Build Uglina is Back Thread ('78 Mustard FJ40)

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QUESTION: When we were wheeling last week I noticed I'm burning quite a bit of oil (white smoke from exhaust) during engine braking. I've noticed it a lot since as well. Whenever there is any negative pressure on the engine I get a LOT of white smoke from the exhaust pipe.

What is this a symptom of?
 
can't compare....yet!

Subscribed to this thread. Will be fun to start at the beginning of this thread and read progress. For interest's sake, I've posted the current state of mine. Loooooong way to go before we can have a showdown!

Thanks for the link from FLICKR. I usually find folks the opposite way on here - but whatever works!

S
body.webp
grill gas tank cover seats.webp
 
Finally decided to bear down and paint the half doors.

I've never painted anything before (except Estes rockets & Marvell models).

Step one complete: Wet sand Pakistani primer (after adding a bit of filler primer where some had chipped off).

I'm now ready to paint the final primer. I bought some high-quality stuff at a auto paint supply store.

I have 4 cans of rattle cans I had made up from a sample that matches the Mustard Yellow on the rest of the rig. Maybe I'll find time tomorrow to get 'er done....

Tips, comments, suggestions, all appreciated....





 
Treat it with a good neutral cleaner (not soap) before applying paint to ensure all oils from your fingers have been removed. No matter how delicately you handle it you will transfer oils from your skin onto the doors. POR15 carries a good product just for this task, which is what I use, but I'm sure there are other products on the market that will work equally well.
 
TEQ said:
QUESTION: When we were wheeling last week I noticed I'm burning quite a bit of oil (white smoke from exhaust) during engine braking. I've noticed it a lot since as well. Whenever there is any negative pressure on the engine I get a LOT of white smoke from the exhaust pipe.

What is this a symptom of?
Click to expand...

Does it puff a short puff of smoke when you leave it idle for a minute or two and then blip the throttle? If-so, I'd guess valve seals.

Paint: I use 90% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol to prep right before painting. Make sure your primer and the final coat don't react to one another - test paint a small area where you can't see the paint. If they react, then the primer will crinkle up like a dry lake bed.

Seeing the pictures from your wheeling/shooting adventure with your son makes me realise why I miss living in the US so much. I miss the mountains and the freedom. Living in Australia we have very little of either. This is why I want to raise my son in America - it is fantastic that we can just step out the door in the US and go wheel in some of the most fantastic scenery on the planet and plink at cans to our heart's content. In Australia, only the criminals seem to have guns.

By the way - I love your NRA Life Member sticker - it rounds of Uglina perfectly. I have an NRA sticker on my FJ40 down here and it seems to offend the Australians. Then again, so does the American flag sticker. I do miss my guns. They have been sitting in my parents' basement in Colorado since I moved here in 2005.

Josh
 
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HJ47 said:
Does it puff a short puff of smoke when you leave it idle for a minute or two and then blip the throttle? If-so, I'd guess valve seals.

Paint: I use 90% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol to prep right before painting. Make sure your primer and the final coat don't react to one another - test paint a small area where you can't see the paint. If they react, then the primer will crinkle up like a dry lake bed.

Seeing the pictures from your wheeling/shooting adventure with your son makes me realise why I miss living in the US so much. I miss the mountains and the freedom. Living in Australia we have very little of either. This is why I want to raise my son in America - it is fantastic that we can just step out the door in the US and go wheel in some of the most fantastic scenery on the planet and plink at cans to our heart's content. In Australia, only the criminals seem to have guns.

By the way - I love your NRA Life Member sticker - it rounds of Uglina perfectly. I have an NRA sticker on my FJ40 down here and it seems to offend the Australians. Then again, so does the American flag sticker. I do miss my guns. They have been sitting in my parents' basement in Colorado since I moved here in 2005.

Josh
Click to expand...

Hope you get to move back!

I'll look to see if I get that puff of smoke after idle. I am also going to peek at the plugs...
 
HJ47 said:
Living in Australia we have very little of either. This is why I want to raise my son in America - it is fantastic that we can just step out the door in the US and go wheel in some of the most fantastic scenery on the planet and plink at cans to our heart's content. In Australia, only the criminals seem to have guns.
Josh
Click to expand...

Can't you guys go on one of those "walk-abouts" with a blow gun, boomerang or something? :grinpimp:
 
TEQ said:
QUESTION: When we were wheeling last week I noticed I'm burning quite a bit of oil (white smoke from exhaust) during engine braking. I've noticed it a lot since as well. Whenever there is any negative pressure on the engine I get a LOT of white smoke from the exhaust pipe.

