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

[Awl_TEQ]

Aww.... now you've gone and made a shiny spot. Your gonna have to do the whole truck to make it look the same......

Nice repair job. My favorite part is the satisfaction of a job well done.

 

[yotaforce1]

very very nice;

gawd i wish i was in that same position.

 

[DomSmith]

Well I've checked a few more items off my list of things to get done on the SWB. The first thing was to get a good handle on the brakes. I was driving around without many issues but she started pulling to the right a little and I decided it was time to tackle the brakes. I got all the stuff I needed to redo everything from Mark a while back so I just needed to break it down.

I need to replace the master (for safety's sake) and rebuild all the rear cylinders but decided to start with replacing the front cylinders with the NOS ones from Mark as well as new pads and turned drums. When I first pulled off the drums I could see how much the cylinders were leaking and after a quick cleanup I though it would go pretty smooth. There's my naive side showing again on a 40+ year old truck...

Pulled the shoes and cleaned up the plates...

Removed each side which actually went very smooth. No broken bolts or damage...

Here are the wheel cylinders...

The first mistake I made was to install the first wheel cylinder without checking it. That's when I realized the adjustment nut was stiff. OK so it turned out to be a good thing. These things had been sitting for a long time and everything was welded together. Nothing that couldn't be overcome but it took a lot of work. The original grease Toyota manufactured these with was dried up and acted like cement to seize the pistons, cups, as well as the adjusting bolts and nuts. Not too big of a surprise actually just something I overlooked from the start. Did I mention I had to use a vise and some giant channel locks to free these up? It took about 15 minutes for each cylinder to break them free, take them apart and get all the old grease out with steel wool and lube them all up again.

Once they were overhauled it was a pretty site. New OEM cylinders with springs rubber, etc looked great. Once they were in place I put the shoes on. The blue looks like crap but I thought it was a waste of time to try and spray them...

Did the same to the drivers side and the fronts were done. The drums on the 45 were pretty bad with one deep groove on the passengers side and it was Saturday so the machine shop was closed. I pulled out the front drums I had boxed up after my disc conversion on the 40 years earlier and these looked great. They'll do for now until I can drop off the others at the machine shop.

Cruiserbrett has been helping me a lot with a few parts I needed as well as answering tons of questions I have. He's a walking cruiser encyclopedia. So I took advantage of the fact he was dropping off a starter for me and he helped bleed the brakes.

After that I had him help with a few more items on the list...

 

[DomSmith]

The first item Brett looked at was my carb and diagnosed a choke problem. It has been hard to start in the morning and needed a TON of fuel to get her up and going. The choke was stuck and the choke plate was not closing when the cable was pulled. Only the idle kick up was engaging and that's where the increased idle was coming from. He pulled it apart, freed it up, straightened the cable and adjusted it properly. CHECK.

Next we re-checked the timing and it seemed to be in a pretty good spot although a bit of a wandering BB. I'll have to dig into the distributor a little later to see what kind of wear is going on there. In the meantime he shared some suggestions on improving the points and condenser as they looked a little burnt. CHECK.

"Did I mention my loose front wheel?" We shook it and he confirmed the axle nut was loose. I had never seen so much play in a wheel so we broke that down quickly and checked the wheel bearings and grease. They looked really good with no signs of wear, water or problems. Tightened the inner and outer nut and it was good to go. The other side is on the list but not nearly as bad as the first. CHECK.

He discussed the 4 blade fan issue and made suggestions on that as well. I'll be ordering a new 6 blade plastic fan from CDan tomorrow. CHECK.

He also brought over a later starter that I can use until mine is rebuilt. Here's the original after it was cleaned up and taken to the rebuild shop... CHECK.

I also asked about the FD light not engaging and he took a look under the truck after pulling the vacuum shifter and confirmed it was in 4wd. I just needed to troubleshoot the light. He reminded me about the switch on the transfer and said I should look there. Resolved this later that night. CHECK.

He had a solution for my leaky fitting at the clutch master and that seems to be working for now. I do have plans to do it right by adding a new hose and correct fitting at the master but for now this is holding. CHECK.

We did a small test drive down by the beach in Carlsbad after bleeding the brakes and they are much improved. A few beers and a couple dozen more questions answered and he was on his way.


Thanks Brett.

 

[DomSmith]

As mentioned in the previous post my starter was giving up the ghost. It grinded about 1/3 of the time or just spun without engaging at all. Brett offered to open up a spare he had, clean it up and test it before bringing it by. Sweeeet!

The loaner is a little newer but will work just fine while mine gets the once over.

I disconnected the battery and uninstalled the original starter. The two bolts were a pain in the ass to get to especially with years of grease, dirt, mud and whatever else had been collecting on them. Once it was off I cleaned it up so the rebuilder wouldn't tell me to pound sand when I dropped it off.

Here's the loaner mounted in place. The wiring has a different connector on it so I just made a new pigtail with the correct one on it...

Then used a quick-splice over the existing wire and taped the original end up for now. This way I can go back to the original connection when I re-install my starter without redoing the wiring...

Reconnected the battery and vrooom! (OK maybe more like: pupupupu) but nonetheless it fired right up!

 

[DomSmith]

On to the FD light...



I was a little surprised that the FD indicator light was not working since every light except one bad bulb worked when I bought the truck. Even after 10 years of sitting!

