New to FJ55s. . .

[Tom FJ55]

Now a few "after pics" of the dash - sorry about the crappy quality, they're just iPhone pics.

I'm excited because now ALL the gauges are working! The only thing that doesn't work is the odometer - it's stuck at 33,000. I took it all apart because the gears were completely frozen to the shaft they spin on. I thought that would solve the problem (also was a chance to reset the milage, but I decided not to!). It turns out that one of the plastic gears that turns the odometer is worn just to the point where it won't turn the numbers. . . so bummer, it doesn't work. Oh well. . .

Notice the roll of duct tape (ie: coffee cup holder) on the trans. hump!

 

[5B Land Crusher]

Looks great Tom

Still working on the post count! My odometer did the exact same thing. Just stopped working a couple of years ago. Probably only have 5k on it since then so no big deal.
Let me know when you are wroking on fluids etc... Need to do the same to mine and would love some practice.

 

[subzali]

Tom, did you address the brakes yet? I can't remember...

 

[Tom FJ55]

Tom, did you address the brakes yet? I can't remember...

I did. Mostly because of budget, I decided to stay w/the drums and rebuild ALL the wheel cylinders. I reused the drums and shoes which seemed to be in good shape. I also rebuilt the master cylinder, replaced all the rubber lines in the brake system and finally replaced the brake booster w/a rebuilt one as mine was hissing (assumed leak).

The drum system is a PITA to adjust for sure, but after a few adjustments and some miles, it seems to be functioning well. When you stomp on the brake pedal, it stops. . . fast!

The other day I was driving and it was pulling to one side under braking, which seems to be the biggest complaint of running drums. I decided I'd get a few more miles on the rebuilt system to let all the pieces and parts get happy w/each other before doing any more adjusting. Today, the pull was gone. . .

The FSM says to adjust the wheel cylinders until the shoes are tight to the drum, then back off 5 or so clicks. I found this created a long pedal, so I only backed off closer to 2 clicks. It feels better to me, although I do think my brakes drag slightly. Once I get a few more miles on it, I'll do another adjustment and see where things are etc...

Sorry, long answer to a "yes or no" question!

 

[Tom FJ55]

Meant to post this a few days ago. . . been driving it to work for the past week or so (with the exception of a few down days when the dash was torn apart).

Been thinking about painting the purple - changing to matte black w/a red pinstripe between the white & matte black below. . .

My kids want to paint it pink. . . but I don't know if I could actually pull the trigger on that when it comes to doing it. . .

 

[riderjgs]

Tom...I'm interested in how you were able to pull the hard vinyl back into place around the speedo. Have the same issue with both sides of my dash panel gauges.

 

[Tom FJ55]

Tom...I'm interested in how you were able to pull the hard vinyl back into place around the speedo. Have the same issue with both sides of my dash panel gauges.

I should've taken pics of this as I was working on it - I thought about it, but was just ready to get-er-done at that point!

After pulling the whole panel from the dash and then taking the gauges and indicator lights off the back, I made little slices every 1/2" or so in the areas that had delaminated. The vinyl was too stiff/old to force back into place w/out the slices. I then used epoxy to glue the little sliced pieces back into position. Once I spooged some epoxy into the crack, I used really thin packing tape (the kind w/the stringy strips in it) to keep the pieces in place until the epoxy cured. After removing the tape, I mixed a thick batch of epoxy using some filler to fill in the gaps created by the slices. After that cured, I sanded it all down & finally used a few thin rounds of body filler/sanding/body filler/sanding to get it shaped and good to go. I definitely got impatient to get finished so if you look at my finished product closely, you can see the openings aren't perfectly round and there are a few scratches I didn't sand out etc.... it's good enough for me though. Give the whole thing (all the vinyl that is) a light sanding before a few coats of primer then a few coats of semi-flat black and you're done!

As I said, I was just ready to be done & I HATE sanding! I could've taken more time and made it perfect. . . but then it'd be the only perfect thing on the whole 55! Good enough was good enough!

Let me know if any of that didn't make sense and I'll try to help!

 

[subzali]

blue baby

 

[scrapdaddy]

Tom,

I think you're doing a great on everything. Showing what can be done, without throwing alot of money at it. Good lesson for the kids. Keep it up.

Ron

 

[PabloCruise]

My kids want to paint it pink. . . but I don't know if I could actually pull the trigger on that when it comes to doing it. . .

Yes!
Paint it pink baby! The only correct color for a Pig!
Chrysler has that sweet Panther Pink color code that was part of their "high impact" color line-up in 1970.
Go for it! You won't regret it...

 

[Tom FJ55]

blue baby

I think the original blue or red would look great too. . .

Tom,

I think you're doing a great on everything. Showing what can be done, without throwing alot of money at it. Good lesson for the kids. Keep it up.

Ron

Ron - thanks a lot, I appreciate the kind words. I've really enjoyed this project so far. Thin budget w/free labor forces one to be creative! The 3 biggest expenses so far have been:

1. $820 Paying someone to recover the seats. Expensive, but I thought worthwhile as the seats are one of the few things you actually "touch" when inside. The guy I found was still cheaper than buying foam & seat cover kits from SOR and doing it myself. This was mostly necessary due to the mouse infestation stank/must that would've never left if the seats weren't completely redone.

2. $600ish Tires. Obviously important! I bought new ones instead of going the used route so I could get a matched set w/out issues. I got a discount through my wife's work.

3. $400ish (can't remember exactly) Paying someone to rebuild the carb. I struggled w/this one but in the end, it was such a basket case that I decided to bite the bullet and have it done. I figured if I did it myself, I'd end up doing it more than once to get it right and was willing the pay up front to bypass the hours of struggling I knew I'd have to endure if I tried it myself.

