Builds Putting the rust demon at bay

[archie73]

Life goals!

Future conversation: “Babe, we’ve been fighting over the FJ too much lately. I think its time to add another to the stable.”

Actually, she was talking about a kit cobra last night- her dream car. I’ve offered to build one in the past, but she’d rather have things for the house. I’m not a go fast guy, but I enjoy building stuff. Since she declined I picked up the ford p/u, now she has to wait in line.

 

[archie73]

Me- “do you want to be in the 4th of July parade?”
Son- “can I throw candy?”
Me “you betcha,”

So I’m not officially in the local car club, but I friends in the right places. We have a small town parade every year and they always want more classics. A quick text and I was in the parade. I’m a hell of a dad!!!
We show in time to sit and wait as we were instructed. Talk to some friends and wait as the day turns from pleasant to hot. Finally there’s movement, all be it slow. I throw it in 2low and we creep on toward Main Street. My boy is perched on the ‘cage with his bag of candy. It’s 1.5 blocks to the official start of the parade. Takes about 15 minutes to travel. Temperature never stops climbing. Halfway there I notice I’m at 195. 3/4 of the way to the official start, I’m at 205. Wife and I are doing the”what now” conversation. I pull off into a parking lot just before Main Street, temp is 243. Shut her down and pop the hood. No coolant puking out, so walk away and enjoy the parade. Heard a K20 p/u stalled in the parade and had to be pushed the final 2 blocks…
Come back and find out I melted a 40 amp fuse and the spot for it as well. Ironically, I parked next to a similar vintage CJ5. I live through a few ribs about how I should of bought an American truck. The owner points out that he has fuel injection, so I ask if it’s a sniper. “Ah hell, I just paid someone to put it on.” I keep my mouth shut. It’s a small town and I know this guy by reputation, so I just let it slide. His tone shifts when he realizes I have an LS In my frankencruiser. After fiddling with it for a while, I decide to go home and grab the trailer. Better to drag it home then risk burning it to the ground with a Jerry rigged electrical.
Wife and kid go float the river, so I dig in…

Hmmm, toasty…
Old feed wire off the relay and new one.

So I when I redid the fuse/relay box for the LS, I accidentally fed the cooling fan from the keyed power relay- No Bueno. Fried the relay as well, which explains why I was unable to start it once it cooled off. So surgery commenced. The fan now has a direct power source from the bus bar- with a 40amp inline fuse.
Currently, I have it engaged by the ecu to the Volvo fan relay. Next I’ll need to wire up a switch for the high speed side of the relay- someday when I have nothing else to do.
Next weekend headed to Ennis for a quick wheeling overnighter. Last time I was there, I lost a bolt in the transfer and had to buy an Orion. Wish me better luck.

 

[EWheeler]

Me- “do you want to be in the 4th of July parade?”
Son- “can I throw candy?”
Me “you betcha,”

So I’m not officially in the local car club, but I friends in the right places. We have a small town parade every year and they always want more classics. A quick text and I was in the parade. I’m a hell of a dad!!!
We show in time to sit and wait as we were instructed. Talk to some friends and wait as the day turns from pleasant to hot. Finally there’s movement, all be it slow. I throw it in 2low and we creep on toward Main Street. My boy is perched on the ‘cage with his bag of candy. It’s 1.5 blocks to the official start of the parade. Takes about 15 minutes to travel. Temperature never stops climbing. Halfway there I notice I’m at 195. 3/4 of the way to the official start, I’m at 205. Wife and I are doing the”what now” conversation. I pull off into a parking lot just before Main Street, temp is 243. Shut her down and pop the hood. No coolant puking out, so walk away and enjoy the parade. Heard a K20 p/u stalled in the parade and had to be pushed the final 2 blocks…
Come back and find out I melted a 40 amp fuse and the spot for it as well. Ironically, I parked next to a similar vintage CJ5. I live through a few ribs about how I should of bought an American truck. The owner points out that he has fuel injection, so I ask if it’s a sniper. “Ah hell, I just paid someone to put it on.” I keep my mouth shut. It’s a small town and I know this guy by reputation, so I just let it slide. His tone shifts when he realizes I have an LS In my frankencruiser. After fiddling with it for a while, I decide to go home and grab the trailer. Better to drag it home then risk burning it to the ground with a Jerry rigged electrical.
Wife and kid go float the river, so I dig in…
View attachment 3053222
Hmmm, toasty…
Old feed wire off the relay and new one.
View attachment 3053221

