new brown 60 - the Cwooser

[sd60]

I've been battling w/pressured gas cap/charcoal canister issues for years. I'd spray carb cleaner/pressurized air and get the check ball moving for a while, then it would seize up again and I'd swap the lines temporarily until I could get it moving again. Since OEM canisters are NLA I finally just replaced it with the Duralast VC120. Because of the limited ports (2 vs 3 on OEM) and the slightly larger size of the VC120 that makes fitting it in the OEM bracket a little tricky, there's a couple of tweaks required. There's different ways to do it, here's mine:

The purge line is 1/4", the tank line is 5/16", and the VCV is 3/8." I reduced the VCV from 3/8 to 5/16 w/a reducer, and then used a 5/16" T to tie the tank and VCV together. To make the new canister fit in the existing brackets I just used longer tightening bolts and drilled out the holes in the brackets that bolt to the frame so I could make the brackets a little wider. I'll clean up the OEM one and have it ready in case I need to swap back for smog check. Also replaced the fuel pump while I was in there, so let's pan out to that sexy new pump.

 

[sd60]

Similarly, the rear windshield washer hasn't worked since I've owned the truck, so I finally got around to fixing it. The line had a hard kink at the junction between hatch and cab, and the brackets holding the spray nozzle to the tailgate had broken off so it wasn't seating tightly. I found a post from @POTATO LAUNCHER (thanks) showing that you could use Honda Part #76850-SWA-305, and while looking for that I found a Dorman version on Amazon for $15. I bought 14' of generic vinyl tubing 3/16" ID at the hardware store. I tried the tape-it-to-the-old-line-and-pull trick, but no luck. My old line was (and remains) taped or otherwise stuck in there pretty good. So I spent a while with a coat hanger running it through, and ended up peeling back the driver corner of the headliner to get it routed right (went back on no problem) . It is very helpful to remove the driver side outer vent and the hatch light when you're routing the new tubing. Note the check valve that came w/my Dorman sprayer didn't work - I gather a lot of people don't bother, but I just cleaned up the original and re-used it.

 

[mattressking]

What are you doing with the old charcoal canister? I could use it to fix up if you’re going to toss

 

[sd60]

I plan on keeping it and having it ready to hot-swap before smog checks.

 

[bwesty]

I plan on keeping it and having it ready to hot-swap before smog checks.

Have you considered just drilling out the check valve?
It's a great solution and keeps the OEM unit in use. They can be rebuilt with new charcoal and function well with the valve drilled.

 

[mattressking]

I plan on keeping it and having it ready to hot-swap before smog checks.

If you dribble carb cleaner into the ports with check balls and cycle compressed air with 20+inHg of vacuum you can free up and fix the factory canister pretty quickly. I did that a couple years ago and it has resolved all tank issues up to 13k feet.

 

[sd60]

If you dribble carb cleaner into the ports with check balls and cycle compressed air with 20+inHg of vacuum you can free up and fix the factory canister pretty quickly. I did that a couple years ago and it has resolved all tank issues up to 13k feet.

Yeah I’ve done that a couple of times, it just seems to get stuck again.

 

[sd60]

Have you considered just drilling out the check valve?
It's a great solution and keeps the OEM unit in use. They can be rebuilt with new charcoal and function well with the valve drilled.

good idea. i'm gonna play around w/the OEM canister a bit and see if i can get a permanent fix.

 

[sd60]

rear vent re-fresh. cleaned up the gaskets with armor all and steel wool; sprayed the vents with Rust-Oleum 271473 Universal All Surface Spray Paint, Flat Soft Iron. thanks to @FARMAN33 for doing all the hard work finding the right color.

 

[FARMAN33]

Hell yeah brother! Looks great!!!

 

[sd60]

Haven't posted in a while, which means the Cwooser has been running like a champ. One moment of excitement: the starter died when my wife and I were using it to shuttle furniture around one Friday at 5pm. Luckily it died in a spot where we could push start it and get it back home for a replacement. I'd like to think that my wife was impressed with the whole push start thing. Picked up a shiny new OEM (rebuilt) one from @ToyotaMatt. Quick swap and ready to roll.

 

[sd60]

Also got him a buddy. 2016 4runner Trail. Doesn't have the character of the Cwooser, but it's a fun and capable truck. Have been building it up and taking it out on some adventures. Will need to start a thread for it, but the 5th gen Mud forum is pretty quiet.

 

[sd60]

did a little re-fresh on the dash. the old eclipse head unit finally died (after 20+years), replaced it with a new pioneer. used the bracket from @ChaserFJ60 - nice little product, and a much cleaner look than the old generic trim piece i had on there.

while i was in there i replaced the old broken dash bezel (multiple breaks, included a new one from this project) with a new one from @TRFarmers. also really nice. in pic below, top is old, bottom new. paint color is pretty spot on - if they aren't exact match, they are close enough no one is going to notice.

thanks to both vendors for putting out esoteric parts at reasonable prices to make us nutcases happy.

still chasing down some electrical gremlins on the wiring to the new headunit...old wiring was interesting, and i don't know what i'm doing anyway so it's a fun challenge.

 

[sd60]

swapped the carb with a rebuilt one from @65swb45, and took the opportunity to clean up some stuff along the way. truck is running great. choke cable was a little finicky on re-install, but with a little tinkering got it worked out. here's some glamour shots of the new carb.

 

[sd60]

when I took the old carb off i saw that the insulator plate had snapped in two. quick email to the gang over at @cruiseroutfit and i had a new one (and some shiny new studs) at my doorstep two days later.

 

[sd60]

air cleaner refresh, and replaced that hot air duct underneath:

 

[sd60]

replaced those hard to reach vacuum hoses on the passenger side base of the carb (that i missed last time i replaced all the vacuum hoses), checked torque on other random stuff i could get a wrench on while i was in there, and put it back together. fired right up. tinkered with a sticky choke cable for a while, adjusted the idle screws, and went for a cruise with my son. fun project.

 

[PapaGiamati]

all I can say is WOW, pulling this thread out of the depths.
I like to read people's OG build/truck threads haha! Incredible truck and great work!

 

[sd60]

all I can say is WOW, pulling this thread out of the depths.
I like to read people's OG build/truck threads haha! Incredible truck and great work!

hey thanks. i'm enjoying reading about WabiSabi. way to dive in there!

 

[John Staton]

I've been battling w/pressured gas cap/charcoal canister issues for years. I'd spray carb cleaner/pressurized air and get the check ball moving for a while, then it would seize up again and I'd swap the lines temporarily until I could get it moving again. Since OEM canisters are NLA I finally just replaced it with the Duralast VC120. Because of the limited ports (2 vs 3 on OEM) and the slightly larger size of the VC120 that makes fitting it in the OEM bracket a little tricky, there's a couple of tweaks required. There's different ways to do it, here's mine:


View attachment 2612086

The purge line is 1/4", the tank line is 5/16", and the VCV is 3/8." I reduced the VCV from 3/8 to 5/16 w/a reducer, and then used a 5/16" T to tie the tank and VCV together. To make the new canister fit in the existing brackets I just used longer tightening bolts and drilled out the holes in the brackets that bolt to the frame so I could make the brackets a little wider. I'll clean up the OEM one and have it ready in case I need to swap back for smog check. Also replaced the fuel pump while I was in there, so let's pan out to that sexy new pump.


View attachment 2612101

I have a brown '83 and I had pressure build up in my gas tank. Very noticeable when I would remove the gas cap. I am desmogged and no longer had a charcoal canister under the hood. I just drilled a very small hole in the gas cap. Probably not the best solution but it has worked for me for years.