Build Just had to treat myself for Halloween... 65 SWB

[DomSmith]

Check the FJ25 part number thread for the fuel filter part number. Its still available..

I'll take a look there, thanks.

Ditch that carter carb also and try to find an original Aisin large sight glass carb .

I think I would like to find an Aisin so maybe I should start with Mark?

Also, every Toyota canister oil filter cartridge comes with all new gaskets for the canister. That should fix your leaks. There is also a drain plug on the bottom of the canister itself that may need to be tightened or needs some thread tape to seal it.

I haven't had luck finding that canister kit either but I'll try again next week and look in the 25 section too. Drain plug is good, I believe it's leaking from where the sleeve slides in from the bottom. The seals all look really good so I'm not sure what is going on there. Maybe a little RTV on the underside until I can source the right parts?

Got some close ups of the front and back of those front turn signals?

Here they are... I also included the rear signals...

Drivers Side:

Passenger Side:

Rears:

Dom, if you need a tire, I have a spare sitting on the side of the house.

PM sent.

For the brake master cylinder I would strongly recommend a dual master cylinder---I now its not original---but better to be able to stop your truck than wreck an original. Check with Mark from Mark's Offroad.

I'm leaning towards a little updated equipment and I think that's one I can talk myself into. Safety is a concern but then again, they drove these for how many years?? I looked at Whitepost restoration and WOW! That me be something for down the road but for now I want to get this on the road...

 

[DomSmith]

Nice find Dom. Now comes the fun part. What is your plan, restoration or daily driver? Working lots of OT to help fund my 45.

Nice find!!! What are plans for her?

Restoration or DD to drive and enjoy?

Thanks guys. Yes Mike, OT helps fund my toys too. By the way thanks for Barbi!


As for now I'm just going to do the mechanical stuff on what I have and get it on the road. I am going to keep it as stock as I can stand which I have to say will be very close to original. Anything I do decide to do will require little to no modification to get it back to stock. I'll drive it like this for a while and then later (ok much later) I'd like to do my first frame off.

I'm keeping this thing for a LOOOOONG time and I think if I ever get the bug to have disc brakes, power steering, etc. I will find a different rig. This one is way too stock to mess with. I already have a somewhat built 40 so that satisfies my crave in that respect.

The only issue I need to decide right away is the suspension/tires. It will need 5 new tires and I'm only buying them once. It sat really straight when I bought it but after snugging the straps down on the trailer and jacking it up to replace a tire it sits pretty caddywompus. I'm certain the springs are shot but we'll see what happens once it's on the road. I like the look of the old Bias tires sitting low but I do want this thing to ride half way decent.

So... I'm leaning towards OME 2.5 with skinny 33's.

Not stock but they look really good with a little lift and I hear the OME's ride nice.

This thing will mostly putt around Carlsbad and eventually make a trip to the 45 run but it will not be a daily driver.


Thanks for your interest!

 

[orangefj45]

very nice find dom!

ask me, whatever you paid for it was the right price. finding a decent removeable top swb is difficult to say the least. i bet there are less than 100 left in the states......making them the rarest 45 out there.

 

[a.greenspan]

a) ...I am going to keep it as stock as I can stand which I have to say will be very close to original. ..

b) I'm keeping this thing for a LOOOOONG time ... I think if I ever get the bug to have disc brakes, power steering, etc. I will find a different rig.




c) So... I'm leaning towards OME 2.5 with skinny 33's.

Thanks for your interest!

great find !!!!!!

a)

b)

c) Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo , please


Sweet, sweet rig
congrats

Peter

 

[legion]

finding a decent removeable top swb is difficult to say the least. i bet there are less than 100 left in the states......making them the rarest 45 out there.

Very nice truck.

I think the fixed cab 45SWB might be the rarer of the two though, no?

 

[orangefj45]

nope, most of the swb trucks had the fixed top. the cabs are also slightly shorter......

 

[Ironmanfj45]

Hi Dom,

You contacted me a couple of months ago. I have the FJ45 shown in this thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj45-owners-club/96908-fj45-lwb-truck-project.html.

PM me so we can get together and talk FJ45's.

Congradulatoins, she is beautifull!

Cheers,

Jim

 

[fj40_73]

Checked out Dom's Rig tonight. That 45 went to the right guy.

I was able to help out by finding this stowaway

and setting him free in the nabors bamboo.

