New VT Pig Intro

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Sporin

Sporin

Site Addict
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Threads
170
Messages
3,502
Location
Windsor, VT USA
Website
www.ukemafia.com
Spent about a month hinting for a decent $4k FJ40 and came up empty. Found this pig in Rhode Island and had a buddy go check it out. All seemed well so I went and got it yesterday.

Hotrod Covette V8, newer 4 speed Cruiser trans dan tcase. Disk barked front axle which was abig surprise.

$14k worth of receipts in a folder. A good solid starting point. I was told the front drum brakes were bad so was prepared for a heart stopping trip home, and I got it.

After a brief test drive at pickup we hit the road, fingers crossed. Stopped at the first gas station right before getting on 95 to see if I could do anything about the brakes, the Dside front was leaking badly. Surprise! It's got disks but that caliper is SHOT.

Notice that the front shock hits the steering arm, that will need to be addressed. Looks like the tie rods barely clear the wheels. Looks like the money I set aside for a disk brake swap will go towards the steering instead. :)

Top of the brakemaster and get gas. Something is hinky. I assume I've overfilled it and it's purging from a evap valve or something because it's pouring out the Pside. Dammit.

Hit the road, gas gauge says way full and everything is going fine. We pull off at Quincy to stop at my buddy's house and I nearly rear end him, NO brakes, luckily I make a quick turn into a side street and get the truck stopped. Really scary there. Guess I need to top of the brake fluid more then once every 90 minutes.

Decide to bag the stop in Quincy and get right back onto 95 and head towards home, it's safest out on the highway. Stop to get gas and after 18 gallons it overflows again, attendant not happy.

Only had to make one stop on the highway for an accident. Somewhere north of Boston I realize I can clamp a vice grip on the bad caliper side's soft line. Stop at the first NH rest stop and do that. YEAH!! It holds and now I still have s***ty brakes but at least the fluid stays in it. A bit of relief.

Now the gas gauge isn't working (the speedo and odo never did) so I stop in Concord for gas, get about 5 gallons in before it starts overflowing. I'm not convinced it's overflow but off I go. Stop again in Warner NH and get a gallon in before it starts dripping. I say screw it and hit the road.

Steering feel funny, not bad off center but quite hard farther to each side, even at speed. Need to look into that. Gear whine is there but not so bad that I think anything is wrong. Stop in White River Jct. to get some gas and get a few gallons in. Last leg home I'd swear there is extra clunking, almost like a bad trans mount or motor mount. Need to get into that.

Arrive home, dirty, sweaty and beat.

So I have a few things that need attention before it can hit the road. Besides going through it end to end and changing fluids, checking bolts, etc., I need to address the bad brake caliper obviously. Then I need to figure out what's the deal with the gas and preferably get the gas gauge and speedo working. There's the clunking. Then I need to address the steering. I also really need to rebuild the axle so I think I'll do brakes on both sides and start fresh with new seals and everything.

It needs a cleaning. I think I'll strip the interior out, clean it up, lay in some dynomat and put it back together. There are a few places on the outside that need to see a sanding disk and some primer, nothing major though.

All 4 doors need adjusting, I have a couple of cracked lights in the back looks like the Pside rear corner got pushed in at some point. Time for those slick FoxFax repro lights!

I need to put in some real headlights, these are dangerously dim.

More later, need to get some work done. :)

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Suoer- a pig less than 20 miles away-maybe they can breed and offspring will show up
 
Even I don't drive my crap (on the highway) when the brakes don't work...
Sounds prettty sweet though.
 
After spending about 3 hours this afternoon in the ER passing a kidney stone (still a little sore, but feeling much better now, thanks) I finally had a chance to give the 55 some serious attention.

Rear window works but needs a little help, probably just needs the connections cleaned and the track lubed.

The tailgate weighs as my as my Mazda. ;)

The gauges work today! :) Must be a loose ground or something, I'll find it!

The engine is really sweet. So much room in that engine bay. looks like it's leaking a bit of coolant at the- tstat housing, no biggie to fix. Dipstick tube that guides the oil dipstick into the engine pulls out, need to address that.

Washed down the rear of the truck as the gas smell was still there. No leaks sitting flat and I was definitely filing the tank way up (per the now functioning gauge)... so with any luck the leak is one of the small hoses on the top of the tank and I can trouble shoot that. if not, a new (or good used) tank swap won't be the end of the world.

Haven't even looked at the brakes yet. Almost positive it's a factory DB'ed axle form a later FJ55 or FJ40. Once I get the old caliper off I should be able to run the part number and see... right?

Any solid axle frond disks should fit, correct? So which is better... FJ62 stuff or 85 4Runner stuff?

