Builds Project Pikachu: 1977 FJ40 (2 Viewers)

[cbmontgo]

Getting ready for another trip across Colorado in a few weeks, so I’m chipping away at little stuff here and there.

I’ve had some issues lately with the fuel gauge reading about 1/4 to 1/8 fuller than it is, so I swapped out the CCOT sender with OEM. Hopefully this will solve the issue.

 

[TheHardWay]

Mine would drop normally to 1/2, then fall off the cliff to empty. Put in an OEM and bam, back to normal!

 

[cbmontgo]

Last week, I was able to clear the schedule for a few days and take the 40 on a nice 700-mile trip to the Solid Axle Summit. I'd been wanting to take a nice solo trip in the 40 for a while, so this was a perfect opportunity to get away. I think it is healthy for the soul to have some time alone, and what better way to do it than a road trip in and old Land Cruiser. I rolled out of Divide on Wednesday morning, taking the back way to Hwy 50 towards Salida, and up and across Monarch Pass.

I rolled into the Ouray KOA around 5, checked in, and then caught everyone just in time for the photo opp. Was a blast meeting folks I'd seen on the forum for years. I am parked right between the famous @DangerNoodle and @GA Architect.

We all had quite a few beers into the night, talking cruisers and everything else. As always, I am blown away by the great people in this community.

 

[cbmontgo]

The next morning, I had a couple of things I wanted to do in both Ouray and Telluride. I rolled out early.

Pretty soon I was heading up Hwy 550, just as we did in 2018.

 

[cbmontgo]

Ophir Pass was my shortcut from 550 to Telluride today. It was beautiful, as is everything in Southwest Colorado.

 

[cbmontgo]

There is a lot of interesting red dirt in this area. This was on the Telluride side of the Pass.

 

[cbmontgo]

Once in Telluride, I walked around for a bit and had a fantastic lunch and a couple of IPAs at a place I take the family when we are all there together. Really fantastic morning.

 

[cbmontgo]

That afternoon, I took a slow drive back to Ouray and visited with some folks back at the KOA before running into Ouray for dinner. Afterwards, there was a luau with the SAS folks and we had a hell of a good time. Ended the night by a camp fire with new friends and stayed up too late. Wish I'd taken more pictures. There are a few floating around somewhere that will turn up sooner or later I'm sure.

 

[cbmontgo]

Friday morning, I decided to go ahead and get on the road. There was a part of me that wanted to head over to Utah for a night or two, but in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't. More on that later.

Heading back towards home, I made a fuel stop in Montrose and then spent some time on the beach at Blue Mesa Reservoir.

The next stop was lunch at a little café in downtown Gunnison.

 

[wngrog]

Great as always

 

[cbmontgo]

So it was leaving this café where the 2F started to act up. I noticed some roughness in first gear and stalled out once as I left town. I had a long 175 miles left to go. Monarch Pass was very slow going, where I prayed that I'd make it to the top. @GA Architect passed me about this time and had some minor fuel issues shortly thereafter. It wasn't a great day for Cruiser karma.

It was eventually running so rough that it could barely move under its own power. Finally got to within literally 15 feet of the back of my property and the engine died. Wife brought my Tundra down and towed me to the house, using the strap of shame as @wngrog would call it.

 

[cbmontgo]

I spent quite a few hours under the hood trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with a rig that runs so well normally.

Stumped on a spark issue

So I just got back from a 700-mile trip in my 1977 FJ40 with all stock stuff under the hood and am totally stumped on this. About 150 miles from home, I noticed a slight "miss" when taking off in first gear. Over the course of the next couple of hours, the idle got very rough and eventually...

forum.ih8mud.com

The long and short of it is that my distributor points failed. I happened to have a set of new ones on the shelf that came with my '76 years ago. Got those in, tuned everything up, re-timed the engine, and she's back to normal. Whew. Just glad this didn't happen in Lockhart Basin, which is where I would've been on Friday night had I gone to Utah.

Gotta take the good with the bad. Love these old trucks.

 

[plink01]

Mate I think I may have wrote something similar earlier in this thread but your 40 is probably my favourite on this site.

I love what you've done with it and even more what you do with it. Its been a massive inspiration for mine and what I'm using it for. It helps they are the same colour! Keep posting your trip pictures, the USA scenery where you live it absoloutly stunning!
Next time me and my missus go back to Canada we will definately pop over the border and rent a 4x4 and check out Colarado, Utah and Montana.

Keep up the good work mate!

 

[cbmontgo]

Mate I think I may have wrote something similar earlier in this thread but your 40 is probably my favourite on this site.

I love what you've done with it and even more what you do with it. Its been a massive inspiration for mine and what I'm using it for. It helps they are the same colour! Keep posting your trip pictures, the USA scenery where you live it absoloutly stunning!
Next time me and my missus go back to Canada we will definately pop over the border and rent a 4x4 and check out Colarado, Utah and Montana.

Keep up the good work mate!

View attachment 2403691

Much appreciated! Come see us in Colorado when you make it down one day.

That’s a beautiful 40 as well.

 

[cbmontgo]

Spent the morning working my ass off on fire mitigation. Spent the afternoon running errands in town with my boy and the mut.

On a tech note: I think I'm noticing more power and smoother running at high RPMs since the new points. I just ordered a set for my '76 too.

 

[Dizzy]

I reside ten miles from a uncontained forest fire, here in New Mexico. Glad that you are proactive on that.

 

[cbmontgo]

I felt a bit rough this morning after a friend’s birthday gathering last night, so I went to my local hole in the wall for a cure-all green chili cheeseburger and drove some back roads after. The weather has been really nice and cool these last few days. Quite a bit of wildlife out and about too.

 

[imyahucklbrry]

Just one of the coolest rides on the forum!

 

[reddog90]

@cbmontgo did you add a ham setup?

 

[cbmontgo]

@cbmontgo did you add a ham setup?

No, I haven’t gotten there yet. Still running a CB, but it’s on my to-learn list.