Builds Salt wagon My first fj40 (build) (2 Viewers)

[Roastchestnuts]

Update on the fj40: One of the radiator mounts was moved for the SBC swap. I had a little bracket I made to make it fit right but Now i decided while I have to drain the radiator and and fill with coolant I would go ahead and repair the mounts correctly. I know I should have done this to begin with but you know life happened. The annoying part of all this is they did the same fudging thing they did with the motor mounts and welded over the old rivet holes. and after cutting the first mount off I relized that the second one was moved too so I cut them both off yesterday. this was a job I should have done when I had the motor out. it was a huge pain! But live and learn. I am unsure If I am going to weld on the new ones or bolt them on. I know that the rivet holes are hard to get to that hold the rad mounts to the frame (I bought some new mounts ones from BTB a few months back)

I am going to start the valve seal job this weekend pending on the truck I mentioned above. The rubber on the seals is very different than the non OEM ones I used. The non oem rubber on the seals is very stiff in comparison to the ones I just got from cruiserteq. I also got my new spark plugs in yesterday. I went with NKG this time instead of the Denso ones. Figured I would switch it up.

 

[svsisu]

so figured I would share what the water looked like after the first flush.


View attachment 3722192
this was from the radiator below. Not as dirty as the block.
View attachment 3722194

Below was the second flush.
View attachment 3722193
I am going to do the third flush today and hopefully refill with coolant and install a new radiator cap today. Then start on the valve seals.

Below is my auto class stripping down the SBC 307. we are taking some of the small stuff off before we get it on the engine stand. Like the clutch and bell housing, valve covers and rockers. then Since I need to buy bolts to mount it to the engine stand.

View attachment 3722197View attachment 3722198


I had a student actually tell me they were excited to come to the class. it was pretty awesome.
Next class goal is to get it on the engine stand and pull the heads. I am actually pleasantly surprised that the plugs all looked Non oily. just running a hair rich.

I love this Rob. I bet all of the students are excited for class, I know I would be. Heck, I want to ride the ferry over and sit in.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I got a few things done after work. Had to stop before bolting everything up because of house work. But I painted the BTB radiator mounts. I finished cutting out the old mounts. I also Ospho'ed the inside frame rail there. (why its wet).

New radiator cap came in

You can see on the picture below where they had welded right over the old holes. whats worse is they didn't bother removing the rivets when they did that so it was a real bear getting those nocked out so I can use bolts to install the radiator mounts.

I am going to try and paint the frame rail and bolt everything up today after work.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I love this Rob. I bet all of the students are excited for class, I know I would be. Heck, I want to ride the ferry over and sit in.

Thanks man! Its been a great thing for me too. I get to change it up from art to automotive for this class too! One of these days we gotta meet up. I am going to drive this fj40 up to avon this fall for sure too.

 

[andrewbridges1]

so figured I would share what the water looked like after the first flush.


View attachment 3722192
this was from the radiator below. Not as dirty as the block.
View attachment 3722194

Below was the second flush.
View attachment 3722193
I am going to do the third flush today and hopefully refill with coolant and install a new radiator cap today. Then start on the valve seals.

Below is my auto class stripping down the SBC 307. we are taking some of the small stuff off before we get it on the engine stand. Like the clutch and bell housing, valve covers and rockers. then Since I need to buy bolts to mount it to the engine stand.

View attachment 3722197View attachment 3722198


I had a student actually tell me they were excited to come to the class. it was pretty awesome.
Next class goal is to get it on the engine stand and pull the heads. I am actually pleasantly surprised that the plugs all looked Non oily. just running a hair rich.

As a former auto student from a different school we highly appreciate the teachers like you that give kids the chance to do what they love rather than sit at a desk all day. I used to bring in my 40 all the time. Everyone loved it and working on it. Most kids learned to drive manual in it.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I got a lot done yesterday after work! I got my radiator all in. I posted in the classifieds that I am looking for radiator prop rods. Right now I have it mostly secure without them but I do want to have them.

Learned a little trick trying to bolt up my radiator mounts. Since the id be fishing around in that front frame rail I figured I had to get creative. I hot glued the bolts to the end of a long skiny dowel rod and fished the bolts in with it. Made it really easy to install. Pays to be an art teacher!

so I burped the fj40 and drove it around for 30 min or so. no overheating after the flush and radiator cap. rain pending this weekend I will be replacing the plugs and valve seals.

Still difficult but doable this way. eventually I got all 8 bolts and nuts installed.

I didnt take any picutres but I did end up having to elongate the holes for the radiator. what you get with stuff thats not original oem.

and since I have not posted a fj40 photo in a while here is a good one from early summer! pre soft top! Taken with my hasselblad swc from 1967

 

[RevISK]

I got a lot done yesterday after work! I got my radiator all in. I posted in the classifieds that I am looking for radiator prop rods. Right now I have it mostly secure without them but I do want to have them.

