Builds Just had to treat myself for Halloween... 65 SWB (2 Viewers)

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After a recent string of 17 hour days on an engine swap we had all the plug wires out of order. Idled fine but wouldn't go so well under load. Once re-routed it's a weapon! So maybe try that.
 
Happy Anniversary! (uh, set the FSM on the nightstand, if you get my drift....:censor:)

Yes, the FSM ended up not making an appearance after all. I was able to turn my brain off the 45 (mostly) and enjoy the weekend with the wife.
 
Back at it today and was able to test a few of the harness components and they all passed. New OEM TPS was added today as well with no change.

So out came the distributor as Noah and Brett suggested and after one fail, it went back in per the FSM and that was it!

Set the timing and I’ve putted it around a part of the afternoon to break in the motor. Put about 10 gallons in to start.


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Found a few small leaks but tightened up some clamps and seems to be dry for now. It really runs smooth and has lots of power. The 4 speed shifts great and all in all very smooth. I did however forget how noisy this truck is. Especially since the tranny cover has holes in it for now.


My daughter insisted on a ride the day it got back on the road. So...



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She was the first passenger after the swap. And Carrots the bunny of course. “Dad this feels like a rocket ship!”

Ha ha. Not quite...

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Excited to get it broken in and shook down a little more.


:beer:
 
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Working out some minor bugs after 500 shakedown miles. I’ll cover that in a bit.

Decided to clean out the bed to be sure no hidden rust had developed under the rubber mat.

Not too bad. Just lots of needles, dirt and crap...

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Cleaned up with only a couple of minor surface spots that look new...


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Cleaned up the mat while it was out...

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Having removed the spare tire from the bed to clean it I thought it might be a good time to see if it would go under the bed.


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First I measured the space under the bed and knew it would be tight for a 33” tire. Next I made sure the hoist fit the rim...

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Next I removed the weird hoist setup the PO had setup. It had a weird lever with a cable attached to this wheel mount.


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I love all the wood installed to help support the bed.


Gone:

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This small channel won’t hold the weight of the tire over time so I’ll look to reinforce it with a metal plate that attaches to the frame. Looks like I’ll be leaning on Pat (@landcruisnman) again.

Ghetto fab temporary install to see if it will work. One bolt and one clamp. The orientation of the rod attachment will be a challenge once I determine final fitment...

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Access to the hoist socket was difficult. Not sure where I can orient it to work well. Used the long rods from the 200 to get all the way in. T end is much smaller than socket needs.

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Access for test...


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Snug but it does fit.

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I didn’t crank it up tight because I didn’t want to pull off the hoist or bend the bracket but this is where it will sit...

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It’s right inside the frame and near the shackle bolts as well as resting against the sway bar. Not sure if this is going to be enough clearance or not...

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If I can set this up with a little more clearance from the shackle bolts and get it off the sway bar I really think this may be a good alternative to the stock carrier for bigger tires.
 
Dom have you looked at tire carrier from other cruisers? I know the one from a FJ55 fit my LWB 45. 60/80 series are wider but could be trimmed down. Those are a lot beefier to support a large spare then what your using. The 60/80 series have plates welded on each side to help keep the spare from rocking. If you can has the clips for the engine crank rod could use that to lower the spare. As I remember the winch from the 55 required a button in the center be pushed in to lower and raise the winch. So only the hand crank in the 55 would work. A little extra security for the spare. I installed a 60 series spare tire carrier in my M416 by drilling two holes. Now looking to add one in front of the axle in a trailer made from a early seventies Hilux pickup. Needless to say I'm a fan of the winch style tire carriers.
 
Thanks for the input John. I am trying to source an 80 Series version locally as its common to remove them for fuel tanks. No luck yet. Good info on the 55 too.

As of now my spare is back on the bracket I made in the bed. I was only testing the winch style but would agree the stock cross member is not stout enough and I didn’t risk even driving down the road.

When the time comes I will probably just make a specific rod that fits the socket and is a correct length one piece design that will clip in the cab as you suggested.

Ill post up when I finalize something.

I have developed a lean to the drivers side over the years with the tire and driver on the left side of the truck. I’m considering putting one leaf back in the drivers side rear to see what that does.
 
Sorry for the long delay, a few updates...

Found a local spare 80 series tire mount to try under the bed... just need to go pick it up. Not high on the list especially since I used a lot of political capital with the domestic supervisor over the last 15 months getting the 45 back on the road.

Engine Break in:

I did about 45-50 miles around town varying speeds and eyeballing the oil pressure and temp gauges. Lots of power and a few minor stumbles here and there, mostly up a hill at 3/4 throttle. This may be a timing issue but I haven't addressed it yet. It runs great and the throttle is very responsive. I really only need the first 1/4" of this to get off the line pretty well.

