Builds Love Bug, the Land Cruiser and me... (1 Viewer)

[Jdc1]

So I was looking into the radiator leak today. I thought there was an issue with the cap as it was 7 lbs and most I had seen were 13 lbs. I replaced it and the leak got worse. I topped off the rad started it and decided to just squeeze the top hose... water squirted out in the middle of top tank... Love Bug was surprised... Nearest rad shop is 35 miles and wants $360 to re-core.

Gratuitous pic...

View attachment 2313169

Just like the fuel tank, it’s cheaper to buy new from Toyota. I live in the land of the Big 3, when I call for things like radiator repair I usually say it’s for an old Jeep and get a lot better of a price than for a Toyota.

Roger at City Racer has the radiators or you should have luck with the local dealer.

OEM 2F Radiator for Land Cruiser FJ40

Toyota OEM radiator. Fits all years of Land Cruiser FJ40 with 2F egine and without factory A/C. 4 core. Includes radiator cap and drain plug extension. Shipping notes: Due to Toyota factory packing being insufficient for transport, the factory box will be repacked by us with additional...

www.cityracerllc.com

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Today I am the pigeon, not the statue! Got a note from the PO to check the box of parts that came with the rig... Nothing in the box but I had it in the back for a few months before pulling it out... It had tipped over. Found the reclusive bracket in the space between & under the seats!

Now to find a good welder... I suck at welding and sold m welder about 6 months before I got the LC, foolishly thinking (or not) that I wouldn't get anther LC!

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Anyone know the length of the sleeve that is supposed to be here so the bracket doesn't pull off again? This other side is looking like it is pulling...

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Serendipity plays a funny roll in my life. I see it from time to time and even more so with a Cruiser it seems... I just roll with it now... Maybe this is the Cruiser Karma I have heard about but I have to admit, I seem to be on the receiving end of it a lot.

To make a short story longer than it likely needs to be; for the first time since we brought the LC home, it will be "Out of Service". The radiator is leaking too badly to continue. Budget is TIGHT right now... One of my skill sets is the ability to fix sewing machines and quilting machines. I used to do some part time work on nights and weekends for a couple of years. The wife's long arm quilter has been headed south and I ordered up some parts. I get the machine fixed and she said to go ahead and order the rad... COOL!

I get it ordered and I get a message from another cruiser guy that is interested in my cluster... it's the ugly one that belongs in an SBC... Just so happens the guy that is interested has an SBC and wants to work out a trade. I am so down. I have a gen 2 cluster that has been waiting to go in, I just needed to order the temp & oil pressure senders to do it. I might need a different speedo cable as this one has a threaded end. The rig is down so why not? right? So Love Bug and I get to pulling the cluster and the senders.

I get a little free time and take a 3/8" clevis pin, chuck it in my drill press and go after it with a file. I thread one of the holes, grab a spring and not the rear latch works too! Once I get the seals on, the rattle from the back should be manageable.

We do have a few wires to figure out though... Pics attached..

 

[Toyo_Judson]

The wires...

 

[Toyo_Judson]

The Love Bug holding a flashlight...

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Yellow-Black is oil pressure, but can't find it on the engine side yet...
Yellow-Green is water temp and it goes to where the water temp sensor should be... has female spade on it
Green-Yellow doesn't make sense per the one drawing I have... says RT turn indicators, but those mostly worked without this being connected... so there's either another wire for that or???

One thing on this rig it that is has a temperature dependent right turn signal... Doesn't work when cold out, becomes intermittent when engine warms but works when the temp is above 58ish* outside. I believe(d) it is/was due to the LED rear lights not pulling enough current to heat the flasher (thinking bi-metalic type) We'l find out as we have some new ones to go in from Toyota!

And of course, the required pics...

 

[thebigredrocker]

Sleeve length from a trusted source

40mm.

more windshield spacer sleeve info

What is the correct length on a 1976 Windshield

What is the correct length of the spacer used behind the big hand nut used to hold the windshield up on a 1976 FJ40? Thanks

forum.ih8mud.com

Windshield Catch Handle Tube Alternative

I was looking for a replacement for the windshield catch handle tube (a.k.a. windshield knob sleeve or spacer), part number 90440-17057, and found this at Lowe's. These seem to be NLA from Toyota, and NOS examples were difficult to find and expensive when I found them. From what I've read, the...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Toyo_Judson]

@thebigredrocker Thanks man!

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Got word the new radiator would be shipping today, so I reached over and hit that

And "poof" it was out...

Thinking about sanding & letting Love Bug do some rattle-canning on the shroud while it's accessible...

The fan looks to be in good shape

 

[mrboatman]

You may want to change that fan out to a plastic fan. The old metal fans would crack and come apart and destroy your new radiator. @65swb45 sells a kit I think or has what you need.
JP

 

[Toyo_Judson]

You may want to change that fan out to a plastic fan. The old metal fans would crack and come apart and destroy your new radiator. @65swb45 sells a kit I think or has what you need.
JP

I'll have to wait on that as my budget is squeaking it's so tight... Maybe next month I can get that. There's a pile of things I want/need from Mark but just trying to keep this running on a shoe string budget. It looks good right now and will change it before summer ends. We have fishing to do next weekend so just want to button it up and hit a lake or two.

