Meet "Rusty" - 1978 USA - FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[DirtDauberGarage]

Meet "Rusty"!

I picked up this red 78 USA FJ40 and drove it back to Atlanta from Chattanooga today. 100 miles doing 65 mph smoothly the whole way. I will give a lot more details soon, but the short story is I just plan to put new quarter panels on it, paint it and drive the wheels off of it. It is 98% untouched and all orginal. It still has all the smog stuff on the motor, and I don't think the top has ever been taken off.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Keeping the Bruc-ees tradition alive!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

The tag says fe203 which is the formula for iron oxide which is basically the chemical formula for rust so "fe203 - y" = "Rusty"

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Now that I've had some time with Rusty, I have a question and would love some advice.

He has a "whine" coming from the transmission or transfer case but only when accelerating mostly 2nd, and 3rd gear. 4th gear is completely quiet and 1st isn't bad at all. I know they all FJ40s whine and some more than others. I have checked the fluid in both the trans and trans-case. I also checked both differentials. All are full with clear/clean fluid.

The whine is significantly louder than my 77 “Belle” and right now there is no insulation, mats or carpet on the floor, so I know that will help, but any suggestions? I’ve read all the threads here and forum and heard everything from ignore it, rebuild everything, or change the fluids with additives or thicker oil.

I was thinking about changing out to a thicker fluid or maybe a synthetic… If I do a thicker oil, what would you all suggest?

Any advice??

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I've been using Rusty as a daily driver and he has done great. I've made a few people mad because his 0-60 is pretty slow, but he has been super reliable!

Added a 21st century phone charger and cup holder. My dad and I also decided to take off the diamond plate rear quarter panels. Someone cut out the bottoms but not as bad as it could have been. I also think the entire rear sill has been replaced. The good news is that whoever did it, did a good job. The only way I can tell is that it is 100% rust free. If the lower rear quarters we so bad they had to cut them off, then the rear sill would have had some rust also.

We buffed the entire thing with some rubbing compound, and it did brighten it up a little. You can't really tell in the pics but it does look better.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I tried to find a color at Home Depot that was close to cover the black paint, and this was the closest I could find. It looks pretty bad, but not as bad as the black paint. Painting the whole thing the right way is pretty high on my priority list, so I hope to do that soon.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Next on the list is clean the inside really good. Take the cap off, repair it, paint it and reinstall it. It looks like someone clipped a tree or something and wrinkled the corner. It is not as bad as it looks. The fiberglass cap is good, it is only a bent frame. I am pretty sure I can fix it. I will hammer out the frame flat, re-glue it, put a dozen clamps on it and then reseal it back up.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I'm also going to break out the hammer and dolly and straighten out these rocker panels.

 

[greenEFSI]

Now that I've had some time with Rusty, I have a question and would love some advice.

He has a "whine" coming from the transmission or transfer case but only when accelerating mostly 2nd, and 3rd gear. 4th gear is completely quiet and 1st isn't bad at all. I know they all FJ40s whine and some more than others. I have checked the fluid in both the trans and trans-case. I also checked both differentials. All are full with clear/clean fluid.

The whine is significantly louder than my 77 “Belle” and right now there is no insulation, mats or carpet on the floor, so I know that will help, but any suggestions? I’ve read all the threads here and forum and heard everything from ignore it, rebuild everything, or change the fluids with additives or thicker oil.

I was thinking about changing out to a thicker fluid or maybe a synthetic… If I do a thicker oil, what would you all suggest?

Any advice??

It would be worth a shot to drain the transmission fluid and run some redline mt 90. It's a gl4 fluid with additives for brass synchros.

 

[pb4ugo]

Rustoleum regal red is pretty close to Toyota's Freeborn red.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

It would be worth a shot to drain the transmission fluid and run some redline mt 90. It's a gl4 fluid with additives for brass synchros.

Thank you, I might give that a try!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Rustoleum regal red is pretty close to Toyota's Freeborn red.

I will see if I can find some. Thank you!!

 

[rex in bama]

Next on the list is clean the inside really good. Take the cap off, repair it, paint it and reinstall it. It looks like someone clipped a tree or something and wrinkled the corner. It is not as bad as it looks. The fiberglass cap is good, it is only a bent frame. I am pretty sure I can fix it. I will hammer out the frame flat, re-glue it, put a dozen clamps on it and then reseal it back up.

View attachment 3469826

It was riveted as well, no?

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

It was riveted as well, no?

I think so. I will do my best to fix it right!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I got Belle out and drove her around the neighborhood for a few mins today. I thought I would let Rusty and Belle pose for some pics together. Their build dates are about 7 months apart, so it is pretty cool to think about how many of their parts were probably in the building in Japan together back in late 77 early 78. They were probably assembled by the same people on the assembly line, they have traveled around the world, and are reunited in my driveway 45 years later.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Rusty will be at our next YOTA meeting this saturday!

Our next meet up will be 8:00 AM this Saturday Dec 2nd at the Manhattan NY Deli & Bagels - Peachtree Corners in Peachtree Corners. Hope to see you there!

Manhattan NY Deli & Bagels
5275 Peachtree Pkwy
Peachtree Corners, GA 30092

We will discussion our plans for the Georgia Traverse trip Feb 17-19

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Replaced the rear shackle bushings today. I'm trying to keep this thing all original for now. I may do some upgrades at some point, but all OEM for now. I will do the leaf spring pins and front shackles soon. If I don't upgrade to OME soon, I will replace the old shackles. The rust had eaten into them a little.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

The old ones were in pretty bad shape... and these are the ones that came out without completely coming apart

Good as NEW!!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Getting ready to put some new tires on Rusty. I'm going to get the orginal steel rims sandblasted and powder coated "grey" before I put the new tires on, so I put Belle's rims and tires on Rusty for now. It looks pretty good, but will look better with the Kendas on the orginal rims. I hope they fit... if not, I guess I be putting on that 2.5 OME lift sooner than expected.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Here is what I did today...

- Unpacked some OEM door pannels
- Painted them black (No sure why you can't order them in black)
- Installed some sound deadner and inslation. Did about 80% of the door.
- Installed new plastic
- Installed new door panels

Merry Christmas to me