My TLC experience (5 Viewers)

[60 40]

Just finished reading through this whole thread.....owls?.....some funny stuff in here, congratulations on getting your 40 back on the road.

Five speed whoo hoo!

Nice seats, thinking of getting some similar, mirrors also nice improvement, Kubota huh? Like the patina green (but could be because that's what I have) if you go for a change I vote orange!

Enjoy the project and changes but also enjoy driving it.

 

[sogncab]

Just finished reading through this whole thread.....owls?.....some funny stuff in here, congratulations on getting your 40 back on the road.

Five speed whoo hoo!

Nice seats, thinking of getting some similar, mirrors also nice improvement, Kubota huh? Like the patina green (but could be because that's what I have) if you go for a change I vote orange!

Enjoy the project and changes but also enjoy driving it.

Yeah, owls. Doesn't look like an owl to you? I'm probably one of the few people on the planet that would do the impossible and fail a Rorschach test..... So there's that.

I ordered a Tuffy center console. I was planning on building something out of 1/4" plywood, then just fibreglassing it, and either attempting to skin it with vinyl, or probably get torq'd failing at that and just hose it down with bedliner. But the mirrors taught me sometimes it's just cheaper to buy things.... I have some concerns about whether or not the seatbelt mounting brackets on the new seat brackets will work with the new console. I won't know until the end of July when it ships. My OEM center console, (which was butchered already, so calm down), had to be bent up a bit to make fit between those brackets. The belts and belt mounting bolts are right in the way. I may have to cut the bracket off, flip them outboard and re-weld them. Which is kind of a bummer, because the paint on the brackets seems reasonably good. There is room to do that though.

I sent Icon a picture, mid design, of my mirror mount because their mirror is the one I fell in love with, and couldn't justify buying. No response. Then I sent a finished picture and told him I should've just bought his mirrors. I could've bought his mirrors, been bashing wood together and came out ahead financially. It was a fun project though, and I learned how to manipulate some things in my CAM software to make it easer. That has value.

Yep, Kubota mirrors. I bought them from here. They do have some vibration in them. How much of that is pitching a breadbox down the road, and how much is driveline/tires, I don't know. Better than the Toyota ones. Field of view is good. I'm betting when the body work happens some of that vibration will go away from sound matting and urea coating.

I love driving that stupid thing. Right now it's a bag of suck, we've had temps in the mid 90's, and my square head blood line doesn't handle that well, especially this early in the season.
Now that the transfer case isn't screaming at me, I can really hear how horrible the axles sound. Not quite two cats procreating in a dumpster, but close. So I've got a call in to get all of the parts for that lined, up along with a set of 3.73 gears. I'm not tackling that project. Out of my skill set, and I was quoted $800 per axle to do the work. I'm not willing to do the work for that kind of money. Since the axles have to come out anyways, I might switch the rears out to disc while I'm at it.

I think I said this elsewhere, but I've got a 2018 Ram Ram 3500 I ordered so I could get a regular transmission, and I hate that piece of crap. I feel ripped off, raped, and taken. Giant waste of money. What bothers me how much of the crap I paid extra for, doesn't work, or doesn't work consistently. The sheet metal is stupid thin, you look at it and it dents. Plastic on a front bumper? Why? The first winter I had the thing, I was wiggling an enclosed trailer into a jobsite. Everything was tight, and there was a snowbank in the way. That's fine, I'll just nose into it and push until I run out of traction. I didn't ram, I just pushed. It taco'd the bumper, smeared the plastic bolts holding the license plate off, and ripped their stupid plastic air dam off. I brought the dumpster fire of a pickup in for unrelated warranty work and asked why would anyone put a paper mache bumper on a one ton pickup? I didn't buy the thing to drive around to perform fellatio on men, I bought it for work. The next pickup will not be a diesel, (why pay an extra $10k for a over complicated gutless engine that gets horrible mileage), and a complete strip down. Less stupid crap to break or disappoint me, and a lower cost of entry. It'll get a flat bed too since all of the manufactures think a box side needs to be a mile off the ground.
The moral is, I've become a flat out hater of over priced, over complicated new vehicles. I was on my way there before getting the Land Cruiser, but it really drove that home for me. I don't mind cheap and crappy, so long as I pay for cheap and crappy. $65,000 for a midline pickup is a retarded waste of money and the effort.

 

[Goldbug]

Instead of AC, take the top off. It will also eliminate all rattles. It's a night and day difference compared to driving with top on.

