Resurrecting my first FJ40.... list o'crap, what else?

[dave22r]

And one stuck bolt later, here’s what’s inside

 

[dave22r]

Might need a new tstat hahaha

 

[dave22r]

Not much water pumping

 

[dave22r]

So I pulled off the water pump. That looked exactly as expected.
Next was the block cock. Didn’t get a drop of anything out of there. It was solid black inside hollow part that goes to the block. The pic was after I put a drill bit through it....

So I’m going to do a little fabrication to try to get some water flowing. Anyone got any low tech ideas?

 

[Dizzy]

I've seen a few threads regarding probing and acids on this forum. I wonder how much remaining loose corrosion is too much for the water pump, in a long-term sense. I have a sitting 2F that might be in the same camp.

Possibly starting a fresh thread will get draw fresh attention?

 

[Rock40]

@dave22r, you've got a project on your hands regarding the block coolant passages for sure. For whatever reason, it's quite common for the these engines to essentially "silt up" at the rear block drain and then quit flowing coolant. It's due to maintenance which never occurred and the fact that any little particulate tends to settle out in the drain location.

From the look of it, your block coolant passages are in really rough shape unfortunately.

I cleared up a 66' recently and needed to actually pull the head to do it. Depending on how hard the junk is behind the drain plug, you may be able to work a metal coat hanger up there and slowly remove it. It took me several DAYS of picking away at it for hours at a time before it finally broke loose and water started flowing.

As for the rest of the block, I'd be strongly considering some sort of muriatic acid flush. Keep your old water pump if you decide to do this. There are several pretty goods threads on it. With that much rust, scale and who knows what, you're likely going to have cooling issues if you don't address it.

 

[Martyt]

On my 69' , among a whole laundry list of fix items, they replaced the water pump because it was leaking. The rest of my cooling system was fine. I would just replace the pump if I were you (but that is just me). Martin

 

[dave22r]

So I made this- drilled a hole in a Harbor Freight pick, stuck it in the end to my jack with a screw to get a little pivot and pounded the crap out of it.

As you can see in the second pic, I hit gold!!

Thanks for the replies, acid bath coming this weekend.... I still have the old water pump and somehow it still works.

 

[Jetlander]

Omg where are my manners?!?!
Here she is on the way home. I’ll get a few more up as I go... weather has been crap since the adoption. Not many pics yet

View attachment 1658624

FJ40’s can’t be adopted, instead they adopt you... and your bank account!

 

[dave22r]

FJ40’s can’t be adopted, instead they adopt you... and your bank account!

That's no joke man. Every little project has the potential to open Pandora's box..... the last few pics were the result of "hmmmm maybe I'll see what this thermostat looks like"

 

[Jetlander]

That's no joke man. Every little project has the potential to open Pandora's box..... the last few pics were the result of "hmmmm maybe I'll see what this thermostat looks like"

Not necessarily a bad thing. Honestly, short of a complete resto, as I’m doing, one thing at a time is they only other way to square away a severely neglected 40.

I drove mine for almost 2 years before I tore it apart, but during those 2 years I did a bunch of work and replaced a lot of things. Make it a driving restoration for now to get a feel for what you want, or what it needs. If after some time you decide to do a frame off you’ll have a great idea of what it’ll involve.

So in short, you’re doing it right.

 

[Rock40]

Nice work with getting the water jacket drain unplugged. That's half the battle as you can't flush it until it's free. The crud that's going to come loose when you acid flush it will astound you, keep us posted.

 

[dave22r]

Nice work with getting the water jacket drain unplugged. That's half the battle as you can't flush it until it's free. The crud that's going to come loose when you acid flush it will astound you, keep us posted.

@Rock40 looks like that's going to be this weekend. Going to get it all put back together during this week and flush Saturday. Using the old water pump (new one should be here today) and RTV gaskets (not to waste new ones).

