Lucy the LC: 1969 FJ40 Rebuild: Brake Question (2 Viewers)

[Sparkman86]

Settling into the new garage nicely. Loosely assembled everything and flat-towed the LC behind my FJ 5 miles down the road with no issue. Re-disassembled (?) again and made some more progress.

Got the engine back out in the new stand. It's nice trusting it won't tip over on me.

Lowered the front and rear axles, removed the leaf springs and disassembled the tie rods. The pickle fork is definitely your friend on the steering links.

 

[Sparkman86]

The factory Mitsubishi springs were definitely at the end of their life and will be replaced with these shiny, new OME CS001 springs. Just looking at the eye height difference on the floor, I think I'm going to get quite a bit of lift from what I just took off.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to use the Downey rear shackles as they were designed for use in the smaller spring eye. The OME eye does not fit into the shscklw and still allow the pin to pass through. I supposed I could try to notch them out to fit but would rather not for a couple of reasons. The front shackles were mangled by the PO and were rendered useless when I removed so I'll be ordering a full set of shackles for these when I decide on shocks.

Also got my Overland Metric stainless fastener kit in. It was a tough decision to go with stainless over cad plated but I will not be re-plating the specialty bolts and nuts in cad so the stainless won.

 

[65swb45]

As far as spring eye shackle bolt discrepancies, companies like SOR offer bushings in virtually every popular ID/OD combination.

As far as getting perfect width/ bushing shoulder contact, nothing beats Mark’s Off Road adjustable width shackles.

 

[Sparkman86]

As far as spring eye shackle bolt discrepancies, companies like SOR offer bushings in virtually every popular ID/OD combination.

As far as getting perfect width/ bushing shoulder contact, nothing beats Mark’s Off Road adjustable width shackles.

The eye inner diameter is not the issue as I have the proper bushings to adapt to the thinner bolts. It's the outer diameter that is too wide to seat fully in the shackle itself.

I'll have to replace all 4 shackles so I'll keep yours in mind. Thanks for the heads up, Mark!

 

[Drake2]

The tub is in very good shape from what I can tell. There are some rusty places here and there but nothing a little handiwork can't patch.

I discovered the engine is not original to the truck. The frame matches the body number, but the engine is a late '74 F155. At this point, I was unsure of the condition or usability of the engine but I knew the outside looked good and it turned with ease.

The rest of the drive train is original but the transmission was converted to a floor shifter. Still undecided if I want to leave that way or return to a column shifter but I have some time to make up my mind.

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Congrats, that looks like a perfect project to start with! That is impossible to find here in f'n Wisconsin.

 

[Sparkman86]

Slowly making some progress toward getting the frame to the powder coater. PO broke three of the welded nuts on the passenger side front fender mount and one on the driver side while attempting to remove. Instead of trying to weld in more nuts through the small access hole in the frame, I went the route of rivet nuts. I had to open up a couple of the holes just a bit to accept the nut diameter but they installed very cleanly. Put them to the test by torquing down a bolt in each and I'm satisfied.

I chased all of the frame threads with appropriate tap and hand installed threaded rods in each to keep the threads clean during powder coating. I have the bend in the frame under the front tow hook to address and it's off to the shop for sandblasting and powder coating. Just need to find a flat bed trailer to haul it...

 

[Sparkman86]

Got the engine down to head, block and oil pan. Drained the oil and cleaned up some of the crust around the seams to prep for separation.

 

[Sparkman86]

Head is off. Pretty clean but a couple of surprises. PO apparently broke a bolt from the valve rocker assembly and never fixed. Shouldn't be too hard to extract and replace.

Bigger issue is one of the seats (?) is broken in half. Pretty clean break that isn't even noticeable when together. Because the bolt pass through this to secure, I assume I won't have an issue with performance after reassembly but welcome someone else's expertise. I'm sure I could replace the whole rocker but would rather save my money if it's not necessary. Alternatively, I could just replace that piece but it seems it would be impossible to find.

Thoughts here?

 

[Sparkman86]

Trying to decide how to approach the block. Cylinders are in good shape but have some scoring in a couple of places. I'm no expert here so advice is always appreciated.

There is some oxidationin the fourth picture but this is the cylinder with the broken spark plug so water was allowed to get inside.

The second picture is the deeest score in all cylinders. I can feel it when running my finger nail across it.

