It's too damn cold and too damn rainy to do anything. I'm watching TV. The top doesn't leak too much, and the whole interior is stripped anyway, so I'll just wait for good weather to sand it and put down some bedliner.
Meh.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Snow, hail and rain...
Since the gods have chosen this past weekend as a good day to start the downpour, I decided to start waterproofing the FJ40, new weatherstripping (bulk crap from NAPA)... and some tightening of bits... etc.
I spent about 2 hours going through the whole heater system and repair a dozen connections, cleaned the switch, knocked mud out of the blower and got the whole damn thing working.
Next up, replacement radiator fan, more cleaning, more water proofing, rust-removal, stripping and bedliner....
I spent about 2 hours going through the whole heater system and repair a dozen connections, cleaned the switch, knocked mud out of the blower and got the whole damn thing working.
Next up, replacement radiator fan, more cleaning, more water proofing, rust-removal, stripping and bedliner....
Monday, December 8, 2008
Went and took a look at a friend's 71 FJ40...
He's got a Downey 4" lift on stock everything else, etc...
Apparently he got regular 15" black wagon wheels from Summit. They fit. With 35" on a minor rear fender trim. I'll have to get some pictures up here...
I've got some coil springs that came from a Grand Cherokee, I'd like to do some 4-links and coils... maybe I'll do that. I guess it might be poor-handling on-road, but I think it should be fine.
More stuff later on.
Apparently he got regular 15" black wagon wheels from Summit. They fit. With 35" on a minor rear fender trim. I'll have to get some pictures up here...
I've got some coil springs that came from a Grand Cherokee, I'd like to do some 4-links and coils... maybe I'll do that. I guess it might be poor-handling on-road, but I think it should be fine.
More stuff later on.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Some pictures of the FJ in my garage...
I haven't really done much aside from more interior cleaning...
I went to the DMV and got it registered and legal, but I still need to do the CHP inspection (it's been "out of the DMV system" for 10 years) and add it to my insurance policy (YAY for 8 vehicles on insurance!)....
With my son only minutes or days away from being born, the FJ is going to be a part-time project concurrent with the fence that goes on - week after week - being built.
As a matter of fact, aside from the eBay parts, I should get my boat running and sell that thing. That would pay for wheels and tires quickly.
I think I have decided to do the "mini-truck swap" of taking the axles out of a 1987 (or older) Toyota Pickup and putting them under the FJ... not as strong, but, then again... I have friends running 40" Swampers with Marlin t-cases on rock-crawler rigs who have never broken an axle or Birfield.
Fun fun fun.
After these pics, the driver's seat was temporarily re-installed for ease of driving.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
More cleaning of the FJ
I DROVE IT INTO MY GARAGE! I have never had a vehicle in the garage of my house. Mostly because it is unnecessary, but also because the first one to be driven in should be significant. The FJ40 is significant.
I removed the seats and reattached a few items that have been sitting in the back since I got it to my house. I've also cleaned up a bunch of random parts for selling on eBay. The roll-cage needs to be re-wrapped, the doors recessed (for the cage), the dash-pad narrowed and filled (cracks everywhere) and a whole bunch of wiring, brake bleeding, alignment adjustment and general repair.
Next up, cleaning the inside completely, pulling the top and cage and dash-pad off and using a gallon of bed-liner on the floors. And selling the extra parts.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Drove it home this weekend...
... after replacing the starter and the spark plugs (all fouled), repairing one plug wire, and installing the oil filler cap.
It was a hairy drive for the 3 miles from the shop to my house. Wandering, 40mph max, rattling, banging, shifty brakes, steering was marginal, but it ran and drove and got me from a to b. What a great little Landcruiser!
I've got it parked in my driveway next to the Mercedes, and I'm gonna sort out some more repairs and upgrades (like disc brakes) and get it registered. ;)
Next up, cleaning it out, pulling out the seats and anything else that bolts down on the inside - to get it ready for roll-on truck bed-liner and some sort of weather-stripping on every panel, seam, door, and window. Also, before it starts raining I have to remove and reinstall the moon-roof with a silicone strip so the water stays out. After that, I am going to start reattaching all the little bits and pieces that rattled off on the way down the hill and then I'll be able to figure out which extra bits I'm going to eBay. This little bugger might pay for itself...
It was a hairy drive for the 3 miles from the shop to my house. Wandering, 40mph max, rattling, banging, shifty brakes, steering was marginal, but it ran and drove and got me from a to b. What a great little Landcruiser!
