!OY Coolermans 2/71 Build

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Coolerman said:
I'm seriously looking into doing this. Lots more research to do... :D

To be honest I think the PVC OEM wire is fine as long as the under hood stuff is protected with heat resistance coverings. It's still fully functional in most of our unmolested 30+ year old vehicles.
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I haven't had any problems with mine (knock on wood) but I did buy a replacement rear harness from Cruiserparts.net, mainly to clean up som PO installed "options".:bang:

The rear harness is enclosed in a solid plastic tube that is similar to heatshrink tubing that hasn't been shrunk. It makes a better barrier against water and dirt, but you would have to cut it away if you needed to access the wires inside.
 
I have laid out the harness from my LV like you did yours on plywood. I then used some solvent, I think it was lacquer thinner to clean the goo off. No sure it that will hurt the integrity of the wire or not, but I could not stand the sticky goo. I then started to think about building a new harness using modern wire and installing new plug ends. It does seem a bit excessive, but I would hate to go through all this work and have the harness not be 100%. It does not seem like it would be too difficult to reproduce one once you had all the parts and got the techniques down. The challenge will be to find all the different wire colors to match the factory. I really think it would be a mistake to loose the ability to follow the factory harness. Funny tho, the diagram I ended up using for my 66 LV matched my harness almost 100%. It just took a while for me to figure it all out. Electricity is definitely not my best subject. I have seen a lot of newer harnesses that use a sheath like material over the wires. I think the later model cruiser harnesses have that too. Keep up the good work cooler man.
 
Coolerman said:
was it a new harness with all new plugs and connectors, or just a cleaned up old one with the tube added?
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It was an uncut old harness, just in a lot better shape than my old one. The tubing appears to be OEM. My truck is a '79, so they may have upgraded the covering since the '71...

The wiring under the hood was wrapped in electrical tape when I got the truck, but it looked like a PO job, not factory. I think i have seen pictures of similar models with the flexloom under the hood, but I don't know if that was OEM or an upgrade.
 
Heat shrink

I like teflon tape---(not thread tape), this is the stuff we use to wrap up aircraft harnesses, its not sticky and pulls the wires up nice and tight, then you can cover with what you like

even bundling with wax string as you built it would work if you put flex loom over it later

the only prob with producing them is if there is problems with the schematics vs the actual vehicles that would have to be worked out on a case by case basis until you learned all the glitches
 
Coolerman~

I found a site that carries all the different color wires, and all sorts of connectors etc etc. All they do is wiring harnesses for old rigs. Mostly US stuff some foriegn, but NO JAPANESE!

I think they can at least provide all the diff wiring color combos you are looking for, and they sell it by the foot. 50 - 100 ft is .14 per foot. not too bad. (18g)

Rhode Island Wiring Service Inc.
 
That's where I get all my wire from. They don't have all the colors in 18ga but they do in 16ga. I could currently build early to 73 rear harnesses with what I have on hand.

If I thought there was a market I would slowly get into it. Building an OEM harness totally from scratch would cost more than a Painless kit I'm afraid... :D
 
Coolerman, I think there is definitely a market, but it would cost more than a painless, but you get what you pay for. Painless to me is not a comparable product. They are good, but really for a hot rod, not a stock restoration. Do you know if the wire sold by RIWS is the latest greatest Cross-linked PVC wire coating?

Coolerman said:
That's where I get all my wire from. They don't have all the colors in 18ga but they do in 16ga. I could currently build early to 73 rear harnesses with what I have on hand.

If I thought there was a market I would slowly get into it. Building an OEM harness totally from scratch would cost more than a Painless kit I'm afraid... :D
Click to expand...
 
No, the RI wire is not cross-linked, it is period correct PCV. :grinpimp:

I use Waytek for most of my wiring needs for my other vehicles. I always highly recommend them. Fast shipping...

Ron Francis also carries things for wiring but they are really overpriced.

I have never ordered anything from British Wiring but they carry a lot of stuff for older Lucas equipped vehicles. Their color selection is a lot more limited than RI's.

That ISIS product is cool but Wow! on the price...
 
So bottom line, no one has found a supplier for wire in colors like the original TLC? I have a complete harness out of the 1979 FJ55 I pulled my engine and running gear from. I looked at it an the colors are all the same as the old harnesses so I figure there is more than enough to repair my old harness, I am just afraid that due to its age it will be prone to problems no matter how through I am with my rebuild.
 
thecrazygreek said:
Coolerman~

I found a site that carries all the different color wires, and all sorts of connectors etc etc. All they do is wiring harnesses for old rigs. Mostly US stuff some foriegn, but NO JAPANESE!

I think they can at least provide all the diff wiring color combos you are looking for, and they sell it by the foot. 50 - 100 ft is .14 per foot. not too bad. (18g)

Rhode Island Wiring Service Inc.
Click to expand...

Cool! I may try to make up one at some point and see how difficult it is...

I'm still trying to gather up the parts (and cash) to do a frame-off on my truck but it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.
 
Well time for that update.

