What do I have?

[Troop Toter]

My Troopie arrived today. It runs better than I had hoped for. We even took it on a cruise to my parents house via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Whoever said it may be pretty well worn being it originated from a South American country wasn't whistling dixie. If anyone asks, "Does it need...?" Well, whatever you want to put in that sentence, follow it with the answer..."Yes". I've been researching parts, model years, equipment, etc., getting ready to jump in to it. But now I'm not sure what I have. When I've read about '81 ignition systems, I've seen "semi-electronic" ignition, with no condensor. On inspection, mine has a condensor, points, the distributor cap is held down by spring snaps, not screws. When I looked at "tune up" kits, the air filter for an '81 was oval, the pictures of my air filter showed it to be round. On inspection, it is an 'oil bath' filter. I have many questions but I'll probably start a new thread for each one so an in-depth discussion can be had with a heading making it easy for people to find information on that subject in the future. But what I need to know right now is what year I should be ordering parts for. The truck came from Chili, if that helps. I know we required pollution controls then and they didn't, affording Toyota the ability to send them an older engine configuration. And that's what I expect happened. I can post pictures of anything you want, up close pics, or answer any questions you may have. Here are the specs I've read off the data plate from the firewall inside the engine compartment.

FJ45L-KC (what does the L-KC mean)
FJ45-285427
2F 516991 ENGINE
4 SP.

Anybody have any ideas? Don't hold back. Thanks

 

[fhawk5]

Post some pictures. Also, I love the Blue Ridge Parkway. To me it does not get better.

 

[Troop Toter]

I took this one with my phone when we got home a little while ago. Like I said, if you want a picture of anything in particular, anything, I'll go out there and get it for you. Thanks

 

[cult45]

toyodiy.com is your friend for ID'ing later stuff. I entered your chassis# and it came back with this: http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/q?vin=FJ45-0285427

From there you can access all part #'s for your truck, making sourcing parts easier. I believe you can even quote Toyota part #'s to places like SOR and they should be able to help.

As a general note though, I find lower socio-economic markets often had what we Aussie's call 'bitsa' trucks [bits'a this, bits'a that] and as such were delivered with an odd assortment of options like your round air cleaner. In short - good luck

 

[Troop Toter]

Wow! Now that's a helpful website. Thank you very much. This is what makes a forum worth being on. rog

 

[FJ404345]

Some more pics form the inside and engine compartment are always nice !

 

[Troop Toter]

I'll do it tomorrow in the daylight for sure. I'm looking for steering box rebuild kits or rebuilt units. I'd rather rebuild it myself if this is something a regular mechanic can do, to save the money. I've got 16" split rim wheels and I'll be looking for other wheels, disc brake conversions and tuneup parts in the immediate future. The split rims will be used for studded snow tires and I'll put B.F.Goodrich All Terrain T/As on the new wheels. But the steering gear has too much slop in it and I'd like to get that covered pretty quickly. Anyone have any knowledge on steering gear? No, I'm not powered and don't plan on doing a power steering conversion. Thanks again. rog

 

[cult45]

New tie rod ends and cups and springs for the draglink. Followed by a proper alignment by a trusted shop. So many guys down here are s***e.

 

[Troop Toter]

You're right Cult, I spent all day Monday running around this little town of ours looking for tune-up parts and ended up at a tire store. One of the nicest guys I've met in a place I didn't know existed. Anyway, he said to wait until I get the new tires and wheels before I do anything else. He figured the tires on my rig were in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 years old. I know they are hard as a rock. This is a guy who's shop does the tie rod end replacement and all the other suspension work and after looking at what I had refused to take an order to replace any of them. He really thinks it's in my tires. He also agreed to put studded snow tires on the split rim wheels that's on my truck now. He said he wouldn't let his "younger help" do the job cause they'd get killed. He's going to stay one evening and do them himself. There are still some good people on this earth. Everywhere I took the FJ45, everybody had to come out and look at it. I'm amazed at how people will almost run off the road trying to get a better look. This thing really is rare. I spent all of last evening searching for parts and didn't take time to post any pictures. I put in orders at SOR, Cruiser Corps, Amazon (seat belts), and eBay. I'm ordering headers from JT Outfitters tonight. So here are some pictures that will explain why I'm ordering so much.

 

[Troop Toter]

Last night I hooked up the heater water valve just knowing it had been disconnected (bypassed) because it was so hot in Chile. I mean after all, it's called Chile. A took out the short coupling that was used as the bypass, hooked the hoses to the water control valve and began filling up the radiator. After putting in more than enough, I thought, "Wow, this thing really takes a lot of water. Maybe I'll check inside." Sure enough, the passenger floor board was full of rusty water. I fixed the loose hose on the inside that went to the rear heater and started filling the radiator again. This time, the leak was from the heater water control valve itself. The valve has a crack where it's joined (welded) together. Shlt. It's on order too.

 

[FJ404345]

Looks nice and it seems you have already picked up the madness !

You are located in a colder and more humid climate then Chile. If you are going to drive it daily I would check up under how the sheet metal would hold up over the coming winter.