So I when I redid the fuse/relay box for the LS, I accidentally fed the cooling fan from the keyed power relay- No Bueno. Fried the relay as well, which explains why I was unable to start it once it cooled off. So surgery commenced. The fan now has a direct power source from the bus bar- with a 40amp inline fuse.
Currently, I have it engaged by the ecu to the Volvo fan relay. Next I’ll need to wire up a switch for the high speed side of the relay- someday when I have nothing else to do.
Next weekend headed to Ennis for a quick wheeling overnighter. Last time I was there, I lost a bolt in the transfer and had to buy an Orion. Wish me better luck.

Best of luck! Soon enough all the gremlins will be gone....

 

[archie73]

Best of luck! Soon enough all the gremlins will be gone....

The struggle is real…

 

[archie73]

Not a lot of work on the cruiser this summer. This is a good thing, as we have been enjoying driving it!! Just on the road, but it’s been a pleasure outside of a few hiccups.

Someday he’ll be able to reach the clutch pedal. Sadly, this seems to be the only vehicle that has a stick in our fleet. At least he’ll learn to drive a manual.

Work that has been done-
1) made a bracket to hold the aux battery switch. This was an exercise in using the cnc plasma table at work. Made it out of the backing plate from a clothes dryer.

2) The struggle of turn signals is real!! So I haven’t had working turn signals since I got it back on the road, but the wife seems to think they’re important for some reason. After reading a thread recently that was specifically about the 1973 hazard/turn signals, I decided I’d jump back into it.

Recently the headlights weren’t getting full voltage , so I tore into the dimmer switch. Oddly, I’ve always been intimidated by the thought of tearing into column, so I’ve steered away from it. Well now was the time. Removing the wheel was much easier then I anticipated- I happened to have a round pice metal that fit the threaded holes in the wheel. Two bolts later and it popped off. Then I was into the turn signal switch, but all looked well there. According to the thread, next place to look was the hazard switch.

Getting this thing unplugged from the harness turned out to be the big deal.In the end I followed @Coolerman advise and warmed them up with the heat gun and then wiggles them apart using a couple of channel locks. That makes it sound easy, truth was it took a while to figure that out and get it done while hanging upside down under the dash.
Well turns out that switch is in good working order. So now we go back to the flasher for answers. I’m using led lights in the back, so I use a led style flasher under the dash. This, initially, had working hazards and would turn the turn signal on, but no flashing. Eventually, this turned into solid hazard and no turn signal at all. With a body&electrical tear down two winters ago, I feel confident in the grounds. As a last minute effort I plugged in the oe flasher and I now have flashing hazards again. Turn signals are still no where to be seen. This leads me back to trying out resistors. I’ve always resisted(see what I did there) them as they kinda defeat the purpose of leds, but at this point I want turn signals…

To be continued when I get around to it.

 

[archie73]

Retail theropy:

Finally upgraded my bench vise.This one was a FB special. Old owner said he only used it to remove golf club handles. Must have been quite the clubs- there’s a 5 deg bend in the handle. Oh well vise works as it should….

