Builds Project ToyLET (PICS)
- Thread starter 4alarm
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Im sure Ill use that sometime soon 
- Thread starter
- #222
Turnmeover: Thanks, I'll keep fighting. I follwed your build thread on your Florida site. Looks good.
TachedOut: Yeah the longer bolts worked really well. I have to get some longer ones and throw them in my trail kit in case I ever have to pull the clutch on the trail. The transfer case was still supported by the cross member so no undue stress was added.
AHHH! I had this all typed out then hit the wrong button and lost it.
Ok, here we go again, short version this time....
Put fluid in tranny, so far, no leaks. Found leak coming from VSS that I installed in t-case yesterday (cracked the top putting it on). Used Vice Grips to clamp it back into shape, reinstalled, covered with RTV, so far no leaks.
Installed new shackles and poly bushings in front springs. Shackle angle is much better with 1" longer than stock shackles, but now the front sits even higher. Hopefully it'll settle with some driving.
Last week I got an old vacuum gauge that belonged to my grandfather (I miss him), so I hooked it up to a manifold vacuum source (had to move the VA on the distributer to a ported vacuum fitting) and hooked up my new tach in the engine compartment temporarily. After letting the engine get up to operating temp, I set the idle to 800 RPMs and started with the idle mixture screws 1.5 turns out from completely in. Turning the screws in 1/2 a turn lost vacuum, so I I turned them back out which raised vacuum and idle speed. Each time I reset the idle back to 800 RPMs and did another 1/2 turn until I reached 3 turns out and vacuum didn't increase anymore. According to the vacuum gauge, I was in a "timing to advanced" state at around 14-15 PSI. While typing this I realized that I had no VA since the dist was now plugged into a ported vacuum source thus mucking with my timing. I'll have to get a "T" connection so I can run both off manifold vacuum and try setting it again tomorrow. In the process, the JB Weld on the throttle connection decided not to hold anymore (broke it yesterday) so now I'll either have to try tack welding it, or get a new cable. Needless to say I couldn't test drive it with the new settings.
Since I still had some day left, I worked on the gauge cluster. I need to wire all the senders to the gauges, but all the power and grounds are wired up. I'll need to borrow someones plasma cutter to cut out a small metal bracket in the dash that won't allow me to fit one of the gauges. I picked up a 2 1/16" and a 3 1/8" hole saw (Ace had them). I was going to use my Dremel to enlarge the 3 1/8" hole, but fortunately, the chuck in my drill press wobbles around enough that it enlarged the hole for me. I was a little worried about what the wobbling would do to the 2 1/16" bit, but all the gauges fit fine.
And that was the short version
And now the pics.....
All the perty new gauges and VSS from Auto Meter:
Gauge panel cut out, drilled out, and painted:
Gauges mounted (I thought I had room for 4 of the 2 1/6" guages, but could only make 3 fit. I'll have to mount the volt meter somewhere else):
Power, grounds, and back lighting all wired up:
Tomorrow I'll get the last of the adjustments done to the carb (hopefully) then I just may be ready for wheeling on Sunday (wifey gave the thumbs up.... but only because she'll be out of town).
I was supposed to fly out to Cali tomorrow for treatment but my counts are still too low, so I'll have to wait until next week since they're not open on the 4th. If I can't go on Tuesday, I'll have to wait another week because I have my CT scan and my surgical appointment on Thursday. Sloan-Kettering called me today to verify insurance and personal info. They said the doctor will review my records and they'll call me back to schedule an appointment. This is for a doctor in NY city. He's done many surgeries on other DSRCT patients and I feel he is most qualified to do my surgery. However, if the Tucson doc is willing to remove all the tumors possible, then I'll have the surgery here to stay close to the family. I guess we'll find out next week.
TachedOut: Yeah the longer bolts worked really well. I have to get some longer ones and throw them in my trail kit in case I ever have to pull the clutch on the trail. The transfer case was still supported by the cross member so no undue stress was added.
AHHH! I had this all typed out then hit the wrong button and lost it.
Ok, here we go again, short version this time....