So I broke out the tester and determined the wire was getting power and the bulb even lit when grounded. Now I knew I had to troubleshoot the switch at the transfer case. Maybe I didn't even have one??!! One quick look revealed that the wiring was not hooked up anymore...

If you look closely you can see the switch at the top of the pic and the more obvious two wires hanging loosely near the frame.

The switch came out easily and it was clear that the wires had broke free from the solder at the switch connectors.

The spring worked fine but there was some corrosion so I cleaned that up a bit and used a tiny drop of lubricating oil to keep it freed up. I then heated up the old solder and removed what was left of the the old wires and soldered up new wires...

Once this was complete I made the connections at the harness and...















SUCCESS!!!

 

[DomSmith]

Decided I better get at least one set of safety belts installed so I feel a little better about driving this rig around. I removed a couple of the eye bolts behind the seats and matched them with grade 10.9 metrics at the hardware store. Turns out they wren't metric at all...

So the proper standard grade 8's and I was on my way...

I was trying to decide which belts to use and since I had this one handy I figured I'd give it a try. It's been a long time but I think this was a jumpseat belt. Calixto gave me a set of retractables from his 73 (thanks Chris) but I'm not sure they will work as well as these. Reaching down to try to find the retracted side doesn't seem ideal.

I've also considered searching for a shoulder belt conversion but have too big a list to go there yet. These are opened up all the way so it's a good thing I'm not any bigger than I am...

 

[Awl_TEQ]

I bet she feels like a new truck after all of that work - even if your list just keep getting longer. Nice work - good to see someone is getting things done.

 

[yotaforce1]

hey, i bet that blanket adds an extra 10 horsepower.
nice rig.

 

[tucker74]

That pic brought back memories, I sat on a throw rug that looked just like that for 2 years before I got new seats in my 40

Congrats on the progress!

Tucker

 

[legion]

I've also considered searching for a shoulder belt conversion but have too big a list to go there yet.

I'll be watching to see what you do w/ that. My truck has no belts and the standard lap jobbies would definitely be an improvement but thinking for just a second about how people hinge right where lap belts fit conjures up some pretty clear reasons for converting to 3pts.

Nice to see you making such progress, Dom. She's coming along very nicely

 

[DomSmith]

So after upgrading the tires from dry rotted bias ply to tall skinny BFG's I needed a place to stow the spare. I was hoping to keep it under the rear bed but they seem to be just too big to squeeze between the rear corner frame supports. The P.O. had made up a funky (and quite effective) rear spare tire "thingy" that allowed ease of use to get to the tire under the bed.

The contraption consisted of a long pipe mounted to a pivot that latched (and was lockable) to the edge of the rear sill...

It had an adjustable cable that ran to a roller and then under the bed to another roller and to a clasp that gripped the wheel...

You unhooked the latch and pulled the pipe out to lower the tire...

After chatting with Mike (crusherboy) and looking at the spare tire mount he made in his bed I decided to do something similar. I decided to attach mine to the side of the rack in the bed. I started with some thick plate from Mike and made a cardboard template...

Cut out the plate and then used a bench grinder to round out the edges...

I planned on pressing in a few stock wheel studs so I placed the plate where I wanted it and then marked the holes. After drilling two of them I realized the bit was a just a tad too large so I had to weld the studs to the plate... Mike also had some scrap tubing that was the same diameter as the rack so I fish-mouthed that...

Then mocked it up on the rack and cut the tubing and tacked it...

After placing the wheel in position I tacked the mount onto the rack and then finished welding it up. A bit of paint (Oh NO!!! Another shiny spot!!!) to protect the fresh metal and...

 

[rockcod]

Nice

I am going to need you to do some fab stuff for me!!!!

Now, about these shackles

 

[dmaddox]

I wish I could track down an FD knob like yours. I've tried with no luck.

-dallas

 

[a.greenspan]

After chatting with Mike (crusherboy) and looking at the spare tire mount he made in his bed I decided to do something similar. I decided to attach mine to the side of the rack in the bed. ... template...

cool, cool, cool & perfect,
would do the same, if I had a rack.
Good job
Cheers
Peter

 

[DomSmith]

I am going to need you to do some fab stuff for me!!!!

Riiiiiight... my stuff is like finger painting compared to yours...

Now, about these shackles

I'll call you today.

 

[DomSmith]

I wish I could track down an FD knob like yours. I've tried with no luck.

-dallas

Dallas-

I had to glue mine back together and to the cable. I bought what I thought was the right one from SOR and it's a screw on.

Let me know when you find a box of the right ones.

 

[calixto]

Looks awesome Dom but time to get your priorities in line and install the most important feature.....the bed mounted rocket launcher!!!!!!


Let me know when you're wrenching next, love to head up and help you out....esp brakes, birf, or engine.

 

[D'Animal]

Any upates? It's been a week already.

 

[DomSmith]

OK Dan, here you go...


I haven't gotten to the rocket launcher in the bed but have made some other progress. I've been a little suspect of my fuel line as it seems to be shedding some gunk into the carb. This week I cleaned out the bowl and there wasn't too much gunk but decided to change the hard line anyways. Here's the final fitment. Works pretty good with the carter but I am looking for a big window Aisin project carb to eventually put back on.

Here's the fuel line:

I also cleaned out the fuel filter and it had a lot of crap in it. I'm thinking I should really consider having the tank professionally cleaned. Got an initial quote of $155 but have since found a guy that does that and pressure tests for $65. Thanks Brett!

I'm going to drive around and get most of the fuel out of the tank before I pull it.