Builds Marion Rising: 1974 FJ40 FST

[MadMace]

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

Hey Grouchy. Thanks for the compliment!! The steamer has been awesome. It is the McCulloch MC1375–got it on Amazon. I have used it ALOT and it is still running strong. I only use distilled water in it, keeps the mineral build up down.

Here’s a link. McCulloch MC1375.

 

[MadMace]

It is amazing how fast time goes by--I just realized that I have not posted in almost 4 months. The fall, especially October, is my favorite time of year as it starts to cool off and I can get out and not bake-to-death in the garage. This year, not so much. From almost losing my Dad and being in the hospital with him for a week and suddenly losing my Dad-in-Law a few weeks ago, it has kind of sucked. It is very nice though to be able to steal away here and there to work on Marion. I am sure most of you would agree, working on these beautiful machines is a great way to shed some stress.

I had shipped Marion's cylinder head and manifold assembly to @FJ40Jim to be rebuilt in the early summer. I received it back in early September and they were even more awesome than I expected them to be. As most of you know, Jim's knowledge and skill is incredible.

Jim shipped it back in the crate I made for it and it to him in. Held up well.

Head snuggled in like a bug-in-a-rug

Ta-DAAA--some Fj40Jim magic. You can go back a few pages and see what the head looked like before. Quite an improvement.

Manifold assembly, ready to be bolted onto the head.

 

[MadMace]

We have been working on getting the knuckles cleaned up and front brakes back on. We pulled the backing plates off, got them cleaned up and painted. I ordered some OEM Toyota brake shoes from Sonny at FJparts.com--great, great guy. Ordered new brake cylinders from Cruiser Outfitters (also great people). Got them put together and back on. My OCD kicked into overdrive with the safety wire--I needed it to be as round a possible. Came out pretty good.

I then realized that there was room to run a second safety wire through so I went ahead and doubled it up. No doubt overkill but figured it couldn't hurt. Was actually kind of fun. I then put some Red N' Tacky grease on the spindle in preparation for the hub.

 

[MadMace]

Time to get the hub back on. My son and I got to use a bearing packer for the first time--great times!! BTW, when I saw this picture of my son I realized how much he has grown compared to the pictures when we started. It sucks how fast time goes by. They get too big too quick (now I sound like my parents--sheesh!!)

We realized that light pressure wasn't going to get the grease into the bearings.

Put your back into it!!!

Pretty cool.

 

[MadMace]

Hub reassembled and back on. Also got some new brake hoses.

New axle-to-backing plate brake hoses put on

 

[MadMace]

Warn hubs that we refreshed back on. Next up--brake bleeding--wooohooo!!! These picture show the original drums. I decided to replace them with new OEM drums that I ordered through FJparts.com. My understanding from reading is that when new shoes are put on, the drums should be turned. I was going to turn these drums but they said they were getting too close to the limit. Figured the best, and safest, thing to do is put on new drums. They are coming in Friday or Monday.

 

[Grouchy]

I just did the same front end work. Stops straight and true now.

 

[MadMace]

I just did the same front end work. Stops straight and true now.

Hey Grouchy! Looks great. I like your shocks more than mine. Where did you get them?

P.S. did you pick up one of those steam cleaners you asked about previously?

 

[Grouchy]

Hi @MadMace
I went with OEM offerings through Cruiser Corps. Trying to stick with OEM where ever I can (brake lines specifically). The shocks are OEM and bolted up without issue. If you need a socket to torque that axle nut, I can loan you mine. I had to mod a Suzuki one.

 

[Grouchy]

@MadMace oh and I did go with the McCulloch steam cleaner. That and the de-greaser you recommended worked like a charm.... well that and blood, sweat and tears. A good stiff nylon brush and hours...

The crusiser corps tie rod ends were not what I was hoping for. I ended up finding OEM ones via Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Toyota Parts and Accessories Online

 

[MadMace]

So today is the day. After a lot of reading, planning, and stressing the head/manifold assembly will be placed back on the block. I know for most of you, this is not an anxiety provoking activity. For me, however, never having done it before and the sheer weight of this makes me nervous.
I have posted some pictures and have a couple of quick questions. Is there anything you see about the setup that is not a good idea or could be done better/safer? Any pointers/words of wisdom? I will be proceeding later today when my son returns from a get-together with a friend of his. This is a big step in getting Marion back on the road and I want him to be a part of it.

