Builds The "Wife made me buy a FJ40" to shut me up build thread (1 Viewer)

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Been tackling some small things since my last update:

1. installed new voltage regulator, and the pulsing lights have stopped.
2. ordered a new rear view mirror since the one on the rig was pretty thrashed.
3. Contacted Mark A. and got a new plastic 6 blade fan and correct spacer
4. Had the headlight buckets and mounting rings blasted and powdercoated.
5. Ordered a Toyota coolant overflow tank and bracket. Need to finalize a good place to put it
6. Ordered a bench tested headlight switch from @RAGINGMATT to see if helps with some of my other problems.

pics:
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badsamaritan ,

Here is your bench tested Headlight switch , equipped with one of my High lumens output bulbs

the Bulbs are OEM-Type green in color

i cant wait to see it installed and in action , .......... and solving a few of the other electrical issues u mention too Hopefully :rolleyes:



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go a few small items knocked off of the list today.

  1. Replaced broken rear view mirror with correct OEM one.
  2. Installed new 6 blade fan, new spacer and correct bolts from Marks Offroad
  3. Installed a new fan shroud that I bought from a fellow mudder that had one already powdercoated and ready to go
  4. New hood prop rod also from a fellow mudder, all powdercoated and ready to go. This is my second FJ40 and the first with an actual prop rod. I am so thrilled not to have a scrap piece of wood in there anymore. :hillbilly:
  5. Installed the new headlight switch from @RAGINGMATT which was a nice piece. It didn't fix my no cluster light issues, but I am one step closer I hope.
  6. Ordered a new Carb from Trollhole, going to keep the original Aisin and have it rebuilt when I have more time.
I still have no clue what direction I am eventually heading in with this rig, or what I am going to do with the rust in the rockers, but I figure doing basic maintenance and getting it on the road is a good place to start.

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Had a huge electrical issue with the FJ over the past week or so. I installed the new headlight switch and had headlights but no side markers, running lights, gauge panel lights or turn signals. I started poking around the electrical system after asking some questions here and found a bunch of problems:

  1. Starter to Frame ground was shot
  2. most of the side marker lights that ground to themselves were missing the ground cable
  3. fuse box look looked like it had been used to shave a cat, & was corroded.
  4. PO, BS wiring "splices" with the wires twisted together all over the place
I cleaned the fuse box up (fuses rusted to the contacts and hair everywhere), and got no change, so I ordered a new one from City Racer LLC. I got it installed along with all new fuses. I cleaned the harness to frame ground and replaced the rusty bolt that was in there. I also replaced all of the side marker lights, so no more rusty bulb housings and all new ground cables. As of today, I at least have turn signals back and still have headlights. No running lights or hazards yet, but I am getting close. I picked up a power probe, after seeing a video on youtube about them. It really helps with trouble shooting electrical equipment, especially relays and flashers as you can ground or supply 12v to them and verify they work pretty quickly.

Next on the list is to get the turn signal switch replaced (wiring is thrashed, it works but for how much longer) and look into the hazard switch as well as it seems to be a "hub" of sorts for all the lighting on this vehicle. I did run the truck with the new 6 blade fan and it runs great, seems to pull more air through the radiator. I really want to start driving it once the weather gets good.

Side markers and starter to frame cable

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I'm am knee deep in electrical hell. Every time I think I am done I just find more shorts, and wires twisted together. Can seem to make any progress.

I started rebuilding the rear harness to the taillights today but didn't get too far as I can't test the taillights because I keep blowing that fuse. I've unplugged the section that goes to the rear harness, as well as isolates all of the lights. Still no luck.
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I contacted Coolerman and, he is going to make a new rear sub-harness for me which will help me eliminate that much of the problem.

In the mean time, I ordered a set of battery cables from @Fourrunner which got here today and are really nice quality.
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I ran a cable from the battery to the frame and from the block to the frame as well. I also replaced the positive cable going to the starter. Only thing I am missing now is a cable from the starter to the frame. I completely removed the rear sub harness to eliminate it from the equation. I tried to test some more, but I think the battery is dead, hopefully I can look at it more tomorrow.

I also picked up new turn signal housings as well as a new speedo cable to take care of some other issues. All of the light housings have been replaced so there shouldn't be any more rust issues causing bad grounds.

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I will ask, but ,do not expect, a fair response. Can you do a stock restoration for the integrity of the legend ?
This would be my comment, too. I’m a bit of a purist and what I have seen a 1974 stock cruiser do in the Colorado mountains, there is zero need for big tires and modifications.

Enjoy YOUR cruiser how you want to however, and good luck!
 
This would be my comment, too. I’m a bit of a purist and what I have seen a 1974 stock cruiser do in the Colorado mountains, there is zero need for big tires and modifications.

