Builds The Architect's '77 FJ40 (4 Viewers)

[Disasterman]

Thanks, that project is on my agenda this winter.

 

[Walton]

A few more from my excursion. Crystal Lake Lodge B&B in Mentone, Alabama.

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At Walter's Forge, a Blacksmith shop in Henagar, Alabama.
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All because of this.....

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Thanks for the build page of your nice 40; nice work !

 

[emac]

Nice work on the cluster, and great photos of your excursion. Good call on the LED, I put LED's in the blinker and high beam and I think they are too bright. I just haven't been bored enough to swap back!

 

[davegonz]

Very nice work on the cluster. I need to do the same on mine.

I love that pic of the blacksmith shop.

 

[Michael B]

It looks like you went right past my house. I live just outside of Huntsville off of hwy 72.

 

[78fj40mg]

After about four or five coats of paint on the needles, I was very pleased with the finished product, so I put the cluster back together.....

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Then I reinstalled the gauge cluster, hooked up the speedometer & connector, then the fusible link, and took it for a test drive. I'm happy to report, all gauges are working, the needles are nice and visible, and I'm pleased-as-punch with the outcome.

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Very nice refurb Rick! Love the color, visibility and luminosity of the needles, excellent color choice!

 

[TheHardWay]

Thanks for the write up. Now I have reference material for when I do mine. You ARE going to give us a dark-garage-with-the-dash-lights-on pic, right?

 

[tls3601]

Rick excellent work on the cluster, LED's are coming up soon on my rig and my brothers '76. Thanks also for responding to my radiator dilemma. I plan on keeping the old unit, having her repaired and pressure tested so I will have a back up

 

[GA Architect]

Thanks for the write up. Now I have reference material for when I do mine. You ARE going to give us a dark-garage-with-the-dash-lights-on pic, right?

Ye asked....

 

[TheHardWay]

Ah-h-h-h...thanks Rick.

 

[Michael B]

Noice!

 

[ginmtb]

You really should think about the EL wire upgrade. Far superior to leds in the original spots...

 

[GA Architect]

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You really should think about the EL wire upgrade. Far superior to leds in the original spots...

BAM!!!.......I'm a little more low key than most, so less is more for me.

 

[ginmtb]

It is dimmable...

 

[tstepp920]

Old Man Winter is approaching, so I started the process of the re-installing the Winter Clothing. First, removed the nice Bikini that it wore over the Summer, then I cleaned up all the adjoining surfaces, and installed some new OEM weatherstripping & @Racer65 63167-90302 & 93168-90302 spacers.

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Then the side panels and rear cross member.
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Next up, lay in all the OEM roof weatherstripping and then the roof. Followed up by the refurbished doors.

In the second photo, can you show and tell what you did with the wiring for the license plate lights. It appears that some is in a "braided" jacket or conduit. Thx...AND yes I am stalking you and your rig .

 

[GA Architect]

In the second photo, can you show and tell what you did with the wiring for the license plate lights. It appears that some is in a "braided" jacket or conduit. Thx...AND yes I am stalking you and your rig .

I used the "braided" conduit back there to cover the speaker wires. All because one of the past P.O.'s decided to cut the rear doors for some speakers! I meant to have those speaker holes welded up while I had the doors off, but forgot about getting that done.....

For most of my non OEM wires, I cover them with this:

As for my license plate light wires, I added some extra heat shrink tube at the bend. I also re-clamped the ground wire ring connector and added some extra heat shrink.

 

[GA Architect]

Finally did some fuel calculations to see how my rebuilt '86 2F & @FJ40Jim carb rebuild was performing on ethanol free gas. With the conversions due to a 32" tire size, looks like I'm getting around 14MPG....

 

[Honger]

Finally did some fuel calculations to see how my rebuilt '86 2F & @FJ40Jim carb rebuild was performing on ethanol free gas. With the conversions due to a 32" tire size, looks like I'm getting around 14MPG....

I've been racking my brain to figure out why my gas consumption has been so poor since the restoration was completed... and this post clued me in. The upsize to a 32" tire. Doh!

Going to go do my calculations now... =)

 

[Zimmi]

This is one of my favourite cruisers on mud, you have done a great job with it

 

[GA Architect]

Under certain circumstances, while under load in 2nd & 3rd gears, I'd get a slight vibration in the drive line. So I've been searching for a double cardan drive shaft, one from the front of an early model FJ60.....Found one! Cleaned it up, joints were inspected and deemed good, had it cut to size, balanced, and then I installed it. The ride is NICE!

Pic's or it didn't happen....so here ya go:

Oh, here are a few before photos of that same DC drive shaft: