Builds "Scout" the 1977 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[77CruiserDog]

Awesome work and great write up. Food for thought for sure. My 40 is missing the fusible link and has an one wire alternator installed by PO. The harness is spliced to accommodate this “modification”
Ill have to study my electrical diagrams and see how it differs.

I believe you may still have one smallish (10-12ga) wire that goes from your battery to your harness, correct? That would be the one that needs the protection. Perhaps I'm wrong though.

 

[Catching Neutral]

This wire?

 

[Catching Neutral]

Is this the fusible link?

 

[77CruiserDog]

Is this the fusible link?

View attachment 2336459

That appears to be exactly what you want. I think you're in good shape my man!

 

[EmanC]

Awesome thread learned a ton and realized my 71 didn't come with a fusible link. Gonna get that sorted.

 

[77CruiserDog]

It's been a while but life happens. I washed Scout and checked all of the fluids, belts hoses and so forth. My wife and I are going to go for a drive on Saturday. It sure will be nice to get behind the wheel of this thing again. I'll be sure to post some pictures.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Project "Drive all of the old gas out of Scout" was a success!

in 2020, before putting it away for the Winter, I put in some fuel stabilizer, which seems to have worked really well because even on fuel that was easily 18 months old, it still ran pretty good.

Before leaving I filled up my 5 gal jerry can with fresh fuel. I planned on driving until the fuel ran out and then fill it up with the fresh stuff.

Turns out the fuel gauge is not all together accurate... the first half of the gauge is probably 2 gallons of the 12 gallon tank. The second half is another 2 gallons and then from completely empty on the gauge I still have about 8 gallons of fuel... I'm planning some tasks here soon so I'll try to remedy that, but it's not high on the list. As it turns out we pretty much drove on empty for about 100 miles until it finally quit. Once it ran out of fuel, I poured in the new gas from the jerry can and it was immediately noticeable how much better it ran.

We drove up from our place in the Seattle area to essentially Bellingham to have lunch at Taylor Shellfish Farms, it was super fun. 24 oysters, two beers and a fun view!

While I was inspecting the rig to make sure the trip would be as uneventful as possible, I crawled around and looked it over for an hour or so and made a decision that it's time to pull the body off and do some things to keep it in good condition for years to come.

1) The frame needs to be sandblasted and powder coated. It's pretty rusty in spots and needs to be addressed before too long.
2) The trans is a little noisy and seeping a bit, as is the transfer case, the syncros feel pretty worn and I have no idea what condition the clutch is in. Both need to be rebuilt and throw in a new clutch.
3) While the body is off I'm going to replace the hard brake lines with a stainless steel kit I picked up a while back. The original ones are dinged in a few spots and one of them is a quick and dirty line I made up to solve an issue it had when I bought it.

Land Cruiser project creep... a simple drive turns in to pulling the body off. HA! I'll make sure and take pictures and post them as I'm doing this. Shouldn't take too long... famous last words. HA!

 

[EWheeler]

This has been a great thread, just finished reading front to back. You have a great knack for words and writing! Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

 

[77CruiserDog]

This has been a great thread, just finished reading front to back. You have a great knack for words and writing! Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

Thanks so much!! I try to make it entertaining but I mostly think I'm just entertaining myself. I appreciate your kind words.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Project "Pull the body off and spend a bunch of time and money" has officially started.

Then I did the following...

Remove Hood
Remove battery and plug in to minder
Remove fenders aprons and grill
Unhook steering
Unhook brake lines
Unhook clutch hose
Unhook heater hose
Unhook gas pedal and choke cable
Drain gas into gas can
Unplug items still connected, gas tank, evap, elect items in center of body
Remove shifter ball on transfer and shifter on trans
Remove seats and adjust fuel sending unit
Plug fuel tank vent at tank

Now it looks like this...

And this....

The fun continues tomorrow...

 

[thecrazygreek]

Red carpet restore...

Now that’s something I haven’t seen before...

Good luck and don’t lose momentum.

“STAY ON TARGET “ (gold 5)

 

[77CruiserDog]

Red carpet restore...

Now that’s something I haven’t seen before...

Good luck and don’t lose momentum.

“STAY ON TARGET “ (gold 5)

Thanks, the carpet is an inexpensive way to keep the garage warm and dirt out of the house. I picked red for two reasons, it’s easy to see little parts when I drop them. And, the “red carpet” parking spot for Scout is just funny.

I lined out the scope of work and exactly what I’m going to do each day. I know it sounds a little OCD but it makes it easy. For instance, today is simply clean the garage and order parts. Maybe mount the hoist on the garage beam if I have time.

I’ll keep The Force strong.

Cheers,
Adam

 

[77CruiserDog]

Then this happened....

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

Then this happened.... View attachment 2744935

The question at this point is just how far down the rabbit hole(s) you will go

 

[77CruiserDog]

Packed properly an FJ40 body is pretty compact.

 

[77CruiserDog]

 

[77CruiserDog]

Next step is rolling this greasy, dirty, rusty carcass out to the street for a deep cleaning.

 

[77CruiserDog]

The question at this point is just how far down the rabbit hole(s) you will go

Very good question! It's SO easy to let this get out of control. I told my wife it's like pulling the string on a sweater, the whole vehicle just kind of falls apart as soon as you take off the hood. HA!

I've lined out the scope of the work to be 4 objectives and then it's going back together.

1) rebuild transmission and transfer case install new clutch.
2) media blast and powder coat frame
3) have both drivelines rebuild/balanced
4) replace all brake lines with stainless steel kit I've had in a box for a couple of years

Minor objectives are:
1) paint front axle
2) replace body mount kit, the one I originally got from CCOT is not my favorite for a few reasons

As long as I am steadfast in my scope of work, I should be in good shape. I'm estimating now that as long as vendors don't have any delays, I should be back together and driving this by my birthday, Sept 3rd.

Happy Cruisering!!

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

Very good question! It's SO easy to let this get out of control. I told my wife it's like pulling the string on a sweater, the whole vehicle just kind of falls apart as soon as you take off the hood. HA!

I've lined out the scope of the work to be 4 objectives and then it's going back together.

1) rebuild transmission and transfer case install new clutch.
2) media blast and powder coat frame
3) have both drivelines rebuild/balanced
4) replace all brake lines with stainless steel kit I've had in a box for a couple of years

Minor objectives are:
1) paint front axle
2) replace body mount kit, the one I originally got from CCOT is not my favorite for a few reasons

As long as I am steadfast in my scope of work, I should be in good shape. I'm estimating now that as long as vendors don't have any delays, I should be back together and driving this by my birthday, Sept 3rd.

Happy Cruisering!!

That is awesome. On side note, I will be following your procedure of replacing my valve stem seals this weekend. Hoping to eliminate most of the burning oil but I'm suspicious it's something bigger.....

 

[77CruiserDog]

That is awesome. On side note, I will be following your procedure of replacing my valve stem seals this weekend. Hoping to eliminate most of the burning oil but I'm suspicious it's something bigger.....

Report back on what you find after you replace them.
Also, I highly suggest cleaning out that rocker arm shaft... it's a gross job but it makes a huge difference in oil flow... plus you're in there and let's be honest, you really want to smell like an oil refinery!