Build Salt wagon My first fj40 (build)

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So finally found a truck that I agreed on buying from a mud member :cheers: . for a decent enough price. Will post more when I get it. Lets just say its 2wd 4speed manual and its Japanese. Not toyota. Plan is maybe to have it not this coming weekend but next. October 5th. I am pretty stoked and trying not to count my chickens before they hatch.
 
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Roastchestnuts said:
So finally found a truck that I agreed on buying. for a decent enough price. Will post more when I get it. Lets just say its 2wd 4speed manual and its Japanese. Not toyota. Plan is maybe to have it not this coming weekend but next. October 5th. I am pretty stoked and trying not to count my chickens before they hatch.
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Please be a 70s Datsun wagon! Oh wait… am I talking about my dreams out loud?
 
CruiserTrash said:
Please be a 70s Datsun wagon! Oh wait… am I talking about my dreams out loud?
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I wish! Saw a really cool 1970s datsun truck up in Virginia beach recently for sale! this truck is from the mid 80s. Its not a nissan either although a d21 hardbody is a underrated truck.
 
I got these cool toyota wrenches in today and the KTC clip from @red66toy came in on the same day. Not sure If Ill keep these in the glove box or what yet but are super nice!


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Shark56 said:
Don't have Facebook but plan on being in Manteo a few times between now and Christmas. Where is the show?
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Check it out if you get a chance.
300 Queen Elizabeth Ave. Manteo, NC 27954.
 
FJ40s are great tools! I used mine to move a 10x14 foot shed into our back yard. This shed was heavy and had been drywalled on the inside. It was more than capable! Helps to put the shed on steel pipes though.

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Roastchestnuts said:
So finally found a truck that I agreed on buying from a mud member :cheers: . for a decent enough price. Will post more when I get it. Lets just say its 2wd 4speed manual and its Japanese. Not toyota. Plan is maybe to have it not this coming weekend but next. October 5th. I am pretty stoked and trying not to count my chickens before they hatch.
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I think I know what it is, but I have insider information... I might be coming down to pick up some "mud shipped" items when your Japanese truck is on island; maybe bring a board with too 🤙
 
svsisu said:
I think I know what it is, but I have insider information... I might be coming down to pick up some "mud shipped" items when your Japanese truck is on island; maybe bring a board with too 🤙
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Hahaha yeah you know what it is! He told me he was going to get some parts to you. I think its going to be perfect for what we a little truck for. I am hoping it will be a fun meet up too. And it will be nice to actually meet you. Like I said my buddy Rich lives super close to you. He makes the Corbin Surfboards. A whole land cruiser meet would be really cool on the outer banks actually. (also I am biased but a shot of a bunch of cruisers on the ferry would be epic on the level of toyota trails magazine.

Hopefully we have some good surf! I surfed a little last weekend on Sunday. it was small but pretty fun.
 
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Snagged this shot with my 20mm UD nikkor lens from the late 1960s and my nikon f2sb. (film: fujifilm 200) was trying to get more Light house in the image (very middle of passenger window) but I think the lens is just a little to wide for that. nonetheless I like the lighting.
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Also some top down fun this past weekend! September is a fantastic month.
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Rachael and I went to a wedding this past weekend and was surprised I saw 3 different fj40s on the way. all of witch looked like barn finds/ side of the road finds. Wish I had time to see if any land cruiser guys were around to hang out in the area (christiansburg/Roanoke VA) but it was a quick trip.

Yesterday I did meet @SC-Cruiser and his wife here on Ocracoke witch was really cool and fun to chat land cruiser over a beer. Honestly if it was not a school night I could have talked cruiser all night though haha.

Got some photos back and a few good cruiser shots, both taken with my old hasselblad 500cm:


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Lastly I am planning on the truck this coming weekend but I gotta make sure as my buddy is up in Boone right now. They got hit really hard by the storm with massive flooding. if you all have the means to help out the western part of NC and eastern Tennessee , try to because they will need it. The images I have seen from the storm have been Utterly shocking. It will be a long road to recovery. My family and I went through a similar event with Hurricane Dorian and know how devastating a storm like that can be.
 
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@Roastchestnuts, thanks for mentioning the west. Western NC is devastated and needs all the help it can get. The photo (not mine) below is lower street in Spruce Pine on Saturday. This is about 10 miles from my parent's house. Luckily their house is fine, and they were out of town at my sister's. This is not a unique image for the small mountain towns of WNC.

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svsisu said:
@Roastchestnuts, thanks for mentioning the west. Western NC is devastated and needs all the help it can get. The photo (not mine) below is lower street in Spruce Pine on Saturday. This is about 10 miles from my parent's house. Luckily their house is fine, and they were out of town at my sister's. This is not a unique image for the small mountain towns of WNC.

