Lucy the LC: 1970 FJ40 Rebuild

[Sparkman86]

Love what you are doing here! Well done! Live in Rowlett. Not far from ya.

Thanks! First time I've ever worked on an old car and it's been a fun little journey. If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to expand my tool box arsenal.

Rowlett is one of the few places in DFW area I've never visited. I figure there are plenty of FJ40 owners in the area, but I've only seen two in the 8 years I've owned mine.

 

[Sparkman86]

New tires installed.They definitely fill the wheel wells better than the 28's with the OME lift, but still need to settle the rear springs to shift the axle back. Ready to pull the body for the last time and wrap up brakes, fuel hard line, shifting linkages and exhaust.

 

[igotta40]

New tires installed.They definitely fill the wheel wells better than the 28's with the OME lift, but still need to settle the rear springs to shift the axle back. Ready to pull the body for the last time and wrap up brakes, fuel hard line, shifting linkages and exhaust.
View attachment 3848934

View attachment 3848938

Kenda Klever

 

[Sparkman86]

Kenda Klever

Yep. Went with the Klever RT. I hadn't heard much about Kenda tires, but they seem to get pretty good reviews from Landcruiser guys from what I could tell. Time will tell. I dig the narrower 9.5" width though.

 

[igotta40]

Yep. Went with the Klever RT. I hadn't heard much about Kenda tires, but they seem to get pretty good reviews from Landcruiser guys from what I could tell. Time will tell. I dig the narrower 9.5" width though.

I like mine. Kenda is big into bicycle tires. Mine hold air very well. Way better than the BFG Mud Terrain Km2 that I took off.

 

[Sparkman86]

Pulled the tub for the last time to finish undercarriage stuff. Looks badass with the new tires.

Ran new brake line along rear axle and torqued down diff cover. Still need soft lines but replaced the old 9mm tee with the later 10mm version at the axle breather. Fittings at the wheel are still 9mm (which I'll likely regret later) since I already had rebuilt cylinders and won't be adding a booster.

Ran new brake line to rear axle and bent in new 5/16 fuel hard line to replace the old, stiff soft hose. Used my fancy new hydraulic flare tool to bead the end of the fuel lines. Since the original fuel hose ran through the frame past the motor mount, I had to route underneath so it didn't interfere with the brake line. I added a clamp to keep it from moving forward/backward on the frame. I didnt know until the tub was back on but my rear fuel line angle in these pics is not sharp enough and will hit the body once the hose is on. I'll have to take the line back off and bend a little more. Happy with the result though.

Also installed my transfer H/L shifter linkage that can't be accessed with the tub in place and heated onto the 4WD sensor some heavy duty heat-shrink tube left over from the e-brake cable.

 

[Sparkman86]

When the header was installed, the exhaust hangers were replaced with some cheap weld-on tabs and just dangled from the body. The pipe from collector to muffler was 10-12" too long and the tailpipe banged into the rear shackles after the spring upgrade.

I cut out a good portion of this dented section and joined it back with a repair sleeve. I sourced original hanger brackets from a cruiser salvage, grinded off the cheap hangars, and the result is a near perfect exhaust alignment. I was worried the angled pipe wouldn't orient correctly but it worked out great. Primered, painted, and semi-gloss cleared with VHT Flame Proof paint after wirewheeling rust with an angle grinder and then degreasing. We'll see how this paint holds up.

Went through a final check of torque settings on everything I could reach, staged new Energy Suspension bushings and prepped to drop the body back on.

 

[Sparkman86]

It looks like a truck again! Loosely fitted the body to the frame. Alignment was kinda wonky before I started tearing it down, and it didn't line up perfectly when reassembling. I had to muscle the drivers side cowl out a bit and loosen/tighten body bolts a few times to get it right but it's pretty close.

There is a bigger gap between the hood and apron on the driver's side than on the passenger's side. I'm not sure I can do anything about that without throwing some else out of whack though.

Loosely installed the steering rods and center arm. It's nice having front tires move in the same direction.

I tightened everything down (hopefully for the last time) and threw the seats, fuel tank and roll bar in to finally clear up some floor space. It's starting to get exciting!

 

[65swb45]

It looks like a truck again! Loosely fitted the body to the frame. Alignment was kinda wonky before I started tearing it down, and it didn't line up perfectly when reassembling. I had to muscle the drivers side cowl out a bit and loosen/tighten body bolts a few times to get it right but it's pretty close.
View attachment 3976330
There is a bigger gap between the hood and apron on the driver's side than on the passenger's side. I'm not sure I can do anything about that without throwing some else out of whack though.
View attachment 3976333
Loosely installed the steering rods and center arm. It's nice having front tires move in the same direction.
View attachment 3976335
I tightened everything down (hopefully for the last time) and threw the seats, fuel tank and roll bar in to finally clear up some floor space. It's starting to get exciting!
View attachment 3976338

This is the part where sleep deprivation kicks in. You turn in for a normal night, but when your bladder wakes you up in the middle of the night, you start thinking about the next sequence in the build, and sleep goes out the window!

