Builds My 1972 Fj40 Build

[JustOneMore]

As someone dealing with a 1972 that someone fit a later model top and ambulance doors on at one point, I'm really curious how your tub has the recessed corners for the ambulance doors. Was that modified at some point? Also, it looks like you never had lower hinges for a swing open tailgate, which makes it even more weird to me if some body work to cover those hinge holes wasn't done previously. The previous owner of mine just slapped the ambulance doors on and they sit proud of the tub because there is no recessed corner. I'm trying to figure out how to fix this, or if that doesn't work out perhaps I'll just go back to a proper year top.

I’ve learned a lot since I bought my 40. When I was looking at them I thought I knew a good bit but somehow completely missed that ambulance doors weren’t available on earlier years. I just knew I liked them and this one had them so I didn’t think anything of it. After getting it and reading a lot here, I realized it had been modified at some point. My top has places for hinges for the upper panel to swing out and my tub has the older style reverse light and places for the spare carrier to bolt on the PS so I think it’s original. As far as what exactly has been modified I’m not sure. I’d guess they just filled in the holes on the tub and drilled new ones for the amby door hinges then just drilled new ones in the top. I’ll take pictures of anything you need. As for the doors sitting flush mine aren’t perfect but I don’t think they’re terrible either.

 

[MYSHERPA]

I’ve learned a lot since I bought my 40. When I was looking at them I thought I knew a good bit but somehow completely missed that ambulance doors weren’t available on earlier years. I just knew I liked them and this one had them so I didn’t think anything of it. After getting it and reading a lot here, I realized it had been modified at some point. My top has places for hinges for the upper panel to swing out and my tub has the older style reverse light and places for the spare carrier to bolt on the PS so I think it’s original. As far as what exactly has been modified I’m not sure. I’d guess they just filled in the holes on the tub and drilled new ones for the amby door hinges then just drilled new ones in the top. I’ll take pictures of anything you need. As for the doors sitting flush mine aren’t perfect but I don’t think they’re terrible either.

Thanks for your help on figuring this out. I think your rig being similar to mine as an earlier model converted to ambulance doors, seeing what was done on yours could be helpful. Could you take photos and share what was done on the tub sides where for ambulance doors they are normally recessed to match the top recess? If your tub was modified with a recess, dimensions of that would be awesome. I was thinking maybe cutting out the corner and putting in some 1/2" angle iron for a corner there might work? Also, I noticed in one of your photos the interior wall was cut away to access the normally captured nuts for the upper ambulance door hinges, if you could take some photos of what exactly was done there, that would help me. I've included a photo of the area I'm talking about.

 

[JustOneMore]

Thanks for your help on figuring this out. I think your rig being similar to mine as an earlier model converted to ambulance doors, seeing what was done on yours could be helpful. Could you take photos and share what was done on the tub sides where for ambulance doors they are normally recessed to match the top recess? If your tub was modified with a recess, dimensions of that would be awesome. I was thinking maybe cutting out the corner and putting in some 1/2" angle iron for a corner there might work? Also, I noticed in one of your photos the interior wall was cut away to access the normally captured nuts for the upper ambulance door hinges, if you could take some photos of what exactly was done there, that would help me. I've included a photo of the area I'm talking about.

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Yes I can absolutely take pictures/get measurements of those areas and anything else you need. I’m out of town for Christmas at the moment but when I get back I’ll take some pictures

 

[dazerb]

As for going anywhere, it did… for the most part. I can’t complain about this at all. I could have gone around but it was going to require like a 12 point turn so I tried to go through and it was pretty bottomless on top of being way softer than I expected.
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It came right out with a quick pull though so no big deal.

Ih8mud!

 

[JustOneMore]

Well time has sure gotten away from me so I’ve been slacking on updates. I’m going to go back through all my pictures to help me remember what’s happened over the last year.

Getting started, at the beginning January one side of my family got together for a late Christmas and I decided to take the 40 on as many back roads as I could to get up there. It ended up being a great time, and I’m very glad I did. It ended up taking about 4 hours to do 130 miles which everyone else in my family thought was crazy, but I loved every minute of.

Ran across some cool sites.

 

[JustOneMore]

It rained a decent amount the couple days before, and it was the middle of dog season so some of the road was pretty torn up. At the end of the day it’s still just a dirt road though so no issues.

