Ohio Red 1978 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Still chasing vacuum leaks, so having replaced all the tubing and brake booster, I bought an inexpensive smoke machine to help chase down the manifold, which is the likely culprit given stripped manifold bolt
Autoline Pro Smoke Machine
Not exactly high tech, but connects to the battery and generates a fair amount of smoke connected to shop air with a regulator
IMG_3304.jpg


Started with the exhaust. They sell adapters but per the website exam gloves work, so that and some gaffer tape and we are hooked up to the tailpipe
tailpipe smoke.jpg


Fair amount coming from around the shaft of the flapper valve. Anyone know if this is expected / fixable?
1616008392179.png

And more coming from one of the exhaust manifold joints, as well as a small leak at the rear underside of the manifold gasket

So on to the intake - connected via the brake booster hose, with a glove on the carb air horn held in place with a rubber band.
glove carb.jpg

And we clearly have a leak at the rear end of the intake as well. Can see it well in this video.
 
Thanks for the comments on the bumper - went directly to the parts.toyotaofbedford.com link. Not sure if they set the prices or Toyota but it was about 40% off. Told me there were 20 in national inventory when I picked it up.
 
So given the manifold leaks it's a surprise idle is as good as it is.

So the plan is:

1. pull the manifolds and take a look at the bolts
2. Time-sert the stripped hole in the head, which matches the location of the leak, red locktite or JB weld on the insert threads - thanks to @Jdc1 for that tip
3. Replace the exhaust manifold rings, springs, and doughnut gasket, as well as new outlet studs while I am at it.
4. New intake to exhaust gaskets which came with the Remflex kit
5. Clean up the head surface and manifolds and hope they don't need to be machined - supposedly was done by the PO.
6. New Remflex gasket
7. Torque the manifold to head bolts first and then intake to exhaust - thanks to @65swb45 advice on many other threads

Any thoughts on exhaust leaks from the heat riser coil shaft?

I'm sure the contortions required for the time sert on the rear end of the engine will be interesting
 
So given the manifold leaks it's a surprise idle is as good as it is.

So the plan is:

1. pull the manifolds and take a look at the bolts
2. Time-sert the stripped hole in the head, which matches the location of the leak, red locktite or JB weld on the insert threads - thanks to @Jdc1 for that tip
3. Replace the exhaust manifold rings, springs, and doughnut gasket, as well as new outlet studs while I am at it.
4. New intake to exhaust gaskets which came with the Remflex kit
5. Clean up the head surface and manifolds and hope they don't need to be machined - supposedly was done by the PO.
6. New Remflex gasket
7. Torque the manifold to head bolts first and then intake to exhaust - thanks to @65swb45 advice on many other threads

Any thoughts on exhaust leaks from the heat riser coil shaft?

I'm sure the contortions required for the time sert on the rear end of the engine will be interesting
A right angle drill comes in pretty handy for tight spaces.
 
Thanks @oslivin! I think it's about a 4" lift. Was put on by the PO. Shackles are almost 6" It's a rough ride. Waiting on 2" OME med/light from Valley Hybrids arriving tomorrow!

Tires are 235/85/16 BFG KO2 All terrains on the 16" Cityracer wheels.
 
Chestcutter - you're doing world-class debug and repair on this truck. What you have found is very typical - my '78 had a rusted-stuck advance plate and similar vacuum leaks.

The exhaust bushing (on the heat flapper) typically leaks, and it doesn't matter much from a performance aspect, since it's not an intake leak. RE: using a Remflex manifold gasket - many folks here have the best luck with Fel Pro intake/exhaust gaskets - they are inexpensive and readily available - YMMV with gaskets on this. I ended up using liquid threadlocker on my manifold bolts, as they chronically loosened over time. I also reef them down a lot tighter than the factory spec. I also check them 1x/year, even though I don't put many miles on the truck. It's easy to check the bolts with a variety of socket extensions and minor gyrations.
 
Chestcutter - you're doing world-class debug and repair on this truck. What you have found is very typical - my '78 had a rusted-stuck advance plate and similar vacuum leaks.

Thanks for the kind words. glad to hear mine is not the only one with lots of mechanical gremlins.

I've been reading up on the Fel Pro vs Remflex debate. I have the Remflex in hand so will probably start there and see where I get. Hoping to get to this this weekend, although I will be tempted to put the new OME springs on first since I think the ride is going to be a lot better. Lots of updates in the works.

Really appreciate all the help and support from the Mud community which lets us newbies get off to a good start.
 
Awesome work and awesome 40. Mine had many of the same problems. Rebuilt Jim C carb, dizzy upgrade and timing made a world of difference. Will be very interested in how the new suspension impacts the ride. I have an old Rough Country 4" suspension and swapping it out is on my list. My steering is loose and the ride is pretty rough. But the engine is happy at least.