For several months I have NOT been working on getting the Cruiser on the road. What I have been working on is figuring out if there is a market for wiring harness repair/updating. I believe there is. I have finished totally documenting a 2/71 harness and can now build a brand new one from scratch. OR I can take an existing harness, repair any damage, then add whatever circuits you may want like off road lights, rock lights, headlight upgrades, ground circuit upgrades, alternator/regulator move to passenger side, aux fuse blocks or whatever else you may desire. Now I just have to figure out if I can make money doing this. :D

OK so today I took a break from wiring and decided to start the truck... :eek:
Remember it has not been started in about two years!

After about 4 hours of tracking down and hooking up all the crap I needed , I filled the tiller tank with fuel, primed the carb float bowl, sprayed some starting fluid in the carb, hooked up my starting harness and hit the starter switch. Cough, sputter varooooommmm!!!! KA-B00000M!!!! The ka-boom was a huge backfire! Hmmm.... Ok.... I backed the timing down a bit and tried it again... same result but it ran a bit longer. After many attempts I was finally able to get it to run as long as I was giving it lots of gas. The pump finally primed and the fuel level stays half to a bit over half in the window. (I am sitting on a slight downhill driveway) But it will not idle at all and it still back fires if the RPM's drop and I goose it. Oil pressure runs almost 65PSI while running. :D I think I may have the oil regulator adjusted a bit high...

Oh I also have about 4 oil leaks. Two good ones from the side cover and one from possibly the timing cover. :frown:

Here is what I have:

Downey 2 into 1 headers with new gasket.
Jim C. freshly rebuilt carb (It has sat with NO fuel in it till today for about 9 months)
No throttle or choke cable hooked up, doing it all by hand.
All ports capped on intake, carb and dizzy.

Jim C. recurved FJ60 Dizzy and ignitor with strong blue sparks
New plugs, cap, rotor.

Carb solenoid clicks solidly when power applied.

Issues: As stated it back fires and will not idle. Another thing I noticed: it may just be me not being familiar with an F engine and headers but the radiant heat from them is intense. Could I be running lean?

Need some suggestions on getting it to run well enough to set the timing and check exhaust temps. I have to go to a cookout but will be back tonight to read your suggestions which I will start applying tomorrow. I'll also post some pics...
 
Definatly sounds like a timing issue. But you have been floating around here a long time... You already know all the possibilities, just start with setting the timing with a light etc etc...
 
I thought about it all night. :hhmm:

Today I plan to pull the dizzy and start from scratch with timing. I was pretty careful to get the dizzy lined up at TDC but I could have gotten off a tooth. The cap is stamped with the firing order so I know that's correct. :D

I'll get the RPM gauge hooked up and try to get it to idle so I can set the timing.
 
See fig 13.19 on p.275 of the haynes FJ40 book. It shows how the signal rotor is aligned w/ the mag pickup when the spark occurs. Set the crank to 7*BTDC, not at TDC & line things up. It should start & run then w/ only minor tweaking of the timing.
 
I would rotate the rotor 180 for starters. I once had exactly the same situation, the car ran so close to being ok that I never thought that the problem could be a completely out of timing dizzy. Rotated 180 and bingo.
 
!Oy is alive... :grinpimp:


After reading SlickRocks thread, the FSM, FAQ's, and even at Jims suggestion the Haynes book, (It actually had a great picto explanation of setting the final static timing), I realized I had the dizzy retarded by a tooth AND I had a massive intake leak which I believe was the main cause of no idle and the horrible back fires. I timed the dizzy correctly resulting in much better starting but she was still back firing.

Well the intake leak turned out to be the carb was not tightened down on the firewall side. :doh: I had taken it off some time ago to measure something, and had never finished installing it for running. Soon as that was done she started instantly. I let her warm up and she idled fine. Next I hooked up the RPM gauge and timing light. 600 RPM showed on the meter and the timing pointer was in between the line and the BB! I bumped it to the BB and called it good until I can get the valves adjusted. Final adjustment after she's together and I can load test.

The oil leaks are still an issue. It's the side cover leaking pretty good and the cover is already starting to dimple from being tightened. I have a solution in mind for that.

No overheating and the Gano coolant filter has already proven useful. I was able to see the thermostat open and could judge the flow rate and rustiness of the 'coolant'. It's currently just full of water. ;) Now that I know the coolant system will hold pressure I'll drain it out and replace it with a coolant mix.

Well enough for one day. Thanks Jim for the reference material. :cheers:
IMG_1510.webp
 
RIGHT ON! OY!OY!OY! Glad it is alive finally!

My side cover leaked too. Did you trim the internal oil chamber a bit to fit? I had to do that so it would sit flush. I also tossed the factory gasket for some good old RTV. If it is leaking at the two ends like mine did, I tapped a new corner hole on each end and put in additional little bolts to tighten things up. No more problem. You might want to run her around 700 and a bit RPMS. I found that worked better for my F when doing normal driving and simply starting off at a dead stop. THe slightly higher RPMS helped a lot for clutch wear and engine rev.
 
great job!!!! at least the side cover is easy to get to.... new cork gasket and toyota FIPG and call it good... front cover... ugh... take a little more work... good luck.. :) :beer::beer::beer:
 
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