More middling progress- clutch linkage. Wife mentioned that the clutch felt weak, so I chcked the reservoir. Nope full. Next I went underneath and looked at the pushrod. Sure enough it wasn’t snug in between the fork and slave cylinder. Tried adjusting it in place, but it wouldn’t budge. Pulled it out to get some better leverage. Ah a new vise!!! Adjuster nut is frozen to the shaft!! Might as well use the new vise. Nice and tight. After heating it and soaking it with PB blaster for a couple days, I tried rocking it ba k and forth with the breaker bar. Yep that got me a couple degrees of movement. Kept at it, listening to it creak. I’m getting it; nope it it’s snapped.

Oh well, found a bolt with the right length and diameter. A little grinding to smooth the head down and it slid right in place. Used a couple nuts to adjust the length and viola I have a new push rod. Shifting does indeed feel better. Now I need to find a new acorn adjuster nut and make a permanent push rod replacement. When I get more time…

 

[archie73]

Speaking of finding time- I’ve been daydreaming of an ARB in the front to match the rear. What other upgrades I should consider while the axle is torn down? For reference, I’m running 5.3, SM465, 4:1 Orion and 35’s. I don’t wheel a ton, but I’d like to be prepared when I do for trails like Steel Bender(Moab)& Billings Canyon (Grand Junction), so 7/8 out of 10 trails. I don’t currently plan on going to 37’s- I really like the way it currently handles on the street.
I’m guessing chromoly or 300m axles are the other upgrade to take into consideration. I have FJ80 p/s and 4 wheel disc.

 

[05CTD]

Definitely upgrade axles its torn apart for ARB anyway. We kind of have a similar power train Im running LS/Auto/4.3 Atlas but I went d60 and 14 bolt. Im running 40's for everyday and 43in mickey's for wheeling.

Your cruiser is turning out really nice with nice quality work congrats...

 

[White Stripe]

Speaking of finding time- I’ve been daydreaming of an ARB in the front to match the rear. What other upgrades I should consider while the axle is torn down? For reference, I’m running 5.3, SM465, 4:1 Orion and 35’s. I don’t wheel a ton, but I’d like to be prepared when I do for trails like Steel Bender(Moab)& Billings Canyon (Grand Junction), so 7/8 out of 10 trails. I don’t currently plan on going to 37’s- I really like the way it currently handles on the street.
I’m guessing chromoly or 300m axles are the other upgrade to take into consideration. I have FJ80 p/s and 4 wheel disc.

Wider axles are nice. If you dont want to go too wide i guess put a fj60 axle up front.

 

[archie73]

Wider axles are nice. If you dont want to go too wide i guess put a fj60 axle up front.

Always like hearing from you stripe. For awhile I was hot to do the ‘60 axle swap, but I’ve decided I like the stance of the current setup. In fact, I’ve been thinking of getting skinnier tires when these get to worn. It’d be nice to have the tires more under the fenders. I understand the desire for a wider stance on the trail, but truth is this thing is 95% street and the swap is hard to justify at todays parts prices. The ARB is likely more of a want then a need, but I really like the ability to turn it on and off.

Now if time and money were no issue, I’d consider linking it and then wider axles might be worth the effort. Of course then I’d probably stretch it 10” as well. Wow that rabbit hole is deep…

 

[archie73]

Definitely upgrade axles its torn apart for ARB anyway. We kind of have a similar power train Im running LS/Auto/4.3 Atlas but I went d60 and 14 bolt. Im running 40's for everyday and 43in mickey's for wheeling.

Your cruiser is turning out really nice with nice quality work congrats...

I’ve been watching your build, how’s the table coming? Did you drill all those holes yet?
Atlas, tons & 40/43’s, I think we’re playing a different game. If I had more serious trails around me I’d be tempted. Truth is local trails are seem to top out at 6/7 and I don’t seem to have enough time to travel to bigger trails. So 35’s are likely where I’ll top out. I need to balance my desires with the reality of the wife and I (& son, eventually) dailying this rig. It’s far from a dedicated trail rig.