Put fluid in tranny, so far, no leaks. Found leak coming from VSS that I installed in t-case yesterday (cracked the top putting it on). Used Vice Grips to clamp it back into shape, reinstalled, covered with RTV, so far no leaks.
Installed new shackles and poly bushings in front springs. Shackle angle is much better with 1" longer than stock shackles, but now the front sits even higher. Hopefully it'll settle with some driving.
Last week I got an old vacuum gauge that belonged to my grandfather (I miss him), so I hooked it up to a manifold vacuum source (had to move the VA on the distributer to a ported vacuum fitting) and hooked up my new tach in the engine compartment temporarily. After letting the engine get up to operating temp, I set the idle to 800 RPMs and started with the idle mixture screws 1.5 turns out from completely in. Turning the screws in 1/2 a turn lost vacuum, so I I turned them back out which raised vacuum and idle speed. Each time I reset the idle back to 800 RPMs and did another 1/2 turn until I reached 3 turns out and vacuum didn't increase anymore. According to the vacuum gauge, I was in a "timing to advanced" state at around 14-15 PSI. While typing this I realized that I had no VA since the dist was now plugged into a ported vacuum source thus mucking with my timing. I'll have to get a "T" connection so I can run both off manifold vacuum and try setting it again tomorrow. In the process, the JB Weld on the throttle connection decided not to hold anymore (broke it yesterday) so now I'll either have to try tack welding it, or get a new cable. Needless to say I couldn't test drive it with the new settings.
Since I still had some day left, I worked on the gauge cluster. I need to wire all the senders to the gauges, but all the power and grounds are wired up. I'll need to borrow someones plasma cutter to cut out a small metal bracket in the dash that won't allow me to fit one of the gauges. I picked up a 2 1/16" and a 3 1/8" hole saw (Ace had them). I was going to use my Dremel to enlarge the 3 1/8" hole, but fortunately, the chuck in my drill press wobbles around enough that it enlarged the hole for me. I was a little worried about what the wobbling would do to the 2 1/16" bit, but all the gauges fit fine.
And that was the short version
And now the pics.....
All the perty new gauges and VSS from Auto Meter:
Gauge panel cut out, drilled out, and painted:
Gauges mounted (I thought I had room for 4 of the 2 1/6" guages, but could only make 3 fit. I'll have to mount the volt meter somewhere else):
Power, grounds, and back lighting all wired up:
Tomorrow I'll get the last of the adjustments done to the carb (hopefully) then I just may be ready for wheeling on Sunday (wifey gave the thumbs up.... but only because she'll be out of town).
I was supposed to fly out to Cali tomorrow for treatment but my counts are still too low, so I'll have to wait until next week since they're not open on the 4th. If I can't go on Tuesday, I'll have to wait another week because I have my CT scan and my surgical appointment on Thursday. Sloan-Kettering called me today to verify insurance and personal info. They said the doctor will review my records and they'll call me back to schedule an appointment. This is for a doctor in NY city. He's done many surgeries on other DSRCT patients and I feel he is most qualified to do my surgery. However, if the Tucson doc is willing to remove all the tumors possible, then I'll have the surgery here to stay close to the family. I guess we'll find out next week.
Gauge panel cut out, drilled out, and painted:
Gauges mounted (I thought I had room for 4 of the 2 1/6" guages, but could only make 3 fit. I'll have to mount the volt meter somewhere else):
Power, grounds, and back lighting all wired up:
WOW!!!
, never i see job like this, good job 10-points, well done mate, 
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #224
Thanks. It would have looked better but while I was working on it I realized it's just a trail rig, so I decided to leave some rough edges and fudged a little on hole placement.