I've got it parked in my driveway next to the Mercedes, and I'm gonna sort out some more repairs and upgrades (like disc brakes) and get it registered. ;)
Next up, cleaning it out, pulling out the seats and anything else that bolts down on the inside - to get it ready for roll-on truck bed-liner and some sort of weather-stripping on every panel, seam, door, and window. Also, before it starts raining I have to remove and reinstall the moon-roof with a silicone strip so the water stays out. After that, I am going to start reattaching all the little bits and pieces that rattled off on the way down the hill and then I'll be able to figure out which extra bits I'm going to eBay. This little bugger might pay for itself...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Got it running...
It took about 8 hours of dicking-about, but it has barked and roared. The FJ40 lives.
All it took was:
Removal of moldy junk from inside vehicle.
Removal and Rebuilding of carburetor.
Replacing fuel filter and all fuel lines.
Installation of new/used electric universal Fuel Pump.
Repair/Replacement of a dozen small wires and the two battery cables.
Getting fuel to the pump (pouring it in the tank works best).
Two sandwiches (one for James, one for me).
8 cigarettes (James) 2 dips (me)
Oil Change.
New Radiator cap.
New battery.
More cleaning.
More wiring.
Cursing.
Brake fluid.
A hammer.
Starting fluid.
Distributor adjustment.
And she ran. Like a beast as well. It's hard to realize that a Toyota can roar, but it is a 4.2L Inline 6... and a blown muffler. She is loud and she sounds strong. The carb is snappy and tight (except for the throttle shaft which leaks a bit). We were going to drive it up a dirt road, except I wanted to replace the coil wire so I shut it down and then it wouldn't restart.
Next up:
New Starter and new oil filler cap (goodbye tinfoil!)...
All it took was:
Removal of moldy junk from inside vehicle.
Removal and Rebuilding of carburetor.
Replacing fuel filter and all fuel lines.
Installation of new/used electric universal Fuel Pump.
Repair/Replacement of a dozen small wires and the two battery cables.
Getting fuel to the pump (pouring it in the tank works best).
Two sandwiches (one for James, one for me).
8 cigarettes (James) 2 dips (me)
Oil Change.
New Radiator cap.
New battery.
More cleaning.
More wiring.
Cursing.
Brake fluid.
A hammer.
Starting fluid.
Distributor adjustment.
And she ran. Like a beast as well. It's hard to realize that a Toyota can roar, but it is a 4.2L Inline 6... and a blown muffler. She is loud and she sounds strong. The carb is snappy and tight (except for the throttle shaft which leaks a bit). We were going to drive it up a dirt road, except I wanted to replace the coil wire so I shut it down and then it wouldn't restart.
Next up:
New Starter and new oil filler cap (goodbye tinfoil!)...
Monday, November 10, 2008
My 1975 Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser...
Well, I've always wanted an FJ40. I had resigned myself to the knowledge that I would never own one unless I suddenly came into a few thousand dollars (and I had nothing else to spend it on). As we all know, I have a dozen (or so) project vehicles (and daily drivers), and if I came into a few thousand dollars, I would definitely spend it quickly on various toys anyway.
So, I have always wanted an FJ40 and I knew that I would never own one.
Then, a chance conversation on the bus to work (yes I own 5 daily drivers, but I take the bus to work... $90 a month for a bus pass beats $490 in gas in a 30mpg car any day) with a woman who works at the University (and who happens to have connections to my family in various crazy ways) mentioned that she had one. She had an FJ40 that sits in the horse pasture behind the house. It ran when it was parked. She wanted to get rid of the $650/month payment on her new FJ-Cruiser. She needed a reliable daily driver to get her to the bus stop. I had one of those in the wings. I had a 1985 Honda Accord with clean paint and a dirty interior that needed a timing belt replacement. I replaced the timing belt, I cleaned the interior (and fixed a handful of broken things) and presented it to her as a trade offering for the FJ40 (with no wheels, that hadn't been started in 5 years) and she was happy to trade. This means that she can get rid of her FJ-Cruiser payment and she can still drive the mile to the bus stop. I was - of course - ecstatic.
This past Saturday, I went and dropped off the Accord and "picked up" the FJ40. I say "picked up" in the most euphemistic way possible... the correct way to specify what I did goes something like this;
1. Squeezed my 3/4 ton Ford pickup with an 18' car-hauler in tow through a gate in the horse-pasture that was roughly 1" wider than the fenders on the car-hauler.