 

[DomSmith]

Yes thanks for stopping by Shane! I can always use a spare hand and Shane offered to help bleed the brakes. "Can you stop and grab some brake fluid on your way? I'm out..." Ha Ha! Thanks again man.

Well we didn't get to the brakes for a few reasons:
1. My driveway is soaked from the rain.
2. It's dark early and felt like 8 o'clock at 530.
3. I hadn't sprayed enough "loose juice" on the bleeder bolts and they put up a good fight.


Shane is definitely more carburetor inclined than I am so he convinced me to pop the top of the Carter to take a look see. Pretty damn grimy in there and the bowl was empty...

He also noticed that the valve that shuts off when the float is high was stuck (sorry for the blurry pic)...

This thing is in serious need of a rebuild but until I get a kit I hoped to at least get her to run. I think an Aisin carb is in order eventually, I just need to source one. Cleaned all the crud out and cleaned up the needle valve. Also filled the bowl with a little fuel and crossed our fingers...



SHE STARTED UP!!! And stayed running and idled smoothly. Woo Hoo and high fives followed and after about 20 seconds it died again.


After that I decided to push it into the garage for storage and pull the entire carb to take a look. I realized then that I would be sucking some serious fumes if I started her up again.

After looking at the needle valve again I could see that a very fine groove had been worn into the rubber where it seats, so i figured that is what was sticking. I decided to rub the rubber cone to see if I could smooth the groove out. Sandpaper? No. Steel wool? No. I finally decided on a paper towel and it actually worked! No more groove.

Put it back together and fired it up. After inhaling tons of exhaust it stayed running. Now I know this needs to be done right but the moral victory was huge.

I decided to spray the brake bleed valves some more and pull the rear drums to get a look. These lug nuts were a serious pain to get off...

They really didn't look as bad as I had suspected...

I will certainly need to rebuild all the wheel cylinders but otherwise no major component problems or missing junk on the rears. One of the bleeder nipples is broken off but I'm certain I have one laying around somewhere. Broke free the other 3 bleeders and sprayed the fronts to help loosen up overnight.

 

[DomSmith]

great find !!!!!!

a)

b)

c) Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo , please


Sweet, sweet rig
congrats

Peter

Peter-

Yes I understand the idea of keeping her totally original, and will try to drive her enough with this old suspension before deciding if it's a necessity. I will have to say if it comes down to a terribly rough ride to keep it bone stock I'll have to pass. If I don't want to drive it what's the point? If I do change the suspension I'll hold on to all the original stuff be assured.

Thanks for the input.

 

[DomSmith]

very nice find dom!

ask me, whatever you paid for it was the right price. finding a decent removeable top swb is difficult to say the least. i bet there are less than 100 left in the states......making them the rarest 45 out there.

Thanks Georg. The more I think about it the more I know I made the right choice and I believe I did get a good deal. Not a screaming deal but I have to say, I was initially hoping to find a rig I could park on the side of the house (not serviceable) for a few years until I could get it together. For a few bucks more and plenty less than what a lot of 4o's are going for I'm happy.

 

[DomSmith]

Hi Dom,

You contacted me a couple of months ago.

Jim

Yes! I'm still actually hoping to come up and see your rig. I'll be in touch.

 

[a.greenspan]

Peter-

...and will try to drive her enough with this old suspension before deciding if it's a necessity. I will have to say if it comes down to a terribly rough ride to keep it bone stock I'll have to pass. If I don't want to drive it what's the point? If I do change the suspension I'll hold on to all the original stuff be assured.

Thanks for the input.

Hi Don,
first
it´s so easy to get a smoother ride with this old leaf springs.
( they are easy to restore ),

What you can do immediately, bring grease between the leafs.
( 1time a year)
You can take wd 40, Fluid Film or something else.
Your ride will be softer ,
Easy to do & cheap
Change the original Toyota shocks,
take Bilstein or Monroe Gas Pressure Shocks,
spray them black

Cheers
Peter

 

[My wife said no FJ!]

Sounds like a great plan Don! Hope you keep posting up as you go along.

Cruiser_Nerd put some pretty vintage looking 15" tires on his FJ25, that I am looking at seriously (https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj25-owners-group/43345-project-krusty-not-resto-7.html ...look at the last page) . He seems to have some pretty good comments on the ride as well. My other option is more of a saw-tooth type tire...not an off road monster tire at all, but I've seen a few vintage pictures with rigs with this type of tire, so I might go this way.