So I've read about muriatic acid flush and there are varying thoughts on it. My Home Depot had 1 gal bottles. I was thinking 1/2 gallon acid, the rest water. Run for 10-15 min. Empty and repeat. Flush with water twice then rip everything apart and put new pump and seals on.

Sound like a good plan? Would a commercial product be more beneficial?
I was going to leave my radiator (fresh boiled) and heater core (condition unknown) in the system. Any reason to bypass them?

 

[thebigredrocker]

Some good muriatic pointers by Mark W in this thread:
F engine block flush/ muriatic acid

And some Mark W quotes:

CLR uses Muriatic as the active ingrediant so it ain't good for the pump or thermostat either.... Of course you have an F with the cast iron pump, right? So just the thermostat (and intake fluid heater if you have one) need caution. Personally I'd pull the stat housing and block the opening off. Disconnect the heater hoses (there may be some AL in the shut off valve, I'm not sure). Use the hoses to fill the block via the port on the head you'll want to rig some sort of vent in whatever you use to block off the stat housing opening so that yiu can fill the block without bubbles fighting their way back up and burping as you add the flush.


Mark...

All sorts of post here from guys that really don't know and have never done it. Par for the course I guess.

I have cleaned out more radiators than I can remember using muriatic acid. It is nothing more than a dilute mix of HCL. In my ecperience a rad shop will not be able to clean your rad out any better.

This procedure has been discussed many times here.

It will make your skin itch. It will not burn a hole in anything except aluminum or magnesium. it is used to etch and clean concrete all the time. Don't get it in your eyes (DUUUHHHH)

You use it straight, full strength in the radiator (old school brass, NOT modern aluminum).

You do not put it in the engine.
You can do it in the rig if you buy a couple of "test plugs of ABS plumbing pipe at the hardware store to seal the rad hose fittings after removing the hose.

Soak in the rad for a about 15 minutes, flush, repeat.

It is also great for derusting steel and iron parts (Also discussed here several times).


Mark...

 

[Martyt]

Man, so true on the work required on a neglected FJ40--mine was driven very little in last 15 years. Shocks-ZERO compression, parking drum-shot, oil pan-leak, water pump-leak, clutch--replace and replace everything in the neighborhood....etc. Every time my mechanic looks at something or touches something it seems like it needs to be replaced. But in all that and even though I am spending money like a proverbial drunken sailor, I love my baby. Martin

 

[dave22r]

Some good muriatic pointers by Mark W in this thread:
F engine block flush/ muriatic acid

And some Mark W quotes:

So Mark says don't put it in the engine block?? I've read of a few people doing that. Might just get some autozone cleaner and see what that does.....

 

[thebigredrocker]

I included those quotes because you mentioned heater and radiator also. I am pretty sure those particular posts were in response to someone asking how to flush either a heater core or a radiator. IOW don’t waste the acid in entire block if just a clogged radiator is the target part. Perhaps he feels it best to isolate each item being flushed. Not sure on that, makes sense though. That’s the jist I got. One of his posts talks about removing Tstat during a muriatic block flush, so I think it’s a go to Muriatic the block.

To find his posts don’t search from just the 40 section. Search from the main page. Enter keywords muriatic. Also you’ll get a hit if you search muratic(he spelled it wrong once) In the posted by member: Mark W this will allow you to read the full context.

I also recall @Steamer has some good posts on block flushing.

 

[Steamer]

Nice rig! Congrats. I believe we have the same engine and my cooling system was also horribly crudded up.
Here's a link that contains a couple of my flushing setups and others. Check all 3 pages.
"Link"

 

[LZFJ40]

Great Score!

 

[dave22r]

Nice rig! Congrats. I believe we have the same engine and my cooling system was also horribly crudded up.
Here's a link that contains a couple of my flushing setups and others. Check all 3 pages.
"Link"

Man, I saw that post a while back and read it a few times. I'm way too lazy to get that setup going hahahaha!