Builds New Alaskan FJ40 intro thread (1 Viewer)

[Aussie Alaskan]

Also installed some EL wire into the gauge cluster. Very clean installation and it looks great! It will also dim with the other interior lights. Hard to see how it looks in this photo, but I'll try to get a better one when it gets dark.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Got a package in from CityRacer with my turn signal gaskets and the windshield wiper motor gasket.

Also received a new OEM windshield cleaner fluid nozzle for the hood.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

My rear ambulance doors do not meet up very well when closed. It seems like the right side needs to be lifted up or pulled to the right in order to have them meet up even in the center. I did some crazy stuff, see the photos, and got it to line up perfect, but once I release the jack, the hardtop seems to lean to the left and throws the doors alignment off again.

Anybody had this issue before when installing a hardtop?

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Took the 40 for a drive yesterday evening. 120 miles round trip to grab dinner at a place called Chena Hot Springs Resort. All seemed to go well. The sound proofing I did paid off. The decibels at all speeds were an average of 6-7 lower than without the sound deadening. That's about a 50-60% decrease in human perceived sound according to my slight knowledge of how decibels work.

 

[RevISK]

I’d try loosening the header as well as a bunch of top to side bolts and try to line it up while slowly tightening things back up.

 

[Chilkoot]

Man huge props to you on the paint and getting everything back together nicely and quickly! It looks awesome!

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

I’d try loosening the header as well as a bunch of top to side bolts and try to line it up while slowly tightening things back up.

That's what I did. Got it all lined up and bolted back down before letting off the tension. Still seemed to lean back to the left. Frustrating.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Man huge props to you on the paint and getting everything back together nicely and quickly! It looks awesome!

Thanks! Many many hours spent on wrapping up the paint and reassembly. I'll tinker with it over the summer, but for now the project is mostly complete. Minus some touchups to the paint and tweaking the gauges.

Appreciate you following the journey!

 

[samatulich]

Nice job, should be a lot of fun driving that around this summer.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

A few more photos of the EL wiring and how it looks in near darkness.

The way I powered the EL wire was to use one of the twist light sockets and "squish" the flattened wire down to make contact with the board.

This way, it turns on when the headlights are turned on and dims with the headlight knob.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

A few "action shots" from the past couple of days. Drove about 140 miles down south to Nenana Alaska and back up to Fairbanks AK and the FJ40 ran great. My work on the rear of the engine paid off and I've now got zero leaks!

These photos are taken looking south and you can see Mount Denali in the background. The tallest mountain on the N. American continent and the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak.

What a gorgeous day for a drive!

 

[ijonesinsp]

What inverter did you get for the EL wiring? That's a pretty slick setup!

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

What inverter did you get for the EL wiring? That's a pretty slick setup!

Thanks! This is the kit I used.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B088F6VSD2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I just snipped the 12V cig lighter outlet plug off and stripped the wires to make my connection.

Almost plug and play.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

That's what I did. Got it all lined up and bolted back down before letting off the tension. Still seemed to lean back to the left. Frustrating.

My '76 had the same issue with the ambulance doors not lining up quite right. I never attempted to fix. Your 40 is looking great.
BTW, it's just "Denali", no "Mt." prefix.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

My '76 had the same issue with the ambulance doors not lining up quite right. I never attempted to fix. Your 40 is looking great.
BTW, it's just "Denali", no "Mt." prefix.

Thank you. Been a long road to getting it to this point. Fun times

You are correct of course about Denali. Back before they officially changed the name, everybody already called it Denali up here in the interior. Only the tourists called it Mt. McKinley.

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Removed the ball hitch from my rear bumper and replaced it with a CCOT hitch @Green Bean sent me. Had to grind down one corner of the hitch in order for my spare tire rack latch to pass, but it was an easy modification to make with my angle grinder.

The paint on the CCOT hitch was garbage. Must have been cheaply rattle canned from the manufacturer, and it was flaking off in huge pieces. I scraped as much of it off as I could and then coated everything with POR15.

Now I can use a pintle hitch and tow my overlanding M416 military build trailer

 

[letterman52]

Where did you end up mounting the heater seat switch?

 

[Aussie Alaskan]

Where did you end up mounting the heater seat switch?

I ended up removing the ash tray from the dash (I still have it so it can be replaced easily if needed) and mounted a matching silver plate there. That "switchplate" now has the heated seat control switch, the auxiliary lighting switch and the voltmeter/USB charging port. I can monitor my battery voltage and not rely on the amp meter in the cluster as well as charge my phone.

 

[clrussell]

Where did you end up mounting the heater seat switch?

I ended up removing the ash tray from the dash (I still have it so it can be replaced easily if needed) and mounted a matching silver plate there. That "switchplate" now has the heated seat control switch, the auxiliary lighting switch and the voltmeter/USB charging port. I can monitor my battery voltage and not rely on the amp meter in the cluster as well as charge my phone.

I recently did the same. Minus the usb charging.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I mounted my 3 speed rear heater switch on to my custom made heater box. That way I didn't have to listen to the whining Turn the heater off, because they were over dressed.