The third picture shows very light scoring in one cylinder.

The fifth picture shows some strange intentions near the top of the wall. Any idea what this could be?

I do not know the compression on the engine because of the broken plug so I'm really in a pickle. Do I fix the plug, seal it up and then check compression or just assume worst case scenario and have it all redone since it's apart? I want to do it right but also don't want to throw money at something that isn't necessary.

I'll be checking the bore this weekend when I get my hands on a gauge.

 

[White Stripe]

Have you considered having the frame galvanized? Its a more thorough process than powder coating and far cheaper, more durable and will last much longer.

 

[dodored]

The fixes that you mentioned will never be any easier than they are now. It is worth the investment and peace of mind to fix stuff that you know is bad, even if it requires a financial stretch to do it. Ask me how I know

 

[Sparkman86]

Have you considered having the frame galvanized? Its a more thorough process than powder coating and far cheaper, more durable and will last much longer.

I'm actually considering galvanizing and then having powder coated. The powder coat will not cost me anything as I have a family member that runs a PC shop and he said he'd do it for no charge. It seems the galvanization is compatible with the PC and would give me double protection on the frame.

 

[Sparkman86]

The fixes that you mentioned will never be any easier than they are now. It is worth the investment and peace of mind to fix stuff that you know is bad, even if it requires a financial stretch to do it. Ask me how I know

That's really where I'm at now. Although pulling the engine again isn't too big a job on this truck considering the simplicity of everything, the disappointment of getting it all back together and on the road only to find out a shortcut resulted in having to take it apart again would be a real bummer.

 

[Sparkman86]

After over a year since my last post, I'm back with some big updates. Last time I checked in, I couldn't decide if i wanted to rebuild the motor or reassemble and roll the dice. I opted for the former, knowing how bummed I'd be to finally fire it up only to find I had engine issues.

The engine was in overall decent shape, but it definitely needed some love upon closer inspection.The crank shaft had some pretty heavy corrosion from sitting dry for a while. The camshaft was spalled pretty badly on all the lobes and the bearings were a bit worn. The cylinders were in decent shape, but I wasn't sure about the rings or overall compression since I've never seen this thing run.

 

[Sparkman86]

After many recommendations, I took to Metroplex Machine in Mesquite for most of the work. I was originally going to attempt the rebuild myself and began ordering parts, but after doing some in-depth research, I opted for a professional due to some of the intricacies of this engine. Before dropping off, I was able to remove the broken easy-out and spark plug in cylinder #4 which was cause for celebration after some hours of work.

At the shop, I had the crank turned, valves reground (exhaust valves replaced), camshaft replaced, cylinders honed at same .30 over bore, rings replaced, head and block resurfaced and short block reassembled. I now have about as close to a new engine as I can expect to get and feel really great about dropping this back in the truck.

 

[Sparkman86]

With the engine in the shop, I figured I need to get the frame ready to build on. It was already stripped down to bare frame and ready to go.

 

[Sparkman86]

Since I'll be storing the engine for some months before starting up, I want to protect it from oxidation on mating surfaces. I've put some Lucas assembly lube on friction surfaces and covered. Am I ok to put this on the head and block where it was resurfaced or will that interfere with gaskets when i go to reassemble?

I'll probably loosely bolt the head to the block but am not going to torque until its back in the engine. Any tips from others who have rebuilt these motors?

 

[Sparkman86]

Frame is done and ready for pickup. Also had some miscellaneous parts like radiator frame and side step supports coated. Time to get moving on the axles so I can mount them when the frame is back.

 

[Sparkman86]

Started cleaning up the axles yesterday to have something to set the frame on. Drained the diff oil and it looked really good, no sludge or metal that I could see. I don't know much history about this truck but know its had some work done on it in the past. With that in mind, is it worth tearing apart the axle and diff gears for inspection, or is a general once-over good enough before buttoning up? I'm looking for shortcuts that won't kill me down the road since I'm really itching to drive this thing. Is my logic flawed here?

 

[bb67tlc]

You are doing a really thorough job so far, and sounds like you're enjoying the process. I finished a frame off on my 67 last year and luckily did not have to rebuild the engine. The PO (my best friend) had purchased rebuild kits for the axles and I neglected to do them, so I have that little voice in my head saying "I should've done that when it was all apart". You won't have those thoughts.