My 1974 FJ40 Thread

[Snowdogyyz]

Latest projects completed:

New Iron man ubolts installed. I think this fixed a slight vibration I had. Mine were beat to hell anyway, so they needed to go!

Installed a heater I refurbed (cleaned and painted). I get much, much better heat now! Looks a bit dirty from my hands... need to wipe it down again!

Finally got my Warn M8000 winch installed. For now, I have it off my main battery. I have an isolator kit to run a dual battery system, but I'm going to hold off on that until I replace the passenger side fender.

As it sits now:

 

[Snowdogyyz]

A few minor things accomplished:

I had the carb off to fix a leaky fuel insert, so I gave the top of the SBC400 a little paint. Nothing great, but looks a little better:



I also cleaned up the floor, put down a layer of rust bullet and then painted it with Rust Bullet chassis black. Turned out ok I think. Some before and after:









My hard top is beat up and is sort of a Frankenstein of sorts, so I bought one off a Mud member and I'm slowly refurbishing it. Some pics of it:




Up next, new U-joints and pinion bearings, and to try and find out why it is jumping out of 4th gear now. I'm hoping for a broken detent spring!

 

[apeterson]

nice job so far!!!

 

[miko]

Looking good neighbor!

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Thanks guys! Waiting for you to get one Miko!

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Some updates: new front fender painted and installed. Refurbished tranny hump painted and installed. New Tuffy stereo console installed. Quickfist/fire extinguisher installed.

 

[bigneily]

Excellent job,Really enjoy the before and after pics. Keep up the good work..neil

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Painted gas line/evap cover pewter, painted glove box and ash tray, new shifter plate and TC knob:

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Finally, new exhaust! The old set up had 2 mufflers tacked together and they vibrated at 45+ mph. New 2 in, 2 out flowmaster sounds great and no more vibration. Also ran pipes out behind the tires instead of straight out. No more fumes in the cab!

 

[hedgehog23]

NICE work. i like the "right now" fix it and drive it approach to this restore/refresh.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Thanks! Yeah, I don't have the time, money, or enough know how to do a full frame off. This way, I can enjoy it, make it last, and learn along the way.

 

[pb4ugo]

That's a great looking 40, now cut the ends of those U bolts off.

 

[TCSTARK]

That's a great looking 40, now cut the ends of those U bolts off.

Silly question, but is that what people are doing to the u-bolt ends. I thought about doing it but wasn't sure.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[ElHefe]

Silly question, but is that what people are doing to the u-bolt ends. I thought about doing it but wasn't sure.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

Grind them off. Otherwise, there's a good chance they'll get hit and bend.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Finally got some tunes in the 40! Kenwood Marine stereo (cd/ipod) plus Pioneer speakers. Mounted the stereo in the tuffy console. Mounted the speakers with velcro behind the seats for easy removal. Installed RCA jacks in the back of the console so I can unplug the speakers quickly and easily. Turned out well! Also took out the old cheap tape deck from the dash (uncut dash) and will get a delete plate for it. Not a bad set up overall!

 

[RattleCan]

looks great, your cousin did a great job on the metal work also! Did you install a fan shroud, did it ever have one? That may have caused your overheating problem in the first place and you should add one to your improved setup.

 

[Pierps]

I too really love this build thread. You've shown a lot of restraint by doing "frame-on refresh" instead of a full frame-off. I've spent way too much of my time reading this forum, and I have come across a surprising number of build threads that ended before the rigs went back together... People start with a lot of enthusiasm and idealism, but don't have the money or motivation to take it to completion.

One specific question for you- as I waffle between doing a body-off vs. body-on refresh, one of the major decision points is about the under-body.

I do have a few places where the undercoat has peeled off and rust is forming. Nothing serious, but it needs attention. I see that you steam-cleaned and re-coated the underside of your tub. I assume you did this with the body on. Can you please share the details of that process if you have a moment?

Keep up the good work, and thanks for taking the time to post about it!

Peter

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Thanks for the comments!

For the radiator shroud part- I had the original radiator in it when I got it and it was pretty much shot. I put the new aluminum rad in and it improved greatly. It got a little warm yesterday (was 94 degrees and I drove 30 miles at 60 mph down I-85), but did not overheat. I currently have a 195 degree thermostat installed (for winter) that I need to change out. I have considered a shroud, but just haven't need it yet.

For the underbody/frame, I took it to a classic car restoration shop. They jacked it up on a rack, taped off important areas, steamed cleaned it as much as possible (which removed a LOT of old dirt and loose rust), and they wire brushed the loose scale. Then, we used chassis saver for the coating. Definitely not as thorough as pulling the body off, sand blasting and then using POR, but good enough for mine. I had some surface rust in a few places, but no rot at all. The frame is stout, so I just wanted to kill the rust for now. I think it turned out pretty good. I just don't have the time or resources to tear this thing all the way down and, I want to enjoy it! If I had rot underneath, I would have had to go a different route, but it was in good shape.
Thanks again!

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Couple of little updates:

Radio delete plate in! Plus, a better pic of the radio.

Working on painting the doors while they are off for summer:

Also had a major over voltage problem that was kicking out the radio and messing with the headlights. Replaced alternator (did not fix) and then replaced the voltage regulator. Fixed!

Just a pic of my cruiser family. My wifes is in front, the 40, then my FJC:

 

[Assassin]

nice rig and nice family of fj's