho, following @Roastchestnuts lead and @tucker74 and @77mustard40 recommendations I decided to try out the Dobinsons springs over the skyjackers. I went for the low lift, light weight options that are part numbers HJ40-7L-F and TOY-034-R. Both are listed as 45mm (1.75”) lift springs. I ended up ordering them from ROCO 4X4 - https://roco4x4.com/ because as I discovered everyone else charges $250-$300 for shipping… Call me a spoiled shopper of the Amazon era but ain’t no way in hell I’m paying that if I don’t have to. Everything went smoothly though. Roco4x4 did indeed have free shipping. The only downside to that free shipping is that the springs came to me loose without any kind of box or wrapping. So as expected they were a bit roughed up from the journey. That didn’t really bother me much as I can easily touch them up and that is easily better than paying $250+ for them perhaps not being scratched up.

Obligatory pictures comparing front to rear and new to old because I’m a nerd.

 

[wngrog]

Gonna be a big ride upgrade

 

[KennyBob]

Down the suspension rabbit hole I went… Obviously, I should replace the stock pins and shackles with greasable ones to go with the new springs while I’m in there right? Well right or wrong I grabbed a shackle, pin and U-bolt kit from Man-a-fre. I purchased the one with the stock style shackles but received the anti-inversion style instead. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I proceeded with installation. Per @tucker74 suggestion I again opted to purchase some rubber, oem type bushings from @cruiseroutfit rather than the polyurethane version that came with the shackle kit. Supposed to be a “softer, more supple” ride.

Installation went relatively smooth due to the fact that I was just in there replacing the bushings not too long ago. The only real pain in the ass was removing the original pins again even with a recent bushing replacement.

Foreshadowing: This is where I knew for sure I’d need to upgrade my shocks.

Being the impatient person that I am I proceeded to go around the block sans shocks, parking brake and rear drive shaft in front wheel drive. All felt good and right, with the exception of the sensation of driving one of these in front wheel drive. I could already tell it was a night and day difference and I would love the way it rides now. Money well spent.

 

[KennyBob]

Next: shocks…

I decided I wanted to go with Bilstein 5100s for my little 40 for a few reasons. One, I had them on my 1st gen Tacoma and absolutely loved the way they rode. Two, they seem to be well liked in this community for this vehicle. And three, they are a great option for the price, IMHO.

I opted for a set of four of the (2-4”) 33-185606 shocks based on my measurements from bolt to bolt when fully stuffed and drooped. Much to my chagrin, when I installed the front shocks I was bummed to see the shockingly short compression travel distance while not flexed. I had to cut the zip on the boot just to keep it from bunching up too much. Rears went on without a hitch and seemingly plenty of travel both directions. I may need to extend the bump stops though.

The fronts will definitely need some attention. I measured about 2-3/4” of compression left in the shock and 2-1/2 to 3” between the bump stop and the axle.

Too close for comfort IMO. In panic I decided to return the 33-185606s and get the next shorter 33-062518s only to realize that they are ~1/2” too short at full droop. Sigh… back to the 33-185606s, I suppose.

This is where I need the mud brain trust: One would assume it would be better to not limit droop with the shocks and add taller bump stops for compression, right?

 

[KennyBob]

More fun things on the horizon:

Working on a solution for mounting my long jump seats with a factory roll bar installed. UPS says they will be delivered tomorrow! Stay tuned.

No phallic jokes.

Also scored an 8’ long piece of 2” square tube at work. Planning on attempting a 4plus style rear tire carrier at some point. We shall see how that goes.

 

[KennyBob]

My parts are in! Still amazes me how easy it is now to pull an idea out of my head and have a (mostly) finished part in my hand within a few days. Without further ado here are my custom seat relocation brackets:

Initial test fit is good!

The other simpler brackets are hopefully for tying the top of the seats to the roll bar. Stay tuned for the finished product.

 

[RevISK]

My parts are in! Still amazes me how easy it is now to pull an idea out of my head and have a (mostly) finished part in my hand within a few days. Without further ado here are my custom seat relocation brackets:

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Initial test fit is good!

