- Thread starter
- #261
haha. It’s the $500 shipped that kills it for me!
Builds Weenie 3 - Tilda Bogue Service Station
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haha. It’s the $500 shipped that kills it for me!
- Thread starter
- #262
Huge day for Weenie 3.
I had early morning day job work but was able get home mid-morning to get the brakes sorted out with @USMC22
Just like with a knuckle job buildup on a bare housing, starting from scratch with all new parts on a brake system takes time.
In this case it took a solid 4 hours.
To summarize:
Bench bleeding on the truck does not get it bled right. Redo.
The City Racer proportion valve is a must have. The rear brakes totally locked up first without it. It also holds a lot of air so be prepared to bleed the rears a lot
You must get your rear drums good and tight for the whole system to operate properly in this configuration.
The adjustment rod between the master and the new City Racer booster needed to be touching the master very firmly when you bolt the two together.
Do all of this and you got brakes like Mr T designed them.
I had early morning day job work but was able get home mid-morning to get the brakes sorted out with @USMC22
Just like with a knuckle job buildup on a bare housing, starting from scratch with all new parts on a brake system takes time.
In this case it took a solid 4 hours.
To summarize:
Bench bleeding on the truck does not get it bled right. Redo.
The City Racer proportion valve is a must have. The rear brakes totally locked up first without it. It also holds a lot of air so be prepared to bleed the rears a lot
You must get your rear drums good and tight for the whole system to operate properly in this configuration.
The adjustment rod between the master and the new City Racer booster needed to be touching the master very firmly when you bolt the two together.
Do all of this and you got brakes like Mr T designed them.
- Thread starter
- #263
While Jerry and I debriefed in the brakes we also added a couple of goodies
@SMG hood pins.....
I installed them without removing the hinges this time. Just put a pointed tip on my air hammer and they popped right out.
Next I used my air screw hammer and got the tiny OEM screws loose on the vent and cleaned it out, added rust converter and of course some Fluid Film.
@SMG hood pins.....
I installed them without removing the hinges this time. Just put a pointed tip on my air hammer and they popped right out.
Next I used my air screw hammer and got the tiny OEM screws loose on the vent and cleaned it out, added rust converter and of course some Fluid Film.
- Thread starter
- #264
But hey, you guys don’t care about all that....., you want to know how it drives.
Good.
In fact, I’ll go damn good......65 mph uphill with one finger on the wheel good .....
Good.
In fact, I’ll go damn good......65 mph uphill with one finger on the wheel good .....
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #265
Awesome ride. 22 miles and back home and nothing is leaking except the damn exhaust.
That’s a great day. Glad I have a full day of my occupation tomorrow so I can get rested up for the weekend ......
That’s a great day. Glad I have a full day of my occupation tomorrow so I can get rested up for the weekend ......
reddog90
SILVER Star
So what goes wrong if you don't reuse the old sloped slots on new cylinders?
- Thread starter
- #267
the shoes will contact the drum unevenly
it’s not the end of the world.
that said, 1/4 of the trucks I take apart the “mechanic” has the sloped adjuster backward which really tosses some fun into the mix.
You might have less even wear on the shoe. It is probably less of an issue on rear cylinders, because both sides of the cylinder have a piston.
- Thread starter
- #269
I only learned about the importance when I started from scratch and rebuilt my 1967 FJ45 4 wheel drums with a single cylinder master.
Absolutely everything has to be perfect to get that damn mess to work correctly
reddog90
SILVER Star
Guess I need to cut out some time to tear my rears apart and look for the old cylinders in my parts stash. I got new cylinders from Cruiser Outfitters and had to grind the slots a tiny bit wider for the new shoes to fit. I never considered just harvesting the sloped slots from the old cylinders.
- Thread starter
- #271
If they are working ......
I did the swap when I couldn't get the shoes to fit in the slots, then I realized that the new ones were not sloped.
reddog90
SILVER Star
They're working excellent. I'll put it at the bottom of my to-do list...
- Thread starter
- #274
I have to tell on myself. Yesterday when we had zero brakes I put he truck in 1st gear and it backed up right into the wall of my shop
That’s reverse on a 3 on the floor truck.