 

[JustOneMore]

The next few months after that we’re pretty uneventful. Just driving around town every now and then. When the weather started to warm up though, some issues arose. It started running hot… all the time. At idle, at low speed, at high speed, just all the time. Looked over all the cooling system and everything seemed to be working fine, so I wasn’t sure where to start. I gave Georg at Valley Hybrids a call to see where he would start, and he suggested making sure the thermostat was good. He also suggested checking that the radiator wasn’t stopped up. I decided the thermostat would be easier so that was the first check. I pulled the housing apart and found a couple issues. The thermostat seemed good but the lower housing had an ear that was cracked and about to fall off and one of the bolts had apparently been broken off and drilled out because it had a helicoil in it. I decided to go ahead and replace that so I got a new upper and lower housing, new hoses, and a new thermostat. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of all that installed though.

After replacing everything I started it up and went for a drive… it started overheating again. So my dad and I pulled it back in the shop and started looking again. We decided to drain the coolant again for some reason I don’t remember. This time though we noticed some gunk coming out with the coolant. After thinking about it we decided the radiator was probably stopped up. So we pulled it out and took it to be cleaned at a local rad shop. When I went to pick it up, the guy said it had been super stopped up which I was actually glad to hear because it seemed to confirm that was the issue. Brought it home, reinstalled it, and worked on flushing the block also. While researching about cooling issues and engine flushes here on mud, several people mentioned checking the drain on the block so I took a look at that. As with most, mine was very clogged up so I worked at it with a pick until it was flowing good.

Finished flushing it, filled it back up with coolant, and took it for a drive. It ran great! Even through the hottest part of the summer it rarely gets over 190 now.

 

[JustOneMore]

Couple small projects after that. First was replacing the dome light bulb with an LED. Didn’t start out super well. The bulb I got was supposed to be a direct replacement but it turned out to be a little longer. When I tried to install it, unfortunately it caused the back plate in the light housing to break. I think it was just an old piece of Bakelite that had gotten brittle and the longer bulb pushed the terminals a little wider which broke the plate. My dad pulled the terminals off and mounted them a little further apart on a new piece of plastic then mounted it back in the housing which worked perfect. I apparently haven’t taken a picture of it turned on but it’s nice and bright.

After that was something I’ve been meaning to get to for a while, but just kept putting off. I washed the underside really good and then gave it a good coat of fluid film.

Might not have really been necessary but the body is really really solid so it makes me feel better to have something on it to help keep it that way.

 

[JustOneMore]

After those couple things it was back to uneventful driving again for the next few months. One day I was thinking about it and decided I should probably change the oil since I’d put a few thousand miles on it. So I ordered some Penn Grade 15w-40 and picked up a filter. I was planning on changing it on a Friday night after work. That morning I decided to drive it. About halfway to work, I was pulling onto the highway, not running really hard or anything, when I heard a weird noise. It was kind of a muffled thump and my first thought was something in the back had fallen over. Didn’t give it a second thought and drive into work. Drove it home in the afternoon again and it ran great. Ate dinner, went out to change the oil, drained it, and noticed something weird. After it was all out, it looked like something was sitting in the mouth of the drain hole in the pan. I tried to touch it but couldn’t really get a hold on it. I had a feeling I knew what it was, so my dad and I dropped the pan and were thoroughly disappointed. We pulled out everything you can see below.

The number 6 piston had lost a skirt. We called it a night at that point to think about what to do. I knew I had to get it going again, but I wasn’t sure how far to go with it and how much money to spend. After reading, discussing, and thinking for several days, I decided to just replace the broken piston. I completely recognize that long term that’s not a great solution, but I was already kicking around the idea of putting a different motor in it. This pretty much made up my mind, so I only needed to get it going again for another 6 months or so. We pulled the head and the piston to see what exactly we were dealing with.

From what we can tell, a ring broke at some point and ended up on top of the piston. As the piston kept traveling up and down we think the ring was getting pounded into the top of one side of the piston and eventually all that force broke the skirt off on that side.

 

[JustOneMore]

Thankfully though, the cylinder and combustion chamber were completely fine. I ordered a new set of rings and pistons from Rock Auto because unfortunately you can’t buy just one. When they came in, we put the new piston on the rod, honed the cylinder, and reinstalled it.

 

[JustOneMore]

Put everything back together with new gaskets, put the new oil in to finish the most expensive oil change of my life, and took it for a test drive. Everything went fine thankfully, and I found a pretty cool spot to take some pictures.

 

[JustOneMore]

More pics

 

[JustOneMore]

Since then, everything has been fine and it’s running great (knock on wood). I have decided to take it a little easier from now on. I felt like it had no problem running 65, so whenever I was on the highway that’s what I drove. Now though I feel like that high of rpm might not be great for it, so I try to keep it to 55.