Enjoy YOUR cruiser how you want to however, and good luck!


My last 40 was a 1969 that I LS swapped, and had a ton of mods. I really liked it, but life happened and I needed to sell it. So far with this one, I'm only planning on disc brakes and power steering. The rest will stay stock. So far, I've enjoyed the challenge of keeping it original.
 
Well after weeks of being pissed, and frustrated I found at least part of the culprit to all of my electrical issues

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That's the connector from the alternator to the harness. I had decided to take Coolerman's advice and pull the harness and lay it out to try and find the problem. After I got it disconnected, I did a quick test and had side markers, so it's at least forward progress. Thanks to @Coolerman and the guys at beach-n-toys for hearing me rant about it and for all the suggestions.
 
been on travel for the last few weeks, just not getting home and getting back to the 40

  1. Asked @Coolerman if he could make me a new rear-sub harness and he kindly obliged. I have gotten most of it in, just need to tidy up a few things. I have been using delphi terminals where I can to eliminate future issues.
  2. made most of the connections he recommended, that will basically eliminate the connector from the alternator to the harness itself . This is the one that was melted.
I got a list going of the remaining colors of wire I need and the correct connectors that should allow me to fix the turn signals that got melted. It looks like the turn signal wiring took a lot of voltage as some of the wires look like deflated balloons and the wires inside the shielding are burnt. I have the correct pin tool to de-pin the fuse block connectors and start over with new terminals and wire.

 
Completed the rest of @Coolerman connections and then decided to test everything out and see if there was any progress. Nope. Went right back to blowing fuses left and right on the tail lights circuit. I went back and unplugged everything including the alternator and the VR and then I at least stopped blowing fuses but nothing seems to work.

The last thing I disconnected was the VR, I have a 12/73 is this the correct one?

Voltage Regulator - OEM - FJ40, FJ45, FJ55 1972-1976

I just had it bolted to the firewall, the blue wire wasn't connected.
 
it's been abo0ut 3 1/2 months since I have gone into this thread. I never got the harness figured out and eventually sent it out to a guy a local hot rod shop recommended. I bought an additional '74 harness for him to use as a reference. It's been 2 months and not a peep. I haven't paid him anything, so at worst I'm out both of my harnesses which would still suck. If I don't hear anything by end of summer I'll buy a painless and just go that route.
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In the mean time I have been powdercoating bits, reworking the seat brackets and slowly gathering parts for the disk brake conversion up front. My steering wheel was thrashed so I picked up a cheap grant wheel until I think of what I want to do there.
 
Trying to keep moving forward, and work on stuff non-electrical related for the time being. I started getting into the seats since they were in pretty bad shape. The drivers side seat is from an unknown rig, the passenger side looks to be from a FJ40. The risers etc were pretty hacked up to work with the mystery drivers side seat.

I ended up buying a set of seat risers from CCOT and the 81618 and 81619 seat brackets from Procar. Fitment of the CCOT Riser kit was awesome, no issues and matched my non-hacked up factory parts perfectly. The procar seat brackets fit great on the drivers side and needed 1 hole ovaled out a bit to fit on the passenger side.

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Also slowly starting to acquire parts for my disc brake conversion, found some FJ60 knuckles here on mud in the classifieds and I have started cleaning them up. Thinking about getting them hot tanked and then painting them to clean them up a bit. Once I get through the seats I'll start picking up the pace on that swap

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5 Months since I last posted.

After sending out my harness to a local hot rod shop, I got a request for some more parts about 2 months ago (which I sent ) and then nothing. At this point, I'm writing off the original harness.

I got a hold of Marks offroad and purchased a harness from him that he had in storage, and then sent it to @Coolerman for a refurbishment. I should have gone this route from the get go, and I am really happy with the quality of his work. Since I already asked him to do a rear sub harness I now have everything either new or refurb'd.

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Also finished up the seat brackets, seats, and seat belts

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First signs of life after almost a year:

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Awesome... looking forward to seeing that run.
 
40 looks great. I too have a 40 in freeborn red. First choice was any color but red. After a long search, I picked up a nice 40...it just so happened to be red (I caved). But now the color has grown on me to the point that I wouldn't have any color but red. Ha

POs can be the worst. A year into mine and I'm finally down to the last 5% of mistakes left by the PO...it boggles the mind what people have done to these trucks over the years.
 
Small update: the rig isn't running yet, but getting closer all the time. I sent my carb out to Marks offroad for a rebuild. I also located most of the missing evap system, I still need the charcoal canister and the one way check valve. Last mod was the pertronix kit I installed today. Once the carb comes back I should be able to fire it up and go for a much needed drive.
 

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