The Life & Times of Shasta (86 FJ60 conversion to HJ60)

[ontherxs]

Drives well indeed.

 

[ontherxs]

With inspection due and needing to change the title over from a gasser to a diesel. I needed to fix the horn. Here is how I did it.

I started by testing the voltage on stock connector located off the wiring harness on the passenger side. If you are not paying attention it looks just like the passenger side side marker connector. Voltage on one side should be 12V constant with or w/out ignition on. Other side is a ground wire that routes back to the steering column and ends here on this pin.

I remember reading that the circuit for the horn was grounded (thus voltage applied) when the the horn buttons on the steering wheel are pressed. No voltage was present on the positive side of the connector so it traced the the issue to a bad ground between this pin and the friction disk on the wheel.

And this is the disk on the back side of the wheel

30 years of buildup and a worn pin = no connection metal to metal. So a light sanding to get the parts cleaned up.

After a test fit. There was still a bit of gap between the two so I needed to add some washers.

 

[ontherxs]

Washer in place.

Good contact now

No voltage with the circuit open

Good voltage with the horn pressed. From there just wired up the horn and mounted and job done.

Reward. I thought February was better the January.

 

[NCFJ]

That worn down pin with spring on the steering column side is a $6 part from Toyota. Have Beno send ya one and you can pull out the washers and be good for another 10-20 years

 

[ontherxs]

That worn down pin with spring on the steering column side is a $6 part from Toyota. Have Beno send ya one and you can pull out the washers and be good for another 10-20 years

Saved myself $6 buks then! Even better. Now I can get another fancy beer.

 

[jfz80]

Nice work Tim! and good tip Stan.
May i suggest getting yourself a march foothills
i thought it was better than February's.

 

[ontherxs]

@jfz80 I did get a hold of March. 4 of them and drank every one (not in succession) and I agree, much better than February.

So while Shasta's brakes are giving me time, I did get a chance right prior to test our the new suspension while cutting some trails and my buddies hunt camp. Here are a few pics.

 

[ontherxs]

The second starter I had put in to replace the one that crapped out at Logans Run also crapped out. I found a great shop in Garner to take a look. Turns out the fields were wound incorrectly. $180 bucks later it was fixed. The place is Johnny's (no relation) Auto & Marine Electric Service. Mr. Dwight Lowery and his team were awesome. I highly recommend them for your starter, alternator, or generator repair needs.

Ended up doing the swap in the woods while the others were hacking away with chainsaws. Then after a hard days work a feast.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Glad you're able to get out and use her for what we built her to do

 

[ontherxs]

Last but not least, after a false start with a bad unit, I got the Tiny Tach installed and also a dual battery meter I had been holding on to since last year. @NCFJ I took your advice and re-did the faceplate while I had it opened. Luckily I had a spare.

And during my travels I found the master switch for the interwebs.

 

[lt1fire]

You must have been at Al Gore's house


for the love of god don't switch that off !!!!!

 

[onemanarmy]

Are your rear fenders cut behind the rear wheel? can you post some pics of the area and how the welding was done to close the hole?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Are your rear fenders cut behind the rear wheel? can you post some pics of the area and how the welding was done to close the hole?

It hasn't been patched in yet, just cut open. Tim wanted to tackle that while waiting for the frame straightening appointment, but when we cut into the panel, we found a s***-ton of bondo, rot and horrible PO rot repairs.

 

[NCFJ]

If your panel (s) are that far gone I would just jump ahead to total replacement of the area. There are enough 60 series out there in parts yards that you can have them cut a good section for you out of a parts rig. Cut yours to match theirs and weld it back in. There may evven be replacement panels available out there, I've never looked into it.

 

[onemanarmy]

I may have you beat. When looking into how bad the rust was in my passenger side rear fender, I found an entire bath towel stuffed up in the fender, then patched over. The patch had long fallen apart, and the towel was trying to escape.

 

[onemanarmy]

If your panel (s) are that far gone I would just jump ahead to total replacement of the area. There are enough 60 series out there in parts yards that you can have them cut a good section for you out of a parts rig. Cut yours to match theirs and weld it back in. There may evven be replacement panels available out there, I've never looked into it.

There are replacement panels from at least 2 sources that I am aware of.

I've thought about trying to find a donor part, but if I can't find it locally, then it may not be cost effective.

 

[NCFJ]

There are replacement panels from at least 2 sources that I am aware of.

Cool, I'd go that route and be done with it. That cancer will haunt you forever.

 

[ontherxs]

There are replacement panels from at least 2 sources that I am aware of.

I've thought about trying to find a donor part, but if I can't find it locally, then it may not be cost effective.

Can you post those sources? Mine aren't terrible and I think we'll be able to patch the surface and weld a plate to the bottom. It be interesting to see the pricing though.

 

[onemanarmy]

Wolf Steel and Cool Cruisers of Texas (CCOT) offer panels. Different prices and different quality/size from my limited research.

 

[Honger]

Forgive the intrusion... Happened into this thread somehow. Nice 60 and fantastic diesel swap. Love how you get your kids involved. Very cool build threAd.