Builds Pete the Old Prospector

[65swb45]

Bouncing timing is a worn out dizzy. I’ve got a stack of good used vacuum advance dizzies on the shelf.
And you can pick up your ground strap while you’re there. I’ll be in Wednesday.

 

[majdomo]

Have you adjusted your valves? That or or a funky plug/wire.

I haven't done a valve adjustment yet and it probably needs one. However the bouncing ball is a distributor issue.. had the exact same problem on my BMW until I rebuilt it, now it's rock solid under the light. In that case I'm using a mechanical advance distributor from the 2002tii, which has a slightly different curve than the vacuum advance that came stock. However, that car has dual DCOEs, a little bit of a cam, 9.5:1 compression pistons, etc etc etc. All that to make 110hp!

EDIT - Build thread for the 2002.

 

[majdomo]

After much bleeding and hemming and hawing, decided this morning was the day to take it down to AAA and finish out registration. The brakes are not nearly where they need to be, a lot of pumping and then it loses pressure. This suggests a bad master rebuild on my part - there is one part that I didn't swap out, the seal that sits between the front and rear brake sections of the master. Since the one in the rebuild kit had seals that were a bit hard, I decided to just reuse the old part.... which was probably a mistake. I have the new part marinating in some clean brake fluid right now and the seals are getting a little softer, so that will be going in the master once I have a minute to take it back off (and redo the bleeding fiasco all over again).

Hard to tell here, but it looks like a little bit of brake fluid was seeping past the seals and onto my freshly rebuilt booster. No idea if the master is bad or if it's just that one part, but going to start with the one part and go from there.

Also, this is a win:

"Contents made by Prison Industry Authority", lol.

The distributor is really shot. I can hear it rattling around bad hitting higher RPMs, which is common given the hills around here. Plus the reason the original bottom end got hashed was it looks like some detonation on one of the pistons, wondering if this distributor could have been a part of it. So.. more parts to come, but glad to have gotten this done on a quiet day around here. The temp registration expires on the 19th, so now that I'm off the clock there I can focus on finishing these other things out. Really it's not much, once the brakes are done and that distributor is swapped, it should be gtg for at least a little while.

 

[EWheeler]

After much bleeding and hemming and hawing, decided this morning was the day to take it down to AAA and finish out registration. The brakes are not nearly where they need to be, a lot of pumping and then it loses pressure. This suggests a bad master rebuild on my part - there is one part that I didn't swap out, the seal that sits between the front and rear brake sections of the master. Since the one in the rebuild kit had seals that were a bit hard, I decided to just reuse the old part.... which was probably a mistake. I have the new part marinating in some clean brake fluid right now and the seals are getting a little softer, so that will be going in the master once I have a minute to take it back off (and redo the bleeding fiasco all over again).

Hard to tell here, but it looks like a little bit of brake fluid was seeping past the seals and onto my freshly rebuilt booster. No idea if the master is bad or if it's just that one part, but going to start with the one part and go from there.

View attachment 3631729

Also, this is a win:

View attachment 3631738
"Contents made by Prison Industry Authority", lol.

The distributor is really shot. I can hear it rattling around bad hitting higher RPMs, which is common given the hills around here. Plus the reason the original bottom end got hashed was it looks like some detonation on one of the pistons, wondering if this distributor could have been a part of it. So.. more parts to come, but glad to have gotten this done on a quiet day around here. The temp registration expires on the 19th, so now that I'm off the clock there I can focus on finishing these other things out. Really it's not much, once the brakes are done and that distributor is swapped, it should be gtg for at least a little while.

View attachment 3631731

Congrats!

That should read "Contents Made by the Prison Industrial Complex"

 

[RevISK]

I'll be watching your progress on the brakes. Mine are soft soft. Hoping for a bubble to pop out one of these days but the last 3 rounds of bleeding yielded nada. congrats on the prison plates.

 

[RevISK]

I'll be watching your progress on the brakes. Mine are soft soft. Hoping for a bubble to pop out one of these days but the last 3 rounds of bleeding yielded nada. congrats on the prison plates.

Doh!
I thought this was the 60 series area.
Brakes on my 62 are soft, fantastic on my 40 however.

 

[majdomo]

BRAKE JOB WIN

Had a few minutes to pull the master and get after putting in the new part. Pulled out the rebuild parts and found some crud, some metal shavings (??) and one of the seals on one of the new parts was all disintegrating. Pulled the old parts that I'd earlier removed, reinstalled, re-bled and all is well. Stops securely with just a hint of pull to the left, which is an adjustment thing and will deal with that later tonight.

Next up, distributor and lean drop idle adjustment!

 

[majdomo]

Errand. Big thanks to Mark @65swb45 for many parts and lots of advice to get Pete back on the road!

Now back to zoom... this was an Office Depot trip to buy a webcam, never got around to buying one during Covid!

 

[majdomo]

Busy weekend of work on both the 62 and the 40. On the 40, was able to fix / adjust the parking brake cable so that it actually holds the rig, lubed up the speedo cable to see if that got rid of my gandydancing speedo needle (it didn't), and was able to swap out the distributor for one that @mtn biker had kicking around. This worked but the weird rattle noise is still there very rarely under load. No variation in the timing, though, and oil pressure looks good even if it happens, so chalking this one up to who knows until I do more research. Timed and lean drop all done, so that's good.

The old parts pulled off the rig, nothing major, but there is some play both laterally and up and down, so the bushings are probably done. Plus fwiw the gear looks fine and the roll pin is in there securely. Who knows.

 

[6f40j9]

I find it interesting how many bmw people are also Toyota people.
Guess we need something reliable to drive when the fun car inevitably breaks down
I’ve cycled through e28s and e34s, but I’m pretty much over them at this point. Great people though, I imported a bunch of stuff from the uk when I was building my wagon and it was a fun experience.
Glad you got your brakes figured out, I was having a heck of a tie with mine until I actually drove it and let them settle in a bit.

 

[majdomo]

I find it interesting how many bmw people are also Toyota people.
Guess we need something reliable to drive when the fun car inevitably breaks down
I’ve cycled through e28s and e34s, but I’m pretty much over them at this point. Great people though, I imported a bunch of stuff from the uk when I was building my wagon and it was a fun experience.
Glad you got your brakes figured out, I was having a heck of a tie with mine until I actually drove it and let them settle in a bit.

View attachment 3636245

Same - the guy I sold my E30 318is to had also just finished restoring an early '80s Toyota 4x4. Off-topic, but I was involved in the CCA chapter here in LA, which kind of wrecked things for me with BMW. There are still some good people on the vintage end of the marque, but as far as CCA is concerned it's all about late-model whiz-bang stuff (and the racer-type contingent that comes with it) that I'm not really interested in. I do still love my '02, however.

The '02:

Back to FJ40 content!

Went out to get some gas yesterday and... predictably ran out of gas. Had to phone the for an assist, she was none too happy with me but at least it happened in the next neighborhood over. Got back down there and put about 7 gallons in this morning, and gas gauge looks good and registers half a tank. Next time, I'll call AAA instead

I ran it at about 50 down one of the bigger streets close to home, and steering is kind of scary. I tried tightening the box down ever so slightly. The box is smooth, and it looks like there isn't much slack at the pitman arm when moving the wheel. This feels more like it needs an alignment since it's darting all over the place, and possibly replacing the tie rod ends. The drag link is bent, which I noticed when doing the knuckle and brake service, so it probably should all get swapped before spending time on an alignment. The wallet is feeling it right about now so may need to wait for half a minute. In the meantime, will just avoid the highway.

I'm also getting some very brief (less than a second) rattling when hitting higher RPMs, specifically uphill. The timing and distributor are all good, checked those parked in the garage, but then again it's not under load so that might make a difference. It sounds like a metal-on-metal vibration, maybe the hood, since the rubber pads are missing? May just get some replacement pads and be done with it...

 

[65swb45]

John,

For the rattle, check the left rear engine mount to see if it's tight. #1 source of powertrain rattle.

For the steering rod, if used is ok, i have one you can have for free. Just bring your old one with you to compare.

 

[majdomo]

John,

For the rattle, check the left rear engine mount to see if it's tight. #1 source of powertrain rattle.

