Build Salted Pork fj55 family wagon build

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Some shots from when @SC-Cruiser was on the island. He brought us the coolest baby gift! Check out that fj55 onesie! It was really good to see him and his family and friends while they were on the island.
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Had just a few glasses of wine!
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Beach meet ups!
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A shot I snagged on sunday!
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few updates - If my fuel fitting for the holley comes in Ill start installing that! crossing my fingers it will be here Friday. Ill start this weekend (weather permitting). I have to work on my white isuzu truck. I need that back up and running so I can work on the welding on the fj55. The samurai also needs a few things. I am still waiting on my windsheild to be put in. more on that fiasco on my build thread of that... Builds - "Salt shaker" the Suzuki samurai build - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/salt-shaker-the-suzuki-samurai-build.1360475/page-6 Long story short I should have taken my windshield frame and glass to another place..
 
@Roastchestnuts congratulations on expecting a little on in the near future! You are both in for a treat. The 55 looks like a perfect fit for your season of life. Really enjoy your posts and your pictures continue to impress!
 
Comet said:
@Roastchestnuts congratulations on expecting a little on in the near future! You are both in for a treat. The 55 looks like a perfect fit for your season of life. Really enjoy your posts and your pictures continue to impress!
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Thanks I am really excited for this next stage of life. I know its going to be a big change in life style but I am happy to be doing it! I think the 55 was the perfect move for Rachael and I. Once I get into some of the steering components and make it more reliable in terms of tires and welding in a muffler, I think will be a great vehicle to take on small road trips too. Maybe not to Roanoke VA but to the en laws in New Bern NC.

I hope you are doing well! its been a while since I have heard from you!
 
You gave made serious progress. It has been too long. I have all the manual steering parts from WTF if they are interchangeable.
 
I am so happy this last storm bounced back out in the atlatntic. Here on Ocracoke we did not sustain much damage other than some high tides in the roads and some overwash on the north end of the island.

(Cruiser photography has begun on the salted pork wagon!) Here are some beach shots I got in the morning. Usually with a government shut down they rope off the beach. I drove out there to check it out before they rope it off for driving. I took this with my vintage digital Nikon df and a 50mm f1.2 from the 1970s! I love the soft dreamy effect you can get with this vintage nikkor lens. I have owned it for almost 15 years now. Stopped the lens down to f4 in the first and last photo and at 1.2 for the middle photo.


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Roastchestnuts said:
Some shots from when @SC-Cruiser was on the island. He brought us the coolest baby gift! Check out that fj55 onesie! It was really good to see him and his family and friends while they were on the island.
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Had just a few glasses of wine!
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Beach meet ups!
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A shot I snagged on sunday!
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It was great to be on Ocracoke and catch up with @Roastchestnuts. Really enjoyed the time talking Cruisers, drinking wine and enjoying a meal together. I was happy to pass on the unneeded early drum brake parts. It was good to see them go to good home rather than the scrap yard.

Seeing Salted Pork in person was also a real treat. You have a great starting point for your project and judging by what you did with the Salt Wagon this will turn out fantastic.

Already looking forward to our next visit to Ocracoke.
 
I am going to start my steering component repairs next week somtime! I just ordered a 55 series drag link from @cruiseroutfit My ends were really worn out and It needed replacing. I figured it was easier to pull the whole thing. For 100$ + shipping I have no complaints. My center arm needs a rebuild too but I have another from an fj40 that should work however the arm is different so I will just swap the arm out. The extra center arm is in good shape and possibly rebuilt. Thank goodness nobody wanted it in the classifieds when I listed it. And because @SC-Cruiser brought me a steering damper I dont need to purchase one of those. again I love that cool retro ome sticker on it. Kinda matches the retro SOR logo on my tcase shift boot!

I should be picking up my rims and wheels soon from Mark soon too. Excited to have reliable tires haha. kinda scared of whats under there.

l also put my new power valve and jets in my holley! I should be getting that together soon too. I need to read up on how to tune the hollley 2300 though.
 
Roastchestnuts said:
I am going to start my steering component repairs next week somtime! I just ordered a 55 series drag link from @cruiseroutfit My ends were really worn out and It needed replacing. I figured it was easier to pull the whole thing. For 100$ + shipping I have no complaints. My center arm needs a rebuild too but I have another from an fj40 that should work however the arm is different so I will just swap the arm out. The extra center arm is in good shape and possibly rebuilt. Thank goodness nobody wanted it in the classifieds when I listed it. And because @SC-Cruiser brought me a steering damper I dont need to purchase one of those. again I love that cool retro ome sticker on it. Kinda matches the retro SOR logo on my tcase shift boot!

I should be picking up my rims and wheels soon from Mark soon too. Excited to have reliable tires haha. kinda scared of whats under there.

l also put my new power valve and jets in my holley! I should be getting that together soon too. I need to read up on how to tune the hollley 2300 though.
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What power valve did you go with? The 2300 is pretty easy to tune.
 