OK, disconnected the VA and capped it on the carb. Set RPM to ~850 (idle was rough bouncing between 750-900). Checked timing and was right about the second triangle from the left of the timing mark. With the vac gauge hooked up to manifold vac with new vac lines (no leaks), vac PSI was about 14.5-15, this was starting at 3 turns out on the idle mixture screws. Turning the screws in (clockwise) lowered vac and RPM. Turning the screws out (CCW) vac increased as did RPM. I did 1/2 turns switching between sides until I hit 5.5 turns out. This brought me to a maximum vac of 18 PSI and an RPM of about 1100. Turning the screws in from that point lost vac and RPM, turning the screws out had no effect. After setting the mixture screws to 5.5 turns out, I reset my idle RPM back to 850 and it was now a lot smoother.
I called JEGs tech support and they said 5.5 turns sounded like a bit much. I described my process and he said that I did it right. He sugessted with the rough idle at the beginning that I might have a vacuum leak. I went out and sprayed carb cleaner all around the carb and intake manifold and found no leaks. Out of curiosity I took my old Q-Jet that came with the engine and turned in the idle mixture screws (counting the number of turns). The left side was 5 turns, the right side was 4.5 turns. Could there be some performance adders that would require more idle mixture? Or is my engine just screwed? It sounds much smoother at idle now though. BTW, all adjustments were made with the choke off and at running temps.
I just got back from a test drive. First I filled the tank! Then went across town to see a friend of mine, taking the main roads 35-40 MPH. On the trip home I hit the highway and got her up to around 62 MPH (wasn't trying to go faster but could've, then ran around the neighborhood a bit. Had some hesitations but no stalling. I still don't think I have full power but it's much better than it was. I'll have to get a new cap and rotor, plugs and some new plug wires. Maybe now it just needs a tune up.
Temp ran around 210 according the the el-cheapo guage (haven't put the new gauges in yet). I manually switched on the high speed fan but it just stayed right there.
The VSS sender is still leaking. The RTV didn't stop it. I'll have to try something else. I really don't want to have to buy another one. Maybe AutoMeter will replace it for me.
I'm going to drive it into work tomorrow and see how she does.
OK, disconnected the VA and capped it on the carb. Set RPM to ~850 (idle was rough bouncing between 750-900). Checked timing and was right about the second triangle from the left of the timing mark. With the vac gauge hooked up to manifold vac with new vac lines (no leaks), vac PSI was about 14.5-15, this was starting at 3 turns out on the idle mixture screws. Turning the screws in (clockwise) lowered vac and RPM. Turning the screws out (CCW) vac increased as did RPM. I did 1/2 turns switching between sides until I hit 5.5 turns out. This brought me to a maximum vac of 18 PSI and an RPM of about 1100. Turning the screws in from that point lost vac and RPM, turning the screws out had no effect. After setting the mixture screws to 5.5 turns out, I reset my idle RPM back to 850 and it was now a lot smoother.
I called JEGs tech support and they said 5.5 turns sounded like a bit much. I described my process and he said that I did it right. He sugessted with the rough idle at the beginning that I might have a vacuum leak. I went out and sprayed carb cleaner all around the carb and intake manifold and found no leaks. Out of curiosity I took my old Q-Jet that came with the engine and turned in the idle mixture screws (counting the number of turns). The left side was 5 turns, the right side was 4.5 turns. Could there be some performance adders that would require more idle mixture? Or is my engine just screwed? It sounds much smoother at idle now though. BTW, all adjustments were made with the choke off and at running temps.
I just got back from a test drive. First I filled the tank! Then went across town to see a friend of mine, taking the main roads 35-40 MPH. On the trip home I hit the highway and got her up to around 62 MPH (wasn't trying to go faster but could've, then ran around the neighborhood a bit. Had some hesitations but no stalling. I still don't think I have full power but it's much better than it was. I'll have to get a new cap and rotor, plugs and some new plug wires. Maybe now it just needs a tune up.
Temp ran around 210 according the the el-cheapo guage (haven't put the new gauges in yet). I manually switched on the high speed fan but it just stayed right there.
The VSS sender is still leaking. The RTV didn't stop it. I'll have to try something else. I really don't want to have to buy another one. Maybe AutoMeter will replace it for me.
I'm going to drive it into work tomorrow and see how she does.
- Thread starter
- #225
Did fine on the drive in to work, just underpowered. I picked up new cap, rotor, plug wires, and plugs, but fell asleep before I had a chance to swap them.
