Mars Pig - 1976 FJ55

[thorvald]

nice score
that the build date abbreviation is the first three letters of your name.

 

[RHINO]

ive had several front seat that were the same as yours, i could feel headreast holes under the cover also. some pigs had them, some didnt but they all used the same seat frame i suppose.

wish i had a stock seatbelt to trade ya, lemme know if you decide to get rid of it.

 

[DSRTRDR]

even in my 40, there is a headrest hardware underneath the original seat cover - I haven't been able to find the correct headrest for it - modern headrests have a different distance/size for the posts

congrats on the purchase and the uneventful drive home

 

[yooper]

hot starts - no pumping, just a little throttle, maybe partial choke

 

[Ming89FJ62]

FJ55 Seatbelt threads here https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/98803-shoulder-seat-belts.html

 

[3jvj]

It's a thing of beauty.

I'm glad you took the time to find a good stock platform.
Dibs if you get sick of it.

 

[bigsal]

How's she sound at highway speeds? Do you get much gear noise? I have been thinking of dynamat also. I have the original rubber mat, plus insulation all under a carpet kit. Not sure I would do the carpet kit again, but it still needs some sound deadening.
You really have to smog that thing? Even in california I did not have to. I ripped out all that smog garbage ( while laughing like a villin, ha ha ha haaaaaa!) But, being a California car owner my whole life, I relish the idea of not smogging a car.

Did you mention that you have an aftermarket webber on that? When I went from the stock carb to the webber, I noticed a huge jump in performance and absolutely no issues starting in either 11 degree winter or desert hot starts. I have an original carb if you want it. It probably just needs a rebuild, and may have produced the same benefits if I just rebuilt it, but.... happy now.

 

[Mars]

How's she sound at highway speeds? Do you get much gear noise? I have been thinking of dynamat also. I have the original rubber mat, plus insulation all under a carpet kit. Not sure I would do the carpet kit again, but it still needs some sound deadening.
You really have to smog that thing? Even in california I did not have to. I ripped out all that smog garbage ( while laughing like a villin, ha ha ha haaaaaa!) But, being a California car owner my whole life, I relish the idea of not smogging a car.

Did you mention that you have an aftermarket webber on that? When I went from the stock carb to the webber, I noticed a huge jump in performance and absolutely no issues starting in either 11 degree winter or desert hot starts. I have an original carb if you want it. It probably just needs a rebuild, and may have produced the same benefits if I just rebuilt it, but.... happy now.

Highway speeds...it's loud. There is basically no weatherstripping remaining on the truck, so I get a ton of wind noise. It's hard to tell where the rest of the noise is coming from, but I get the feeling the majority of it is not from the tranny. Road vibration, engine, tires, and wind seem to be making up the most of it, but it's hard to tell. Once I get the weatherstripping done, I should be able to narrow it down a little better.

Gotta pass smog every year to register your vehicle in populated areas of Nevada. It sucks. But, the truck passed with flying colors. I have the stock 1976 carb on the pig right now. It's been rebuilt by the PO in the last 10k or so. I'm happy with the motor, she runs like a top.

 

[junkyardpig55]

x2 on no throttle for warm starts, start turning it over and then pull the choke out slowily until it fires, that is the only way my F engine will sart when warm, I had a chevy 235ci that I also started this way when it was warm, thats what works for me,

 

[IPOR]

Sweet pig! Wish I could find one that clean here in Virginia. Don't do the out of the box vintage air kit for the 40, it's not enough for the 55. We usually install an upgraded unit - in fact, we're putting one in at the shop now. PM me when you get to that point and I'll send you the details on our 55 kit.

Awesome rig, I'm jealous.

 

[SuperT]

That really is a nice find. Pigs in that good of shape are few and far between. Someone really took good care of it over the years. Good job Mars.

 

[Mars]

Thanks for the kind words, I still can't believe the truck.

For safety reasons I wanted to put some headrests into the pig's front bench. I don't know if they were an option or what, but when I got the truck it had none, and the seat upholstery went right up over the headrest post holes. I'm not sure if the mechanical stuff is all in there for the stock headrests, but I could feel the little dimples through the seat upholstery. I found some headrests off one of the parted out pigs listed here on 'mud, and they matched the width of the dimples I could feel through the seat.

I grabbed a knife and punched a couple holes into the top of the seat (turned my stomach, let me tell you) and shoved the headrest in...and walla! They fit.



I don't have any trim rings or anything, and they appear to mostly be just held in with friction. Still I'm confident they'll do the job, they fit TIGHT. Happy kiddo with the car seat installed too. She likes the pig!

 

[PabloCruise]

I have an original carb if you want it. It probably just needs a rebuild, and may have produced the same benefits if I just rebuilt it, but.... happy now.

I'll take the carb off your hands if you do not want it...

 

[MaddBaggins]

I miss having the Piggy parked next to my 80. I look forward to watching what you do with it.

 

[Walton]

Congrats on the fine looking Pig.

 

[Mars]

Spent all day digging around the interior. The original goal for the day was to install the 40lbs or so of Raamat sound deadening that I picked up. I pulled the seats, and discovered that the drivers bench seat mount has folded in on itself.



I ripped up the Toyota rubber floor mats, and unfortunately the drivers side was welded to the goopy stock floor coating. It was really brittle and tore and snapped out in a few places, but the remainder of the rubber should be salvageable. What a mess though. Quite a bit of surface rust across the passenger floorboards and passenger rear foot wells. I spent all day with the grinder and hammer/chisel taking care of the rust and cleaning it all up. Tons of filth, took forever, but I'm basically done. Interior is stripped and clean and coated. Sound deadening tomorrow.







I didn't take any pics of the completed floor...tomorrow I'll get some. The rear heater was also disconnected from the plumbing and the electrical. Not sure why...made it easy to remove though! I'll install it and see if it still works later. Productive day...didnt get done what I wanted to, but major progress.

Oh and check this out...every nook and cranny I find in this truck seems to be full of mesquite tree crap. This was probably 20lbs of tree stuff piled in there....

 

[RHINO]

the joys of new old truck ownership.

 

[Brewtus]

the joys of new old truck ownership.

+1.

 

[ptmacp]

You know, this is a great time to install power steering...

 

[bigsal]

Hey Marshal,
I just put dynamat into my (weekend/evening/...all night) project car... check out the what did you do to your... post for today. Carb should go out in the next day or so. Sorry "Pablocruise"... Mars took me up on the carb offer.
On that rear heater, see if the fan wasn't just stuck a little, that was apparently why mine was dc'ed by the previous owner. I bent it a little and away she goes... although I can't see you needing in where you live....