I got the Weber off and the Holley 2300 on today! Everything clears the hood! It seems to idle and start better. I am a fan. already runs way better than the weber. I still need to do a proper tune on it. The cable linkage was a pain in the ass for sure (the adjustment and trimmng.) Ill post a picture of that when I get some more time today. My Choke cable seems frozen or very very stiff. I need to either buy a new one or grease up this one. I assume the inner cable comes out of the tube on the choke cable?

I used a isolater carb base that I had left over from the fj40. I also used the adapter plate that @Downey sold me.
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I drilled a hole so I could connect the valve cover breather thing Like I had it connected to the weber carb. Reused the weber carb fitting. (last minute remedy that I forgot to think about prior) This thing is usually connected to the air cleaner. I figured I could always get one of the redline oem air cleaner adapters and then fill this hole with a bolt or use a vacuum plug or somthing if I need too.
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used a 6 3/8ths air cleaner. Looks good under there and clears the hood.
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Some things I really don't like and need fettling with: 1. the throttle return spring I used was a little too tight. easy remedy here. 2. I wish the fuel inlet was on the other side. I wonder If I can get a fuel bowl for the holley thats on the other side. I had to run the fuel line a little closer to the head than I would like Its not actually touching but its closer than makes me happy. So I gotta find a solution to that. 3. The choke cable is too tight when I hooked it up. I am hoping to pull the cable apart and get it greased up and working again. I think I have to trim it shorter too.

things I already notice: Idles much smoother. throttle response seems better and overall the engine seems happier! give me a week for the full report!
 
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rlong said:
They make several 90s. I used to run one like on the right on my 1F.
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I bought the 26 - 44 fitting there. But I didnt realize I had to buy this to make it work - Holley 26-27 Holley Fuel Fittings | Summit Racing - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-26-27

So I bought that fitting and I should have a solution once it shows up!

aztoyman said:
Holley # 134-108 might work on that carb.
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Might email holley and ask as even with the 90 degree fitting above, I would rather have the inlet on the other side. get that fuel line away from heat!
 
Holley tech line can be hit or miss. If you don't get a reply, try Summit or any of the carburetor specialist tech lines. Good luck with your project!
 
not sure about that adapter, but the one I used, I needed to put some rtv over the bolt heads to ensure it all sealed.

Is the choke cable making any tight bends? As long as the cable end isn’t kinked or bent you can get it out. It may be easier to try squirting some slip juice in each end and working it back and forth. I’ve had ones that came apart and back together easily and I’ve had some that went in the garbage because there was no way the cable was going back in.
 
Skreddy said:
not sure about that adapter, but the one I used, I needed to put some rtv over the bolt heads to ensure it all sealed.

Is the choke cable making any tight bends? As long as the cable end isn’t kinked or bent you can get it out. It may be easier to try squirting some slip juice in each end and working it back and forth. I’ve had ones that came apart and back together easily and I’ve had some that went in the garbage because there was no way the cable was going back in.
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I just pulled the cable apart and greased it up with some marine grade wd40 type spray. It was not as bad as I thought. I think the cable at one time had a rubber shielding but it must not be there anymore. I did cut it shorter to accommodate the holley carburetor.
 
I Got alot done yesterday. I welded in my flowmaster muffler... it is quieter thank goodness. because it was quieter unfortunately I found a small leak at the manifold collector. and one of the nuts is a little stripped so I don't want to tighten it much more. I might be installing a header instead at some point soon. I just think it will solve some issues. I need to figure out if I am going to have fit issues or not at the collector.

I also tuned the carb to the highest vacuum. now its doing about 18 on the old vacuum meter. Looks like 17 from the angle of the picture. 18 vacuum at 12 degrees and 750 rpm idle. I think I can go back and tune it more but it starts really well! didn't really need the choke this morning. although its not cold out yet really.


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Got my roof rack reinstalled!
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Tuned the carb again and holy crap! so much better. this carb will work great for hwy travel for sure. The engine seems to run smoother and it seems happier and more pep! It was running at idle at 20 lbs of mercury on the vacuum gage. You stock carb guys would be jealous! Just teasing I would go stock if I had some of the parts. I do want to put a factory air cleaner on eventually. Ill probably start looking for one. I also would like to put the 1.5F valve cover on. Do you all know if the valve cover studs are the same with the 2f and 1.5f?

I am still having a burble in the running. its not terrible but Its either a back pressure thing with collector not sealing all the way or valve not quite all the way there. I am going to try and tighten up the collector after work today. Like I said eventually I want to just put the header on. Maybe after I do all the body work Ill installed the header. I am going to live with it for now.

@theglobb is bringing the tires to me! he is taking a trip to Ocracoke this weekend (weather permitting) and taking the tires. Of course I am going to be outta town for a wedding. But I am sure he will have fun on the island. I told him to check the 55 out!
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Check out this morning moon set! crazy!!
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