I’ve just been using it around the house and driving it to work. No problems.

Used it the other day go pick up the family Christmas tree. This is the second year, and everyone really loves it. I hope to make it an annual tradition.

The last thing is something I’ve been waiting on for a long time. In Mississippi, if you can find an antique tag that’s from the same county you live in and year as your vehicle, you can register it and put it back in service. A guy that works with my dad happened to find one from 1972 while looking for one for a truck he’s working on and picked it up for me. It had been restored by the guy selling it, so once I got it, I filled out the paperwork and sent it off to be inspected. It took about 6 months, but it finally got approved and I was able to put it on!

 

[timestretcher]

Since then, everything has been fine and it’s running great (knock on wood). I have decided to take it a little easier from now on. I felt like it had no problem running 65, so whenever I was on the highway that’s what I drove. Now though I feel like that high of rpm might not be great for it, so I try to keep it to 55.

I’ve just been using it around the house and driving it to work. No problems.
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Used it the other day go pick up the family Christmas tree. This is the second year, and everyone really loves it. I hope to make it an annual tradition.
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The last thing is something I’ve been waiting on for a long time. In Mississippi, if you can find an antique tag that’s from the same county you live in and year as your vehicle, you can register it and put it back in service. A guy that works with my dad happened to find one from 1972 while looking for one for a truck he’s working on and picked it up for me. It had been restored by the guy selling it, so once I got it, I filled out the paperwork and sent it off to be inspected. It took about 6 months, but it finally got approved and I was able to put it on!
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Is it a one time deal like an antique tag? I live in Mississippi so I will be trying to do this for my 1971

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

How have you liked the Aussie rear locker? Does it chatter at all on the highway, drive pavement turns, or offroad? Great work here. I enjoyed reading it all. Love the tires.

 

[JustOneMore]

Is it a one time deal like an antique tag? I live in Mississippi so I will be trying to do this for my 1971

Yes it’s treated just like a regular antique tag. Only difference is it has to be sent off to Jackson to be approved before they register it the vehicle.

 

[JustOneMore]

How have you liked the Aussie rear locker? Does it chatter at all on the highway, drive pavement turns, or offroad? Great work here. I enjoyed reading it all. Love the tires.

It’s done pretty well. If price was no concern I’d definitely like to go with an ARB but with how much cheaper and easier the Aussie is I think it’s worth it. I mainly notice it chattering when taking sharp turns at low speed on pavement. Whenever I can, I coast through turns and it’s not noticeable. If you do take a turn under power though it’s not bad in my opinion. Also every now and then when accelerating in a straight line and up shifting I can feel the rear end pull to the side a little when I let off the clutch. I never notice it off-road except when it’s helping me through something and then I love it. Overall I’d recommend it.

Thank you! I’ve gotten lots of inspiration from threads of you and your family. Looking at a 5.3/h55 swap right now because of bluebonnet!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Holla at @SipLife. He can share on what he did and perhaps changes

 

[SipLife]

It’s done pretty well. If price was no concern I’d definitely like to go with an ARB but with how much cheaper and easier the Aussie is I think it’s worth it. I mainly notice it chattering when taking sharp turns at low speed on pavement. Whenever I can, I coast through turns and it’s not noticeable. If you do take a turn under power though it’s not bad in my opinion. Also every now and then when accelerating in a straight line and up shifting I can feel the rear end pull to the side a little when I let off the clutch. I never notice it off-road except when it’s helping me through something and then I love it. Overall I’d recommend it.

Thank you! I’ve gotten lots of inspiration from threads of you and your family. Looking at a 5.3/h55 swap right now because of bluebonnet!

Just made it through this thread, quite the transformation, love a good Patina driver! PM me if you need any advice on the swap. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience daily driving a stock 40 and one with the LS. Not to sway your decision, but I can tell you I would never go back. For someone who uses their rig for more than just a Sunday driver, the power and parts availability alone are worth it.

 

[JustOneMore]

Just made it through this thread, quite the transformation, love a good Patina driver! PM me if you need any advice on the swap. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience daily driving a stock 40 and one with the LS. Not to sway your decision, but I can tell you I would never go back. For someone who uses their rig for more than just a Sunday driver, the power and parts availability alone are worth it.

I appreciate it! Yeah I’m not 100% decided but am definitely leaning towards it heavily. I’ve driven several LS’s both in swaps and in stock trucks and have always loved them. I’m still a good ways out from getting started but once I make up my mind and get around to it I’m sure I’ll need plenty of advice. Thanks!