Builds Mike's 1978 FJ40 Turbo Diesel Refit Project and Cross Country Road Trip!

[Godfather90]

Here's my crazy pickup tube with all its bracing:

Here is one of the first hiccups I found upon reassembly. The "upgraded Kit" i purchased came with these bolts (to the left):

When VW built these heads the cam caps didn't a lot of room to accommodate alignment dowels, so they built shoulders into the camshaft bolts to align the caps:

The is a very critical feature that is not present in the fasteners provided. People complain about cam bearing wear and failure on these engines, and the people considered "Guru's" have come up with a few solutions they sell. They even went so far as selling modified camshaft bearings. It never ceases to amaze me what passes for knowledge on some of those VW forums!

I went to the dealer and ordered some new fasteners (one time use only) and was surprised when the new ones arrived with another revision:

New bolt on the left.

Anyways back together:

 

[Godfather90]

I was drinking beer when I decided to see if my AC compressor would fit with the new engine location.

Like a glove:

Two fingers of clearance all around. One day if I feel up to getting AC installed the hard part is done!

 

[Godfather90]

Adjusted heat exchanger fitment in chassis:

Made new water lines, now with silicon tubing and trail spares. Also added a much more convenient location at the new lowest point. This will allow me to just slide a bucket under and not lose any coolant instead of the drain getting all over the front leaf spring/axle and frame:

After a bunch of fumbling around I got it running and broke the new camshaft/buckets in:

 

[Godfather90]

It weird going over to the truck and not having any oil drips under it!

After that project was finished it was time to fix the collateral damage from the Pismo Beach trip:

I yanked on my buddies FJ62 a few times pretty hard and bent this badly. Pretty embarrassing looking!

The solution:

I couldn't figure out why it kept springing back until further inspection:

That was a bad place for a hole that size. Talk about stress riser!

 

[Godfather90]

This crack has obviously been here a long time, look at the corrosion:

Ground that crack out, plated it and filled it and the hole up and the rear cross member held its shape.

Now the re-enforcement:

Clearing the air tank was tricky:

 

[Godfather90]

I ran gussets all the way to the end of the rear shock cross member as to load it only in shear with the receiver under tension.

I wish I had taken a video of the difference in stiffness before and after. I put a 5' long square tube in the receiver before and was jumping up and down on it to try to bend the cross member back. The whole rear cross member would twist and flex, and the end of the square tube would go up and down 3-4". I did the same "test" after and the receiver did not flex at all, only the back of the truck went up and down. Hopefully that's enough!

Also cleaned up and painted the cross member, and tidied up a bit of the wiring and hid the rear rock lights:

 

[YoYoHo]

Looking good, not to many VW powered 40's around

Are you still happy with the SO and SR up front ?

 

[Godfather90]

Looking good, not to many VW powered 40's around

Are you still happy with the SO and SR up front ?

I have the setup where I like it right now. The only other thing I would change would be to have Deaver Springs make me a reversed-eye main and second leaf up front to get some more arch in my front springs and drop it a little bit. I talked to them when I first got the truck, but haven't followed through yet. The truck handles great on and off road with the current setup however! I just would like the front about an inch lower is all that I would have to gain.

 

[Godfather90]

Here's a video of the first start with the new cam/Buckets:


Took a while to get the air out of the lines this time!

-Mike

 

[Godfather90]

Here's a Time Lapse video of the camshaft change I made mostly for a friend but you guys can watch it if you get bored



-Mike

 

[Bripars40]

@Godfather90

Well, I can't say I was bored at all watching your timelapse. How soon can I send you my 40 to let you drop in any engine of your choosing?

 

[Godfather90]

@Godfather90

Well, I can't say I was bored at all watching your timelapse. How soon can I send you my 40 to let you drop in any engine of your choosing?

These projects always seem to last me forever! It would never be done!

 

[daniel.watters]

@Godfather90
John- Amazing thread and amazing skills. I’ve though about a tdi swap in my 40 since its original F is tapping. I’ve been searching for threads of somebody that was crazy/brilliant enough to do it! I was told it isn’t a smart swap; I know better now!

 

[daniel.watters]

@Godfather90
John- Amazing thread and amazing skills. I’ve though about a tdi swap in my 40 since its original F is tapping. I’ve been searching for threads of somebody that was crazy/brilliant enough to do it! I was told it isn’t a smart swap; I know better now!

Mike! Sorry!

 

[Honger]

This is a seriously cool build Mike! Love how you've made it your own... and envious of your fab/diy skills.

 

[Godfather90]

This is a seriously cool build Mike! Love how you've made it your own... and envious of your fab/diy skills.

Thank you!

 

[Godfather90]

Mike! Sorry!

Haha its cool, Thank you for the compliments!

-Mike

 

[Godfather90]

I guess its been a little while and I'm due for an update...

Right now I pulled the transmission/transfer case out of the truck to replace the flywheel ring gear (this is a separate topic i will address later)

I am having shoulder surgery in a few days, so I was hoping to have the truck back together before that as I will be unable to do any hard lifting for at least 6 months according to the doctor. I ran into some issues with the parts I received so that wont be happening unfortunately.

I had planned a few things to tinker with when I have one arm, and planned to update you guys when it was all installed, but with the setbacks i figured what the heck. Here's a quick teaser of one of the projects I've had sitting in the que for a bit:

VW:

My design:

And the custom unit built by Dakota Digital out in South Dakota:

I've bought a bunch of stuff from them in the past, and they really hooked it up this time. I got a ton of add-on modules, and had them all potted to they are all waterproof and carry lifetime warranties. I love those guys over there, they can make you whatever you want.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[daniel.watters]

Either of the bottom two look good to me. I hope you have a successful surgery and a speedy recovery!

 

[Godfather90]

Either of the bottom two look good to me. I hope you have a successful surgery and a speedy recovery!

Yea I'm kind of nervous, but my surgeon only does this procedure and has a great reputation. Hes a really nice guy so hopefully it works out.

The bottom picture of the cluster is the one as I received it a while back. That's the one going into the truck. The middle one is just the rendering of the final product. The Top ones from the donor car.


Thank you,
Mike