What is this a symptom of?
Click to expand...

This could be one of two problems, neither good.

Typically the negative pressure smoke results from worn rings and is burning oil. However, this is typically more blue-grey than white.

White smoke, is typically steam from burning antifreeze mixture. This is typically from a cracked head or head gasket.

Worn rings will show up as uniformly low compression.
Cracked head/headgasket will show up in a cooling system test as loss of pressure.
 
edwjmcgrath said:
This could be one of two problems, neither good.

Typically the negative pressure smoke results from worn rings and is burning oil. However, this is typically more blue-grey than white.

White smoke, is typically steam from burning antifreeze mixture. This is typically from a cracked head or head gasket.

Worn rings will show up as uniformly low compression.
Cracked head/headgasket will show up in a cooling system test as loss of pressure.
Click to expand...

Thank you. This is useful. It's kinda hard to tell if it's white or blue-grey; my instincts tell me it's blue-grey. When going slow it smells of burnt oil, not burnt coolant.

It's funny hearing "bad news" like this about Uglina. My visceral/first reaction is "Cool, I get to tear down the engine! I've never done that so it will be fun." Then I remember how long it took me to get the time to fix the leaking tcase :-)

Assuming it is the rings: How long do I have until irreparable damage is done (assuming I keep feeding her oil).
 
I don't think you're going to cause any irreparable damage anytime soon-as long as the oil level is maintained. If you get to the point where the plugs start fouling and you get misfiring or you are adding oil with every fuel refill, then you need to get serious about it. Rebuilding an engine is fun and very satisfying. Everyone should do it once in their life.

But this is jumping the gun. Check the plugs. Do a compression and wet compression test. Replace the PCV Valve-just on principle. If you're not sure if it's oil or antifreeze, do a coolant pressure test with the engine hot.
 
TEQ said:
Thank you. This is useful. It's kinda hard to tell if it's white or blue-grey; my instincts tell me it's blue-grey. When going slow it smells of burnt oil, not burnt coolant.

It's funny hearing "bad news" like this about Uglina. My visceral/first reaction is "Cool, I get to tear down the engine! I've never done that so it will be fun." Then I remember how long it took me to get the time to fix the leaking tcase :-)

Assuming it is the rings: How long do I have until irreparable damage is done (assuming I keep feeding her oil).
Click to expand...

Plus there are SO MANY things you can do to a 2F when you're rebuilding it to really wake it up. Given the level of attention to detail you have showed for the rest of the rig, I can't wait to see what you decide to do in a rebuild:grinpimp:

Josh
 
Making progress on the painting today.

Built a little paint booth so I could paint the half-doors for the FJ40. I've spent ALL day in the garage today (with the England v. France and Germany v. Japan women's soccer games playing in the background). It's like I've died and gone to heaven.

Here's the dorky paint booth.


Got the first coat of epoxy primer on after prepping the doors.


I followed everyone's advice and:

- Removed all the door hardware. It was easier than it looked.
- Prepped with Marine Clean and Metal Ready after at smidge of bondo to fill the snap holes in the top (I'll never use the soft-top half-door tops)

The epoxy primer should be ready for block sanding in 30 minutes or so, right?

I'm going to block sand it (lightly) then apply another coat of epoxy primer. Then block it again.

Then a real light coat of paint, let dry 30 minutes and then one heavy coat.

Right?
 
Not too heavy, just smooth and complete. I find that is you can paint it with a decent, even light reflecting on the area being painted, you can see when you have a smooth coat of paint; too much and it will sag, too little and it will orange peel. Nice, smooth, even - that's the key.

Josh
 
Nice paint booth :cheers:

I stopped watch the games last weekend :frown: Our Canadian women's team was supposed to/expected to go pretty far, and the results were not very good...even if the games they played were actually pretty good games.

What oil are you running in the 2F? I have read that some of the classic car guys are running Valvoline Racing for its higher Zinc content for the older engines and the newer unleaded fuel. I also read farmers substituting a quart/liter of oil during their oil changes on the older engines with a quart/liter of Marvel Mystery Oil. I have done neither, yet, but...I did leave the MMO in our F motor after we got it started from sitting for many years, and so far so good. You would have to decide for yourself what is best for you, as I still have a little more reading before I make a decision for my own engine.
 
...probably why the farmer MMO substitute seems more suited to our old tractor engines. Either way, I figure every bit helps keep our old engines running happier. I have also read many guys, even here on mud, swear by Shell Rotella oil, but apparently Shell has lowered their zinc content. I might try a combo of both VR1 and MMO...we'll see :beer:
 
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