I guess my question is do need the chromoly/300 axle shafts if I install an ARB? My inner Gearhead says yes, but it’s fighting my cheap ass self.

 

[pb4ugo]

I've been wheeling a long time. I didn't start breaking stk birfields until I put a locker in the frt. This was b4 anything like alloy birfield axles were available and lunchbox lockers had just come out on the market. My options were limited, so I narrowed a wagoneer dana 44 front to a fj40 width, installed a arb, and 36" tires. I wanted a stk width and really still do. I would not do a d44 again. If I were to build a frt end now, I would either build a stk 40 or FJ60 frt end, arb, alloy birf axles, and large pattern knuckles with hardened fasteners, or i would build and narrow a high pinion dana 60 to about a 60" wms to wms with an arb. With either of these choices I would still only run 35" or 36" tires sprung under, but thats just me. It all depends on how your going use your 40. The added width of the fj60 axles creates a lot of stability, but the tires will stick out beyond the body.

 

[White Stripe]

If money is a issue I would get the rcv birfields and use stock shafts. Baby it until you have money for shafts and hub gears. This way you can clearance the housing to fit while it's torn down. It's wise to know when to stop as far as going hard core. Build your cruiser for its primary use.

 

[archie73]

So I haven’t pulled the trigger on any upgrades yet, it’ll wait til time and money are right. Hopefully soon!!
I’m headed to Grand Junction, Co for a work/play trip on Tuesday, can’t wait!! Decided I should break out the new digital torque wrench and check the steering arms and u bolts. Steering arms were tight, but was kinda shocked on the u bolts. I was aiming for 108 per ‘mud, but some were down to 80#. Stretch? The rear is a flip kit and the front were installed with my OME lift many moons ago. I guess it was time check.
Anyway, truck seems to be running good and ready for the trail. One buddy just repaired a broken mini spool in his bronco and the other bought a built Cherokee , but it’s untested. Should be interesting…

 

[archie73]

Back home from the big city of Grand Junction. Work was a two day affair and then it was time to bike and wheel with the guys!
Day before we left the cruiser lost its clutch slave cylinder, but I was able to order a new one and pick it up in GJ. Gotta love the Internet. Repair only took 15min, quick gravity bleed and I was off for a test drive.
On the way down, we missed the exit for Green River, so we pulled into Crescent Junction instead. $6.75/gal, but everything is alien themed- so there’s that…

Due to heavy rain the weekend before, we were unable to ride the Palisades Plunge trail. Fortunately, the house we were staying at was in the middle of the Lunch Loops trails system. Amazing trail system, we only sampled a little of it but we’ll be back. This is me fixing my chain,for the second time, on the Ribbon Trail.

Back to wheeling- we really just played around in the Bangs Canyon area. First trip out was a mild trail that climbed up a ridge. While our trail was pretty tame. It allowed us to look at the buggy trails in the area- Cutoff and Hard Nox. It would of been fun to watch some one do these, but we opted not for fear of getting so stuck we’d need to hire someone to get us out.
Next day we headed to Billings Canyon. Had a ton of fun challenging ourselves on the rocks and testing how well we made our rigs. We were doing pretty well.

We were all enjoying the signs about it being ok to turn around and feeling pretty good about ourselves. Made it to what I’ll call the first challenging obstacle(1st winch anchor?) It was a 3’ ledge with a squeeze before it to make positioning troublesome. First up was the built 4runner- made a solid try but in the end pulled winch. Next was that XJ that my buddy bought two days before the trip. To be fair, it seemed like a bit of a gamble that was paying off. The thing seemed pretty legit. He positioned himself pretty well and made it most of the way out and with a couple guys assisting he made it through. Unfortunately, he caught a rock on the way out and bent the draglink. I was up next and gave it some descent tries, but eventually pulled cable. Once I was up, we positioned my rig to try and pull the XJ draglink back into a workable shape. While this was happening, the Bronco made it in two attempts and unassisted. (Note to self- get front locker). The drag link was being stubborn and we were fearful of breaking it.
Next discussion was wether to continue or turn around to try and limp the XJ out. A couple guys hiked ahead to check the trail out- we had only seen YT videos at this point. They returned saying we needed to turn around. From what they said, this was likely to happen even if we had t had the mechanical failure. To prove the point, the XJ snapped it’s draglink right about then. We were able to get it out of the way and made a list of parts to pick up.