 

[Steamer]

Looks safe to me. Only thing I can think of (and I'm sure you're aware) is to make sure the oil hole in the gasket matches the oil hole in the block and head. Looking good!

 

[MadMace]

Thank you for the "Likes" and @Steamer for the input. I always feel much better when people with more experience have laid eyes on what I've got set up to make sure I am not making myself a candidate for a Darwin Award.

Went much smoother and easier than I thought it would. My son operated the hoist like a champ. His ability to quickly adjust the rate of descent of the head/manifold assembly so that I could line the head up on the block was impressive. @FJ40Jim told me that I'd know when it was set properly because I'd feel a "clunk" as it set into place. That was exactly what it felt like.

The surprising event for me was how much I had to work some of the head bolts in and out to get them screwing in with little effort. I made sure that all the bolts went back into the holes that they were in originally. I figured it was important to get the bolts going in and out smoothly before any torquing as I want to make sure that the torque I am applying is going to tightening the bolt and not fighting corrosion/grime in the threads. Some went in on the first pass able to finger tighten all the way down. Others had to be soaked in Kroil, turned until there was resistance, then removed and cleaned then repeat. For some of the bolts, this had to be repeated 5-10 times to get them going in smoothly.

Couple of pics of the fun we had...

Gasket on, ready to go!!

We did a some practice runs lifting the head/mainfold off the crate and setting it back down again. I wanted to do a couple more but my son said "Dad, we've got this. You just guide it and I'll lower it slowly". He was right, worked perfectly.

I'm guiding, he's controlling descent.

We made a little "key" out of an old socket so he could easily turn the valve.

SUCCESS!! The small wins can be the biggest ones of all. I think I embarrass my son sometimes. While I was really excited, he acted like he had been there before--almost like "what else did you expect". I admire his calm, cool demeanor--he's like his Mom.

Quick shout out again to @FJ40Jim. I thought it looked good when it I got it back--looks even better now that it's back in place. He does GREAT work.

 

[Steamer]

Good job! And ya got great help.

 

[MadMace]

The time draws near. We have long been waiting to fire Marion up again since taking her head off and sending it to FJ40Jim. Today, we got a lot done. We torqued down the head bolts, cleaned the rocker arm assembly, got it bolted back on. Carb is on. Adjusted the valves (had to do cold) per the FSM recommendations.

My question is, can we try and start her now? We do not yet have the cooling system (T-Stat housing, T-Stat, etc), water temp sensors, or heater T fitting hooked up yet. Of course, she's got oil.

Couple of quick picks:

Torquing head bolts, telling jokes, and laughing...impossible for a Saturday to be any better.

We numbered the head bolts with a gold Sharpie as listed in the FSM to make sure we torqued then in order. Got to 85 ft-lbs after 5-6 rounds.

 

[65swb45]

Why would you want to start it without coolant?

 

[MadMace]

Why would you want to start it without coolant?

Hi Mark. For lack of a better reason, impatience. I don't intend to do any driving around, or even run her for long. More to see if what we've got hooked up/bolted down is ship-shape and ready to run.

I concede that it wouldn't take much longer to get the cooling system all hooked up--it just seems like I have filled up and drained the coolant so many times that I'd like to make sure the mechanical side of the engine is running well before hand.

 

[thebigredrocker]

Get some video

 

[MadMace]

Get some video

You read my mind. I just got done asking my wife if she could shoot a video of the start-up. I know I always love seeing the videos on this forum of people starting a truck that's been dormant for years or following an engine rebuild. Her response--she just hopes there won't be to many words she has to bleep out if it doesn't start as planned. She knows me well after 21 years of marriage.

 

[65swb45]

You read my mind. I just got done asking my wife if she could shoot a video of the start-up. I know I always love seeing the videos on this forum of people starting a truck that's been dormant for years or following an engine rebuild. Her response--she just hopes there won't be to many words she has to bleep out if it doesn't start as planned. She knows me well after 21 years of marriage.

Whiskey
Tango
Foxtrot
!!!!