Builds TheAmigo's 1981 FJ40 Build Log (1 Viewer)

[theamigo]

I’ll just say that a Porter Cable 4.5 gallon 6 scfm compressor really won’t keep up with a good sized blasting cabinet, so I upgraded to a Husky 60 gallon today. I also highly recommend Rapidair’s air piping system. I bought kit 90500. It’s modular and has high quality parts including some heavy, well made (aluminum) manifolds and wall mount outlet blocks with multiple configurations, drains, and all sorts of options. Went in quick. Looks good. I'm going to add a few more drains and filters but overall I'm really happy with it.

 

[theamigo]

Looking good! Where are you sending parts for plating? I found a place here in Portland but wont be able to get anything out to them for a few more weeks.

Thanks! I'll send you the info.

 

[theamigo]

Subscribed! Just read through the thread. Exciting progress. Would love to see your 40 when it’s on the road if not sooner. I’m in Seattle, though make it down to Tacoma about every month.

Hey! I tried sending you a message but your inbox is full. Fix it and give me a shout.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Very cool read thanks for posting up. Looking forward to updates. Top notch all around


Everything’s going to be gravy if your skilled enough to have success extracting that bolt you did. You deserve a cheers for that. I’ve spent hours with no success trying what you did.

 

[theamigo]

I want to give a big shout out to one of the cruiser community's biggest natural resources - Kurt @cruiseroutfit ters! Tonight I had the amazing fortune to be able to attend a tour of the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum led by Kurt. He spoke for two hours straight about the history of cruisers, and the provenance of the individual vehicles in the collection. Awesome.

The Museum is great! You need to check it out.
Home

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The pleasure was all mine!

 

[theamigo]

Built my diff setup jig today.

 

[theamigo]

Received my first batch of hardware back from plating today. Pretty happy with the results considering the age and pitting on some of the pieces.

 

[Dirtgypsy]

Wow man! That looks great!!

 

[theamigo]

Had a little time to work on the front diff setup. Really impressed with the Mitutoyo dial indicator and Noga base.

And thanks to @cruiseroutfit for answering a few weekend questions!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Coming together ok?

 

[theamigo]

Coming together ok?

Yeah. All is well.

 

[theamigo]

Front diff rebuilt, wrapped and safe! I have a nice long post about it here:

Diff Rebuild Walk-through - '81 with 4.11s and New Rear ARB Locker

 

[theamigo]

Got my ARB set up! I’ll finish posting about that in the assembly walkthrough mentioned in a previous post.

Took hours to clean the media blasting material out of the axles before mounting them. Got them nice and clean and ready for the diffs to go back in.

This is the first of many before and after assembly pics!

 

[theamigo]

A wide ranging update....

First. I do not recommend CTA Tools' 8240 Universal 53-Piece Rethreading Set which I bought on Amazon. The 10mm X 1.25 rethreader didn't make it through cleaning out even a single diff before the too-soft metal was eaten away. I even made a point to clean and oil it after every single hole rethread but it quickly started to disappear. It was repackaged and sent back to Amazon less than an hour after I opened it.

I originally tried to clean out the threads using a thread tap. First thread in was way too tight - it took out metal too, not just dirt and rust. So, read up and bought the rethreading kit above. I now need to find a good replacement.

Worn rethreader:

I had the rotors turned, and then taped them off and blasted the hub and rotor assembly and immediately cleaned and painted since they will start to rust very quickly. Very rewarding. Lots of fun.

Inspected my spindles... Both show signs of age and wear. There was quite a groove worn by the oil seal, and potentially, spun bearings(notice the rust and wear marks). So, spoke with Bryce at @cruiseroutfit and ordered two new ones. Here's an old one:

Installed the axle housings!

And, after some inspiration from the Great British Baking Show I made a nice baked ring gear. Check out my diff walkthrough post to learn about that.

 

[theamigo]

So pretty.

 

[greenbeasty]

Very inspirational! Thanks.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

So clean

 

[theamigo]

Drums blasted, cleaned, and painted.

 

[theamigo]

Had some time to install the front diff into the axle. Used the paper gasket with a thin layer of Permatex Ultra Grey on it, then torqued the nuts down to spec.

Will install the rear tomorrow.

Speaking of the rear... I also made a $30 pressure tester for the ARB locker. I let it sit for a while at 90psi. No leaks. Locks up perfect.