Wimberosa's build: The SUV of Theseus (3 Viewers)

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Finally wrapped up the exhaust. Not perfect....but "perfect is the enemy of good". I went with the simpler hangers
in the back instead of trying to replicate OEM style. Learned a few things along the way....

1. zip ties cinched tight around a pipe make a good straight line for marking and then cutting.
2. instead of trying to make a single piece of steel fit an odd span between two points....its far easier to use two or three
pieces of steel and rotate them along their different planes until you have a solid foundation to clamp....then weld...then
cut off the excess.

I know ... I know....it seems obvious in retrospect but its not something I've seen someone explain on youtube welding vids.
I did the brace for the exhaust from the bell housing to the down pipe using this method.

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Many months to accomplish but the re-smog is hooked up (minus the charcoal cannister since the tub
is not mounted). This has been a serious slog finding all these parts...modifying in some cases
fitting alternates...and finalizing.

In these pics there are some minor mods from OEM.

1) the spaghetti pipe has a mod near the water pump bvsc as one of the pipes was blocked solid and
could not be opened. This was shortened by 4 inches to remove the blockage.
2) The right side of the setup has the alternate blue VCV that city racer supplies which has
the the horizontal ports reversed.
3) This is using viper performance silicone hoses. I had to add two elbows low in the hose hookups
to make bad corners. I did not want to spend money on old OEM hoses whose integrity was questionable.
4) The air pump I have is slightly wrong (its a 1978) and has the ports reversed from the OEM 1979.
5) My egr modulator bracket and hose bracket on the air intake looks different because these had
been cut off and I had to rebuild them from scratch

Thanks to @fjc-man for being patient with photos and information on his 1979 smog setup as well as a HAC
valve and bracket. Thanks to @Racer65 for multiple NLA pieces such as the pink bvsc and VCV. Thanks to @65swb45 for
an EGR cooler and pipe setup. Thanks to @Homey15 for spaghetti pipe and an NLA control valve. Thanks
to Toyota Matt for cleaning up and helping me reuse my thermostat top hemisphere. Thanks to @Engineer8000
for reworking my smog computer. Thanks to numerous people (perhaps) not on here such as
cruiserparts for the abv/asv, BTB for air pump bracket, ebay vendors for the weird little hose tees, hose connectors
and the intake/exhaust manifold.

I'm undoubtedly missing important people here...so a blanket thank you to all.

Now...if it will only run in a few months when I get the body done with paint and attempt to fire it up.
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Huge accomplishment. Nearly mission impossible.

I have a strong suspicion....this re-smog is one of the last ones to start from ground zero and do this on a later model. The parts are getting really
difficult to find. If someone starts this...plan to spend 8 months asking and looking for all the parts.
 
Are your vacuum hoses OEM or silicone?
The big vacuum hoses are new silicone from viper performance (UK). 19mm (3/4") for air pump outlet to abv/asv and rail
to abv/asv. 25mm (1") from air intake to air pump inlet. I could have done it with only one splice of 120 degree elbow to the
abv/asv....however I required 2 spliced in elbows because my air pump has the port on the wrong (non 1979 OEM side). The
second spliced elbow is a 90 degree. Even though the silicone is quite flexible...it won't make turns that big without collapsing.

I suspect I also had a little freedom here with these hoses as opposed to those running with power steering sitting in the
same area. Mine is non p/s
 
Not sure how I missed notifications for your latest posts, but great to see that you have made so much progress. Tackling smog, especially a full set up like this is amazing, and frankly, daunting to me. And the exhaust / bracket are looking great - well done Wimberosa.
 
I know this is kinda silly but its actually a pretty optimum solution for oval firewall grommets....

Next week it gets warm enough to paint....so in the meantime I was correcting an issue with the drivers (left) side engine bay
portion of my main wiring harness. While doing that I managed to get the later model oval firewall grommet that @Racer65 supplies
over two of the (two prong connectors) in that portion of the harness. I was then able disconnect one other connector and slip
everything through the stretched grommet hole....yay! This is kinda possible on the driver side of the engine bay and for that
oval grommet because there isn't much complication, fewer connectors, and thinner connectors on that side.

However I've always debated what to do about the passenger side (right) oval grommet because its got three complicated
connectors of 12, 8, and 4 pins. Clearly I could take the connectors apart and slip another oval grommet over that portion....
but those connectors are a serious pain and I wanted something I could easily reconfigure with new wires in the future.

Therefore I present my optimum solution for the lazy who don't want to disconnect/reconnect all these connectors. ...
"The two plate compression grommet with rubber cushion between the plates"

This grommet is of course hand built but its just two pieces of oval metal and a thick (1/4") rubber piece sandwiched
between them. The metal plates have a gap in one side for fishing wire through and the sandwiched rubber has a
small slit on the opposing side. The two screws are there for connecting the two plates and compressing them
together across the firewall flange. No modification has to occur to the firewall at all since the screws just fit in the
oval opening. This type of grommet just slips around the existing wire instead of having to remove connectors.

