My First FJ40 - 1977 (31 Viewers)

[KingAir Driver]

Those look like OEM seats, just bad upholstery. Cruiser Corps has a 20% off sale for seat covers right now. Just picked up a black set for my '77. Take to your upholstery shop and they should be able to rebuild the cushions with dense foam, or SOR sells new lower bottoms.

 

[secretsquirrel]

Looks like a good starting point! I have a blue 77 as well.

 

[subzali]

Looks like a great one! Post your engine and frame number in the serial number Sticky thread when you get a chance please. I agree with recovering those stock seats, but if you go with something else look at the seats from Cool Cruisers of Texas.

 

[cruiserboy14]

belayed congratulations, we are both brothers of the 77. lol. I believe your seats are original as well. like mine they where reupholstered. you can get new covers from various venders as @TLCJC mentioned.

 

[hhampton]

Was out driving last weekend and engine started acting up. It developed a weird click to the engine. I can feel it when I push down on the accelerator. It also started spitting out quite a bit of smoke from the tail pipe. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[brian]

that is going to require surgery.
something bad has happened internally.
start with the valve cover.
sounds like at least one maybe two dead cylinders.

 

[Travis 76]

Sounds like it could be a blown head gasket. Do a compression test. If there are 2 very low to dead cylinders it will be blown out between them.

 

[hhampton]

that is going to require surgery.
something bad has happened internally.
start with the valve cover.
sounds like at least one maybe two dead cylinders.

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping that you were going to say it was a minor thing, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it was a bigger issue. I had a report from the mechanic of the previous owner that mentioned a leak in the manifold intake gasket. Could that be the culprit behind this problem?

 

[brian]

Not likely, thats almost certainly an internal issue.
You're going to be lucky if its just a head gasket.

 

[beneharris]

Yeah, you need to yank the head. Be glad you're learning how to do head work on this particular motor, as it isn't very complicated.

Does that tapping noise change in tandem with the RPM?

 

[hhampton]

The tapping does get more aggressive with increased RPMs. It will eventually backfire with a loud pop out of the exhaust. Sadly, I know I don't have the tools to do this work and doubt my knowledge/skills. Any rough estimates on how much it will cost me to get a mechanic to do the work? Thanks for all y'alls help.

 

[grimsey]

id check the timing 1st i had the timing 180 deg out on mine by mistake once and it ran like that

 

[hhampton]

Alright. I found a buddy that is more mechanical than I am. We did a compression test and all of the readings were between 120 and 130. I wouldn't call the engine warm when I did the test. I put in new spark plugs and tested the spark plug wires and they all passed. None of this fixed the issue. Where should I go from here? Should I start with the distributor?

 

[hhampton]

So I changed out my plugs today. As you can see, they needed changing. It is still not burning clean. The new plugs came out grungy after just running for a less than 20 seconds. Unfortunately, my problem stuck around. It passed a compression test, but it still sounds like a clank. I didn't test the timing because I don't know how to set the engine to see the BB through the opening. I am looking for any possible answers or tips.

 

[brian]

Drop the oil pan

 

[Jetlander]

Is there any indication where the actual noise is coming from? Top of the engine, internally, or at the bottom?

 

[TheHardWay]

What @Jetlander said. Pulling your valve cover could reveal valve related prob. Dropping oil pan could reveal crankshaft or oil pump prob. I'd try those before I pulled the side cover, because your distributor would have to come out first. Unless you're a gluten for punishment, I wouldn't drive it ANYWHERE until that clack has been located and fixed!

 

[hhampton]

Is there any indication where the actual noise is coming from? Top of the engine, internally, or at the bottom?

I was trying to figure that out all day. I posted the video to see if it sounded like a "clank" to y'all and not a "pop". It sounds like it is on the carburetor side of the engine, but couldn't get a good sense of top or bottom.

 

[TheHardWay]

I was trying to figure that out all day. I posted the video to see if it sounded like a "clank" to y'all and not a "pop". It sounds like it is on the carburetor side of the engine, but couldn't get a good sense of top or bottom.

Sounds like a clank to me.

 

[hhampton]

What @Jetlander said. Pulling your valve cover could reveal valve related prob. Dropping oil pan could reveal crankshaft or oil pump prob. I'd try those before I pulled the side cover, because your distributor would have to come out first. Unless you're a gluten for punishment, I wouldn't drive it ANYWHERE until that clack has been located and fixed!

Thanks for the advice. I saw one thread that said the only way to properly mess with the oil pan is to have a professional do it or grow 3 extra arms. Do you have any experience with the difficulty level here 1-10?