Builds Montana 65 FJ45LV "Tin Zen" (2 Viewers)

[Mtntopper]

Couple of pics from my field trip to Classic Cruisers today. Received a good bill of health on a couple items. They say that the clutch looks almost new and that there's cross hatching visible on every cylinder wall (boroscope pics coming). Transfer case was on the bench and torn down. It was really nice to see this thing coming along today.

Been educating myself on the different distributors. Thanks @MDH33, you're correct about needing to change that distributor to Vacuum Advance, it's in the works.

 

[Blackcat37]

Apparently the '66 and '67 were in fact white on the inside. The earlier ones had the light blue on the interior. These pics are from a later LV, love the diamond pattern on the vinyl too!View attachment 2874172View attachment 2874173View attachment 2874174

Crazy I didn't realize that seat was original. My cousin bought this LV and i got the seats. I love the diamond on it and want to restore the seat.

 

[Mtntopper]

I compiled distributor information from various sources and have deduced the following regarding Vacuum Andvance vs. Retard (please feel free to correct me if I'm misunderstanding):

The Vacuum Retard Distributor is an emissions compliant device that started in '68 with the F145. It causes lower performance and higher engine operating temps, but better fuel economy.

The Vacuum Advance Distributor is pre-emissions device and the proper unit for the F135. It causes higher performance and cooler operating Temps, but worse fuel economy.

Here's the Vacuum Advance I pulled from the LV's original F135 that will be going on the new F135. It seems to be in decent shape, even had some old proper Yazaki plug wires still on it.

 

[63cruiser]

You may want to send it off to @4Cruisers. He is a distributor whisperer. I had an old distributor that i sent to him and he made it look like new...and properly running. These old distributors can develop a wobble in the shaft and that leads to poor ignition so they often need to be totally rebuilt.

 

[Mtntopper]

You may want to send it off to @4Cruisers. He is a distributor whisperer. I had an old distributor that i sent to him and he made it look like new...and properly running. These old distributors can develop a wobble in the shaft and that leads to poor ignition so they often need to be totally rebuilt.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm on it.

 

[MDH33]

Good stuff. You'll have a lot better results tuning with that vacuum advance distributor with your setup.

 

[Mtntopper]

A little startup video that Classic Cruisers posted to their Instagram. The engine is noisy because there is only about 8" of downpipe coming out of the exhaust manifold.

 

[MDH33]

Cool to see and hear it running! I kind of cringed though seeing that temp guage spiked and the cooling system disconnected.

 

[middlecalf]

Temp gauge probably not hooked up, the gauge sets on H with no power, then drops to current temp when power is supplied. Given where the OP is that would be C this time of year 😂.

@Mtntopper great to see this run! What’s that last hand gauge measuring, can’t see it well enough in vid.

 

[Mtntopper]

Temp gauge probably not hooked up, the gauge sets on H with no power, then drops to current temp when power is supplied. Given where the OP is that would be C this time of year 😂.

@Mtntopper great to see this run! What’s that last hand gauge measuring, can’t see it well enough in vid.

Thanks for the encouraging words and you are correct, the water temp and oil pressure gauges were not hooked up in that video.

That hand guage stumped me at first too, but I decided it must be the oil pressure.

A few updates trickling in from the shop: Brakes are now fully functional. Rebuilt transfer case installed. Parking brake functional. Original brass radiator that came with the F135 didn't pass pressure testing, it's currently off to a specialty shop for repair.

 

[Michael B]

Oh boy! It sounds like the truck is almost ready for a drive

 

[Mtntopper]

Boroscope pics, each picture is a different cylinder. There's some pitting evident, likely from sitting for long periods at time. Appears I can only load 5 photos on this post but the last one is similar.

 

[Mtntopper]

Another Instagram post from Classic Cruisers yesterday. There's just a couple items left to fine tune and it's ready to move on. Next stop is a custom exhuast shop in Denver. I thought I wanted full stainless steel exhaust system, but the guys at the shop like the ceramic coated cold steel tubing better, they say it's way easier to keep clean than stainless. After the exhuast shop in Denver for a week, it's the upholstery shop in Grand Junction to get those OEM patterned floor mats finished up.

 

[Mtntopper]

Those guys over at Classic Cruisers are such a priceless resource. I'm truly honored at the amount of love they poured into this project. Drove it about 100 yards total yesterday, onto the trailer then back off at the exhaust shop.

 

[Mtntopper]

 

[subzali]

What exhaust shop in Denver uses ceramic tubing?

 

[Mtntopper]

What exhaust shop in Denver uses ceramic tubing?

That's a good question, he mentioned that if we go with Ceramic coating, he would have to send it out to be coated. I'll try and get some better info this week.