Builds Marion Rising: 1974 FJ40 FST

[FJ40Jim]

Where did the new HG come from?

 

[MadMace]

Where did the new HG come from?

Hi Jim,

I bought it from Mark's Off Road.

 

[FJ40Jim]

What brand is it? Is it gen you wine Toyota? what is the PN?

 

[MadMace]

What brand is it? Is it gen you wine Toyota? what is the PN?

Not sure of the PN--or if it is genuine Toyota. I contacted @65swb45 for a HG for a 1974 F155 and this is the HG that came with the gasket kit I purchased from him. I tried to call him today, normally I can leave a voicemail but phone just rang.

 

[MadMace]

Happy Easter!!

Busy weekend. Marion has been at my local Land Cruiser shop getting her head pulled. We had to load her back up and bring her home until we get the head back. Loading her on and off a U-Haul auto transporter and getting her back into the garage without a running engine was an adventure. Thank goodness for our little Kubota tractor--made a great Tug!!

We've been prepping the head for shipping. Link here.

 

[MadMace]

As some of you might have seen in the shipping a cylinder head thread, I just got Marion’s head shipped to FJ40Jim in Ohio today. This has allowed me access to parts of the engine bay that I could not get to previously. One of those parts is the steering box. It was so caked in grease and grime that none of the bolts that hold it onto the frame could be seen. You can see in the first picture how greasy it was.

After covering the block so no crap would fly into the cylinders, some purple power degreaser, steam cleaning, and elbow grease we were able to get it pretty clean. I even discovered a new Zerk fitting!!

There is something oddly satisfying about seeing large clumps of grease being knocked off to reveal the part underneath.

 

[MadMace]

Given my access to the block with the head off (picture below), is there anything that I should be doing with the block at this point? The top of the pistons have some carbon deposits on them--should I clean them off? I have access to the water jackets, any type of treatment or flushing I should be doing?

 

[hooter]

Yes
You can use automatic transmission fluid and scotchbrite pads to clean the carbon off the pistons. Rotate the engine and clean each at the top of its stroke.

Also consider the engine block drain on the drivers rear of the block (brass fitting). It’s the last place gunk goes and can get gummed up pretty good with hard sediment.

 

[FJ40Jim]

^ Do what he said ^

 

[MadMace]

Thanks Hooter, took your advice.

Prior to the cylinder head being taken off, I did quite a bit of block flushing, including flushing through the block drain. I was able to get quite a bit of crud out and got good flow out of the block drain. I figured it would be pretty clean--wrong.

With the head off, I inspected the water jackets, especially the jackets at the back of the block. Man, was I surprised. There was still a significant amount of sediment surrounding the back half of the 5th cylinder and all around the 6th cylinder on the floor of the jackets. It was especially thick on the side of the block opposite the drain (passenger side of the block) and in the back corners of the block water jackets. I was able to get a long screwdriver through one of the water jacket openings to measure the depth of the crude--you can see in the first picture how thick the sediment was.

I figured mechanical disimpaction was the best way to get this stuff out. Worked pretty well but there were several areas of the water jacket that I just couldn't get to with an instrument to clean it out. Enter the Jet hose nozzle pictured below. It fit perfectly in the water jacket openings. I found the best thing to do was attach it to a shut off valve and send pulses of high pressure water through the openings. Started at the cylinder 1 jackets and worked all the way to the back of the block. Boy, was it satisfying to see all the sediment and crud that pushed out the block drain. Water was not only filled with sediment but very rusty. The picture below of the sediment was the first of many. I continued to do this until little to no sediment was coming out and the water ran clear.

There are now very inexpensive borescopes that you can connect to your smartphone. I was able to visualize the back of the block with a borescope and see it was completely cleaned out--pretty cool!!! The last picture is through the borescope looking into the water jacket at the far back of the block, directly behind cylinder 6.

 

[MadMace]

After all the flushing, also took Hooter's advise and cleaned the carbon deposits off the top of the pistons with some automatic transmission fluid and a Scotchbite pad. Worked awesomely!! Also inspected the cylinders--all looked clean and smooth.

Does anybody know what the numbers on the top of the pistons represent? Not all of them have the same numbers.

Besides the piston tops looking much better, does cleaning them off help their functioning?

