Old Faithful

[jmaddox]

I have slowly, but surely, been getting my 1977 FJ40 up and running.

I have been driving and/or riding in her for 28 years. My Dad bought it slightly used in Charleston, SC back "78. I was six years old. He was in the Army and was being stationed in Alaska, so we hooked up a camper and took off. Over the years the old Cruiser has made the trip from the South East, or visa versa, 5 times. I did the trip once in her by myself form Columbus, GA to Anchorage, AK with no radio and almost went insane. The last trip was coming this way while towing my wife's Acura behind the Cruiser. I split push rod near Beaver Lodge, Alberta but other than that no problems.

Last December I blew a head gasket coming back to North Carolina form Fort Benning, GA and she has been sitting since. I just get it back form the machine shop yeasterday after have the tired old 2F rebuilt. I figured 300,000 miles and 28 years of service deserved the full rebuild. She isn't as pretty as Darin's 45 but she runs again.

 

[jmaddox]

some pics of the engine

 

[jmaddox]

So far -

Complete engine rebuild to include:

Downey "torquer" cam
Comp cams valve springs
DUI HEI ignition w/live wires

new clutch, fuel pump, oil pump, water pump, fan clutch, radiator, etc.

stuff already on it -

Advanced Handling shackle reversal
total of 4 inches of lift with springs and shackles
33/12.50 Bridgstone Dueller M/T's
Spectre 2-peice headers
Weber
Warn Hubs

Herculiner in the tub
Garvin Industries roof rack


Still in the garage -
Adapter to re-install stock aircleaner on the weber
Aussie locker
CCOT Console
OME steering stabilizer
Parking brake kit
dash pad cover

 

[Cruisin'Carolina]

Great story! Do you mind sharing the cost of the rebuild?

Good to know it will always be in the family.

 

[krzyabncanuck]

Well, I know where he got it done at, as far as price he will have to chime in. I roughly know that also.

John, while you are gone you should let me paint it for you. just an idea man.

Stop by again before you take off.

 

[jmaddox]

The final bill from the machine shop was $1887. I thought they gave me a really good deal considering what I had them do. I took the Cruiser down to them and they pulled the motor for me. (Darin/krzyabnkanuck chastised me later for not having him help me pull it out) Darin is the one that recommended the shop. I really did not know him except from here. I was, and still am, short on time and I like the facilities or tools to pull itmyself so I just had the shop do it. They sourced most of the parts like bearings, pistons, gaskets, and of course did the machine work. I brought in the cam, oil pump, and lifters. While the engine was out I brought them other stuff to replace like the fuel pump, fuel filter, clutch, clutch master and slave, water pump, etc. They did a lot of work that I could have done myself but I was not sure if I would have the time. In fact, I got the truck back on Thursday and I go out of town on Tuesday.

There price also included performance valve springs and a starter. There were miscellaneous things in the mix too like hoses, clamps, oil, coolant, etc.

 

[jmaddox]

Well, I know where he got it done at, as far as price he will have to chime in. I roughly know that also.

John, while you are gone you should let me paint it for you. just an idea man.

Stop by again before you take off.

I would love to get it painted, but I don't think I will be able to get it to you before I leave on Tuesday. I will likely go over to the sand box sometime this summer though and that will be a good time. I appreciate the offer. If you can make my truck look like yours I will be a happy man. There is a lot of work to do though as you know. I do not have a lot of deep rust and rot just surface rust. The bottoms of the doors are bad though. I want to get those peices that CCOT makes and weld them before I paint.

I got to get you to help me with the transmission and transfer case before we get to cosmetic stuff. As you could see from the pictures the transmission was filthy while the bellhousing was a clean and pretty. One thing at a time.

 

[krzyabncanuck]

Before you go to the sand box give me a call and we could work something out while you are gone probably man.

Just a thought.

 

[jmaddox]

Before you go to the sand box give me a call and we could work something out while you are gone probably man.

Just a thought.

Sound like a plan. It would not be a retoration paint job, just an exterior redo. As you can probably see from the photos, I painted last time in a sort of light green, but it is supposed be rustic green. I tried to eyeball the color when I painted it last time (1995).

Thanks man. And by the way, thanks again for the machine shop recommendation, thise guys were cool.

 

[jmaddox]

I drove her around some yesterday and she generally runs well but there seems to have a overly rich mixture (as seen in the exhaust). I am going to adjust the carb today and hook the choke back up and see how that does.

 

[krzyabncanuck]

good luck with it and call me if you got questions.

 

[jmaddox]

good luck with it and call me if you got questions.

Thanks, Darin.