A friend of mine (the one that did the cage) came by yesterday for the 4th and said it sounded like I was missing on one of the cylinders and suggested pulling a plug wire at a time to see if it stayed the same or got worse. All I had to do was walk around to the passenger side of the truck and I noticed the #2 spark plug was arcing to the block. Looks like I was running on 7 cylinders.
Today he came back over and we got my cap, rotor, plugs, and plug wires replaced, then finished wiring up my gauges. Took it for a test drive and it's a totally new beast! We redid the idle mixture on the carb and it still comes out to about 5 turns out (really rich) to get best vacuum. Then we double checked my timing. Runs good now. I had to use an extension and a 90* adapter to get my oil pressure sender to fit. When I got it up to about 4K RPMs it sprayed a bit of oil, then I lost some oil pressure. I need to get another extension cause the 90* still doesn't clear the manifold enough to get it tight, it's just snug right now. So in the mean time I'll just have to stay off the skinny pedal. Maybe that'll save me some gas too.
I filled up the tank on Weds. (overfilled it) and today I was between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank on the gauge. After our test run, about 12 miles I was down to 1/4 tank. Now that I have an odometer, I can check to see what my actual mileage is (do I really want to know!).
Tomorrow were hitting the trail It'll be my first run in the FJ40 and the first real trip (where I'll be driving) in about 4.5 years. I can't wait!
Pictures tomorrow!
A friend of mine (the one that did the cage) came by yesterday for the 4th and said it sounded like I was missing on one of the cylinders and suggested pulling a plug wire at a time to see if it stayed the same or got worse. All I had to do was walk around to the passenger side of the truck and I noticed the #2 spark plug was arcing to the block. Looks like I was running on 7 cylinders.
Today he came back over and we got my cap, rotor, plugs, and plug wires replaced, then finished wiring up my gauges. Took it for a test drive and it's a totally new beast! We redid the idle mixture on the carb and it still comes out to about 5 turns out (really rich) to get best vacuum. Then we double checked my timing. Runs good now. I had to use an extension and a 90* adapter to get my oil pressure sender to fit. When I got it up to about 4K RPMs it sprayed a bit of oil, then I lost some oil pressure. I need to get another extension cause the 90* still doesn't clear the manifold enough to get it tight, it's just snug right now. So in the mean time I'll just have to stay off the skinny pedal. Maybe that'll save me some gas too.
I filled up the tank on Weds. (overfilled it) and today I was between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank on the gauge. After our test run, about 12 miles I was down to 1/4 tank. Now that I have an odometer, I can check to see what my actual mileage is (do I really want to know!).
Tomorrow were hitting the trail It'll be my first run in the FJ40 and the first real trip (where I'll be driving) in about 4.5 years. I can't wait!
Pictures tomorrow!
- Thread starter
- #226
Easy trail run today. I broke the welds on my steering box mount again. I'm cutting it all the way off, removing the factory "frame boxing" and I'll use some 1/4" to box both the front frame horns. If I can salvage the steering box bracket, I'll clean it up and re-use it, if not, I'll probably order a new one from Downey. I don't feel like making my own. The $50 isn't worth my time.
Some pics from today's run:
A little poser shot:
A steep hill climb with a bit of an obstacle at the base. I stalled once but the second time it walked right up:
Down a waterfall:
Nother:
And the broken steering box plate (I didn't weld this):
Some pics from today's run:
A little poser shot:
A steep hill climb with a bit of an obstacle at the base. I stalled once but the second time it walked right up:
Down a waterfall:
Nother:
And the broken steering box plate (I didn't weld this):
We all learn as we go..
- Thread starter
- #228
I spent today cutting off the old bracket and factory frame box on the frame horns. I couldn't save the bracket so I ordered a new steering box bracket and scab plates for both frame horns. They should be here Thurs. so I may be ready to go for next weekend.
Mounting plate and factory boxing cut out:
Cleaned up the horn, ready for some new steel:
Mounting plate and factory boxing cut out:
Cleaned up the horn, ready for some new steel:
Good show Josh . Those wlds have alot to be desired.
