Luke's FJ40 build thread

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You sure it was the exhaust manifold and not the intake manifold that is made of aluminum? If it is the intake manifold (which mine had a great big crack in it also), I found a guy in Woodland park that patched mine up with his tig and also welded my stainless steel shield plate for about 60 bucks. I found him in Craig's list.
 
You sure it was the exhaust manifold and not the intake manifold that is made of aluminum?

Yup. :)
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Here it was just before I pulled it in the garage and tore everything apart. Weird seeing these pics, I rebuilt the engine in that gray Toyota for a guy that just died in a motorcycle wreck a couple weeks ago....anyway -- The outside is unchanged, I think it will most likely stay that way. I like it just the way it is. Lift kit should be here next week sometime, wheels are in limbo at the powder coat place, tires are here waiting. Just got back from Autozone with all kinds of goodies...Time to get to work!
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wow, it is the exhaust manifold!!!!!...that does not happen very often....I would check your intake also, right where the carb goes...mine had a big crack from the heat produced from exhaust....well...exhaust manifolds are pretty easy to find...there were a bunch of them at the swap-fest Rising Sun had last year...
 
So I checked the heat riser today, hit it with a torch for a second, nothing happened. Then I tapped it with a screwdriver and it snapped open. Doesn't seem very reliable to me. I guess the screwdriver tap could be simulated by road shock or bumps. :meh: I guess I'll leave the thing alone and check on it once in a while.

I went ahead and put the manifold in my giant vice and heated, cranked, heated, cranked, and heated until the crack closed up. Then I grooved it out with a grinder, heated it red with a oxy/actetylene torch, and threw a weld on it. Letting it stay in the vice until it cools. I just don't see why this won't hold.
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Looks to be in pretty good shape, what kind of paint was used on it?
Don't mean to offend you here, is that a primer? Or a one stage paint of some kind?

Pretty cool though, reminds me I need to buy a welder!!!
 
IT LIVES!!!! HAHAHA! Got the last little bits together tonight, pretty much an all new everything under the hood -- Messed with the timing forever getting it just right, Put water in it, turned the key and hoped for the best -- Then nothing.... puff.... puff.... puff..... DOH'..... Pull the choke stupid...... boom! fired right up! Purrs like a sewing machine, not even so much as a miss. I'm happy, very very happy.
 
That is freaking awesome buddy!!:clap: Time to get it out.:steer:
 
Good job Luke, now you can get your ham license and get a rig for it...just to bring it into the 21st century that is...or do you still want fuel injection?!:flipoff2:
 
Took the old dog up in the mountains today and played around with it a while. Old girl never skipped a beat. Temp stayed solid, always started right up, low range chugged right along. It's a really fun rig to drive, makes a lot of noise with the window channels missing the felt, and the E-brake doesn't work, but those are next on the list. :)
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I see you are continuing the tricycle theme. Looks great, now I have to get me one!!
 
Got my new State Park plates today! Woot whoot! :D I like these because they're different and for a good cause. I was struggling with getting these or collector plates, but as it so happens, you can't get collector plates now unless your vehicle was built before 1975. Age is no longer a factor. So if you were waiting for your vehicle to turn 25 to get cheap plates....you're screwed.
 
FJ40 window channel material...

Way to go Luke! I am way partial to FJ40's, you know "drive the original, drive a classic FJ40." I went through the rattling windows, and found a place on Fillmore west of I25, about half way up the hill that has all kinds of piece parts for windows and stuff. Measure the width and depth of the channel, and the width of the glass, (1/4"), then stop by and get 2 8' pieces and it makes a magical difference. If you have a JCWhittney catalog, they have a table that has the cross section sizes of all the popular channel. It sure worked for ole "Rusty White". BTW, I'm still in Grand Junction, so maybe someone will have a name for the shop on Fillmore for you.
 
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