Learned a little trick trying to bolt up my radiator mounts. Since the id be fishing around in that front frame rail I figured I had to get creative. I hot glued the bolts to the end of a long skiny dowel rod and fished the bolts in with it. Made it really easy to install. Pays to be an art teacher!

so I burped the fj40 and drove it around for 30 min or so. no overheating after the flush and radiator cap. rain pending this weekend I will be replacing the plugs and valve seals.
View attachment 3724550

Still difficult but doable this way. eventually I got all 8 bolts and nuts installed.

I didnt take any picutres but I did end up having to elongate the holes for the radiator. what you get with stuff thats not original oem.
View attachment 3724551


View attachment 3724552


and since I have not posted a fj40 photo in a while here is a good one from early summer! pre soft top! Taken with my hasselblad swc from 1967
View attachment 3724554

Tones

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Tones

The 40 is slightly out of focus but I love the tones. the hasselblad is one of the non T* lensed ones and I really like the softer less contrasty rendering it gives. still crazy sharp for a lens that you have to zone focus.

 

[Grayscale]

Back in the machine shop, we used to drive each other crazy with the old, "You're gonna do it that way?" However, my only break-down on my pickup truck was from loosing one (brazed and fatigued) radiator mount, then coolant loss from a hole created by the fan, so here goes:

Perhaps peening-over the end of the screws that you used to replace the rivets. A center punch, carefully placed on the end of the screw will upset enough material so the nuts don't walk away with vibration. That way if they come loose, the hardware won't disappear; the frame cross-member does a little twisting, hence the factory rivets as opposed to welds. Or I would have opted to use nylock nuts with lock washers. If necessary, or even convenient, modified the end of the bolt. using a hack-saw to create a slot, so that it would have accommodated a flat-bladed screwdriver which would allowed for the installation of the nylock nut, and kept the screw from turning in the process.

 

[RevISK]

The 40 is slightly out of focus but I love the tones. the hasselblad is one of the non T* lensed ones and I really like the softer less contrasty rendering it gives. still crazy sharp for a lens that you have to zone focus.

I definitely prefer the non-T lenses on Hassy's. Your shot looks like a warm summer memory not a blistering and saturated color bomb.

My favorite lenses are still Mamiya RZ lenses (I think we've talked about this before), the perfect blend of razor sharp and well blended color contrast.

 

[Almill13]

I got a lot done yesterday after work! I got my radiator all in. I posted in the classifieds that I am looking for radiator prop rods. Right now I have it mostly secure without them but I do want to have them.

Learned a little trick trying to bolt up my radiator mounts. Since the id be fishing around in that front frame rail I figured I had to get creative. I hot glued the bolts to the end of a long skiny dowel rod and fished the bolts in with it. Made it really easy to install. Pays to be an art teacher!

so I burped the fj40 and drove it around for 30 min or so. no overheating after the flush and radiator cap. rain pending this weekend I will be replacing the plugs and valve seals.
View attachment 3724550

Still difficult but doable this way. eventually I got all 8 bolts and nuts installed.

I didnt take any picutres but I did end up having to elongate the holes for the radiator. what you get with stuff thats not original oem.
View attachment 3724551


View attachment 3724552


and since I have not posted a fj40 photo in a while here is a good one from early summer! pre soft top! Taken with my hasselblad swc from 1967
View attachment 3724554

Awesome picture of your 40. You got the lighting and shadows just right to give the picture some depth. That's one to hang up in the new house.

 

[Grayscale]

I love how the steering wheel is the horizon.

 

[andrewbridges1]

I got a lot done yesterday after work! I got my radiator all in. I posted in the classifieds that I am looking for radiator prop rods. Right now I have it mostly secure without them but I do want to have them.

Learned a little trick trying to bolt up my radiator mounts. Since the id be fishing around in that front frame rail I figured I had to get creative. I hot glued the bolts to the end of a long skiny dowel rod and fished the bolts in with it. Made it really easy to install. Pays to be an art teacher!

so I burped the fj40 and drove it around for 30 min or so. no overheating after the flush and radiator cap. rain pending this weekend I will be replacing the plugs and valve seals.
View attachment 3724550

Still difficult but doable this way. eventually I got all 8 bolts and nuts installed.

I didnt take any picutres but I did end up having to elongate the holes for the radiator. what you get with stuff thats not original oem.
View attachment 3724551


View attachment 3724552


and since I have not posted a fj40 photo in a while here is a good one from early summer! pre soft top! Taken with my hasselblad swc from 1967
View attachment 3724554

Where did those seats/ covers come from?