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The images i have seen have been truly apocalyptic and beyond comprehension. I have heard some small towns out there emergency response people have not been able to get to/find. Beyond worse case scenario.

My school I teach at - this morning on the announcements stated that they were going to start sending help/money/supplys out that way. We have several graduates that are enrolled in app state. Ocracoke school is tiny (I think 13 graduated last sememster). Including one of my former students that is my righthand man working at surf camp. I have not heard from him yet but I think he is ok.
 
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Roastchestnuts said:
Rachael and I went to a wedding this past weekend and was surprised I saw 3 different fj40s on the way. all of witch looked like barn finds/ side of the road finds. Wish I had time to see if any land cruiser guys were around to hang out in the area (christiansburg/Roanoke VA) but it was a quick trip.

Yesterday I did meet @SC-Cruiser and his wife here on Ocracoke witch was really cool and fun to chat land cruiser over a beer. Honestly if it was not a school night I could have talked cruiser all night though haha.

Got some photos back and a few good cruiser shots, both taken with my old hasselblad 500cm:


View attachment 3738752View attachment 3738753

Lastly I am planning on the truck this coming weekend but I gotta make sure as my buddy is up in Boone right now. They got hit really hard by the storm with massive flooding. if you all have the means to help out the western part of NC and eastern Tennessee , try to because they will need it. The images I have seen from the storm have been Utterly shocking. It will be a long road to recovery. My family and I went through a similar event with Hurricane Dorian and know how devastating a storm like that can be.
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@Roastchestnuts , it was great to meet you and your wife in person. I could also have sat for several more hours drinking beers/wine and talking Land Cruisers. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the last night of our stay on Ocracoke. It was great to see the Salt Wagon in person. I am really impressed with everything you have done, you certainly have given me some great ideas for my 40 and inspired me to get mine up and running.

I did pick up some official salt wagon fan club swag
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So I finally got around to replacing valve seals. using that spring compressor tool was a pain in the ass. probably the least fun job and my hands were very sore the next day. Like for real this tool kills your hands. I ended up putting on my welding gloves half way through to help. I was telling @red66toy yesterday that it would have been easier to pull the head and do the valve seals with the c clamp style spring compressor I have. I would have done it that way if it were not for the cost of all the gaskets I would replace doing it that way.
I ended up doing the rope trick to keep the valves from dropping. It worked great but made me nervous because i saw another mud person had the rope tie a knot in the engine and he ended up having to pull the head. I did one cylinder at a time TDC and stuffed the 1/4" rope in the sparkplug hole. I would compress the valve spring and use a little pin magnet to get the keepers out. then pull the spring off and pull off the old seal and tap on the new one. Once the two valves per cylinder were done I would turn the next piston to TDC and start again. I also stuffed paper towel in the pushrod holes and the oiling hole in the head just in case one those keepers got away from me. The magnet was the key. Honestly was a miracle that none of those keepers bounced on the ground and got lost.
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The savior of the day.... this magnet pen. (the telescoping part was annoying though.)
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New valve seal installed. This first one and one of the valves from cylinder 4 were the worst. for whatever reason the keepers were very stubborn.
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Below is what I found most interesting of the whole experience. the left is the aftermarket valve seal. the ones I used from a kit from cruiser corps from when I had the engine apart. the one on the right (the replacement oem) is the ones I got from Cruiserteq.

the ones I replaced really did not have any significant wear to the rubber or anything. they looked as when I installed them. But do you notice the big difference... Look at the rubber part.
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The OEM (right) opening is much smaller. and the rubber is much more playable.

The great news is I am not seeing any puffs of smoke at start up or when shifting or at high revs or at anytime now witch was not the case before. Crossing my fingers this is why my 2f was a 2 stroke engine. It sure seems to be much better. weirdly sounds different too... I think this is because setting valve lash again and I replaced the plugs with new NKG ones.

Moral of the story is aftermarket parts suck avoid if you can or you may be doing a job twice.
 
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charliemeyer007 said:
Pull the plugs, give them a good dose of Marvels Mystery Oil - hit the starter a few nanoseconds several times to distribute the oil, not throw it out the spark plug hole. Let it soak for as long as you can day, weeks, months - it will help the free up oil control rings to work better.
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Good info here.
 
charliemeyer007 said:
Pull the plugs, give them a good dose of Marvels Mystery Oil - hit the starter a few nanoseconds several times to distribute the oil, not throw it out the spark plug hole. Let it soak for as long as you can day, weeks, months - it will help the free up oil control rings to work better.
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I actually did this while I had the plugs out when I was replacing the valves seals. I had to stop before I put the rockers back on so I poured a little in each cylinder and I let it sit over night. felt like it wouldn't hurt.
 
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