Build Resurrecting a mothballed '86 FJ60

[Seth_O]

Took a better look underneath today and saw this:

Interesting that the bushings are both worn on the outside on the springs and on the inside on the shackle hangers.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Probably normal wear. Do you have a sway bar on the front? What’s that bar going across the diff? I had always thought sway bars were a rear suspension thing.

 

[Seth_O]

Probably normal wear. Do you have a sway bar on the front? What’s that bar going across the diff? I had always thought sway bars were a rear suspension thing.

That is the front sway bar. The bushings on it are in surprisingly good shape.

 

[CuCruiser]

When Axle drops, it swings in slightly, forcing shackle slightly \=\ or /=/ hence bushing wear that you see. Best guess.

I bet that accounts for a lot of your waywardness. I thought I could feel my cruiser's body shift from side to side in turns, and I chalked it up to shot spring bushings. Every little bit of loosness really seems to add up when your talking front end.

If you want to try some nearly new shocks and a sway bar end links, I have some that can be yours for postage. Links aren't much but the shocks were only on for a year and are nice KYB units. You know, if you haven't decided to just overhaul the whole shebang yet Just taking up space around here, nobody wants them in the classifieds.

 

[Seth_O]

When Axle drops, it swings in slightly, forcing shackle slightly \=\ or /=/ hence bushing wear that you see. Best guess.

I bet that accounts for a lot of your waywardness. I thought I could feel my cruiser's body shift from side to side in turns, and I chalked it up to shot spring bushings. Every little bit of loosness really seems to add up when your talking front end.

If you want to try some nearly new shocks and a sway bar end links, I have some that can be yours for postage. Links aren't much but the shocks were only on for a year and are nice KYB units. You know, if you haven't decided to just overhaul the whole shebang yet Just taking up space around here, nobody wants them in the classifieds.

That would be awesome, PM inbound.

 

[Seth_O]

Took my eldest rock climbing this morning as a season opener, so I only had a few hours after lunch to work on the '60.

I spent it pulling the PS pump in prep for converting to saginaw and getting the gearbox out.

Been done a thousand times, so no pics. And unfortunately the pitman puller was too small, so I wasnt able to get that off today.

I did, however, find the swaybar link in rough shape:

@CuCruiser hooked me up with some lightly used swaybar links and shocks, pretty pumped to get those installed.

 

[Seth_O]

Had another hour or two free this afternoon. I got the gearbox out finally. Turns out that a leaking gearbox means everything comes apart surprisingly easy. ATF makes a great lubricant.

I also go my pump bracket modified in prep for the saginaw pump.

 

[Seth_O]

I love clean, painted parts!

 

[Seth_O]

I suffer from "while-im-in-there" disease pretty badly. I recognize this about myself and just plan it into my schedule.

So while i was doing the steering I decided to do the split fan shroud mod and put new foam in.

After it was cleaned up and mods were done:

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

[Seth_O]

I finally got the upper end finished up and put it back together.

I used the Georg Saginaw kit, and have to say I've always really liked working with him. A couple of key learnings though:

• Order of operations for installation was really important:
  1. Remove fan shroud and fan
  2. attach the modified bracket to the block
  3. Attach the adapter to the pump
  4. Install the pump on the bracket
  5. Attach the pulley to the pump - make DARNED sure the pulley hub is facing OUT
• Do yourself a favor and just buy the HP hose from Georg when you get the kit. Nowhere near me could put the adapter on my existing hardline.
• This is a good time to overhaul your PS box if you have the same leak everyone else does!

 

[Seth_O]

Tonight I tore into my PS box. During tear-down I found some marring on the shaft. Interested in folks opinion on how bad it is. It looks intentional to me (done with a dremel tool) and there are numbers hand-scribed into the power piston, so I know someone else has been in here.

Run it as-is or get a replacement?

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Pretty darn roughed up. I’m not sure I’d run it.

 

[Seth_O]

I hit the sector shaft with some fine grit sandpaper and smoothed it out. It's not perfect, but will have to do.

I hit the sharp edge of the housing with a rounded file to prevent tearing the teflon seal.

Didnt take much, and worked like a champ.

 

[Seth_O]

I used a plastic cup to both stretch out the seal to get it onto the nut (first lubed it with ATF) and then to compress the seal to get it back into shape. That was a great tip I stole from someone on here.

 

[Seth_O]

Like most others I had to freeze the metal ring to get it back in, but 30mins in a 0* freezer and it popped right in.

Honestly I really, REALLY struggled getting the balls back in the nut. I had to walk away from it a couple of times.

I sometimes get so caught in following directions though that I dont stop to think. I kept losing the balls down in the bottom of the nut and everything would get jammed up.

Then I realized that they only go BETWEEN the two holes. Once i had that epiphany, it took me about 10mins to get them all in and the transfer tube back on.

Bam! Success!

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Like most others I had to freeze the metal ring to get it back in, but 30mins in a 0* freezer and it popped right in.

Honestly I really, REALLY struggled getting the balls back in the nut. I had to walk away from it a couple of times.

I sometimes get so caught in following directions though that I dont stop to think. I kept losing the balls down in the bottom of the nut and everything would get jammed up.

Then I realized that they only go BETWEEN the two holes. Once i had that epiphany, it took me about 10mins to get them all in and the transfer tube back on.

View attachment 1952740

Bam! Success!

Hey did you paint the body? I hadn’t w/ mine and it’s covered w/ a fine layer of rust. Really kicking myself. Love the plastic cup tip. Great seeing that. The pictures really help. Those photos would be great on a sticky along w/ a few others from various threads on gear box rebuilding, honestly. @Cruiser Jimmy if your still a mod, maybe consider somehow cutting and pasting these?

 

[Seth_O]

Hey did you paint the body? I hadn’t w/ mine and it’s covered w/ a fine layer of rust. Really kicking myself. Love the plastic cup tip. Great seeing that. The pictures really help. Those photos would be great on a sticky along w/ a few others from various threads on gear box rebuilding, honestly. @Cruiser Jimmy if your still a mod, maybe consider somehow cutting and pasting these?

Havent painted it yet. I live in a pretty rust-free area, so I've been really debating if it's worth the effort. I need to grab some brake cleaner and masking tape if I'm going to do it.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Havent painted it yet. I live in a pretty rust-free area, so I've been really debating if it's worth the effort. I need to grab some brake cleaner and masking tape if I'm going to do it.

In my head even if your not in a rust area, once you’ve cleaned the metal it’s now open to even just flash rust. I’d at minimum run a layer of oil over it.

 

[Seth_O]

In my head even if your not in a rust area, once you’ve cleaned the metal it’s now open to even just flash rust. I’d at minimum run a layer of oil over it.

Agreed. After wrestling with the balls for hours on end, it's well bathed in protective ATF .

 

[Seth_O]

I went ahead and cleaned up and painted the gearbox.

I got the drag link rebuilt, and got it all back together:

I filled and ran the system before attaching the drag link, that seemed easier to me than jacking the front end up. I ended up with quite a bit of foam, so we'll see how we did once I let it settle down a bit more.

Honestly I was just impressed I didnt have any leaks. I'll still need to adjust everything I am sure.