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Back in the machine shop, we used to drive each other crazy with the old, "You're gonna do it that way?" However, my only break-down on my pickup truck was from loosing one (brazed and fatigued) radiator mount, then coolant loss from a hole created by the fan, so here goes:

Perhaps peening-over the end of the screws that you used to replace the rivets. A center punch, carefully placed on the end of the screw will upset enough material so the nuts don't walk away with vibration. That way if they come loose, the hardware won't disappear; the frame cross-member does a little twisting, hence the factory rivets as opposed to welds. Or I would have opted to use nylock nuts with lock washers. If necessary, or even convenient, modified the end of the bolt. using a hack-saw to create a slot, so that it would have accommodated a flat-bladed screwdriver which would allowed for the installation of the nylock nut, and kept the screw from turning in the process.

yeah I am thinking about switching those out for lock nuts for the very reason I mentioned above. They are really tight but yea they probably will come loose. I thought about welding a tack on the threds out side the nut so they wont back off. Another thought was rivnuts but I dont think those would stay tight. I like that center punch Idea.

it defiantly flexes there. when I had the stiffer springs and the SBC in there occasionally on a quicker sharp tern the fan would make contact with the shroud. but none of those parts still exist in the 40 except for the frame rail though.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I definitely prefer the non-T lenses on Hassy's. Your shot looks like a warm summer memory not a blistering and saturated color bomb.

My favorite lenses are still Mamiya RZ lenses (I think we've talked about this before), the perfect blend of razor sharp and well blended color contrast.

We did! I have a rb67 with a 90mm f3.5 and a 150 f4 but I never use it because the focusing screen is sooo bad. but also a little bracket that holds it together is broken. I should just buy a new screen and get some shots with it.

Yeah I hate those color bomb photos haha. yeah the non t* lenses are where its at. cheeper and just as sharp and a smoother rendering in my opinion. although one of my favorites I ever used was my (sold) 100mm f3.5cfi. But Honestly I think I just prefer the 100mm focal length on 6x6 vrs 80mm. I might sell my 60mm and my 80mm and buy a 100 and just use 100 and the 38 from the swc.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Where did those seats/ covers come from?

Cruiser Corps. they are pretty nice. Id buy them again if I were to do another one. I bought the seat frames from BTB and painted and welded up a few things. They said the frames came out of a 1968

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I love how the steering wheel is the horizon.

I liked that too!

 

[SC-Cruiser]

I got a lot done yesterday after work! I got my radiator all in. I posted in the classifieds that I am looking for radiator prop rods. Right now I have it mostly secure without them but I do want to have them.

Learned a little trick trying to bolt up my radiator mounts. Since the id be fishing around in that front frame rail I figured I had to get creative. I hot glued the bolts to the end of a long skiny dowel rod and fished the bolts in with it. Made it really easy to install. Pays to be an art teacher!

so I burped the fj40 and drove it around for 30 min or so. no overheating after the flush and radiator cap. rain pending this weekend I will be replacing the plugs and valve seals.
View attachment 3724550

Still difficult but doable this way. eventually I got all 8 bolts and nuts installed.

I didnt take any picutres but I did end up having to elongate the holes for the radiator. what you get with stuff thats not original oem.
View attachment 3724551


View attachment 3724552


and since I have not posted a fj40 photo in a while here is a good one from early summer! pre soft top! Taken with my hasselblad swc from 1967
View attachment 3724554

Glad that all seems to have worked out. One thought did occur to me while I was reading the latest update. I don't remember any mention of the thermostat. Did you check it when you flushed the motor? The reason I bring it up is because a few years ago my 100 series overheated as I was heading out of town on a trip. After horrible thoughts of failed water pumps, head gasked and so on it was due to a thermostat that was sticking.

Fingers crossed that the curse of the rubber ducky has been lifted.

By the way, my trip out there was postponed. I will be on Ocracoke Sept 27-30. Hope to have a chance to see the Salt Wagon and meet you

 

[onemanarmy]

a daily beater for trash hauling duties on the island?

ranger or s10

cheap, relaible, easy to manuver, parts can be found easy everywhere

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Glad that all seems to have worked out. One thought did occur to me while I was reading the latest update. I don't remember any mention of the thermostat. Did you check it when you flushed the motor? The reason I bring it up is because a few years ago my 100 series overheated as I was heading out of town on a trip. After horrible thoughts of failed water pumps, head gasked and so on it was due to a thermostat that was sticking.

Fingers crossed that the curse of the rubber ducky has been lifted.

By the way, my trip out there was postponed. I will be on Ocracoke Sept 27-30. Hope to have a chance to see the Salt Wagon and meet you

Dang! I am heading out of town on the 26th through the 29th! for my wifes sisters wedding.... but Hopfully Ill be back in time to meet up and chat Sunday. The 40 will be in the front yard though! I am sure you will see it driving around town. you are more than welcome to check it out. I was wondering about that I figured Id run into you if you made it down.

Thermostat checked out. I did test it. it opened up in boiling water. I think the radiator cap was not seating correctly or somthing even thought the cap looks fine. I replaced the cap though. Maybe a blockage. @Greyscale for sure was on to something with that cap as it was the only thing I could not definitively say was not the problem. I am going to keep an eye on it these next few days. I did buy a cheep burp funnel from slamazon and no bubbles coming up after I burped it. Defiantly a curse from the rubber duck!

Next goal maybe this weekend is the valve seals. If it does not rain.