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The other simpler brackets are hopefully for tying the top of the seats to the roll bar. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Radical. What site/vendor did you use for that? I need another rabbit hole...

 

[KennyBob]

I used Online Laser Cutting and Waterjet Cutting Service - https://sendcutsend.com/ for these pieces. They’re quick and easy for flat, relatively simple designs. We used Manufacturing on Demand - https://www.xometry.com/ at my old job a lot as well for more complicated things. I’ve been looking for an excuse to try them out too.

 

[sogafarm]

Down the suspension rabbit hole I went… Obviously, I should replace the stock pins and shackles with greasable ones to go with the new springs while I’m in there right? Well right or wrong I grabbed a shackle, pin and U-bolt kit from Man-a-fre. I purchased the one with the stock style shackles but received the anti-inversion style instead. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I proceeded with installation. Per @tucker74 suggestion I again opted to purchase some rubber, oem type bushings from @cruiseroutfit rather than the polyurethane version that came with the shackle kit. Supposed to be a “softer, more supple” ride.

View attachment 3534600

Installation went relatively smooth due to the fact that I was just in there replacing the bushings not too long ago. The only real pain in the ass was removing the original pins again even with a recent bushing replacement.

View attachment 3534609
Foreshadowing: This is where I knew for sure I’d need to upgrade my shocks.
View attachment 3534601View attachment 3534602View attachment 3534603View attachment 3534604
Being the impatient person that I am I proceeded to go around the block sans shocks, parking brake and rear drive shaft in front wheel drive. All felt good and right, with the exception of the sensation of driving one of these in front wheel drive. I could already tell it was a night and day difference and I would love the way it rides now. Money well spent.

Nice springs! I just finished installing mine and they are super soft compared to whatever was on my ‘75 before. I went with the IMS mono shocks and it seems that I will have to add a longer bump stop too. Curious to see which ones you install.

 

[KennyBob]

Cheers! Here’s to hoping my rings are not completely shot…

Been having a lot of oil burning smoke since I’ve had this rig. Last night was my first real attempt at solving this problem. I started by throwing shots of MMO down the yap of each cylinder. I’m hoping it’ll maybe clean up the oil control rings and make them function again. We shall see…

I put these plugs in not all that long ago and certainly not very many miles ago. Clearly I’ve got a problem.

I’ve been thinking/hoping I just needed to replace the valve stem seals to solve the problem. So I got the necessary tools together and pulled the rocker arm assembly to access a couple of the valve springs. A first for me.

Upon inspection of the top of the valves I realized thing has no valve stem seals…

Do these early engines just rely on the little umbrellas to keep oil away from the valves?

 

[middlecalf]

Yes, the umbrellas are the “seals,” deflectors actually.

 

[KennyBob]

Yes, the umbrellas are the “seals,” deflectors actually.

Thanks @middlecalf! I appreciate the response. Am I right in assuming my oil consumption problem is likely my piston rings then?

 

[middlecalf]

Some other thoughts based on my experience with lots of smoke out of my ‘64 F135 motor (in my ‘63 FJ45):
- if your oil rings are stuck (not sealing) you might also try seafoam treatment in the oil and fuel/carb
- but this didn’t clear my burning oil problem though as it turns out only one cylinder didn’t have compromised (broken) oil control rings (there’s two each in each cylinder)
- using a Depstech inspection camera - DEPSTECH Official Website | Borescopes, Webcams, Endoscopes, Otoscopes - https://depstech.com/ - I could see a goodly amount of oil in the cylinders. Spark plugs were quite oily, well into the threads even
- my motor doesn’t have the umbrella deflectors like yours but has the rubber deflectors inside the valve springs, no other valve seals like yours
- I had to pull the head anyhow because of coolant loss, so pulled the pistons too (“while in there”), hence finding the broken rings. All but one cylinder also had broken compression rings, but all cylinders showed compression above 130 (a big what-the-heck wrt that )
- I only honed the cylinders, put new OEM standard-sized rings on the original pistons, cleaned up the original valves and honed in-place the valve seats. I’m right at the max recommended cylinder bore diameters (but are all uniform top to bottom), also at max recommeded ring gap.
- Given that, no more smoke (burning oil smoke, occasional I get a burst of black over-rich smoke when I’m over-choked in the winter temps here)…
- but, because of anticipated blow-by because of the large ring gaps, I installed an Elite Engineering catch can - Custom Car Pedals | Oil Catch Cans | PCV Oil Catch Can - Elite Engineering - https://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/catch-cans/ (Chevy one) - in the PVC system to catch excess blow-by oil, which it does.