Lastly, I would definitely think about Fluid Film or similar on the undercarriage for rust protection. I had mine done locally for $100 and it was money well spent. You can DIY too but I wanted it to be thorough and done on a lift.

Nice work!
 
Great work! Questions on your intake vacuum leak(s) pursuit: Did you check idle vacuum pressure after you swapped out brake master and replaced carb gasket? And did you spray water/carb cleaner around any of the intake-side joints, with or without any change in idle? I’ve done that on my ‘63 without any idle change, my idle vac pressure is just shy of 17 (at 3400 ft ASL), but still having throttle up bog issues which can point to vac leak. Thinking about going the smoke tester route, just curious if the spray test is really accurate in finding leaks given my situation.
 
Lastly, I would definitely think about Fluid Film or similar on the undercarriage for rust protection. I had mine done locally for $100 and it was money well spent. You can DIY too but I wanted it to be thorough and done on a lift.
I will definitely look into that. While I don't have the salt air to deal with here in sunny Ohio, the road salt is out of control.

Re the suspension - still waiting on shackles to arrive. The rest is sitting waiting for (hopefully) next weekend. Will keep you posted on the ride improvements.

Great work! Questions on your intake vacuum leak(s) pursuit: Did you check idle vacuum pressure after you swapped out brake master and replaced carb gasket? And did you spray water/carb cleaner around any of the intake-side joints, with or without any change in idle? I’ve done that on my ‘63 without any idle change, my idle vac pressure is just shy of 17 (at 3400 ft ASL), but still having throttle up bog issues which can point to vac leak. Thinking about going the smoke tester route, just curious if the spray test is really accurate in finding leaks given my situation.

Before the brake master cylinder and carb gasket, I was getting 12-13 of vacuum with a lot of variation - basically wouldn't idle stably without the choke and would eventually stall. I tried the carb cleaner route and did get a little improvement but hard to tell since the idle was so bad, and hard to get the stuff to the right place since it seems like the leak is at the rear of the manifold. I wasn't very confident in the spray test results, though it might have been more useful if I repeated it after the carb rebuild, dissy work etc. I was so pumped the beast actually started that I wasn't very scientific up until the smoke test. I will say for 80 bucks or whatever it was the smoke tester gave me a lot of confidence in the result.
 
Suspension parts arrived - except for greaseable shackles which are on the way from the warehouse,
IMG_3331.JPG

so took the time to install a shiny new transmission / transfer case bypass hose from @shipmag and change the oil from whatever was in there from the PO to Amsoil 75W90. Anyone know how to make that NOT a messy job? Cheap Penzoil fluid transfer pump worked with a lot of help from the wife, but what a pain.
IMG_3333.JPG
 
With intermittent work over one weekend, for a number of reasons, Red now has spiffy new OME 2.5 Springs and greaseable pins and shackles in the rear. Not a super complex job however removing the old U-bolts was the most time consuming. Nuts were completely rusted and did not budge despite multiple rounds of blaster, impact tool, etc.

After reading a bunch of threads on this I cut the old U-bolts but was unable to get the right angle with a 4" angle grinder and 1/8 wheel. Be prepared for a bang that scares the dogs when the bolt gives.

Following the advice of @orangefj45 I drilled out the spring perches and plates 1" forward of the original hole, which put the rear axle right in the center of the well. I found this was not too difficult to do from the underside with the axle jacked up and canted, without disconnecting the driveshaft.

I've never been more glad to have this essential tool. 30 yrs old and made in USA. Lenox blades seem to hold up the best but burned through 3.
IMG_3344.JPG

A couple solid hours of work. and I have 2 good usable if a little rusted plates ready for the new hardware.
IMG_3343.JPG
Many thanks to the members on MUD who have posted tips on removing old pins and shackles, including using a pipe wrench to loosen the pin plate which made driving it out possible.
IMG_3346.JPG


Nice weather helped - a lot more fun to work with the door open.
IMG_3345.JPG
 
The wheels look great on your truck! I could never imagine driving a 40 in the Ohio salt. It was odd for me to see your truck outside covered in snow last month.
Now I need to swap up to the 16" rims at some point on my ride.
 
The wheels look great on your truck! I could never imagine driving a 40 in the Ohio salt. It was odd for me to see your truck outside covered in snow last month.
Now I need to swap up to the 16" rims at some point on my ride.
Thanks. Like the wheels a lot. I'm thinking the ride will be a lot better once I finish this suspension project.

I'm fortunate to have a 100 yr old hot water wash hookup in the garage, which I used religiously for the few weeks it was in the salt to wash down the undercarriage. Thinking of taking advice from @Goldbug and getting FluidFilm done, but I will likely put it away next winter as I'm learning from all the more experienced Ohio 40 owners
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom