PNW 67 Patina Blue

[rainingagain]

Pulled the closest style bolt I could find in my Land Cruiser bolt stash.

Back together.

The outer hinge is bent but I'll fix that when I reupholster the seats.

 

[rainingagain]

Seats are back in place.

I noticed a small puddle of coolant on my shop floor under the lower radiator hose. I pressurized the system again and could not for the life of me see any leaks but when I would step away for a few hours, a tiny puddle would form. So I pulled the radiator to inspect.

The paint was starting to come up around the fitting on the drain cock. I scraped it off, pressurized the tank, and hit it with soapy water. Damn. Bubbles. Slow leak that was running under the paint and then down the bottom saddle.

It's about this time that I should admit that I didn't remove the drain cock plug before installing the radiator and it slammed down pretty hard on the radiator support because I stupidly assumed it would fit through the hole. I gambled that I didn't damage it and lost.

I am not an expert at soldering but I figured why the hell not, I'll give this a shot. First attempt at just filling the small leak on the bottom just opened another on the top side.

I know that when soldering fittings together, it has to be clean clean clean. So to do that, out comes the fitting.

 

[rainingagain]

Cleaned it up an tinned it as best I could.

 

[rainingagain]

And it still leaks. Time for the pros.

I dropped it off at a radiator shop this morning. When I called them and asked if they could fix it, they asked what it was for and said they worked on FJ40 radiators all the time for a well known shop around here. Sweet!

When I showed the dude my radiator, he called it a cheap aftermarket one because it had the full wrap around saddle. He had never seen an early one apparently and I tried to argue as such but when he gave me the "I've been doing this for 40 years" I knew I should shut up if I wanted my radiator fixed haha. I pick it up in 2 days.

 

[rainingagain]

I am going to go down an early radiator rabbit hole to make sure I'm not talking out my ass here.

 

[rainingagain]

Well bad news, the metal is cracked around the drain cock fitting on the radiator. I have another late model one that needs a re-core but would cost more than a new one from Mr T unfortunately so I ordered one up.

 

[rainingagain]

New radiator from Mr T is in!

Mr T has beefed up the drain cock fitting.

New vs old drain cock.

Installed and ready for action.

 

[rainingagain]

Up next, I'll go through all the electrical stuffs.

I put my "new" battery on the trickle charger for night. Glad I bought this 6 months ago when I thought I was about to start on some of the electrical.

 

[B y r o n]

You might want to set the Ctek to car instead of motorcycle, it will be more efficient.

 

[rainingagain]

You might want to set the Ctek to car instead of motorcycle, it will be more efficient.

Wow, talk about eagle eyes!

I did switch it over but didn't take a pic til now.

 

[B y r o n]

Wow, talk about eagle eyes!

I did switch it over but didn't take a pic til now.

View attachment 3370453

Only noticed because I have a ton of Ctek battery tenders so it stuck out to me.

 

[rainingagain]

Negative terminal was looking a little green under the tape. Def not the OEM terminal.

Looks like not the best connection. There's been arching and the lead has melted a bit.

Pulled back the tape and yeah, it's green.

 

[rainingagain]

Just for fun, I soaked it in some baking soda water and smacked it against my work bench to see how bad the corrosion is. Yeah, I'll be looking for a new set.

 

[rainingagain]

Positive terminal is brass and appears to look like the OEM one but it's missing the markings and has a thru bolt. Oh and the damn cable is on upside down.

Time to go down another rabbit hole, this time for battery terminals and cables.

 

[Andrew S]

ToyotaMatt can make up some very nice stock looking cables. There's another vendor here with some heavier duty mil-spec versions, but I can't remember who it is?

Andrew

 

[red66toy]

ToyotaMatt can make up some very nice stock looking cables. There's another vendor here with some heavier duty mil-spec versions, but I can't remember who it is?

Andrew

@Fourrunner makes the beefy cables. Good stuff. I run them on my FJ62 and my 40.

FJ60/FJ62 Heavy Duty Battery Cable Sets

The kit costs $155.00 shipped (within US). International shipping is available. The kit includes 5 cables and battery terminal connectors. This kit fits FJ60's and FJ62's. See below for additional kits (FJ40, FJ80 and FZJ80) Kit includes: Battery positive to starter cable (with protective...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[rainingagain]

I can't believe it's coming up on a year since I've posted. Some projects jumped the line, life gets in the way, you all know the drill. Things are slowing down and I'll have more free time soon to get back to work.

I did manage to make it to the Monroe Swap Meet a few weeks ago. This one is a pretty big event and I hadn't been since Bush Jr was president haha. Swaps meets are an interesting beast. Piles of what looks like junk just sprawled out. I scoured the entire place looking for anyone with FJ40 parts. Literally the last row, after walking and looking at hundreds of stalls, I found a guy with 2 clear plastic tubs of stuff. We talked for a bit but I had my family with me and in true Seattle fashion, it was spitting rain and they were done. He mentioned he has two '67 FJ45s. I'm really kicking myself for not getting his contact info.

I bought a few things for a good price, including this mirror.

I think it's oriented correctly. I might pull it and clean up the arm a bit.

 

[rainingagain]

@Fourrunner makes the beefy cables. Good stuff. I run them on my FJ62 and my 40.

FJ60/FJ62 Heavy Duty Battery Cable Sets

The kit costs $155.00 shipped (within US). International shipping is available. The kit includes 5 cables and battery terminal connectors. This kit fits FJ60's and FJ62's. See below for additional kits (FJ40, FJ80 and FZJ80) Kit includes: Battery positive to starter cable (with protective...

forum.ih8mud.com

I did grab a set of @Fourrunner's cables. I be installing them soon!

 

[Andrew S]

Nice work at the swap meet! I looked all day and didn't find any Toyota parts.

 

[rainingagain]

Well I managed to find some shop time and made a small-ish milestone in my book. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going!

I hooked up the battery cable kit that I purchased. I wanted to run the positive cable like it was from the factory - through the grommet on the passenger firewall gusset/brace.

I needed a longer cable to match the OEM for this and @Fourrunner was kind enough to make one up for me.

I had my reservations about routing the cable this way. There is no main fuse on the positive cable. Since it's kind of loose, the cable could vibrate, rub through the grommet, and then eventually the cable leading to a not so good sparky situation.

I took a good look at the 57 year old OEM cable and there isn't a rub mark to be seen. Same with the grommet.

Part # 90480-01050 for the grommet. NLA unfortunately. I am slowly going through all of the firewall grommets. This is only the second one so far that is NLA from Mr T.

With the correct length cable and routed this way, it sort of "floats" here if that makes sense. A natural fit if you will. I'm not too worried about it rubbing through but at some point I may add an inline fuse.

All buttoned up. Negative cable was a perfect fit. The kit came with an engine to frame ground cable but I'll leave the OEM one for now.