The steering stabilizer looks shot... that might be the cause of my stiff steering at near lock. I'll be going through it all and replacing TRE's, adjusting, tightening and figuring out how to get that steering rod to stop hitting the shock. i don't think I'd mind keeping it manual as long as I can get it working well. Keep it simple.

There is something about this truck that makes me feel very good. It's dead simple, built like a brit sh..um... outhouse, and the 350 couldn't be easier to work on, get parts for, or trouble shoot.

My ultimate goal is a relatively road friendly Class VI monster. Strong, simple, solid, built but not overbuilt. Something that can handle moderate wheeling with relative ease. Bonus if it's reliable enough to drag a popup to Maine (it won't be lacking for power, that's for sure.)

I'll probably save up for a rear ARB as well as add some longer shackles (and caster correction shims) to give a little more stuff room for the 33's. Longer shocks, etc... make it flex as well as possible.

Adding upgraded seatbelts, stereo, and cb.

More updates as things progress!
 
We've finally reached a stopping point in the kitchen so tonight I begin my tear down, here's my list so far...

1. Strip cargo area interior, access and repair gas tank issue (hopefully a bad hose or charcoal canister hook up)

2. Tear down both front brakes, rebuild calipers, new pads, turn rotors, reassemble.

3. Fix e-brake. The truck came with a box with (supposedly) the parts needed.

4. Strip front interior, patch minor holes in floor.

5. Add seat belt extensions up front to accommodate my fat ass.

6. Center up steering and replace TRE's as needed. Replace front shocks with slimmer ones to stop the relay rod from rubbing.

7. Replace broken rear light lenses on pside.

I've got a bunch of other stuff I want to do, but if I can accomplish all that I should be able to get it registered and inspected.

I've found some great write-ups on MUD for most of this so hopefully I can get it done quick.
 
A fruitful morning under the pig so far.

• Found out the wheel lock lug the kid gave me didn't fit. A few moments of newbie panic then the judicious use of my impact chisel spun them right off. :)

• Dside front shock mount is broken at the top and the shock was just wired up there to "look" good. Thus solves the shock-hitting-the-relay-rod issue. :)

• Both downpipes are a bit loose at the headers which is racheting up the noise I'm sure. Also the PSide exhaust pipe is hitting the parking break, I'll need to address that.

• Everything else is solid, those were the 2 bangs I was hearing on the way home. Yeah! :)

• Speedo cable is cut off so hopefully a new cable fixes the speedo.

• The PO gave me a new set of Parking brake shoes and hardware so I think I'll tackle that today as well. Another inspection item thus a priority.

• After i get all the dirt out of the rockers, I think I'll fiberglass up the open area at the bottom edge for now to get though inspection, then hopefully get it to Kina's for some beefy slider pieces this summer.

• The underside is in really nice shape, very impressed. it could use a pressure wash and undercoating after all the work is done though.

• I need to replace all the TRE's but with the Dside shock mount busted (it shares a bracket with the steering box ) I may make the leap to PS sooner then later. Need to think about that.

I've run the engine now for both my f-i-l and the hotrodder guy next door and both pronounced it excellent. :) The guy next door was practically begging me to keep it camo. :)

Back to the garage.....
 
Minor update.

I have most of my brake parts here or on the way so with any luck mid-week next week I'll be rolling again.

Unfortunately I stuffed the truck back in my garage and it's up on jack-stands so I can't do much in the back until it's movable. Plus the kitchen remodel is stuff the garage with materials.... I need to get it out of there. :)

Pulled off the seat-covers last night to wash the smoke stench out of them. Pulled up the carpets.. floor isn't bad, it's been patched a few times for sure but its more then serviceable for my needs. A little bit of fiberglass, some good paint, sound deadening material, and the mats back down and she'll be good to go.

Door bottoms and sills are in decent shape. I'll spend some time with a wire wheel and good pain and clean it all up.

My Pside front fender is missing about 8/10ths of it's bolts so that will certainly facilitate my removing them for blasting and painting.

I want to pull all the stereo wires out, the extra roof lights, all the extra stuff, just simplify, simplify, simplify. Is there a common fuse box upgrade? I'd love to swap in something more modern then what's there?
 
Wished I'd had a more productive pig weekend but my packages from Sierra Toyota and CCoT didn't arrive before the holiday.

Worked on stripping out the wires for the extra lights, no biggie there.

Pulled 1 exhaust pipe off the manifold and think I'll have to have an exhaust shop do some rerouting. Even if I got it properly gasketed and tight each pipe hits something... the dside hits the front leaves and the pside hits the parking break. (straight duals from the SBC)

I'd like to pull off my front clip and hood to sand and paint but when I tried to pull off my fenders but couldn't figure out how to unhook the turn signals. Anyone have a tip? What am I not seeing??

I need to order my FSM* but will that give me step by step for this sort of disassembly/reassembly stuff?

