Builds Project 2027: 1977 FJ40 Rebuild

[handcannon]

Power tools are no respecter of person! They don't care, or have feelings. I've worked around power tools all my life, table saws, shapers, planers, sanders, etc. They can eat you up faster than you can even imagine, safety equipment or not. That picture made me cringe. I'm sure glad that it was no worse than that!

Don

 

[Jetlander]

I appreciate all the support guys. The neck is healing up nicely. It only barely caught me and no real damage was done. It looks way worse than it was. But I agree, power tools can be dangerous if not respected. I learned long ago not to make a power tool do something it’s not supposed to.

My dad always told me not to do the work, but to let the tool do the work. In other words, don’t force it. I’ll definitely chaulk this one up to luck. No matter how careful we are, s*** happens.

 

[Jetlander]

After spending 10 days in Hawaii over the Christmas and New Year, it’s back to more important things...

The frame is 90% ready for blasting. I left the axles attached so I could do knuckle rebuilds and have some leverage should the need arise. Well I’m at a point we’re I’m ready to flip the frame so it’s time to do the most dreaded of jobs...a knuckle rebuild.

I have never attacked such a beast so I did plenty of reading and rereading on MUD. I found @LasCrucer did a fantastic job detailing his rebuild so that’s my primary go-to, especially since mine is also a ‘77.

Anyways, here are some pics.

The backside of the knuckle is fairly clean but don’t let that deceive you. The thing had a slow leak. Before I started the rebuild I spent about an hour with the pressure washer cleaning grease out of every nook and cranny, including 800lbs off the knuckles themselves. I did have an issue getting the second 54mm nut out though. It was really tough to back off. Had to use a lot of leverage before it would budge. Once loose, it spun right off.

That’s nasty! At least it had some grease in there to keep the water company. No evidence of rust pitting anywhere though, so that’s good.

The spindle cleaned up nice and pretty!

The next two pics are of the backside of the spindle where the axle slides in. There is a area that looks like uneven wear, but it’s on the outside under the flange, it’s super polished and odd looking. Upon inspection I can’t for the life of me see what would have caused it. It’s not deep and honestly I’m not sure that it’s not normal. What say you guys?

I pulled the birfield and all looks well there. Anyways, that was my stopping point prior to picking up the kiddos from school. I will continue the pull apart and clean up tomorrow.

 

[TheHardWay]

Thanks for the props, much appreciated. Have you worked on the other axle yet? Would like to see if they look the same. I picked up a '78 last August, and will be doing a second knuckle rebuild soon

 

[Jetlander]

Thanks for the props, much appreciated. Have you worked on the other axle yet? Would like to see if they look the same. I picked up a '78 last August, and will be doing a second knuckle rebuild soon

I haven’t yet. I was planning one at a time, but I suppose I can open it up and have a look. I take it yours didn’t look like that? Personally I don’t think it’ll be an issue regardless but I’d like to know if it’s normal.

 

[TheHardWay]

Check post #13 on my thread. Yours and mine don't look the same, but I couldn't say if it's something to be concerned with. Anyone else want to weigh in?

 

[Jetlander]

Check post #13 on my thread. Yours and mine don't look the same, but I couldn't say if it's something to be concerned with. Anyone else want to weigh in?

I do see what appears to be a small wear groove on yours too. Granted it’s smaller than the side I photo’d, but the opposite side is very similar to what I see one yours.

However, I’m sure you would remember if yours was like mine. It was the first thing I noticed when I cleaned it up.

 

[TheHardWay]

I'm curious about that shiny beveled ring under the grooved brass ring. Looks like it was machined.

 

[Jetlander]

Bump to see if I can get a definitive answer on what the machine looking area is. Almost ready to reinstall the spindle. Waiting for paint to dry and then reassembly.

 

[White Stripe]

My guess is someone replaced the brass spindle bushings and boogered up that area of the spindle removing the bushing so they machined a bevel into it. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Jetlander]

My guess is someone replaced the brass spindle bushings and boogered up that area of the spindle removing the bushing so they machined a bevel into it. I wouldn't worry about it.

That’s what it looks like to me. It certainly doesn’t look like the spindle’s integrity has been compromised.

Update: All knuckle parts have been cleaned, blasted, and painted. I even cleaned every single nut and bolt. I was getting ready to assemble and I ran into another snag. When I opened the terrain tamer rebuild kit I realized it didn’t have wheel bearings or the metal wiper ring in it. I threw away both the bearings and metal ring. Well, the old adage about what the say about assuming still holds true. Had to call @orangefj45 at Valley Hybrid to get new axle bearings and wiper rings.

Spending money like I got it, yo!

Anyways, while I wait for the new parts to show I’ll start disassembling the left knuckle. I also received the rear 45 degree frame braces (top notch fabrication I might add) from Cruiser Solutions, so things are starting to fall into place for finishing the frame. As soon as the knuckles are done I’ll put the braces on, flip the frame, and finish the bottom. Then it’ll be ready for paint or galvanizing, which every I choose. Right now I’m leaning toward galvanized.

