Builds Project Pikachu: 1977 FJ40 (3 Viewers)

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There must be something wrong.....no gear whine!!:poof:

Cheers!
 
Drove the 40 with my son to a local ranch for a company picnic today. Man, this is a solid rig. I really like the way that the HFS rides, now that it's getting settled in. This thing rides like a Cadillac compared to my stocker '76. Anyway...

So I'm just tweaking little things on Pikachu these days. One of them is the passenger side blinker housing, which has been annoyingly loose (even though it was still grounded enough to function). Since the nut under the fender was completely seized with 40 years of Mississippi mud-induced corrosion, the long story short is that I had to air grind the whole thing off. I gutted the old one, combined it with parts from a spare, and put it back together. Passenger side is rock solid on the fender now.

However, the driver's side functions fine, but the blinker blinks from the wrong bulb(s). Here's another thread that I started to help figure out what's up.

1977 front blinker electrical expertise needed

And a pic from today, just to keep your ADD in check...

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Yea, there seems to be a lot going on in that little gray blinker housing. Clean everything in there and you should be good to go.
 
So, in the spirit of why we have these trucks, I just returned from a fantastic trip to Big Bend State Park on the U.S./Mexico border for some wheeling and camping with old friends in the new trail rig. In the crew are a '75 FJ40, a 76 FJ40, another '77 FJ40, a 1998 UZJ100 with factory lockers, and Pikachu of course. She ran beautifully.

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What part of TX do you live in? Did you guys trailer your 40s to BBRSP or drive them there? Awesome work, I am very jealous.
 
What part of TX do you live in? Did you guys trailer your 40s to BBRSP or drive them there? Awesome work, I am very jealous.
Thanks. We trailered the 40s to Big Bend. However, I plan to do a cross-country trip in Pikachu to Utah, Montana, and Colorado at some point.

I am in the DFW area.
 
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Congrats on the new Toyota.

Really digging your FJ-40, that was an awesome find!!

Job well done on preserving it.

.
 
My 1973 had a Bestop Trailmax II fold and tumble rear Jeep Wrangler seat. This was perfect for my kids, so I ordered one for ole Pikachu. Model 39435-01 fits perfectly between the rear fender wells and looks like it was made for a 40. It requires some drilling into the floor, but it's worth it.
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Seatbelts??
 
Now that Pikachu is spending a lot of time on the big roads, I have noticed a minor, but annoying, exhaust tick near the engine side of the system when the motor is under load. I did a little research last week and found a small exhaust shop with great Yelp reviews down the road about 11 miles. Met the owner there this morning around 9AM and he pulled out a little stethoscope to check it out. I have a leak at the first flange, just under the intake and exhaust manifolds. After looking at the three crusty and original nuts and bolts on the flange, he suggested that I soak it all in PB Blaster for a few days and slowly try to work them loose. So, that is my plan. I am hopeful that I can get them off without breaking them. I am guessing that there a 1 in 4 chance that I'm not drilling and grinding this sh*t when it's all said and done, but here we go anyway. My goal is to yank the three studs, put in a clean flange (maybe a Remflex?) gasket, and put it all back together with new hardware.

The way he put it: "I've seen nastier bolts free up just fine, and cleaner ones break right off, so who knows".

He also inspected my entire exhaust system, and said it all looked OEM original, solid, and definitely didn't need to be replaced (except possibly the muffler, which he noted was later aftermarket and that the Toyota exhaust had thick steel). I was surprised, as it's all covered in a crispy cake layer of Mississippi mud and rust. Truthfully, I originally showed up ready to leave the rig with him, anticipating a pretty new exhaust system from the manifold flange to the tail. He seemed to prefer that I do it, and I'm kinda glad looking back. But sometimes, it feel good just to let someone else do the work, despite the little time-sucking devil telling you how much you love working on these rigs. I even hit Google Images for proper exhaust routing to show him pre-tube bending, but I digress. This, like many other things, is right in line with Project Pikachu. Underneath the crud, this is a particularly clean 40.

The drive to this shop was its first 32 degree morning run since its early-2017 resurrection, and the old front heater kept up marginally/sorta well. I am pondering putting a rear heater in.

In front of said shop:
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Exhaust flange with PB Blaster soaking on the bolts:
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After that, I decided to hit a local air show for KFTW. As a pilot and aircraft owner, I don't make it to nearly as many of these as I should. Here is something fantastic: F16 and P51 Mustang slow flight together:
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Blue Angels:
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What a great country we live in. Good Saturday, y'all.
 
Ole boy at Excalibur Muffler was right. Three days of soaking in PB blaster and some creative attachments to my impact wrench released the exhaust. Two of the nuts came off very cleanly, and the third brought the stud with it as well. I don't think this should be a problem.
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So I'm trying to figure this gasket situation out. It's got a steel donut gasket, but also some sort of wire/spring stuff around the flange. I assume that I need to remove them both?
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This sure doesn't look like a tight seal. I looked around online and don't see any sort of Remflex-style gasket for this particular flange. What's the best way to seal this thing up?
 
The gasket is shipping out from Denver today and I expect to have it tomorrow or Friday. It is part # 90917-06056 for anyone who might want to know later.

I also bought a nice little unit from @gtt that ships out of South Carolina today. He had this on his Series II Rover. Can't wait to get this on the 40.

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