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

Dave


* Found this for a FSM source..... Manuals are obtained directly from the Toyota Material Distribution Center in Torrance, CA at 1-800-622-2033." from Cdan
 
Productive weekend, but not nearly as productive as I'd hoped.

Gary (rabovt) totally hooked me up with the steering box/shock mount. Got it painted and we'll see how quickly that process goes throughout the week. THANKS GARY!!!!

I've got the front brakes on minus 1 caliper bolt which was messed up. I'll get one from the dealership today or tomorrow when I pick up my cone washers, etc. Did I mention my truck had no cone washers on it?!

Still to go....

• Put in last caliper bolt
• Hook up small hard lines to calipers
• Fill and bleed front brakes
• Grind out bolts for steering box bracket, replace with new bracket and new hardware.
• Pull rear drums and assess, clean and adjust if ok, do a RDB if they are junk
• Put in new ebrake hardware (includes drain and refill of tcase & trans)
• Install exhaust donuts as temp fix, exhaust needs to be completely rerouted.
• Patch a few small floor holes
• New Tstat gasket, coolant flush.
• Change engine & diff oils
• Install speedo cable.
• I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff....
 
SO MUCH PROGRESS TODAY!!!

Besides grouting my kitchen floor, I managed to finish installing my brakes AND replace the steering box/shock mount. :)

To my surprise, all the bolts holding that bracket on came right out. There are supposed to be 4 bolts holding the steering box to the bracket, mine only had 2. Yikes! So tomorrow I'll get another one downtown (hopefully) and finished that up.

Pside is all done, Dside is waiting on a new snap ring, The one I got from the dealership is too big. :( I'll get fluid into it tomorrow and see if it leaks or holds tight.

Finally, a good Piggie day, and hopefully tomorrow will be just as fruitful.
 
Front brakes are done!!! Bleed and drip free.

Replaced the 2 piece speedo cable with the new 1 piecer, fit great. Took a bit to get the dash cluster out but I figured it out eventually.

I managed to burst the bulb that lights the left side gauge cluster so I need to replace that, probably replace all the bulbs as long as I have it apart. :) :)

Also painted the grill and headlight buckets black, looks mean... I like it. :)

Pulled the rest of the aux exterior light wires, much cleaner now. After the PO did the V8 conversion he left a lot of loose ends that go no where, I'm going to pull out what I can and clean up the engine bay as much as possible.

Diagnosed my coolant drip, the top rad hose is too short adjust barely leaking at the tstat on top of the block. I just need to replace that hose.

With all my extra days off this week I'm looking forward to getting it out of the garage so I can address the issues in the rear.. rear drums, ebrake, gas "leak" issue, cleaning and patching floor.

The floor... ugh... may require a bit more patching then I thought. Found a local welder/fabricator and may take it to him for some real patches. Nothing fancy, just some strong metal. We'll see what it looks like once I can get it out of the garage and pull the seats.

Pictures soon I promise!!!
 
Long time no update.

The brakes are DONE! and it only took 10 times longer then I expected, but I guess that's a "project" for you. New steering box bracket/shock mount is in. New speedo cable in.

Drove it out of the garage, back and forth in the driveway in and out of gears, turned around, and right back in the other way to start on the projects in the rear.

It's rough...will take some getting used to, at the moment, I can't imagine driving this thing slow in the woods but I'll get there. It's a beast!

The brakes work GREAT which is a huge relief. Everything new including the lines. Took a lot of time to get parts and we've been remodeling our kitchen so y "free time" has been seriously compromised. I've only spent a couple of hours a week on her since I got it home. :(

Got 1 side's exhaust donut on so it's a bit quieter, the other one is in a tougher spot to reach so I didn't bother yet, I need to though, it's LOUD. Exhaust still needs to be rerouted but it's good for now.

I need to drain and refill the gear box and tcase, then lube up the levers if I can, very stiff right now. Goes into 4H and 4L but not without a fight. Got to fatmat that trans hump too, you can really hear the gears in this thing ("normal" afaik)

Discovered the heater fan isn't working, it worked on the way home so I suspect I unhooked something inadvertently while I was working on the dash and pulling out the old aux. lights. I'll need to figure that out before I can really drive it too far.

Need to clean up the rear quarters inside and patch them up so they'll stay that way. Figure out what's up the gas"leak" when I fill up, I suspect a disconnected vapor line to the charcoal canister.

Need to run around and clean up a few electrical connections, double-check some grounds, typical stuff for a 33 year old rig.

Floor still needs some patches, then I'll get all the carpets and seat covers (now clean) back in. Still hoping to make the East Coast Pig Run.

Back to work today then I'm off Friday plus the weekend. going Friday to get it registered so I can take a longer test drive.
 
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