Revival for the 1977 FJ55 (1 Viewer)

[mike_az]

All,
I recently picked up a FJ55...

After looking around for a bit, I picked up this old rig in November 2022 because it was local, mostly solid, and thought the 55 might split the difference between the 40 and 60. It barely runs, starts with a toggle switch, cracked rusted out headers and exhaust, carb disaster, window motor parts in a box, etc...To kick off the rebuild with something small and easy --I purchased a newly printed glove box pull handle from PabloCruise. I'm excited to start working on it and driving it soon.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Hey Mike,

Good to have you aboard! It was a pleasure meeting you at the Party. Hearing about all your cruisers I knew something was wrong with you, so fitting in with this group will be easy. So, we have a year to get it fixed up for the next Pig Party and if you have any problems we'll help you spend your money on her.

 

[RUSH55]

Welcome aboard! Good looking 55!

 

[riderjgs]

Beware. Attending a Pig Party driving a needy Pig can lead you down a long, winding and expensive road. Just ask @RUSH55!

 

[RUSH55]

Beware. Attending a Pig Party driving a needy Pig can lead you down a long, winding and expensive road. Just ask @RUSH55!

I was going to mention the dangers.
But…
A) Didn’t want to instill dread into the newb
B) Thought I’d wait and see if you’d chime in

Attend a few with a drivable 55 before doing anything drastic, I always say.

 

[greenbeast]

Now it’s time to buy parts pig…

 

[mike_az]

Fast backword to 6 weeks before last weekend's PP2023. It was time to start base-lining the mechanicals...First off was to get the sewing machine ticking with gusto. This consisted of pulling the dirty holley 2 bbl, and finding someone on mud to offer up the 28 pieces of missing throttle linkage required to switch back from the holley cable set-up.. Luckily a nice someone here was parting a 40 series and provided the parts I needed; the only pig specific part was luckily still bolted to the firewall I couldn't stand the fumes since the header was cracked in multiple places. The quickest route to driving was to buy a new header, check the intake, replace the carb insulator and source an Aisin 2 bbl.

Next was to get the intake cleaned, check for major warping, and get a new gasket in there. After a bit of cleaning, retapping holes, cursing PO's for jamming a SAE bolt in the head, new studs and anti-seize all around, I put it together.

Vetted non-US carbs seem to be on back order with our normal vendors, so I picked up a amazon special, set the timing, resealed the hose connection on vacuum advance on the early-68 dizzy for proper function and fired it up. Seems to idle with minimal to no smoke at the tailpipe. After resealing the manifold and new hoses for brake booster, pcv, and distributor advance, the manifold leaks were at a minimum.

 

[onemanarmy]

Interesting air filter!

Looks so solid....a great starting point.

 

[scrapdaddy]

For just getting his 55, Mike has it sorted out very good already.

 

[Ry24000]

Nice oinker! Dude on ebay is selling several carb's for your vintage. Reasonably priced too.

land cruiser | eBay

 

[mike_az]

Roughly three weeks before the PP2023, I took the rig down to the local muffler shop to bend some pipe. Given the timeline, I chose the geographically closest and least sophisticated muffler shop—the kind where they hold up a bent wire, then go to work matching it in pipe. Stem to stern done in 2.25”, to match the header. Muffler used was a large stock sounding unit along the driver frame rail.

One week before, the engine had a significant stumble above idle. It turns out I had to dissemble the carb, reinstall the accel pump, and set the float level (it was way off). This took care of the hesitation problem. The $100 carb looked ok, surprisingly.

Next up was gear oil leaks. The t-case output needed service in a bad way. P-brake shoes were soaked in oil. Required lots of scraping, new shoes, and polishing the seal surface. I picked up a speedy sleeve but it didn’t quite need it, but maybe next time.

 

[55guy]

Not sure if you know ,but you can get a double seal for the rear parking brake drum ? Mudrak or Valley Hybrid,

 

[samc2447]

Yes, Georg at Valley Hybrids has the double seal housings in stock.

 

[mike_az]

Thanks guys-I’ve heard about machining the speedo household deeper so the seal rides at a new location, and it’s great that valley hybrids sells these housings.

Also, to catch up the thread to how the rigs sits (immediately prior to PP2023), I still needed to take care of several issues. These included another gear oil leak at the rear pinion. Because this is a minimally modified pre 1980s rig, I assumed the pinion preload was the original solid spacer type and threw a new pinion seal in and zipped the nut back on. Last up was to change all the heater hoses, fan belt, and battery terminals the night before departure. After work on Thursday (the day of) I borrowed the wheels off my fj60 hoping to leave around 4pm. However, six weeks into repairs and still hadn’t taken the wheels off…it turns out the both front wheel bearings were loose enough to rattle the rotors by hand. This delayed me another couple hours to get the rusted cone washers out and tighten the front wheel bearings and finally get the wheels on the ground. After loading and packing I left around 8pm.

After 4 hours I arrived at the lakeside campsite to meet 5 other pig owners already asleep for the night.

