Builds Marion Rising: 1974 FJ40 FST

[MadMace]

Now that I am having to pull the break shoes, springs, and wheel cylinders out I figured that I will pull the brake backing plate off so that I can get it and the knuckle housing real clean. Also figure I'll take the brake backing plate to the powder coater as it has lost most of its paint.

I have a couple of questions as I get to this step. The FSM says to plug the inlet of the master cylinder reservoir. How does one do this? Is there a certain sized plug I should buy? I'd like to find some way to do this or some other alternative as I don't want brake fluid going all over the place.

The second question is how do I know if I need a knuckle rebuild? I really do not want to do one unless I really need to. Although I like to tinker and get my hands dirty, a knuckle rebuild seems to be a different animal.

We all love pictures, so figured I'd put in some before and after of the steering arm and knuckle housing cleaning. Dirty, dirty job.

And yes, those rubber break hoses seen in the pictures will be replaced.

 

[FJ40Jim]

To "plug" the MC, depress & hold the pedal. This will close the transfer ports in the MC, preventing any fluid from going into MC.

 

[Jdc1]

Now that I am having to pull the break shoes, springs, and wheel cylinders out I figured that I will pull the brake backing plate off so that I can get it and the knuckle housing real clean. Also figure I'll take the brake backing plate to the powder coater as it has lost most of its paint.

I have a couple of questions as I get to this step. The FSM says to plug the inlet of the master cylinder reservoir. How does one do this? Is there a certain sized plug I should buy? I'd like to find some way to do this or some other alternative as I don't want brake fluid going all over the place.

The second question is how do I know if I need a knuckle rebuild? I really do not want to do one unless I really need to. Although I like to tinker and get my hands dirty, a knuckle rebuild seems to be a different animal.

We all love pictures, so figured I'd put in some before and after of the steering arm and knuckle housing cleaning. Dirty, dirty job.

And yes, those rubber break hoses seen in the pictures will be replaced.

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Don’t be afraid of the knuckle rebuild. As long as you keep track of your shims, the FSM will walk you through it. I found it pretty straight forward and not much harder than doing the wheel bearings on a trailer.

 

[MadMace]

To "plug" the MC, depress & hold the pedal. This will close the transfer ports in the MC, preventing any fluid from going into MC.

Ahhh, I see. Thanks Jim. As always, much appreciated.

 

[MadMace]

Don’t be afraid of the knuckle rebuild. As long as you keep track of your shims, the FSM will walk you through it. I found it pretty straight forward and not much harder than doing the wheel bearings on a trailer.

I probably should just get it done. I’ve found that between good study/prep, the FSM, and all the support on this forum I’ve been able to complete jobs on my 40 that a year ago I wouldn’t have even thought about doing.

 

[MadMace]

Center arm rebuild completed today, about as straightforward as they come. I have a feeling that the brakes are not going to be as easy. I was thrown off a little bit after we completed it because it is much stiffer now compared to how it was. A good indication (I would venture to guess) that it needed to be rebuilt.

Greasy job. Great helper.

Mounted back on, ready to go. We thoroughly cleaned the housing prior to rebuild then thought about powder coating or painting it. Ultimately decided to coat it with Ospho and call it good--fits the overall patina look we are going for.

 

[MadMace]

Being that the cylinder head is off, is it worthwhile to make marks on the flywheel where TDC is for the different pistons? It would be pretty easy to use a paint pen to make those marks and, of course, very easy to see when the different pistons were at TDC.

 

[thebigredrocker]

You should have a BB that is pressed into the flywheel to mark 7°. The flywheel rotates clockwise, so I think the line that follows the BB is 0° TDC. I've found having a little paint on the mark to be helpful.

 

[MadMace]

Warn hub cleaning started today. Quick "thank you" to @Biscuit for his Warn Hub Rebuild thread. The information in this thread made it much, much easier.

As a quick aside, I was reminded how powerful our sense of smell is in linking us to certain memories. We spend quite a bit of time in southern California. One of the places we visit frequently is the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, staying over night on the ship almost every time we visit. One of my favorite parts of the ship is the HUGE engine room that smells of old grease and oil. The grease that I was cleaning out of this hub had a smell that quickly took me back to the fun times we have had walking through that ships engine room. Good times, good times!!

