Builds New Addition Father,Son Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[TEQ4RPRO]

I wanted to introduce my self. I’ve been lurking for a few months but today finally made it official with the adoption of Chester. For over a year now @Unoman and I have been going back and forth about Land Cruisers. He invited me out to Lonestar Round up earlier this year to come meet people in the community. I didn’t have a LC but I do daily a 4Runner so I wheeled it with the group and had a blast and found everyone I meet to be amazing. So I started looking at 40s and never found one in my price range that I wanted to jump on. So fast forward a few weeks ago I got serious about pulling the trigger and reach out to him before the last meet at AJs Yotas. That day the stars aligned and he introduced me to @JohnnyFish .He had Chester a 72 40 that he was toying around with selling. I went to check it out and it was exactly what I wanted to start with for a project to teach my son on. Today I brought Chester home. My son’s was so excited he had me drive him around as soon as he saw it. (Side note he asked what the ashtray was and why one was in the car.) I forget they don’t have them anymore. I will be posting our progress here. Thanks for reading this far if you got to here. Chester is a 350 converted with a 700r4. Front disks, 4”lift, 33s,Holley Sniper and more upgrades than listed here.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

 

[Unoman]

Welcome to the jungle! Congrats again on the purchase. This is what the Cruiser community is all about.

 

[JohnnyFish]

Chester's in the right place!

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

First adventure out the neighborhood with my son into town about 5 miles. We were having a blast. On the way back when you let off it would start to slow down like a brake was dragging. Half a mile from home engine temp was climbing so I pulled over to let it cool down. Finally get it back home and driver side brake is smoking. I’m guessing that is the one that locked up.

Go in to warm up for a min since we had the top off . 30 mins later start it up and brake isn’t locked up anymore. Guess we will be pulling the wheel of the weekend and see what’s going on. I’m guess the drag is what was causing the engine to over heat. Always an adventure and a teaching moment.

 

[Grayscale]

Because it was only the driver's side brake that was smoking, I'd look into the wheel hub as a possible culprit.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

Because it was only the driver's side brake that was smoking, I'd look into the wheel hub as a possible culprit.

Will do. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[aljollano]

Welcome to the addiction!!

A.J

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

Because it was only the driver's side brake that was smoking, I'd look into the wheel hub as a possible culprit.

So, it turned out that somewhere in its life someone installed a generic brake booster (probably when the front disc conversion was done). The rod on the booster was too long and was putting pressure on the master. Anyway, rod was shortened and reinstalled. WI drove it around town quite a bit yesterday and zero issues, so we are back in business. Many thanks to Dave Duarte at Everything Yota of Texas because I would have never thought about it.

 

[TheHardWay]

Looks like your Silver Star already paid for itself!

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

Day 19: Me and my son were making sure all lights worked since we have been driving it all over town the last few days. Brake lights would work sometimes and only 1. All other lights worked. He noticed he could hear a click every time they came on and no click when they didn’t. Pulled the brake switch. Definitely the problem and ordered another but that didn’t solve the one light working issue. Looked underneath and there were so many spices and different connectors for no reason. So started cutting out old wiring, electrical tape, crappy connectors and redoing the connections with water proof soldered connections. Resecured everything more neatly and tucked away. Still have some more work to do but way better than it was. Ordered all new wire to start replacing everything.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

I walked out last week to tinker with Chester he had been sitting for about 2 weeks. Underneath it look like someone murdered him while in the garage. I had a trail of transmission fluid, oil, and anti freeze. So down the rabbit hole I went. Started with dropping the oil pan. Decided to do the front and rear seals. Knocked the rear out and noticed the mechanical fuel pump was still on the motor even though it has an electric fuel pump. Pulled it off along with the rod and installed a blank off plate. While waiting on some parts to get to the house I decided to do the transmission pan gasket as it had fluid everywhere. Of course made a mess and upon installation of the new one I figured out why the leak. 5 bolts are stripped. So called it a day and ordered a heli-coil kit.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

A week past and more parts assembled. Time to tackle the front seal. So pulled radiator so I can have it pressure tested to see if the leak is there. Off came the fan and water pump , then the crank pulley, and last the time of cover. Changed the seal and started reinstalling everything including a new water pump. Also reinstalled the oil pan. Tomorrow I will tackle the stripped transmission bolds and checking all hose connections. Still need to do valve cover gaskets and finish changing the spark plugs. Will install new hoses to radiator when back from being checked. Next weekend will be mocking up the new air cleaner to tie in the snorkel and cleaning up wiring under the hood. Only have a few weekends until it needs to be ready for Lonestar round up.

 

[JohnnyFish]

A week past and more parts assembled. Time to tackle the front seal. So pulled radiator so I can have it pressure tested to see if the leak is there. Off came the fan and water pump , then the crank pulley, and last the time of cover. Changed the seal and started reinstalling everything including a new water pump. Also reinstalled the oil pan. Tomorrow I will tackle the stripped transmission bolds and checking all hose connections. Still need to do valve cover gaskets and finish changing the spark plugs. Will install new hoses to radiator when back from being checked. Next weekend will be mocking up the new air cleaner to tie in the snorkel and cleaning up wiring under the hood. Only have a few weekends until it needs to be ready for Lonestar round up.

View attachment 3824778

View attachment 3824781

That water pump was pretty fresh. Sitting around deteriorates everything.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

That water pump was pretty fresh. Sitting around deteriorates everything.

I just changed it while I was there but keeping it for a backup. It’s been a great learning process.

 

[pb4ugo]

Just an FYI for sbc stock looking rad hoses for a FJ40. Gates 20573 for the lower and 20416 for the upper hose works great and offers a cleaner look instead of using those universal ribbed hoses. Some slight trimming maybe required.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

Just an FYI for sbc stock looking rad hoses for a FJ40. Gates 20573 for the lower and 20416 for the upper hose works great and offers a cleaner look instead of using those universal ribbed hoses. Some slight trimming maybe required.

Thanks for the info.

 

[newmexicokid]

That thing is great. I’ve been screwing with 40s for a couple years now with my sons. Any excuse to spend time with each other is how I look at it. That’s why it seems to take so long but as long as you’re together it’s all good. He doesn’t even have a license yet.

 

[TEQ4RPRO]

That thing is great. I’ve been screwing with 40s for a couple years now with my sons. Any excuse to spend time with each other is how I look at it. That’s why it seems to take so long but as long as you’re together it’s all good. He doesn’t even have a license yet.

View attachment 3825080

We have only had it about a month and a half but he already loves spending time on it.