Looked over your pictures again...very nice Cruiser

 

[dmaddox]

...and I too will spray my leafs with PB Blaster, or the like to make the stock ride smooth. Problem is, they are sagging, worn, and in need to either re-arching or replacement. I am likely 2.5" lifting my FJ45 SWB with Alcan's. I will then probably use Bilstein or Monroe or OME de-labled, and painted black for shocks and I will use stock shackles.

just my opinion

 

[mot]

AWESOME!!!

Glad you finally got what you've been wanting!

Keep us posted with the progress!

Mot

 

[SouthBostonFJ40]

Got some close ups of the front and back of those front turn signals?

Nice score.

Mike,
Just curious, is there something special about the turn signals?

 

[DomSmith]

Today I decided to tackle a few issues and got some good help from my 19 year old brother who is chomping at the bit to learn a few things about tools, motors, etc. I was hoping to bleed the brakes today so it worked out well. I took the time to explain everything to him as we went and it was great brother bonding.

Brakes: As shown by the pics in Post #29 the wheel cylinders are a bit weepy so they will need to be replaced/rebuilt. OEM seem VERY expensive (at least through SOR) but I have not had good luck rebuilding my 40 cylinders in the past. What are most guys doing in that regard? For now I wanted to see what bleeding would do. The first nipple was gummed up and I thought it would be a disaster but after removing it and cleaning it out everything went smooth. The only Issue we had was one of the nipples on the right rear was broken off. Not leaking but obviously we weren't able to bleed that cylinder. Brake pedal is nice and solid now. We'll see if that lasts once I can get it on a test drive.


Clutch Master: Bled this as well while we were at it.

Oil Canister: Since cleaning out the carb the rig runs as long as I want but... the oil filter canister is leaking from the bottom so I have to shut it off. I noticed a small rubber seal (area of the gray arrow) on the underside of the canister that was pretty well worn. This must be it, but after tearing everything apart I'm not sure I have all the parts.

I think I have everything except maybe #60? Is that a sleeve that holds down the seal (#61) and pushes the filter down onto the lower seal and spring? There was nothing between the top oil filter seal and the top of the canister to hold it down snuggly to help the lower seal seat. The upper bolt tightens nicely into the long threaded post that slides in from the bottom but the filter can just slide up and hit the cap.

Here's the only schematic I have...

Tried to get a hold of CDan today to order some parts but had the typical phone tag happening. For the meantime I have used some RTV on the bottom near the lower bolt to seal it and cut a small (maybe 1") sleeve to make up the difference in the top of the canister. We'll see how that holds until I get the filter kit.

I also picked up a Carter carb rebuild kit at Napa (in stock) thanks to Bill ('69 Yota). He had the part # and was happy to share. NAPA Part#2-5096. Thanks BILL!

 

[DomSmith]

Next we took a look at the parking brake.

I knew from the day we pushed it off the trailer the PBrake was not working right so we pulled the driveshaft and took a look. I forgot about the seal and immediately had to slide the drum back in to stop the transfer fluid from draining. After draining the tranny and transfer we went back to work. The parts are all there but it needs to be pulled and rebuilt as well as new shoes. I have another complete setup but I think what is there will do. The drum does have a pretty good groove in it where it rubs against the seal...

http://www.dominicsmith.com/1965_FJ45_Pics_2_files/Media/IMG_2668/IMG_2668.jpg

Lots of metal stuck to the tranny drain plug :frown:

[IMG]http://www.dominicsmith.com/1965_FJ45_Pics_2_files/Media/IMG_2667/IMG_2667.jpg

I suppose it's not TOO bad for how long this thing has been sitting. I'll be refilling the tranny and transfer with gear oil in the morning. I'm not too worried about draining the transfer a second time when I rebuild the parking brake because I think it will be good to run some fluid through it and drain again.

 

[DomSmith]

PB Blasted the drain plugs and fill plugs on each axle. We'll see how that works for opening these things up. I learned long ago to be sure the fill plugs open before dropping the drain plugs.

I had a hard time shutting it down tonight but decided to see if the old radio worked before we ended our work.

We traced the power wire (OK it was connected to the fuse block about 4 inches below the radio...) and found the fuse holder crumbling in my hands. I tried to re-attach it and it just fell apart. So I dug one out of the electrical box and a quick cut and crimp with a bit of shrink wrap and viola! Turns on no problem.

It's obviously an AM radio and was mostly just squelch but after getting her out of the garage I'm hoping it will pick up something...


Maybe a Chargers game? Now that would be sweet.