 

[sogncab]

Instead of AC, take the top off. It will also eliminate all rattles. It's a night and day difference compared to driving with top on.

I hear you. I'm a little squeamish pulling the top. I'm willing to bet it's never been off.

 

[60 40]

I hear you. I'm a little squeamish pulling the top. I'm willing to bet it's never been off.

If it's never been off it's probably in good shape......

 

[DangerNoodle]

If it's never been off it's probably in good shape......

I'd go the opposite. If this thing was ever introduced to a lot of moisture, I wouldn't be surprised if there is rust forming under there. An even better reason to get it off and stop it.

 

[sogncab]

If it's never been off it's probably in good shape......

I'm thinking weeks of hitting everything with penetrating oil before turning a tool.

 

[60 40]

Still it must be done.

 

[sogncab]

I'd go the opposite. If this thing was ever introduced to a lot of moisture, I wouldn't be surprised if there is rust forming under there. An even better reason to get it off and stop it.

It's gotta come off for paint next year. I was hoping to not touch it until then.

 

[60 40]

Instead of AC, take the top off. It will also eliminate all rattles. It's a night and day difference compared to driving with top on.

It's true, losing all that extra weight up high and all the rattles go away.

 

[sogncab]

Is 17mpg on a 2F even possible?

I drove 52 miles of two lane highwayat 55mph. I don't know how the fuel gauge behaves yet, so I topped it off. 3 gallons. That doesn't seem right.

91, non-oxygenated. I think it's also no ethanol. Poser told me to not run corn gas.

 

[sogncab]

Well gosh darn fiddlesticks..... I'm down again. I slid underneath this morning to retorque the u-bolts for the springs, grease my u-joints and slip shafts again. I gave the rear driveshaft a wiggle and the pinion has some play in it. Without actually measuring, I'd guess about 1-2mm of vertical movement, that shouldn't be zero, but it should be imperceptible by eye. The plan was to have the axles rebuilt completely soon, but I was hoping to drive it for the next few weeks/month until I got the parts and a slot to have it worked on.
Oh well, that's just how it goes some days.

I knew something was not happy in the rear end. At just the right load and throttle setting I was getting some, not super serious, but plenty bad vibration. I knew a bearing was going out somewhere. I don't want to risk my freshly built transfer case, or new u-joints. So it'll sit until I can throw it on a trailer.


The dog is starting to feel a bit more comfortable. It's pretty funny when she's sitting on the jump seat staring at the world go by.

I pulled the gauge cluster hoping to have easy access to lube the top pivot point of the clutch pedal. No such luck, I'll need to find an oiler with a long tube to get at it. It squeaks, and drives me a little batty. Since the two screws that hold the cluster in, were out, I polished the little bit of corrosion they had on them off. I did it with a leather wheel on a low rpm grinder. I need to load a cloth wheel back onto my other grinder and use some rouge for this. They look better, but not great. I have been thinking about getting a sonic cleaner. I've seen some incredible results on Instagram.

I'm also starting to second guess my diesel swap plan, and thinking about sticking with the 2F. Rebuilding that would be a fun project that I could actually do. I know I can't get big hp numbers out of a 2F, but 200 would be more than adequate I would think, and completely attainable. I'm still leaning towards the R2.8, but not having a computer controlled anything in it, and having something unsusceptible to EMP/solar flare has a lot of appeal to me. It would certainly cost a lot less as well.
I wonder if anyone has converted a R2.8 to mechanical injection. My opinion, a 4BT is a much better engine, but I don't think and FJ40 is the best application.


My company does some work for a few other cabinet shops around the area. I was dropping some stuff off at one and drove past, (for the lack of a better term), hot rod shop. They had a beautiful 70's Bronco sitting outside. Once I was done dropping stuff off, I swung into that shop. Chatted with the owner for a bit about what I was looking to accomplish, ways to get there, and my timeline, I ended up handing him my card. "cabinetmaker..... you interested in a trade?" Uhh, does the pope poop in the Vatican? I'm all for barter. Dat big gov man ain't got no tax on them barters. So hopefully I can work something out there and accomplish way more than my social standing would usually allow. I'm pretty excited about that prospect. They do some really awesome work from what I saw, so hopefully he wants some really awesome stuff for his wife's kitchen. I like building cool stuff at work.