My experience with these snow tires on the split rims is the bad watercontrol that makes driving on a wet road very slipery.

Are you going to put powersteering on it ?

Always good to see a troopy.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Looks good to me...I wouldn't change a thing. You might be able to find a 73-ish F paper element air box to replace the oil-bath. I run an oil bath air cleaner and have no issues. You're lucky to have a non-U.S. carb as well. If you had a U.S. spec'd 81, you would have a mess of tiny vacuum lines (like 27) snaking all over the engine, hooked up to plugged, cracked and non-operable plastic emission control devices.

You can easily replace the points with electronic ignition as well. I ran points for years and had no issues with them either...just kept a spare set in the glove box.

Why are you installing a header?

Interior looks like it's in great shape. I have a Chilean spec'd FST as well, mine isn't in nearly that nice of condition.

toyodiy is a great place to start. If you dig around the internet further, you can find some sites hat still have the associated diagrams to go with the part numbers...sometimes they're even in English.


One thing to think about before you go changing too many things is how original it is now, and will you ever want to have a nice bone-stock original vehicle? A lot of us have gone down the upgrade-road, just to end up taking things back to their original state. Just hang on to the things you pull off, taking it back to stock in ten years will be easier that way.

Looks good, good luck and congratulations.

Dan

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

I think the L stands for left hand drive and the KC mean has to do with the rear door configuration and maybe soft top? I'm just guessing...

Edit:
Here's what the EPC says for the FJ45L-KC

 

[FJ43 1980]

Great rig.

X2 on ToyoDIY website for finding non-US spec part #s. Availability of parts is another issue. You can check availability in NA (some stuff in Canada) on Toyomotorparts.com, Toyotapartszone.com or toyotaonlineparts.com (latter seems to have best prices). Round air cleaner is original for General Market (South America) late model 40 series. You can convert to oval air cleaner, helps if you plan to run factory p/s pump on left side. You are correct about the older engine configuration on 40 series from South Anerica. You will find differences in ignition, wiring, water pump (no fan clutch), t-stat housing... Most of the differnces are due to not having pollution controls. It's is nice though to not to have that mess of vacuum lines in the engine compartment.

 

[Troop Toter]

Thanks to you all for the comments, information and input. Now, let's see, no, I'm not going to put power steering on it and I'm going to leave the oil bath air cleaner on it. Like Dan alluded to, leaving it as stock as possible is what I want to do, that's the major draw it had for me. There are two things I'm going to change: first is the headers. More power and better gas mileage is too good to pass up seeing as how I've got to fix an exhaust leak at the manifold anyway. The other is front disk brakes. I live on a very steep hill and I've noticed the back wheels lock up when I apply the brakes going downhill. That being said, the brakes seem to work fine on pavement: no pulling to one side, no rear wheel lockup, simply good brake manners. But I know, in the future, disk brakes will be more efficient, especially in the rain, less costly to maintain and much easier for me to change pads vs. shoes. Any parts I take off will be boxed up and kept, available for replacing to bring her back to the "stock" condition she's in now. Again, thanks for all the input. Please don't stop. rog

 

[Troop Toter]

Oh, did I tell ya? Today was my second day at my new job. This morning was the coolest morning we've had to date: 37*. I pulled the choke out as I've done every other time I've started her, pushed the clutch in, hit the starter and tickled the throttle. Crank, crank, crank. Nothing. Note even a splutter. Figuring I'd flooded her, I put the pedal to the floor and held it as I turned it over several more times. Nothing. Except the odor of gas. Visions of Noah. When the starter began to slow after numerous attempts, letting me know the new battery was a little angry, I gave up and asked my wife if she wanted to ride with me to work so she could bring her car back home in time for her to get ready to go to work herself. She said, "Sure". How embarrassing.
Tonight on the way home, I made my daily stop at the local auto parts store and bought a can of starting fluid. Miracle in a can. I tried starting it again when I got home and when it didn't start quickly like it had on every other occasion, except this morning, I moved the air cleaner over enough to get a quick squirt in and climbed back in the cockpit. About two revolutions and she was running just fine. I kissed that can and put it in the glove compartment.
Oh, my new job? I'm the newest salesman at the Toyota dealer in Boone, NC. Come see me. Buy a new Toyota. Ah, heck, buy a used one, I don't care. Thanks again folks. rog

 

[45Kevin]

Regarding the sloppy steering, check the center link, I think that's what it's called. It is an adjustable piece that resides on the drivers side frame rail just in front of the bib. If there is no adjustment, it is easily rebuild-able with an inexpensive kit.

I think the L stands for left hand drive. Mine is a 45LPB. I'm assuming the PB is for pick up.

 

[45Kevin]

Here it is, center arm.

http://www.sor.com/cat094.sor

 

[Troop Toter]

I hope this is it...
http://www.jtoutfitters.com/drag-link-fj40-p-1393.html

ps...you have a left hand drive peanut butter truck

 

[Troop Toter]

Oops. Well, this can't hurt and if it's still sloppy after new tires and rebuilding this thing, I'll try that next. Thanks