My kid wanted a Jeep, she's getting a 77 FJ40 LS Swap instead

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good catch, I need to pull the pipes to touch up the welds so I may wrap them to mitigate heat.
Thanks
It might be fine as is, but its a tad close. If you get some reflective heat wire loom and enclose the brake line in it it would probably be fine. Or a little angle aluminum heat shield. A lot of the exhaust wrap accellerates rust a lot on the pipe. Im trying to do heat shields instead personally.
 
It might be fine as is, but its a tad close. If you get some reflective heat wire loom and enclose the brake line in it it would probably be fine. Or a little angle aluminum heat shield. A lot of the exhaust wrap accellerates rust a lot on the pipe. Im trying to do heat shields instead personally.
good suggestion. I did wrap my brake line on my 74 like that. Easy Peasy.
 
Washer bottle installed, I used one from Amazon. Nice and cheap and it works well. I am still playing around with my Dakota digital dash, my oil pressure stopped working. Then it worked and my water sensor stopped working. Then everything worked and now Im back to the oil pressure stopped working again. Ive been emailing back and forth with Dakota, lets see what they have to say this week when they get the update email on whats been happening. I also removed the heated seat switches from the dash, basically redid the wiring moving the switches by the seats. I will install them in the console in the future, for now they are ziptied to the seat frame where they are accessible.
I need this bottle kit too. Which one did you buy?
 
Door cards are in, went with the aftermarket cards, plug inserts as well. I wont use this brand again, the plastic was on the hard side and less pliable when cutting holes. The plugs and inserts were also bad, the inserts ended up shattering the plastic plugs. Of course that may be attributed to the garage being cold (42 degrees).
I pulled the cap off the heater blower and oiled the felt. I could tell by the sound and fan inconsistency it was needed. Its not perfect now but much better than before.
I also installed the coolant reservoir on the drivers side. There was no room to put it in the stock location on the PS fender. At least I was able to reuse the bracket.
Next up is the radio install, redo of the exhaust (larger pipe), Hummer transmission oil pan, and eventually the interior console.

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Completed the dome light wire, now fully powered. Had two speakers for the front, passenger side was easy. Had to be a little creative on the driver side speaker.
Spent some time trying to get the retro radio to fit, another issue with the Topnault tub. The radio hole was just a tad undersized, I was able to manipulate it a little so the radio would fit.
Finished the radio install, stations programmed. Unable to program the time, will mess with it later.
Also dug in to my horn issue. Works when I use the right turn signal. I unplugged the relay and the turn signal works fine. The turn signal is a GY wire and the relay also has a GY wire. So its either the wrong wire in the harness or its the signal switch in the cab. I used an old one from my 74 so maybe that's bad.

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Brought another one home, might be too far gone but still plenty of good parts that I need.
I ran in to an issue after hooking up my horn relay, the horn buttons didn't work so I figured it was a ground or something. While installing the front speaker in the foot well I moved the turn signal to the right and the horn went off. Well that had me stuck for sure as I had no clue. So I ripped all of the wrap off and checked every connection in the engine bay, still wasn't able to figure it out. I reached out to @Coolerman and he pointed me in the right direction. Like most harnesses, it was hacked up and when I must have missed the second GY wire and where it was supposed to be. I figured it out and now the horn is working as it should.

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Fixed my key ignition key lock, my barrel lock had a push button detent lever to release the key. It was missing the button and the inset in the block. I tried swapping parts from my donor but wasn't successful. I was able to bend it out and now it works like a US spec. I robbed the steering column covers off of the parts truck.
I pulled the troop seats out and stripped them down for new covers and foam. I wire wheeled the frames and gave it a coat of Rustoleum Tractor implement paint.
The last item on the docket today was replacing the heater pull cable, the end broke off. Kinda normal based on age and such. I checked the parts truck and luckily it was good so I pulled that as well. Before installing I lubed it up really well so it should be good to go for years to come.

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Dakota Digital control module is back in, they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Ironically when I hooked it back up, everything worked as it was supposed too. I installed the Jump seat belts. I mocked up the jump seats and had to add a couple of Rivet nuts as only 4 of the 8 required fasten points were there. The passenger side didnt have any upper welded nuts so I had to install them.
I started breaking down the donor truck, only half of the bolts broke on the hard top. I will count that as a win. I will need to do one repair to the fiberglass and replace some rot on there gutter inner rail. The sides were a long shot and not worth the time to fix them IMO. Started pulling parts off of it and filling a plastic bin.

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Never underestimate the percussive therapy of the savage package handlers at the USPS. I had a friend that sent back a Ruger revolver with a front sight tilted a little. Ruger sent it back "what do you mean the front sight was tilted" and sure enough it was now fixed.
 
Another issue to resolve as I head to the finish line is my engine fan coming on at about 100-120 degrees. My Dakota digital sensor is on the passenger side, my sensor for the motor is on the driver side. I believe its one of three things, air pocket on the driver side, bad sensor, or my tune is off for the fan to come on. I did crack the driver side steam port and it took a little bit before antifreeze weeped out. I also checked the top hose and after squeezing it I believe its full. I did some reading online and I am thinking its the tune settings. Now, I need to find someone to check it. Sounds like fun.
 
Ran into a similar issue with my temp sensor. The adapter that came with the Dakota Digital temp sensor broke so I used a sensor I already had. It read way too low like the engine running at 140 degrees. Ordered a new adapter and installed the DD sensor and it runs consistently at 208 degrees with the electric fan coming on around 190 ish.
 
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When I broke the little brass adapter that came with the DD display I installed a sensor I already had that fit the hole. The sensor on the driver’s side was running the engine at the correct temps, the display was just reading low. I confirmed it with checking the temp an OBD2 reader.


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Build the FJ, sell it, buy her a Jeep with an airbag, 4 cylinder automatic. Take out the rear seat to limit how many people can ride with her on the Jeep, let her collect ducks.
An FJ 40 with a 325-400 horsepower V8 is not a car for a kid with no brains. Pretty much all kids under 25 have no brains.

That's what I did for my daughter. She lived.

Nice job on the FJ build.
 
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When I broke the little brass adapter that came with the DD display I installed a sensor I already had that fit the hole. The sensor on the driver’s side was running the engine at the correct temps, the display was just reading low. I confirmed it with checking the temp an OBD2 reader.


Post #111
great info. My next step is to check it with the OBD handheld. Thanks
 

This one brought $44,000

Sell the 40, buy your daughter a jeep, ask her what color Jeep she wants. Stick a rubber duck on the dash. Pocket the difference for your next project or her college fund.
 
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