 

[KennyBob]

Some other thoughts based on my experience with lots of smoke out of my ‘64 F135 motor (in my ‘63 FJ45):
- if your oil rings are stuck (not sealing) you might also try seafoam treatment in the oil and fuel/carb
- but this didn’t clear my burning oil problem though as it turns out only one cylinder didn’t have compromised (broken) oil control rings (there’s two each in each cylinder)
- using a Depstech inspection camera - DEPSTECH Official Website | Borescopes, Webcams, Endoscopes, Otoscopes - https://depstech.com/ - I could see a goodly amount of oil in the cylinders. Spark plugs were quite oily, well into the threads even
- my motor doesn’t have the umbrella deflectors like yours but has the rubber deflectors inside the valve springs, no other valve seals like yours
- I had to pull the head anyhow because of coolant loss, so pulled the pistons too (“while in there”), hence finding the broken rings. All but one cylinder also had broken compression rings, but all cylinders showed compression above 130 (a big what-the-heck wrt that )
- I only honed the cylinders, put new OEM standard-sized rings on the original pistons, cleaned up the original valves and honed in-place the valve seats. I’m right at the max recommended cylinder bore diameters (but are all uniform top to bottom), also at max recommeded ring gap.
- Given that, no more smoke (burning oil smoke, occasional I get a burst of black over-rich smoke when I’m over-choked in the winter temps here)…
- but, because of anticipated blow-by because of the large ring gaps, I installed an Elite Engineering catch can - Custom Car Pedals | Oil Catch Cans | PCV Oil Catch Can - Elite Engineering - https://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/catch-cans/ (Chevy one) - in the PVC system to catch excess blow-by oil, which it does.

Thanks for the information/recommendations. Very helpful. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve got oil in numbers 2 and 6 based on my plugs.

I used Seafoam the other day in the tank and down the yap with no change. Although I haven’t driven it much since then. Certainly not enough to go through the tank. At this point I’m really hoping I can get some improvement with this MMO down the spark plug holes. Because, I really don’t want to tear into this motor I can avoid it.

 

[KennyBob]

Finally got around to addressing the front shock/bump stop conundrum this past weekend. I decided on a very simple, dirty and temporary solution to avoid damaging my new bilsteins. I just took some 2” square tube and put it between the frame and the bump stops. The real bear was removing the bolt I broke on the passenger side.

Hopefully this will indeed be temporary. Hoping to get some fancy new bump stops in the near future.

 

[KennyBob]

Alright early cruiserheads. I’ve been itching to swap the old ford tractor oil canister for a Toyota one. I’ve been trying to figure out if I’m missing any pieces to this Toyota oil canister and I’m scratching my head looking at the picture in the fsm.

 

[tahoe40/45]

-small rubber o-ring on siphon tube, then inserted into canister
-spring then metal washer, then big rubber o-ring
-filter, then second big o-ring
-tube spacer then top cap then top bolt with aluminum washer

metal washer and second big o-ring missing from photo

hope this helps

 

[rainingagain]

Alright early cruiserheads. I’ve been itching to swap the old ford tractor oil canister for a Toyota one. I’ve been trying to figure out if I’m missing any pieces to this Toyota oil canister and I’m scratching my head looking at the picture in the fsm.
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Here is my rebuild. PNW 67 Patina Blue - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/pnw-67-patina-blue.1289865/page-9#post-14793531

Hope it helps.

 

[KennyBob]

Awesome y’all, I really appreciate it! It appears I’m missing a large washer and the tube spacer. I assume the tube spacer is just slightly larger diameter than the tube? Y’all know about how long the spacer is off-hand by chance?