 

[MadMace]

One last thing we did this weekend was get the intake and exhaust manifolds packed up and sent off to FJ40Jim to be milled and spot faced. I did not sent them with the head because the head weighs 100 pounds. The manifolds weigh 30 pounds. Figured a 130 lb package would be a little too heavy to manage--at least for me.

When I was packing them up, I had one of those "duh" moments, or at least I think I did. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have had low vacuum--couldn't find any leaks. Idling had not been smooth--as expected with a vacuum leak. I realized that I never plugged the port coming off the intake manifold. It is a fair sized opening and I am sure could create a symptomatic vacuum leak. I feel a little stupid because I spent so much time looking for leaks and I missed this open port completely--I don't know how though.

What is the port for?

 

[hooter]

Yeah baby!! Looking good

 

[FJ40Jim]

Mystery port is vacuum for power brake booster.

One stamped number on piston crown is 'size class'. Dunno what other number is.

 

[MadMace]

Mystery port is vacuum for power brake booster.

One stamped number on piston crown is 'size class'. Dunno what other number is.

Ahh, now that makes sense. Thanks Jim. Forgot about the brake booster line--I did have that port attached to the brake booster. For some reason I had a brain fart and forgot about that.

 

[MadMace]

Cleaning off the steering box, pitman arm, and portion of the drag link connected to the pitman arm got me looking at the rest of my steering linkage. As the picture shows, ALOT of grease and grime on the rods, rod ends, and steering arms.

Fortunately, my steering seems pretty tight so not something I need to take apart. Just need to clean it up. I also figure getting some penetrating oil into the rod end threads would be a good thing to do in case I do need to remove the rod ends at some point in time. I have read that 1:1 ATF and acetone make a great penetrating oil.

Time to start the cleaning process. @Coolerman had a write-up on Ed’s Red. Looks pretty nifty. Mixed some up and started the soaking. Will give all the grease a good coating of Ed’s each day over the next week or so to see if we can get this cleaned up. The last picture is the first application. Goes on really easy and absorbs right into the grime—pretty cool!

Just a quick “Thank You” to @Coolerman for all the wonderful write-ups on his website.

 

[65swb45]

Dean

The absence of boots on the TREs is an indicator that they’ve been on there for a while. I would have someone rock your steering wheel for you while you check them for freeplay before putting the sweat equity into cleaning them up.

Unless it’s a zen thing for you.

 

[MadMace]

Dean

The absence of boots on the TREs is an indicator that they’ve been on there for a while. I would have someone rock your steering wheel for you while you check them for freeplay before putting the sweat equity into cleaning them up.

Unless it’s a zen thing for you.

Hi Mark,

Always great to get your input, love reading your posts.

I am pretty sure the TREs are the original ones, so no wonder the boots are gone.

Please forgive the nativity of the 2 following questions, but I can’t quite find the answers:

1. What will freeplay in the TREs look like when the steering wheel is rocked back and forth? Asked another way, what do I not want to see happening?

2. What do the boots do, what purpose do they serve? If they are vital, looks like no matter what, I need to replace them.

 

[74fj40]

Hi Mark,

Always great to get your input, love reading your posts.

I am pretty sure the TREs are the original ones, so no wonder the boots are gone.

Please forgive the nativity of the 2 following questions, but I can’t quite find the answers:

1. What will freeplay in the TREs look like when the steering wheel is rocked back and forth? Asked another way, what do I not want to see happening?

2. What do the boots do, what purpose do they serve? If they are vital, looks like no matter what, I need to replace them.

TREs are two pieces, a ball and socket essentially. Have someone rock the steering wheel left and right, just to the point of the wheels turning then back to the other side. This will load up the TRE in two different directions. Then you watch the steering linkage. if you see play, it will be the ball and socket separating from each other.

The boots keep the grease in and the dirt out.

Hopefully that helps!

 

[MadMace]

TREs are two pieces, a ball and socket essentially. Have someone rock the steering wheel left and right, just to the point of the wheels turning then back to the other side. This will load up the TRE in two different directions. Then you watch the steering linkage. if you see play, it will be the ball and socket separating from each other.

The boots keep the grease in and the dirt out.

Hopefully that helps!

Yes, it does, very much. Thank you.

I will test the steering linkage/TREs tonight and see if they have play in them.