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I had a 76 with a BBC 396, Muncie 4 speed and a q-jet carb. That was one of the most fun cruisers I’ve ever experienced. Terrible Offroad but awesome around town.I'm a Toyota purist through and through but I have to admit that old '67 with a SBC, Sniper, and 4spd was a blast to drive and the sound that V8 made was intoxicating
I am a purist too, although if I had another fj40 I would totally recreate that fj40 the painted valve covers on the v8 looked fantastic to. It looked really awesome to drive. Maybe I can find a roller project soon and do a v8 fj40.I'm a Toyota purist through and through but I have to admit that old '67 with a SBC, Sniper, and 4spd was a blast to drive and the sound that V8 made was intoxicating
the 3 speed and v8 was not great compared to the 2f and 3 speed that I have now. The v8 seemed to rev out quicker or somthing. Or maybe it was just louder haha. At least this was my experience. In my fantasy roller fj40 project Idea I would do a sbc 350 using the advance adapter that keeps a stock 4speed in the stock location and then a sniper fuel injection kit. would keep everything looking as factory as i could.
All my battery cables are fresh since the rebuild. Including the starter to ground strap. It could be a ground has corroded in the last few months and thats causing issues. I know the battery died 2 times in the cold weather and I have had to trickle charge it over night a few times too. Not saying its 100% the battery but it could be. I will figure it out soon.
Grounding cables and winch cables also
I had the same issue with mine back when I was in the process of getting it road ready. The battery was shot. I could charge it and it would still crank slow. Dead cells I guess.
I had serious steering column play and after going deep on the research, ordered this John Deere bearing, which was a perfect fit for the column and the opening in the firewall. Made it much better. My PO had cut and re-welded the column to install PS and it just sort of hung through an oversized opening in the firewall. May be different from the bushing from Chase, but thought I'd share for posterity.
Our earlier LC's don't have a bearing to replace, the bushings are different from the latter years.
Pictures?
So Update: I have been off and on thinking about trading the saltwagon for a fj55. the 55 series have always been a dream of mine. (still on the fence about this but I have been talking to a mud member). what wold you all do? I am leaning to keeping it as I love it but - At the very least I do want to find some sort of new project if I keep the 40. I was thinking either a willys or early cj5 or a volkswagen bus from mid 70s or somthing else interesting. got a budget of about 3500$. Looking for somthing that I can just rebuild. If any of you know of somthing like that in NC let me know!
but I think the fj40 heard me talking about getting another project and decided to leave me stranded on the beach yesterday. of course in a low tide area... so no time for fiddling around. I knew t was a ignition issue as the vehicle died while driving and the carb was still getting fuel. felt like a no spark issue would crank crank crank and Nothing was disconnected. it was then I remembered I had swapped out my new internally resisted coil (from city racer) for a pertronix epoxy coil some time back. after getting my father to tow me off the beach and winching it back into the "berts repair area" at the house I swapped back the coil I had in it originally and it fired right up.... the pertronix coil omed out at 1.2, 1.3 (the coil is a 1.4 ohm coil) from the side post. The one I swaped back in was 3.5 4 ish. I dont know what factory is supposed to be on these I feel like I saw in the manual different things for different years. probably due to the ballist resistor vers internally resisted? I will say I thought I bought a internally resisted pertronix coil could but maybe Ill look into that. It worked for 6 months though?
outliers - I have no idea if it was somthing loose that got tightned or moved. everything seemed to be good with a few checks. maybe the pertronix Halifax sensor did something strange? I also Need to look and see if the coil I purchased needs a resistor.
The good news is its running now with the original coil I purchased.
other updates - I got the new steering column bushing - and holy cow that made a huge difference in steering. feels like new tie rods haha. I am so stoked @red66toy and @CruiserTrash got this new bushing made for us early 40 guys. My old one came out in many pieces. Still need the little clock spring to get the horn working though.
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My wife thinks I need another project too so I guess thats a plus haha. Idle hands man. I get bored and love the challenge of getting something fixed. and Ill amend my statment . the bushing is fantastic!
I've been trying to focus on building and tweaking bicycles lately because they're cheaper and I need the exercise haha. That being said I think there's a new project vehicle on the horizon for me soon. Why do I do this to myself? We'll never know.
I think I am. as weird as this sounds having the coil issue made me realize how much fun I have with it. I think I just need a turd project to polish haha