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Well....we have another mustard one on the way. I suspect I'll get slight variance since I'm pushing this through the booth in 4 batches.....but I like the controlled environment. Hopefully I can keep everything steady and cure it in similar manners.

The PPG Delfleet #532 is going on like a dream. The Pure Reflections sealer is a total PITA....some pieces had to be removed from the booth
before color to start again in the near future.
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Well...i've run into multiple oddities with PPG paint code mixes.

1) cygnus white (T12 or 012) is only formulated in a water based mix for PPG. A water based mix is apparently much
more finicky than a solvent based mix and PPG does not want water based mixes sold to non-professionals! So
I'm a bit put off by this and trying to figure out what to do.

Options:

a) buy a rattle can of cygnus white from someone like cruiser corp and have the paint store match the color
with a solvent mix. Effectively building a solvent based PPG cygnus white from color analysis.
b) select some other color that already has a solvent mix like 041 (the white on much later cruisers such as FJ Cruiser)
c) other.

Opinions? Anyone seen this issue and worked around it?

2. PPG doesn't have a deltron mix for toyota mustard. The last of the mixes with old school lead started disappearing
around 2020. Some paint stores had some back inventory and could perhaps do it later than that. PPG does however
have the toyota mustard in the delfleet line.... So I just went with delfleet
 
My white 79 is 031 (I think that is the code, can’t check it right now). I don’t think it’s too far off from cygnus. I had a body shop mix T12 in 2004 for an 82 FJ40 and it came out way more beige yellow than it was from the factory.

Found a thread with 031 examples

 
My white 79 is 031 (I think that is the code, can’t check it right now). I don’t think it’s too far off from cygnus. I had a body shop mix T12 in 2004 for an 82 FJ40 and it came out way more beige yellow than it was from the factory.

Found a thread with 031 examples
Thanks @MOTOV8R To me those 031 colors are definitely creamier with hints of yellow. The tops (T12) on many of them look whiter than the bodies.
As next investigation I'm thinking i'll get a cygnus rattle can from cruiser corp and compare its spray against and 041 fj cruiser top.
 
The paint store I used didn't really have a code mix for freeborn red, so they scanned the inside of the fuel vapor cover. The color came out extremely close if not spot on. They also mentioned the color mix came up as a later Toyota color code. Whatever it is, I'm fine with it.
 
I know I've advocated for a different solution for these ambi hinge pin replacements in the past ....
but the head for the bolts I'd recommended get in the way of the screws when attaching to the door.
Somewhere on here or on youtube I saw a recommendation for scooter axles for these pins. I think
the scooter axle is a better solution since the heads have a far thinner profile. Here's what those
axles look like in the hinges. These are m8 x 60mm axles. Two thin washers on each side of the hinge
make these sit flush against the hinge collar.. With new bushings the hinges are tight as new.

In other news.....i'm close with finishing the paint. I have two small rework sprays over the next week.
Hopefully the next update with show the tub back on the frame.

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I have finished painting all the mustard and its starting to go back together. A few updates and plans follow.

I used @Racer65 rear ambulance door window weatherstripping. Excellent fit. I was able to clean up and
salvage most of the quarter panel window weatherstripping but the pop out window weatherstripping was toast
and is on order.

Whoever came up with the "rope method" for reinstalling windows.....I owe them a beer! I was able to reinstall
all these windows solo with that rope method in few hours of labor.

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The seats are now back together and I was able to install the powder coated backs that I've had for eons. I had
fixed the broken side arms awhile back and it looks like I got one of them slightly off...but hey...perfect is the enemy
of good.

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Next up is dealing with resonance. I hit the inside of the front doors with some nvx butyl (you can see the aluminum foil side within the door). This made the door A LOT heftier and solid sounding from tapping on the sheet metal. I am going to do SOME of the tub with butyl but I'm going to take
a slightly different tack than some. I am NOT going to install butyl on the floor pans, seat area or rear. I'm just not picking up the type of resonance that butyl is best for in these areas...and I'm loathe to cover the floors with something I can't lift and see under. Based on my unscientific tapping / vibration method....I'm seeing the numbered areas as potential to cover with butyl with (1) being the highest resonance / vibration area (surprising where it is...as its the short hood portion of the cowl)

Note that I have a previously undisclosed attempt going on producing my own mass loaded vinyl flooring with closed cell foam heat insulation under it. I hope to show progress on that shortly. This will all be liftable so ... again ... I can watch for rust and moisture.

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