I made a total mess of things. Pushed the wall out on my old rickety shop and busted a shelf.
Today I decided to clean it all up and get organized a bit instead of working on Weenie 3 after work
I bought a bunch of random 40/55/60 stuff from @Onur and had to organize it
The best thing is the entire Long Wheelbase FJ45 full of crap I’m taking to the dump tomorrow
I’ve got a small box of parts that landed UPS tomorrow so I’ll have some updates this weekend
That’s reverse on a 3 on the floor truck.
I made a total mess of things. Pushed the wall out on my old rickety shop and busted a shelf.
Today I decided to clean it all up and get organized a bit instead of working on Weenie 3 after work
I bought a bunch of random 40/55/60 stuff from @Onur and had to organize it
The best thing is the entire Long Wheelbase FJ45 full of crap I’m taking to the dump tomorrow
I’ve got a small box of parts that landed UPS tomorrow so I’ll have some updates this weekend
middlecalf
SILVER Star
I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing... wait, I am laughing at you. 
- Thread starter
- #276
I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing... wait, I am laughing at you.
Yeah. The ARB fridge on my Craftsman tool cart deadened the blow. Only pushed the bottom of the wall out 4” of so
It is clean and organized on that side of the shop now at least
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
- Threads
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- Messages
- 16,447
- Location
- Winter Park, Florida
- Website
- www.cruisermatts.com
you get done in just over a month what a lot of guys can't do half of in two, three years or at all. Also, you somehow manage to perfectly nail "the look" on every Cruiser you touch.
- Thread starter
- #278
Thank you sir. I love it.
- Thread starter
- #279
Knocked some things off the list today that were a bit time consuming and not 100% fun
I was digging around under the dash getting the 12v to work and realized the defrost hoses did not go all the way to the top. Is Specter the only
CCOT makes These inner light guards out of ABS. They fit tighter than the metal ones so they might just keep mud out.
Got a new washer bottle wired in. I’ve never had luck making the aftermarket bottles work with the stock twist knob so I wired in the push button that came with it.
The drivers side reflector was bad so we got a new one
Finally, the passenger side blinker stopped blinking. 9 times out of 10 adding a jump/ground wire to the metal on the inside of the housing will fix it.After testing that a good ground made it blink I fished a new ground through the post and it’s all good now.
I was digging around under the dash getting the 12v to work and realized the defrost hoses did not go all the way to the top. Is Specter the only
CCOT makes These inner light guards out of ABS. They fit tighter than the metal ones so they might just keep mud out.
Got a new washer bottle wired in. I’ve never had luck making the aftermarket bottles work with the stock twist knob so I wired in the push button that came with it.
The drivers side reflector was bad so we got a new one
Finally, the passenger side blinker stopped blinking. 9 times out of 10 adding a jump/ground wire to the metal on the inside of the housing will fix it.After testing that a good ground made it blink I fished a new ground through the post and it’s all good now.
- Thread starter
- #280
One thing many people overlook on FJ40s is the rear motor mounts. I rarely see people change them at the same time they do the fronts.
I knew this truck had the fronts replaced at some point because the metal fan/shroud clue.....you can always tell that they jacked up the motor without loosening the shroud.
The rear motor mounts and bolts were hammered.
I went ahead and changed the fronts while it was getting fresh stuff.
Then I took it for a spin before taking it to the equipment shed and blasting the underside good for the upcoming Lizard Skin/Fluid Film bath.
This truck is not tall but it does sit about 2” taller in the front and 4” in the back of my truck. Tires are about 1” bigger and I have a hard top on so I’m saying it got a good 2” overall lift. Perfect IMO
I knew this truck had the fronts replaced at some point because the metal fan/shroud clue.....you can always tell that they jacked up the motor without loosening the shroud.
The rear motor mounts and bolts were hammered.
I went ahead and changed the fronts while it was getting fresh stuff.
Then I took it for a spin before taking it to the equipment shed and blasting the underside good for the upcoming Lizard Skin/Fluid Film bath.
This truck is not tall but it does sit about 2” taller in the front and 4” in the back of my truck. Tires are about 1” bigger and I have a hard top on so I’m saying it got a good 2” overall lift. Perfect IMO