Completely slathered in grease

Anatomy

I included this photo to show where the pin is located. This pin has to be pulled to get the locking mechanism off.

 

[MadMace]

Saw something interesting today as I got the hub off and pulled the inner and outer wheel bearings to remove and inspect them.

The wheel bearings and races look in great shape. I had anticipated that the bearings would need to be replaced so I ordered a set from Cruiser Outfitters. After seeing and degreasing them, I am not so sure they need to be replaced.

The bearings that were on Marion are Koyo, as are the ones from Cruiser Outfitters. Same part number 26882 (inner wheel bearing) but some subtle differences. The old one has 17 bearings, the new one has 19 bearings. Also, the inner ring on the old one is a little wider than on the new one. Overall size is the same, of course--they fit within the race exactly the same.

Is there an advantage to using the one with more bearings, other than it is new? I don't want to install the new ones just because they are new. In other words, if the ones that were on are in great shape, I would just-as-soon put them back on and save the new ones for when they are needed.

 

[MadMace]

Hub reassembly. Everything got a coating of Lucus Red N’ Tachy Grease.

 

[MadMace]

A few more pics...


Re-assembled with light coating of grease and new paper gasket. Could not track down a new Warn paper gasket so used an Aisin one--fit pretty well. Notice the pin was placed in same holes it was in prior to disassembly.

Cleaned housing with cleaned gear installed. Also with light coating of grease.

Backside of housing, showing snap ring holding gear in place.

All done. One down, one to go!

 

[MadMace]

Got the brake backing plate off the drivers side. Area on the knuckle housing that was covered by the backing plate was pretty crusty. So is the backing plate itself. Plan is to get the backing plates sand blasted and powder coated. Going to go with powder coating to protect against peeling when brake fluid gets on them.

 

[MadMace]

Cleaned with Super Clean, steam cleaner, and scraper. After cleaning, applied Ospho. Allowed that to work for 6 hours or so then a rubbed in coating of Calyx.

 

[MadMace]

Quick question, if anybody knows. Are these safety wires (pictured below) brass?

 

[MoCoNative]

I can't remember what the orginal safety wire was. I do remember the first time I opened up my original safety wired spindle bolts, looked just like yours, a perfect circle. I have never been able to reproduce that from the factory. I always torque them down to spec and then try to thread a wire through them. I don't know how the factory got them to align so nicely. Maybe its okay to turn them some more to make it happen, but they are not large bolts, so I never wanted to snap one.

I have been using a similar diameter galvanized wire that I picked up in a small roll at the hardware store long ago. Only been back in the knuckles on my 73 one time in 20 years, they needed it, but the miles weren't that much. The original trunnion/knuckle bearings had some pretty bad straight ahead divets in them. Truck turns better now, but wanders more, sometimes I miss the rock solid straight down the highway tracking.

On that note, the replacement bearings are not quite the same for the trunnion bearings, I had to add some shims, the orignals were slightly shorter than the replacements, and I don't think they can be obtained any longer.

 

[Steamer]

Hey Dean, any updates on how the head is coming along?

 

[MadMace]

Hi John. Hope all is well with you.

No update yet. It is still with FJ40Jim in Ohio. He told me it was going to be a little longer because it is racing season. As soon as I get it, I will definitely be posting an update.

 

[MadMace]

Currently slow going on Marion. Between work, having a daughter that just graduated high school and getting her ready to go to college, and a make-ready on a rental that has turned more into a renovation, time for Marion has been scarce.

Was able to steal away for an hour today and while cleaning off some of the grease on the front leaf spring, I came across a faint Mitsubishi symbol. In researching, looks like Mitsubishi was the manufacturer/supplier for the stock leaf spring on these FJ40s. Probably not new news to most of you, just thought it was pretty cool.

I've also got the backing plates all painted and re-assembled with the wheel cylinders and brake shoes. Will post those pictures later tonight (hopefully).

 

[Grouchy]

Those knuckles look amazing! Can you share what steam cleaner you are using? Great work! Very inspiring build!