Mark is a pretty awesome guy and shares a lot of knowledge here. I haven't purchased anything from him yet, but look forward to becoming one of "his" customers.

Things on the want/ need list:
Spacer & Fan - need
Spacer & dual brake MC - want but may turn into a need. Will likely rebuild brake system I'm good with drums but really like the idea of a single brake cyl not taking us out coming home downhill...
Maybe rebuild a carb I have... I'd really like to ditch this Weber 44... (yes it's a 44!) - want

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Big things this week... Love Bug rode a bike with no training wheels! She has had zero interest in doing so... she was over at a friend's house last night and had it down within 15 minutes! Some peer pressure is a good thing. She rode for like 2 hours, well into the night... She's wore out today but got a bit of help sanding the fan shroud for a light coat of rattle can. While I was at it, I took the opportunity to figure out the issue with the rear heater fan... non-op since purchase. Took it apart for a good cleaning and the motor was stuck a bit. Cleaned it up and had a little lesson on electricity. I had her connect the plug in the low and high speed settings for the fan... she thought it was cool! All this was going on while I was smoking some small hams we'd butchered last weekend.

A thread is nothing without pics...

 

[Toyo_Judson]

So I found the yellow-black wire for the oil pressure sender behind the steering column (engine bay). It took a bit as what appeared to be 2 yellow-black wires went nowhere... yellowed-white-black maybe?

No idea what is going on here. White-green (horn) to yellow-red?:

Hope to button up the radiator replacement today or tomorrow. Going through the little bit of loom that I have, wiring will become a need. I can see wear through and cracking of insulation in places. If I can get the supplies, I'd like to roll my own. I've built & rebuilt aircraft looms (from sailplanes to jets) and an old school camera booth before. I'm not taking this one out to do it though, so we'll need measurements. I know @Coolerman builds these but with his workload, it'd be a while before he'd have the chance to get to it. I'll get what supplies I can from him, when the time comes. Could be a cool winter project for Love Bug and I.

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Radiator didn't ship well, but if it hold coolant, then it's an improvement. Buttoned up the re-cluster and gauges all have deflection, besides the oil pressure; need to refill oil and the coolant before running tonight.

Love Bug turning a wrench with the temp sender

Cluster

 

[Toyo_Judson]

As silly as it may sound, I am considering going back to the column shifter if I can source parts easy enough... . I've driven one a couple of times and it'd be neat to go back to with the 3 speed... We're not going to wheel this thing much where the floor shifter is a hug advantage. I'd like to fill the hole in the trans tunnel too. I have no idea of what the linkage looks like....

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Does anyone have any type of procedure for calibrating (even roughly) a stock water temp gauge? I know mine is off, but just a general guideline would be helpful. My best guess would be to boil water and soak the temp gauge in it, pull the needle and set it to the H or the mark just before it... I do have a background in metrology and soldering to NASA standards beneath a microscope when I was in the Navy, I've just not had the opportunity to mess with Toyota gauges before now.

 

[Toyo_Judson]

Ok, so the older temp sender doesn't just give a resistance reading for a given temp.
I heated water to 3 different temps to mimic the data Rudi had posted in the awesome cluster thread. What happened is that the resistance would "peak" then come back down to the ohmic value that it was at ambient.
For example: At room temp, 72°f, the resistance was about 38. 3 ohms. I heated water to 140°f and dunked the sender.... It would sound up to 39.7 ohms briefly, but after 20ish seconds, it would come back down to 38.3 ohms. I tried it again at 200°f and it spiked to 41.5 ohms, then returned to 38.3 ohms. Just for kicks, I swapped the polarity and it read 36.6 ohms... Do there appears to be an impedance/RC type of component to it. I have an old temp gauge from a '64 that I can play with. I can source mA, resistance and such, but not a sine wave. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this part as i have deflection and driving for 15 minutes the gauge showed middle range.

Both the Cruiser and the Love Bug got a bath... "Dad, can I throw the bucket of soapy water at the Land Cruiser?" "Sure" I replied, knowing full well the possible results of what throwing water at a mostly flat surface... Some level of physics may have been learned.
Results:

 

[mrboatman]

At 160 degs my needle is at the first mark at 180 degs it is at the right hand side of the first mark. I have another sending unit for the sniper unit which displays the temps in a digital display.

 

[Toyo_Judson]

At 160 degs my needle is at the first mark at 180 degs it is at the right hand side of the first mark. I have another sending unit for the sniper unit which displays the temps in a digital display.

Thanks! We did a ”shakedown cruise” today to the shooting range. It was 89*f outside and the water temp ran right in-between the goal posts (center two hash marks) running 55-60 mph for over half of the drive. Only 35 miles round trip, but everything felt good. I know I need to address the carb at some point, but for now we're pretty happy. The speedometer is impressively accurate compared to GPS.