We got to run it again the next day. Good times. After recovering the broken rig we returned to the Billings “Play Area” for some silly ledge climbs and lunch. I swear we weren’t posing for this shot, but hey it turned out nice.

 

[miller]

Man that looks fun I live in the wrong state!

 

[archie73]

Man that looks fun I live in the wrong state!

I spent some of my high school years and a bit more in and around Madison- definitely a great place to grow up. On the other hand, having easy access to areas like this is pretty awesome. Choices….

 

[archie73]

So no trip like this is complete without some amount of carnage. I still swear by my Taurus fan but it doesn’t seem like I can get through a trip without blowing a fuse or melting one. The good part of that is that it’s an easy fix and I’ve learned to look for it before tearing the rest of the electrical system apart. This trip was no different-melted fuse and loose connection for the switching power.
So remember that squeeze before the ledge in the last post? Well the squeeze got me too:
View attachment 3137114It was tight getting to the ledge and a off camber rock pulled me right to the driver’s side. Once I was on the wrong rock, my concern for the paint lessened somewhat and I gave it an honest try. I don’t think it’s going to buff out. I have the remainder paint from when I had it painted, so I’ll figure out how to get it touched up. This will be a good time to get the spots that the paint guy missed- inside glove box and inner A pillar on passenger side.

As a side note, I’m very impressed with how well the aluminum tub held up to the abuse. The metal is not creased or wrinkled as I’d expected it to be in that situation. I imagine closer inspection will show some light gauging.
The final bit of carnage is kinda weird. I was bumping along the trail when I heard the ping of light metal shearing. I looked around and couldn’t see what caused the noise. Since it was definitely the sound of light metal popping I wasn’t to concerned. Later while loading on the trailer I found source of the sound.

Best I can figure it must have come in contact with the rollcage when the body flexed. I’ve been contemplating a better visor for a while. It’ll need to come off the rollbar, so the rollbar doesn’t interfere like oem. While any oem part loss is regrettable, this was lessened by the poor condition of the visors.

 

[ijonesinsp]

For awhile I was hot to do the ‘60 axle swap, but I’ve decided I like the stance of the current setup. In fact, I’ve been thinking of getting skinnier tires when these get to worn. It’d be nice to have the tires more under the fenders. I understand the desire for a wider stance on the trail, but truth is this thing is 95% street and the swap is hard to justify at todays parts prices. The ARB is likely more of a want then a need, but I really like the ability to turn it on and off.

Now if time and money were no issue, I’d consider linking it and then wider axles might be worth the effort. Of course then I’d probably stretch it 10” as well. Wow that rabbit hole is deep…

As another option, you could do what I am doing and get a donor FJ60 front and swap the knuckles, birfs and 3rd member into your 40 housing. I like the width of the 40 axle better and that's what drove me to go that route. You would be getting all the benefits of the 60 axle other than the wider stance. Just my .02.

 

[archie73]

As another option, you could do what I am doing and get a donor FJ60 front and swap the knuckles, birfs and 3rd member into your 40 housing. I like the width of the 40 axle better and that's what drove me to go that route. You would be getting all the benefits of the 60 axle other than the wider stance. Just my .02.

Thanks for the input. Essentially I do have this swap- except I have the mini truck versions. I could be wrong, but the 60 and mini trucks shared knuckles, birfields and hubs. I think the steering arm are different.
Now a front locker just got a lot more likely with a raise at work. Anybody know when prices are coming down?