For the steering rod, if used is ok, i have one you can have for free. Just bring your old one with you to compare.

Thank you! This was loose, of course... how did you know??

This led me to wondering, if the mount was loose, and the motor was flexing under load, maybe the problem was with...

The fan and shroud! Bent this down just a tad and sure enough, this is my rattle! Stupid. Anyway I feel WAY better having found this. No idea if the fan blades are supposed to be bent like this, I do have a 4 blade fan that i can swap out, what do you think? EDIT - maybe this is on backwards?? Hmm.

I will take you up on your steering rod offer and have a question, prob more parts (poor wallet!) will give you a call!

 

[65swb45]

Fan and spacer of unknown origin =ticking time bomb on Toyota water pump. Last time I that saw that combo, it was attached to the pulley and snout of a broken pump. The guy walked into my shop and belligerently tried to tell me I owed him a radiator because the water pump I had sold him failed. Once I showed him what the genuine stuff looked like, he got sheepish.

Get that crap off your truck!

 

[majdomo]

Fan and spacer of unknown origin =ticking time bomb on Toyota water pump. Last time I that saw that combo, it was attached to the pulley and snout of a broken pump. The guy walked into my shop and belligerently tried to tell me I owed him a radiator because the water pump I had sold him failed. Once I showed him what the genuine stuff looked like, he got sheepish.

Get that crap off your truck!

Welp - that moves up the list! This now makes me wonder about my water pump. The rig will puke coolant out the overflow hose once in a blue moon, which I chalked up to just needing to burp after a cooling system baseline. No idea about the hoses but they look old, and one of the clamps needed some tightening. Given my history with FJ40 cooling systems, I am leaning toward loading up the parts cannon and firing..

EDIT - water pump is marked GMB, not marked with manufacture location, however.

 

[RevISK]

Try the heater hose bits under the hose hinge hack to eliminate mysterious clunks and rattles.
Basically cut a hinge width of heater hose for each side, lay it in the cowel gutter under the hinges with the hood open and close the hood.
Solved a clunk I swore was suspension related.

Forgot the person or thread it came from, if I remember I’ll come back and give credit.

 

[majdomo]

Fan and spacer procured from Mark's Off Road @65swb45 yesterday, quick work from home trip to the other side of the hill and was back in time to wrap up the day at my desk.

These look almost too nice for my rig!

Was able to pull the old fan and shroud earlier this afternoon. Looks like this has been on here a while, kind of cool markings on the spacer but it all has to go. My guess is that these adjustable holes can lead to mounting the fan off-center, which then goes shortly to fragging the water pump, radiator, hood, who knows..

Puck, now a paperweight:

Last is the witness mark on the shroud. Needed to get some longer bolts since the ones on there were about 10mm too short.

 

[mtn biker]

Fan and spacer procured from Mark's Off Road @65swb45 yesterday, quick work from home trip to the other side of the hill and was back in time to wrap up the day at my desk.

These look almost too nice for my rig!

View attachment 3637994

Was able to pull the old fan and shroud earlier this afternoon. Looks like this has been on here a while, kind of cool markings on the spacer but it all has to go. My guess is that these adjustable holes can lead to mounting the fan off-center, which then goes shortly to fragging the water pump, radiator, hood, who knows..

View attachment 3637995
Puck, now a paperweight:

View attachment 3637997
Last is the witness mark on the shroud. Needed to get some longer bolts since the ones on there were about 10mm too short.

View attachment 3637998

do you always wear socks and flip-flops

 

[majdomo]

do you always wear socks and flip-flops

Only when I'm channeling my inner old man!

But yeah, often. It's pretty funny. I get an idea, run out to the garage, come back inside, research, then back outside, all day. Drives the and crazy!

 

[majdomo]

Installed. Oddly enough the shroud itself sat a little low, about 2cm or so. Had to drill some new holes to make it fit, but it's a very happy clam and seems to be cooling better too, doesn't even get past the first tick going up the hill and most important - no more ticking time bomb and that nasty racket is now gone! Have to hog out the bottom hole there, was lined up just a mm or so off. We'll see if I get to it...

That will probably be it for at least another week or so, until I can get the tie rod ends and start work on those. Will feel much better about highway driving once those are all done.