After that I did a drive up to work in Santa Monica. 100 miles each way. I leave for work at 0400 so it wasn't hard to drive in the slow lane with alternating speeds of 50-65 with short runs up to 3/4 throttle. It was a little maddening but it was early and a weekend so not too many people to call in a deuce. I did another trip up there a few days later with more normal driving patterns. I'm confident the motor is broken in now and did an oil change at about 700 miles. Everything looked good.

#6 Plug wire: I installed a new set of Denso wires after the rebuild and for some reason the #6 plug wire came apart when I pulled it off. I repaired it but I didn't want any issues in the longterm. Denso said they don't have a consumer warranty and RockAuto said suck it. Ha ha. Bought a new set for the #6.

Temp: I was a little worried about the temp at first as it runs higher on the gauge than I remember from the F135.

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A quick check with the thermal gun on the thermostat housing and my mind was at ease...


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After the 200 mile round trips I noticed a few drips of coolant under the old Eaton heater...


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So I decided to pull the heater and get it re-cored. I haven't taken it in yet because 1- It's summer. 2- I have heated seats 3- I'm trying to decide if I add AC (OK now I've lost my mind). Ghetto temporary hose routing...


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Accelerator Pedal Height: This sits a little high and it's uncomfortable to drive long distances. I can't easily move the pedal because of where the throttle cable enters the firewall so I decided to swap the pedal with my FJ40. For 2 reasons: 1- It is a hand throttle cable pedal 2- I had already bent it for the 40 so I can bend it again for the 45.

Comparison (before):

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It has a different firewall mount so I swapped those and then I bent the top pedal to suit a better foot angle while also allowing for the hand throttle to (maybe?) use as a little cruise control on the early 4am drives to work if I decided to. I need to confirm that the throw still allows WOT but at this point I'm not too worried about it. I can chase that down later when I'm finalizing everything.


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Pulled the old hand throttle kit off the shelf and installed it. I think this would work well for the PTO winch or OBA or but it doesn't overcome the spring tension very well to run at high speeds. I'm seriously considering the Rostra cruise control I added to the 40 for the drive to the 45 run. It would be a lot more stealthly installed on the 45 if I do decide to do it.


I did notice lots of junk in the fuel pre-filter so obviously I could have done a better job of cleaning out the tank. Oh well. A new filter at the first oil change and I'm back in business...

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I also did have a slight smell of fuel in the cab once I got it on the road. Used a monitor from work to track it to a weeping fuel plug in the bottom of the tank. Tightened that up and seems 95% better. I need to put the sniffer on it again to see if there's anything else going on or if I'm paranoid now.
 
Got the stereo re-installed which makes the drives to Home Depot a little nicer. Also added some 12v plugs to charge a phone or run a CB if I can pull off the 45 run...

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I tried connecting the XM Radio setup I have for this truck but something is amiss as the sound is terrible. I need to troubleshoot that but it's low on the list.


Also added an inner shift boot under the real shift boot to keep out the cooties...

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Been trying to tackle a few other odd issues as seen in this thread here:

Weather... leaks, wiper motors/arms/blades?

For now I have taped up with cardboard the big holes in the tranny hump, plugged the extra firewall holes and even added a power brake pushrod boot for the firewall to help with all the heat. The boot is way too big and it fits badly but it's on and preventing large quantities of air coming in here...

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I need to come up with a better solution as this hole is much smaller than the domestic pickup the boot is from. Again, low on the list.

This however is my new nemesis...


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I cannot figure out where it's coming from. I re-torqued the oil pan and it had loosened up a bit. I also tightened the side cover but it was still pretty good. I really can't track down where this is coming from. It seems more prevalent on the passenger side. I'm going to drop the clutch cover when I have some time to see if I can see anything going on there. Any suggestions?
 
Things left to do:

Tighten head bolts
Re-check valve clearances
Find oil leak
Re-check timing
Have tranny hump modified to fit
Fine-tune accelerator pedal height and throttle position
Test another MAF to see if the stumble is related to that


All in all this truck is such a pleasure to drive. I just putt it around mostly but if I want to get on it it only takes a slight dip in the pedal to get it moving quickly. The 4 speed shifts great and the frankenbooster bracket is working as prescribed. Brett is in town and I'm hoping he takes it for a few days to see what his impression is.



I'm going to take some advice and drive it as is for awhile but there are a few other things I'd like to do eventually:

3.70's to get a little better freeway drivability
Some floorboard sound/heat proofing. I'm thinking maybe one of Rogers repro rubber mats and some cruisercrap under that?
Headliner installed
Cruise control with hidden controls
4 speed column shift
Possibly a custom upgraded ECU to replace the Toyota ECU

Oops: Forgot to mention power steering. :)



For now I just need to drive it...


:beer:
 
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