In total the pig ran about 4 hrs up there, two days of trails, and 4 hrs back-maybe 16 hrs all in. No problems at all! I took it easy and ran 60-65 mph back home and avg. 14.2 mpg from hurricane UT to Las Vegas, NV.

 

[PabloCruise]

Nice!!! So cool you made it to the party in a Pig!!!

 

[PabloCruise]

All,
I recently picked up a FJ55...

After looking around for a bit, I picked up this old rig in November 2022 because it was local, mostly solid, and thought the 55 might split the difference between the 40 and 60. It barely runs, starts with a toggle switch, cracked rusted out headers and exhaust, carb disaster, window motor parts in a box, etc...To kick off the rebuild with something small and easy --I purchased a newly printed glove box pull handle from PabloCruise. I'm excited to start working on it and driving it soon.

View attachment 3359026

How cool your Pig build started with one of my new glove box pulls!!!

For Sale - Glove Box Handles - Reproduction

EDIT: price is $25 USD/ea, + $5 for shipping in the continental US. PayPal: tjscholand@comcast.net Hi All, I am working on another round of glove box (or is it glove box?) handles. These will most likely look a little different than the last batches I have sold. No samples yet for pictures...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[PabloCruise]

Fast backword to 6 weeks before last weekend's PP2023. It was time to start base-lining the mechanicals...First off was to get the sewing machine ticking with gusto. This consisted of pulling the dirty holley 2 bbl, and finding someone on mud to offer up the 28 pieces of missing throttle linkage required to switch back from the holley cable set-up.. Luckily a nice someone here was parting a 40 series and provided the parts I needed; the only pig specific part was luckily still bolted to the firewall I couldn't stand the fumes since the header was cracked in multiple places. The quickest route to driving was to buy a new header, check the intake, replace the carb insulator and source an Aisin 2 bbl. View attachment 3360767

Next was to get the intake cleaned, check for major warping, and get a new gasket in there. After a bit of cleaning, retapping holes, cursing PO's for jamming a SAE bolt in the head, new studs and anti-seize all around, I put it together.
View attachment 3360768

Vetted non-US carbs seem to be on back order with our normal vendors, so I picked up a amazon special, set the timing, resealed the hose connection on vacuum advance on the early-68 dizzy for proper function and fired it up. Seems to idle with minimal to no smoke at the tailpipe. After resealing the manifold and new hoses for brake booster, pcv, and distributor advance, the manifold leaks were at a minimum.

View attachment 3360770

What header did you go with?

 

[PabloCruise]

Fast backword to 6 weeks before last weekend's PP2023. It was time to start base-lining the mechanicals...First off was to get the sewing machine ticking with gusto. This consisted of pulling the dirty holley 2 bbl, and finding someone on mud to offer up the 28 pieces of missing throttle linkage required to switch back from the holley cable set-up.. Luckily a nice someone here was parting a 40 series and provided the parts I needed; the only pig specific part was luckily still bolted to the firewall I couldn't stand the fumes since the header was cracked in multiple places. The quickest route to driving was to buy a new header, check the intake, replace the carb insulator and source an Aisin 2 bbl. View attachment 3360767

Next was to get the intake cleaned, check for major warping, and get a new gasket in there. After a bit of cleaning, retapping holes, cursing PO's for jamming a SAE bolt in the head, new studs and anti-seize all around, I put it together.
View attachment 3360768

Vetted non-US carbs seem to be on back order with our normal vendors, so I picked up a amazon special, set the timing, resealed the hose connection on vacuum advance on the early-68 dizzy for proper function and fired it up. Seems to idle with minimal to no smoke at the tailpipe. After resealing the manifold and new hoses for brake booster, pcv, and distributor advance, the manifold leaks were at a minimum.

View attachment 3360770

I wish we had known you were looking for a header! We just started looking for a 55 test vehicle:

FJ40 Mark/Downey Header

Alright agreed, I am sold! How do I contact and find the Wizard to weld up a nice connection to the rest of the exhaust or heck, just rebuild the whole thing header to exit? They sell a great y pipe for an FJ60 but it won’t work on a 40. SOR sells a nice set with a Y pipe that fits on a 40 nicely

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[PabloCruise]

Interesting air filter!

Looks so solid....a great starting point.

Reminds me of the robot from Lost in Space!

 

[mike_az]

What header did you go with?

Pablo,
The header I installed was built by Tri-Mil (welded on tag). I purchased it from TPI since it was described as fitting the FJ55, and the header I removed was stamped MAN-A-FRE in the flange, and looked very similar. The 1977 steering box cap bolt is roughly 3/4” from the #1 pipe (parallax evident in photo). The other pipes clear by much more space. Not a huge amount of space, but enough to fit a small heat shield perhaps. The part I might change would be exit angle, as its parallel to the ground and required a notable bend back up to clear (ie, go above) the factory skid plate.

As for testing a new header, I might be up for testing one that would clear a low mount p/s pump (where the air pump might be for some). Also interested in the flange thickness relative to intake flange.