Down here in the south east We allways do it right.
Because we do it twice . maybe 3 times or 4 or 5 or 6 . Well eventually we pay some one to do it .
Down here in the south east We allways do it right.
Because we do it twice . maybe 3 times or 4 or 5 or 6 . Well eventually we pay some one to do it .
Some pics from today's run:
A little poser shot:
This is also known as the "Sheit eating grin shot"
- Thread starter
- #231
Those welds really weren't mine. That was done by the PO.
Since I'm waiting on steering parts. I installed my new Roundeyes conversion head lights. I picked up a couple 30 amp relays and wired them to a double pole double throw switch. Flick it up for high beams, running lights, and dash lights, flick it down for low beams, running lights, and dash lights. Worked out well. I also found some old PIAA driving lights from my import tuner days. I need to find somewhere to mount those for rock lights.
Since I'm waiting on steering parts. I installed my new Roundeyes conversion head lights. I picked up a couple 30 amp relays and wired them to a double pole double throw switch. Flick it up for high beams, running lights, and dash lights, flick it down for low beams, running lights, and dash lights. Worked out well. I also found some old PIAA driving lights from my import tuner days. I need to find somewhere to mount those for rock lights.
- Thread starter
- #232
So what color should I paint the rest of the body? The cage, bezel, and wheels are white. I'm thinking a version of the classic blue for the rest. I also kinda like the old beige color too. I need something that will contrast with the white.
I vote classic Cruiser tan.
Keep up the good fight!
Keep up the good fight!
keep it mustard yello.
I think the classic cruiser blue is a good idea. Great rig! and keep fighting!
- Thread starter
- #236
My old CRX was yellow, I need something different. My son wants blue so that's probably what I'll do.
Steering parts came in today so hopefully tomorrow I'll get them welded up.
Had an appointment with a surgeon in Tucson today. He won't do the surgery. He said I should go see the Dr. in NY. Looks like I'm gonna be traveling (if I can ever get an appointment).
Steering parts came in today so hopefully tomorrow I'll get them welded up.
Had an appointment with a surgeon in Tucson today. He won't do the surgery. He said I should go see the Dr. in NY. Looks like I'm gonna be traveling (if I can ever get an appointment).
Tapage
Club 4X4 Panamá
Blue / grey convination . ... me like.
I am for blue too.
Congrats on getting the rig on trails!
awp
Congrats on getting the rig on trails!
awp
- Thread starter
- #239
Thanks! We're going to try and get some play time in on Sunday.
Got the scab plates and the steering box mount welded up today. Had to do some grinding/cutting on the front frame cross member to get the box to fit because the scab plates fit on the outside of the frame horns. That spaced it out about 3/16" of an inch. I REALLY NEED a plasma cutter. What took me about 2 hours to do would have taken me a minute or two with a plasma cutter.
Getting ready to weld:
Welded:
Passenger side welded:
Sanded the welds smooth for a flush mount for the steering box mount:
Got the scab plates and the steering box mount welded up today. Had to do some grinding/cutting on the front frame cross member to get the box to fit because the scab plates fit on the outside of the frame horns. That spaced it out about 3/16" of an inch. I REALLY NEED a plasma cutter. What took me about 2 hours to do would have taken me a minute or two with a plasma cutter.
Getting ready to weld:
Welded:
Passenger side welded:
Sanded the welds smooth for a flush mount for the steering box mount:
- Thread starter
- #240
Here's the "hole" I started with. Thanks to the previous owner. I may have been better off, welding in a patch and then using a hole saw to cut it out.:
The best I could do to enlarge the hole:
Mounting plate welded up:
Wifey got made at me so I had to stop before I could paint and bolt the steering box back up. Maybe I'll get back out there after the kids go to bed.
The best I could do to enlarge the hole:
Mounting plate welded up:
Wifey got made at me so I had to stop before I could paint and bolt the steering box back up. Maybe I'll get back out there after the kids go to bed.