Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build)

[GA Architect]

@GA Architect also stopped by when I was gone. Wish I was there to chat more! but he left a card.

Taking a non-itinerary drive & seek vacation with the wife last week up the eastern coast, our second day of driving/destination, we were out taking a random morning stroll.....and I come upon this! My wife was shocked that I knew, (well, MUD known more like it) the owner.

Beautiful location to call home!!!!!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Taking a non-itinerary drive & seek vacation with the wife last week up the eastern coast, our second day of driving/destination, we were out taking a random morning stroll.....and I come upon this! My wife was shocked that I knew, (well, MUD known more like it) the owner.

View attachment 3602124

Beautiful location to call home!!!!!

Beautiful Location and my Junkyard at my house haha. Just kidding it is a wonderful place. And my yard will be cleaned up soon. If anyone on mud every comes down be sure to hit me up! Again @GA Architect I wish I had been here when you were here. But there is always next year. I have met a bunch of wonderful people through this forum.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

An update from yesterdays tinkering. No photos (will add them today after work) but I got quite a few things done. I got the front driveshaft in along with the inspection cover pieces. Additionally I got the oil pressure switch wired up and the engine is showing oil pressure. not quite center on the gage though. additionally I found where they cut the wire in the loom so It was an easier wiring job than I thought. I also connected the pcv and drained some oil and now its not smoking. The engine was about 2 quarts over full. I could not tell you why I added more oil than I should have but I did. but that was definantly the culprit.

I think I want to do another valve adjustment with it warm. I think I can hear one valve a little bit more pronounced. The new intake gasket made all the difference. starts up with one pedle pump every time. the el cheepo carb probibly helps this too.

I really only need to bleed some brakes and clutch and connect the speedo cable and parking break cable before I can do a test drive. It will be super loud with an open header though. I should get the exhaust parts this week to patch the exhaust together. I might take it to a muffler shop at the end of the summer when I have more time to put a nicer exhaust on it.

lastly if everything goes to plan I am taking the top off next week. Weather permitting

 

[Roastchestnuts]

One more update today - Big news the fj40 moved under its own power for the first time since December. I needed to clean up stuff underneath and decided it was just as easy to move the land cruiser 10 feet by backing it up using engine power. but I backed it up 10 feet too a block. Clutch felt really smooth and engaged perfectly. I used the 2f clutch parts and fly wheel with the 3speed. I still need to install the front bib fully too.

I welded up some temporary pipes to the old muffler and it sounds really good now. with the open header it sounded like a german panzer tank.

I did not get the brakes bleed yet though. I am planning on doing that this weekend. I have meetings all after work till Friday.

I also think I am going to warm the engine up to do a valve adjustment this weekend. It has a little burble/stutter(best I could describe) almost like a vacuum leak. But I have everything capped off. I also could have missed somthing so I will double check. when going through the rpm range. seems to maybe burn a little oil at startup too. either way going to re adjust valves. Hell I know from experince they can go out of wack quick. My old land cruiser fj80 with the 3fe seemed like I was always adjusting those pesky valves. somthing about that particular engine would go out of speck in like 2000 miles. drove me nuts. It was also valves on the back of the engine. I almost wonder if I just was not getting the lock nuts torqed enough on that engine. either way that land cruiser is long gone.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I Apologize for the vertical quality of the video
Well this happened this past weekend. Its a winner! super stoked. I had to adjust the clutch slave pushrod a couple of times. I need to hook up the 4x4 vaccume actuator line. and the temp gage is not working really well. Drove it around for over an hour though without issues.

I am wondering if anybody knows the correct vacuum line size for the early vac actuated systems. it would be number 6 on the diagram below. SOR has this part however I am unsure if Ill actually need a longer length as I am routing it differently. Edit - I decided I would just buy the one from SOR. It says its 2 feet and I beleive that should be long enough to connect it to a vacuum source.

 

[Green Bean]

Nice! Great job going from SBC back to a 2F.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Nice! Great job going from SBC back to a 2F.

It sounds like it should and honestly runs alot smoother. I love hearing the engine sound on the 2f. just sounds alot better to me.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I should have said I also took the top off because why not!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I should have said I also took the top off because why not! View attachment 3607658

Taking the top off was a hint to my next big project. Its been a full year since I started looking into getting a soft top. I decided to focus on the engine swap instead and putting the soft top on the back burner. Rachael (my wife) says I need to stop waiting and just buy a top. IF she says to do it then I must! I am going to buy a troa one. I will not be putting the hard top back on though.

 

[firemanj92]

I Apologize for the vertical quality of the video
Well this happened this past weekend. Its a winner! super stoked. I had to adjust the clutch slave pushrod a couple of times. I need to hook up the 4x4 vaccume actuator line. and the temp gage is not working really well. Drove it around for over an hour though without issues.

I am wondering if anybody knows the correct vacuum line size for the early vac actuated systems. it would be number 6 on the diagram below. SOR has this part however I am unsure if Ill actually need a longer length as I am routing it differently. Edit - I decided I would just buy the one from SOR. It says its 2 feet and I beleive that should be long enough to connect it to a vacuum source.

