WHG423 Has a New FJ60!

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Found them on eBay actually. Got a pretty good deal on them and they were new in the box.
 
Well, last week I fell while skateboarding with my son and fractured my right elbow. 34 years never skateboarding, and the one time I try it bites me. I was sooo… close on the cruiser too. I laid up Saturday-Wednesday editing pills and feeling worthless. Wednesday I went to the orthopedic and he told me it wasn't as bad as the ER had led me to believe. He said I could go back to work on light duty. Killing me not working on the Cruiser, I figure I could also pull light duty on that too. Still in a lot of pain I got off the couch.
Knowing how much doing things like this mean to me, and feeling bad for me, my dad offered to come over and help out. He's 72 but works on stuff daily and isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. He's never worked on a Cruiser but no fear. He showed up after I got home from work. We got the master cylinder done and brakes bled. Cruiser has brakes again! The element that led to the teardown in the first place.



Also plugged up the EGR exhaust pipe. Again not having a welder proved an issue again. I dug around in my bolts, scrap, and whatnot and found a stainless fitting with a threaded hole in the top. It was way too long, but we cut it down to a good length and the diameter was just right. I found a plug that threaded in the hole perfectly. We pounded that stainless fitting in nice and snug. I don't see it coming out. I used red loctite and installed the plug. Just to be safe, ran a bead of JB weld around the joint. Now I believe it is good to go!




Here is the old check valve I cut off the EGR. Lookie what I found on the back side. Hmmm… problem??




Ahh Look at that engine bay coming together. Few more days that productive, and we'll just about be there! Thanks pops!

 
Started working on the oil pan removal tonight. Me and my pops worked on it for about four hours. Used the heat gun method, the jack and about 27 different pry bars and screwdrivers. You guys weren't kidding when you said it was tough to get off! It is half way loose now. Frustrated and tired, we threw in the towel for the night. We will not be defeated though! More prying another day.

On a lighter note... Radiator, distributor, and that beautiful battery tray went in yesterday! Fingers crossed that my timing will be right. Nothing moved since removal and I had everything marked.
 
More pic time. There is the radiator done, the battery tray, and the round eyes now that grill is back together.













 
Oh yeah…
The wife snapped this pic while she was out shopping today. Anyone recognize this rig?

 
Landcruiser really wants to come out and enjoy these pretty days. Soon my dear, Soon!

 
Oil pan is finally off, feel like we are moving forward again. I'll try to get that scraped down and cleaned up for re-install next week. Very little sludge/metal in the pan I was happy with how clean it was. Especially for 248,000 miles.



Also put the hood back on! I can't wait to fire thais baby up again!!

 
Looks great and really enjoyed the read. Was awesome running into you today and can' wait to see it up close. Glad you chased me down. lol
 
Got the oil pan on and torqued down finally tonight! Man what a job! That should just about wrap things up. Going to top off fluids and try to fire her up in a couple of days.
 
Today was the big day. I Jumped right on the cruiser after work. I read many threads on setting timing. I took three tries pulling the dizzy, finding TDC and setting it up. Not sure it is perfect yet, but it is close. Running real smooth.
I do have a couple of issues to sort out. the water pump was leaking, so I tightened it a bit more and got it to stop. Think I missed a bolt on final tightening. I'm still getting coolant from somewhere though. Got to trace that down.
Also I have a "Clacking" noise when I accelerate. Think I might have developed a leak on the exhaust manifold gasket - seeing as that is one of the only ones I did not replace. Hoping it is just the EGR block off plate not tight enough. I will hunt these down another day.

Non the less, I got it out of the garage and took it around the block. Five miles or so. It ran fantastic other than the noise it was making. Nice having it idol at a stoplight and not die and no more backfiring either! Gave her a bath before it went back in the garage for some diagnostics. Thats for another day.





 
Glory Day! It was just the EGR block off plate as I had suspected. Tightened that baby up, and no more noise. I put the OME steering stabilizer on this afternoon. Man, what a PITA to get those bolts out. I happened to be in the auto parts store last week, buying coolant, and noticed a puller on the sale rack for $6. Knowing I had this job coming up, I snatched it up. Glad I did too. This job would have been impossible without it! I tried the pickle fork first, no luck, sledge hammer, no luck. Puller did the job. Really had to torque down on it though.





Took it out for a real test run after that. Did about 30 miles. Both Highway and in town. Did fantastic! I am all smiles tonight. :)

 
Went to start the Cruiser and the choke knob came out with no tension on it. I looked under the hood but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then I tore into it under the dash and found the swaged ferrule had come off the end of the cable. That's kinda unusual. I guess I wore it out when my truck wouldn't idol without pulling out the choke so I was constantly pulling it out every time I stopped. Glad they are still available. New one on order! I can add choke cable to the list of new items not to have to worry about. :)





 
Also got around to putting on my MUD sticker that came in the mail last week. Got to represent the great site that has helped me so much!

 
Took the Cruiser to our Boy Scout meeting with my son on Monday. When I parked I immediately smelled coolant.
Got out and I had a nice stream flowing onto the ground. 44 miles after rebuild at this point, i'm pretty bummed. Couldn't tell where it was coming from but it had blown (by the fan I assume) all over the engine. From what I could tell, it looked like it was dripping off the timing cover which made me automatically think water pump. I got it back home without overheating - just six miles. I parked it back in the garage and put a pan under it.

Fast forward to today, the truck had cooled off and so had I. Still wet around the pump and I could hear an occasional drip in the pan. I re-torqued all my water pump bolts to the specified 27 ft/lbs. That is fun to do with all the belts and crap in the way! Also re-tightened my hose clamps.

Thats when I saw a drip fall. It was coming from the BVSV 2 valve that I capped off where it mates into the thermostat housing. It looked like some corrosion on the threads. Maybe I upset it when I cleaned everything up and caused a leak. Maybe when it builds up pressure, it sprays out??
Lucky me, I had a Jim C. plug he sent me laying around that I guess I should have installed.
The BVSV was a pain to get out, but with a little heating from the torch, it let loose and came right out. I cleaned the threads in the housing real good and installed the plug with some RTV. Hopefully this solves the problem! Fingers crossed. I'm going to let it set up over night. I gotta get some more antifreeze tomorrow anyway. We'll test it then!




 
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