I've started ordering parts for when the frame off will take place. Things like badges, door/window seals, door latches and catches. The list is basically infinite, but my idiot spreadsheet has two categories to it. One for parts that have been purchased, and when I think of it, parts that have to be acquired. I'd like to slowly obtain everything over the next 18 months so when the time comes, it's ready to go. Doing it over time will keep the whistling of the aggressively draining bank account somewhere in the range that doesn't make the dog cringe, and the wife from noticing too much.



Does anyone have a .dxf file of all of the glass, (not the corner glass obviously), to have it cut? I searched a bit, but didn't come up with anything. The windshield needs to be replaced for sure, and the side windows are fairly pitted as well. When they come out, I don't see much reason in putting them back in. If they don't exist, when my glass comes out, I'll invest some time into making them. Shouldn't take much time. I'm reasonably sure all of the glass in my rig is original as well, but I don't know that for fact.

 

[DangerNoodle]

I'd advise against a 4bt. Parts are hard to find and they shake like hell. I'd go for a B3.3, but they suffer from a lack of parts as well. The 2.8 is a really nice engine, but they are pricey. Check out Proffit's EMP 40. If you want something that can survive an EMP, build something like that.

 

[sogncab]

I don't think the 4BT is a good fit. I probably wouldn't go that direction.

I've been following Proffit's projects for a while. Seems like they do really nice work.

 

[sogncab]

Axle parts ordered.
Appointment with the diff shop made for next Wednesday.
Maybe Friday I'll be able to pick it back up.
Maybe I'm overly optimistic....

I ordered up a bunch of parts for the bumpers. I need to get going on the design for the rear, so I can get both of those going.

 

[sogncab]

I also grew up with Buick muscle cars. We had some semi rare GSX's, a fairly rare GSX (1 of 187), and a pretty rare GS (1 of 71). My father found some dealership that was closing with a lot of parts. Fast forward 20 years, he died, nobody washed to carry on the collection, so everything was sold. I had a 24' enclosed trailer, full of little boxes and bags with blue lettering. Full. The parts were sold at the Buick Nationals in Bowling Green Kentucky. The obsessed were losing their minds.

I kinda know how they felt finally, though this stuff isn't exactly hard to get your hands on at the moment, it will be, as it's exciting.

 

[Goldbug]

Are those jump seat straps OEM? Didn't realize they were still available. If so, part no?

 

[sogncab]

Are those jump seat straps OEM? Didn't realize they were still available. If so, part no?

Those are not NOS. I got them from Cruiser Corps

 

[Yellowknifer]

I think the last windshield I got was from Toyota.. it wasn’t very expensive. Not sure on a .dxf file but the side windows can be removed pretty easily and a glass company should be able to measure and cut.

FWIW I have a factory diesel (3B) and have no complaints. I have never driven a gas powered 40 but owned a few old 22r/re pickups and they drive pretty similar but the torque of the diesel is much more enjoyable and fuel economy was probably 50% better. Not sure I’d swap if I had a 2F though. The cost of the swap would probably never make up for the fuel savings. If my 3B dies I do have a spare but I would definitely at least consider the R2.8.

 

[sogncab]

Since it's a simple 2D shape, I thought it'd be nice and easy to have somebody local cnc out the glass. I'm assuming the corners all have a radius of some sort. I had some glass made from a template a while back for some doors. Tolerances were fairly tight. The glass didn't fit for crap even though my template was perfect, (i cut that on the cnc and tested it). The glass I got had some issues and was swapped out. The second piece I had cut, I emailed in a .dxf it fit like it was supposed to, flawlessly.


The Land Cruiser got loaded up and taken to the driveline shop to have both axles rebuilt. I'm also swapping to 3.70 gears.

My buddy works for the shop I took it to, and he'll be relaying pictures of the carnage. He said the front wheel bearings are likely original, and pretty gross. The hubs are plenty gross. I've got new Warn lockouts on the way. Should've been here earlier this week, but something got discombobulated, and I should have them Friday.

I'm quite curious how much better it'll drive with everything new and happy in the axles. I've spent a ton of money, (to me anyways), on the driveline to get it as good as I feel it can be.


My trouble light was stuck to the bottom of the body and managed to survive the 40 mile trek on the trailer. Better to be lucky than good I guess. One of these days the Gods are going to smite my in ancient fashion. It's actually clean because I just wiped the whole thing down with contact cleaner. It was basically black from shoving the tranny back in.