Those 3 items by themselves account for 1/2 of my total budget. The rest is mostly little pieces and parts etc.... A few other big ticket items were the rebuilt brake booster, tailgate weatherstrip piece, door body weatherstripping. . . it definitely adds up quickly!

Yes!
Paint it pink baby! The only correct color for a Pig!
Chrysler has that sweet Panther Pink color code that was part of their "high impact" color line-up in 1970.
Go for it! You won't regret it...

Are there any examples of other pink pigs? I haven't come across any pics yet. . . I will do my best to humor my kids on this one. . . we can always paint over it!

 

[Pighead]

I only backed off closer to 2 clicks. It feels better to me, although I do think my brakes drag slightly. Once I get a few more miles on it, I'll do another adjustment and see where things are etc...

Yes. I always adjusted my drums tighter than the FSM recommended. They self-clear in a few few miles and gave me a better feel. After a while (15 years in my case) you get the drums so well dialed that you only need to give the adjusters one click every other other time you adjust them (every other month or so). That is, don't jack up the tires, just give every adjuster 1 click.

I think pink is a fine color for a Pig. I've run a pink front bumper before, will occasionally paint the drive shafts in the pink & black candy cane when they come back from from the driveshaft shop. If I could get cheap Herculiner in pink, I'd do it.
Or pink zebra stripes.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I don't know about that pink thing. Call me insecure, call me what you want, but I'm not painting anything pink!

 

[bobm]

Scrapdaddy, Im with you. PINK it aint happening. Tom you are doing a Great job. Nice work on the Dash it looks brand new, dont keep any trade secrets. Share them.

Thanks Bob.

 

[5B Land Crusher]

I've seen it in person

and I am going to lobby for staying w/ the weathered purple. Maybe tune up the top of the fenders & definitely re-paint the roof. Your Pig has one of the coolest vintage car patinas (damn iPad corrected that to "Latinas" twice) I have ever seen.

Been thinking about our "soft top Pig" conversation from the other day and have been eyeballing that derelict rig on the old UPS lot in Ketch. Could get myself in trouble w/ that one!

 

[Tom FJ55]

vintage car patinas (damn iPad corrected that to "Latinas" twice)

Hmmm. . . a vintage car Latina. . . not sure my wife would allow that!

Did a bunch of boring, but necessary stuff this weekend.

Changed the fluid in the front & rear diffs, transmission, transfer case & overdrive. The old fluid I drained out defined nasty. It was a brown sludge-like liquid that reminded me of runny poo. . . yum. There were no metal bits or other funky things that came out, just the nasty goo. I can't imaging the diffs., transmission & transfer case are anything but happy about having new juice in them! Hopefully it won't just leak right out. Both the transmission and t-case are pretty wet on the outside - I'm assuming input/output shaft seals need replacing. . .

Also adjusted the clutch to allow a bit more free play in the pedal. It now grabs a little lower in the stroke instead of right at the beginning. There is a "ticking" that I was hoping would disappear by some miracle after the adjustment, but it didn't. It increases w/RPM and I think is either the throwout bearing or clutch release arm rattling around. It disappears w/the slightest clutch pedal pressure, but resumes when you fully lift off the pedal. I've taken to driving around w/my foot on the clutch pedal - not the best long term solution. . .

Also gave the motor some love - adjusted the timing a bit, did a slight carb. idle speed adjustment, adjusted the valves. . . and did a compression test.

Here's what I found:
#1 - 117
#2 - 90
#3 - 97
#4 - 80
#5 - 95
#6 - 120

Results are kind of all over the map. At least all the cylinders had compression and I suppose it could be worse! Not the healthiest example though. I have nothing to compare it too, but to be honest, I've been a bit disappointed in my 55's power.

Based on what I've learned here, I don't think I'd spend any time or $$ rebuilding this F motor, even though it is original to the 55. I would however consider doing a 2F. I know this is a hard question to answer w/a lot of variables, but if I found a running 2F, is there a standard ballpark rebuild cost?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Pighead]

I think is either the throwout bearing or clutch release arm rattling around.

Yes, the throwout bearing carrier and the clutch fork ears can wear down and rattle. Also, make sure you have both springy clips holding the throwout bearing carrier to the clutch fork...also make sure you have the spring on the outside end of the shift fork that holds it against clutch slave pushrod.

To rebuild a 2F...there are lots of variables. How much of the core engine can you re-use? Pistons? Maybe. Conn rods? hopefully. Crank? probably...
I rebuilt my 2F/late F 5 or 6 years ago. There's a lot of extras you can put in the engine or you can do it almost inexpensively. I probably dropped about 3k US bucks but assembled it myself. I got some extras like a big bore, balancing and some head work. If you can just re-ring it it's much cheaper.

 

[Pighead]

to be honest, I've been a bit disappointed in my 55's power.

Ummm...your other car is a Porsche?

 

[Tom FJ55]

Ummm...your other car is a Porsche?

Yeah but. . . .but. . . but. . . : ) : )

I guess my reference point is a little skewed. . . but this thing is sloooooow to get up to speed. Maybe Nick will let me drive his '55 around the block when he gets it back on the road for comparison. His has a massaged 2F w/a 4 speed.

 

[subzali]

should be 150 psi across the board. But you probably already knew that.

EDIT: actually, if you're at altitude, that number needs to be de-rated a little bit. At a mile high my 2F at ~110 psi on all cylinders runs pretty dang good.