 

[Sparkman86]

This is the part where sleep deprivation kicks in. You turn in for a normal night, but when your bladder wakes you up in the middle of the night, you start thinking about the next sequence in the build, and sleep goes out the window!

I know exactly what you mean. My west-facing garage door gets no afternoon shade and heats up to 120 degrees in the dog days of summer. Now that my son is back to school and waking up at 5a for band, I find myself in the garage to squeeze in an hour of tinkering before work starts. I'm determined to get this on the road this year. We'll see.

 

[peesalot]

Them Toyota shackles on the rear are SWEET.

 

[65swb45]

Them Toyota shackles on the rear are SWEET.

I missed that John! Thanks for pointing them out. Pretty rare to see those.

 

[Sparkman86]

Them Toyota shackles on the rear are SWEET.

I dig 'em. One of the threaded holes had some galling due to the aluminum casting and steel bolt, so the threads got pretty mangled when taking off the old springs. Glad I was able to clean it up with a tap and find a replacement bolt for it. Had to slightly modify them so they'd clear the larger OME spring eyes, but nothing too intrusive.

 

[Sparkman86]

Added in the pedals, steering column and shifter assembly.

The column shift rod end for the gear shifter is millimeters away from the exhaust header when in 1st / 3rd gear. It isn't touching, but I'm worried the radiant heat will melt the boot. The linkage that is causing this can't be shortened since it's the fixed length one. I'll try to add some shielding, but it's so close I don't think it will fit without touching the boot.

I got a suggestion to move the linkage mounting hole on the L-arm, but not sure I want to start grinding and drilling on it. I saw another post where someone custom-made a new adjustable version of the "fixed-length" linkage with some steel rod and threaded ends. I might go that route, but it's pricey and I don't have a tool to bend the rod.

 

[65swb45]

What do you think would happen if you simply bent the arm away from the header?

Disconnect the links and move the arm through its predictable range of motion. Then try and reimagine it with the arm bent.

 

[Sparkman86]

What do you think would happen if you simply bent the arm away from the header?

Disconnect the links and move the arm through its predictable range of motion. Then try and reimagine it with the arm bent.

So simple, but probably the way to go. You mean bend it sideways away from the collector?

 

[Sparkman86]

I had 1 complete turn signal and 3 broken / partials. I was able to piece together a second complete unit from the parts. I didn't have the grey paint so just painted the housing black. Plated the mounts and used a pair of new gaskets that came in a box of parts with the truck. A pile of body fasteners and the mounting hardware for the front end got some TLC and fresh plating.

Cleaned up the parking lamps and added some heat shrink to seal them since my boots were long gone.

Cleaned up the headlight housings and bench-tested everything.

 

[Sparkman86]

Cleaned up and painted the Smittybilt rollbar supports and rear seat adapters.

I noticed the original sticker decal on the bar. Pretty cool. Haven't decided if I want to powder coat the bar to match the clean frame or leave it weathered to match the body. It's in good shape without any cancerous rust so I'll leave it for now. Easy enough to take on and off.

Blasted and painted the rear license plate holder I got from a rust bucket donor truck. The light is about done for and is missing the lens. I'll probably end up replacing it but for now it will go on with some silicone to seal up the holes.

Installed the rear seats and bar with new stainless fasteners. These original seat covers are in great condition. I finally get to install the antique plates I scored a couple of years ago. Not sure I'll be able to register these since my title says 1970 though. New brake lights and rear reflectors.

 

[Sparkman86]

Brake master is next. A new 72-74 master for all drum brakes was stupid expensive so this one gets a rebuild. Getting the piston out of the end of the bore was the hardest part of this job. It was really crusted in there. I soaked it in brake fluid overnight and banged it on a block of wood until it finally loosened up and started sliding out. The bore looks good after running a hone through it.

Got a new rebuild kit but had to reuse some parts. One of my residual valves had a weird indent in it that probably wasn't regulating backflow properly. I was hopeful the rebuild kit would come with it but it appears they don't anymore. I rotated it 45* so the indent is between holes and that seemed to do the trick. I purchased a Taiwanese NSC brand master new-in-box on ebay for a backup and it didn't even have valves in it so I'm not sure how critical these are to brake operation.

I didn't like the laser etched jtoutfitters website advertisement on their firewall adapter so I filed that down, sandblasted the new aluminum shine away and painted it red to blend in. Installed alongside my rebuilt clutch. I would like to add a boot around the push rod but couldn't figure out a way to attach one since the groove is in the booster that I'm not using. Just need to run lines now!

 

[65swb45]

I offer a more compact, all steel version of the master cylinder adapter that actually fits inside the firewall rib. No logos to grind off either. I just don’t seem to be doing a good job of marketing myself.