View attachment 3607657

fwiw, VW sells cloth/cotton braided hose in metric ID/od. I think i bought it bulk from Jbugs (classic vw) and bel-metrics both sell metric cloth braided hose (starting around $1.75/ft+). I usually just only buy ethanol fuel safe hose for all applications including vacuum and fuel.

Your Source For All Your Aircooled Vintage VW Parts. - https://www.jbugs.com/search.html?q=braided+hose

Search Result - https://belmetric.com/search-result/?search_query=braided+ethanol

 

[Roastchestnuts]

One of the last pieces of the puzzle for the engine! I received my choke cable from city racer. I purchased the later one with the little bicycle cable connector (cant remember what thats called). It seems to be fantastic quality. I purchased this one because I will eventually get the city racer carb and it has the same choke connector too. I only wish it matched my older style switches. My dash needs a clean sorry!! It was much easier to start this morning! also dont worry I did put the pin in the throttle linkage. I had it out because I was adjusting things.

 

[clrussell]

Man I’m pumped you got this going.

I still haven’t got my brakes lined out

 

[rfitzpatrick]

It's so awesome to see your rig running again! Congrats on all that hard work!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Man I’m pumped you got this going.

I still haven’t got my brakes lined out

Thanks! A lot of work but its totaly worth it just for the sound of the 2f engine. Plus with the top off and the winsheild folded down I feel like I am on a safari haha. Breaks on these things are the most annoying thing to do on these early fj40. I dread it. Honestly getting a brake spoon helps. I got one from city racer I think they still have them. OEM Drum Brake Adjusting Tool for Any Toyota - https://www.cityracerllc.com/products/oem-drum-brake-adjusting-tool

 

[Roastchestnuts]

It's so awesome to see your rig running again! Congrats on all that hard work!

Thanks! It was alot of work but totally worth it. I still want to swap in the 4speed if I can find an adapter for the 4 on the tree. But thats a little later down the road. I am going to start rebuilding the 4speed this summer I think.

 

[rfitzpatrick]

Thanks! It was alot of work but totally worth it. I still want to swap in the 4speed if I can find an adapter for the 4 on the tree. But thats a little later down the road. I am going to start rebuilding the 4speed this summer I think.

I definitely want to transition to a 2F 4 speed eventually but I need to build up my budget before diving into anything else at the moment. I just got word that my Dobinson's kit is in, so once I finish that and get it running I'm going to enjoy it while I plan my next projects.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I definitely want to transition to a 2F 4 speed eventually but I need to build up my budget before diving into anything else at the moment. I just got word that my Dobinson's kit is in, so once I finish that and get it running I'm going to enjoy it while I plan my next projects.

Kinda where I am at with the 4speed. I need to save some cash. I still will rebuild it and I already have the transmission apart but it was about a 1000$ difference Just in parts between rebuilding the 4speed vrs just using the recently rebuilt (not by me) 3speed. I would need the adapter for column shifting, transmission bearing kit, and the gear to make the 3speed case work, Not to mention all the extra time I would need to do it. The 3speed just looked too mint not to use. and I was itching to drive it. I also love the column shift now that its in. Just super cool. Plus My wife and I are planning on buying a home here soon and need to start saving some extra cash.

I love my dobinsons suspension. it is a million times better than what was in it before. and rides better than the ome 2 inch light that was in my kzj78.

 

[rfitzpatrick]

Kinda where I am at with the 4speed. I need to save some cash. I still will rebuild it and I already have the transmission apart but it was about a 1000$ difference between rebuilding the 4speed vrs just using the recently rebuilt (not by me) 3speed. The 3speed just looked too mint not to use. I also love the column shift now that its in. Just super cool. Plus My wife and I are planning on buying a home here soon and need to start saving some extra cash.

I love my dobinsons suspension. it is a million times better than what was in it before. and rides better than the ome 2 inch light that was in my kzj78.

I kept hearing good things about the Dobinson kit so that's what I went with. I can't wait to drive on it. I did the full kit minus the shocks because I already put brand new Bilstein's on.

 

[firemanj92]

I kept hearing good things about the Dobinson kit so that's what I went with. I can't wait to drive on it. I did the full kit minus the shocks because I already put brand new Bilstein's on.

Kinda where I am at with the 4speed. I need to save some cash. I still will rebuild it and I already have the transmission apart but it was about a 1000$ difference Just in parts between rebuilding the 4speed vrs just using the recently rebuilt (not by me) 3speed. I would need the adapter for column shifting, transmission bearing kit, and the gear to make the 3speed case work, Not to mention all the extra time I would need to do it. The 3speed just looked too mint not to use. and I was itching to drive it. I also love the column shift now that its in. Just super cool. Plus My wife and I are planning on buying a home here soon and need to start saving some extra cash.

I love my dobinsons suspension. it is a million times better than what was in it before. and rides better than the ome 2 inch light that was in my kzj78.

I just swapped out to Dobi's from OME-night and day difference. The OME's only had 1500miles and were broken in too

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I kept hearing good things about the Dobinson kit so that's what I went with. I can't wait to drive on it. I did the full kit minus the shocks because I already put brand new Bilstein's on.

its great! I went with the smallest lift I think 1.75 inch. I still need to replace my shocks too. the ones that are in it are fine just not super nice. Just make sure you orient the springs correctly the first time. I some how messed it up 2 times installing them.