 

[Jetlander]

Update:

The left side axle spindle had the same exact machining marks as the right side so I guess they’re fine.

I removed the last piece of cancer from the frame. I would say the rear 45 braces had seen better days.

I’m glad to say that I only have a few more rivets to drill out, and they belong to the rear leaf spring brackets, which I’m replacing. As soon as the axle bearings show up I’ll reassemble the knuckles and pull the leafs and axle housing off of the frame. Then flip, clean up the bottom and it’ll be done on my end. I’m 99% sure I’ll have the frame galvanized.

In the meantime, I’m busy cleaning all the knuckle parts, blasting and painting. This ol’ Girl should look pretty when she’s done...

 

[Jetlander]

So I’ve been brainstorming colors for the engine block. I know black is the preferred color, and I’m open to that, but my Land Cruiser will 99.9% be painted beige. What do you guys think of a Cummins beige engine block? It’ll be nice to see an future leaks. And that’s really what I’d like. Anyone have an engine painted this color that would upload a pic?

 

[jim land]

i like the beige engine idea for easy leak detection

 

[Jetlander]

I’ve been super busy with the Cruiser, work, and family since my last post so I’ve been slacking on updates. Don’t worry, things are progressing nicely. Right now I’ve been finishing up the frame, which is now ready to be flipped over so I can clean up the bottom rail before sending it out to be galvanized.

While I was waiting for my power steering crossmember bezel I rebuilt the knuckles, and yes, it’s a dirty dirty job. Nothing particularly difficult, but time consuming.

As you can see I blasted and painted the housing and all external components. Replaced all bearings and seals and when I was finished I even managed to get the preload to 4.5 lbs each.

Once that was done I started to clean up the brake calipers for paint. I was trying to be super careful but inevitably I nicked the piston dust seal with the wire wheel. A minor setback because I had to order new ones.

Initially I wasn’t going to rebuild the calipers because they worked fine before the restoration started, but this made for the perfect excuse to dig a bit deeper into all the working parts of my rig. I’m glad I did because there was some nastiness hiding in the pistons. I didn’t get a pic before I cleaned them up but I did get some afters.

So pretty and shinny!

And the finished product!

I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out. Much nicer then I expected.

 

[Jetlander]

UPS more or less stops by the house everyday now, delivering new parts. I have quite the collection starting to build up in my office including:

Clutch Kit
Water Pump
Tail Lights
Engine mounts
Front Indicator/marker Lights
All engine seals and gaskets
Pitman Arm
Speedometer Cable
All rear drum cylinders
Brake lines
Firewall grommets
New quik hinges for front doors
Coolant Overflow bottle
Bump stops
JIS bolt kit

Just to name a few...

Here’s the bolt kit I got from @davework, which is super nice and should replace almost every bolt and nut bumper to bumper. Additionally, I dropped off all the brackets and hardware from the engine bay and cab to be cad plated. Should be nice when it’s all done.

Once I got the crossmember power steering bezel from @orangefj45 I mocked up and welded the new steering box mounting plate and bezel. Kinda sucky having to drill a big@ss hole in the crossmember I’d just fabricated, however this is a far better solution to the mess the P.O. had done.

Once the power steering setup was done, it was FINALLY time to split the frame from the axle housings! Putting the engine hoist to work I was able to keep the frame level and hoist it at the same time. Not bad I figured considering this is a one man shop.

And then there were only axles...

When the frame is out being galvanized I will blast and paint the axle housings, replace the rear drum cylinders and hardware, and have the drums turned. I’ll also replace all engine gaskets and seals, except the head gasket. Clean up the block and then paint. As soon as the frame is back it will be time to start the hard part, reassembly.

Not bad considering I started tear down in November, and I’ve never done anything even remotely like this, and like I said before, all the work is being done by Me, Myself, and I.

 

[tstepp920]

How are you prepping the frame. Acid dip? Sandblasting?

 

[Jetlander]

How are you prepping the frame. Acid dip? Sandblasting?

As I stripped the frame to metal on the clean up, I just rattle canned Rustnoleum rust inhibitor on it as I went along. To stirp the frame I used a 4 1/2 grinder with light pressure from a grinding wheel and then cleaned it up with a lap disk. The frame was covered in mostly undercoating, but it also had rust in places.

As far as what the galvanizes are going to need, I’m not sure yet. I know they acid dip them prior to galvanizing so I imagine that will strip off the rattle can job.

 

[Tommy Shumpert]

Nice looking build, maybe see you on the road sometime.

 

[orangefj45]

Great work and thanks for taking the time to write up a thread with lots of info.
Helps others in our community.

Keep it up!!!!

And please let us know if we can help with anything else.

Georg @ Valley Hybrids & Cruiser Brothers