2. I proceeded to thread the trailer through a series of ridiculously spaced trees in an attempt to point the tail-end at the front of the FJ40.
3. I started mounting wheels on the Landcruiser. This involved
a. Jacking up each wheel with a hand-crank bottle-jack balanced on a 2x4.
b. Installing the wheel with 3 lug nuts per wheel (the originals were missing)
c. Removing the cinder-block under that leaf-spring.
(These things don't seem very difficult, but I would like to remind everyone
that this involved wallowing in damp ground littered with literally thousands of
piles of horse manure, it was roughly 50 degrees outside, everything was wet, it
was drizzling the entire morning, and I had no help.)
4. Configuring and assembling the cable / power / chains / etc. for the winch.
5. Winching the FJ40 for roughly 15 yards in order to line up the vehicle with the trailer's ramps.
6. Noticing that the front wheels were not turning due to the wheels having the wrong backspace.
7. Loosening the front wheel's lug nuts in order to facilitate their turning.
8. Kicking leaves and dirt back into the muddy trenches left behind the dragging wheels.
9. Winching the still-dragging FJ40 onto the car-hauler.
10. Having the 1/4" steel winch-cable snap whilst the FJ40 was half-way on the trailer. (By the way, I strongly recommend not being near the whipping end of a snapped steel cable.)
11. Winding and knotting the frayed steel cable through the winch-hook eyelet.
12. With no gloves.
13. Hiding behind the truck while winching using the MacGyver'ed cable.
14. Chain-binding the FJ40 to the trailer.
15. Negotiating through the trees, back to the extremely narrow gate.
16. Finding another set of wheels to swap out tires and mount to the FJ before rolling it off at the shop.
BUT I now have an FJ40, with temporary wheels, which is ALL THERE, mostly stock, and it cranks over.
I spent about 2 hours with a high-pressure water-sprayer just cleaning all the moss, algae and lichen off of the damned thing. Turns out that the Cruiser was mustard-yellow underneath.
Next up...
Changing the oil, replacing the fluids, adding a battery, rebuilding the carburetor, and driving to the house. I should also get a matching set of wheels and tires. For the record - 15", 5.5"x6 lug pattern, 4.25" hub center, 3.5" (88mm) (or less) backspacing.
I also still need to get the soft-top, half-doors, trailer yoke, and various other bits and pieces (along with the pink slip) from the old owners... and i need to give them their pink slip for the Accord.
BUT I have an FJ40.
Amber (my wife) is less than enthused.
So, I have always wanted an FJ40 and I knew that I would never own one.
Then, a chance conversation on the bus to work (yes I own 5 daily drivers, but I take the bus to work... $90 a month for a bus pass beats $490 in gas in a 30mpg car any day) with a woman who works at the University (and who happens to have connections to my family in various crazy ways) mentioned that she had one. She had an FJ40 that sits in the horse pasture behind the house. It ran when it was parked. She wanted to get rid of the $650/month payment on her new FJ-Cruiser. She needed a reliable daily driver to get her to the bus stop. I had one of those in the wings. I had a 1985 Honda Accord with clean paint and a dirty interior that needed a timing belt replacement. I replaced the timing belt, I cleaned the interior (and fixed a handful of broken things) and presented it to her as a trade offering for the FJ40 (with no wheels, that hadn't been started in 5 years) and she was happy to trade. This means that she can get rid of her FJ-Cruiser payment and she can still drive the mile to the bus stop. I was - of course - ecstatic.
This past Saturday, I went and dropped off the Accord and "picked up" the FJ40. I say "picked up" in the most euphemistic way possible... the correct way to specify what I did goes something like this;
1. Squeezed my 3/4 ton Ford pickup with an 18' car-hauler in tow through a gate in the horse-pasture that was roughly 1" wider than the fenders on the car-hauler.
2. I proceeded to thread the trailer through a series of ridiculously spaced trees in an attempt to point the tail-end at the front of the FJ40.
3. I started mounting wheels on the Landcruiser. This involved
a. Jacking up each wheel with a hand-crank bottle-jack balanced on a 2x4.
b. Installing the wheel with 3 lug nuts per wheel (the originals were missing)
c. Removing the cinder-block under that leaf-spring.
(These things don't seem very difficult, but I would like to remind everyone
that this involved wallowing in damp ground littered with literally thousands of
piles of horse manure, it was roughly 50 degrees outside, everything was wet, it
was drizzling the entire morning, and I had no help.)
4. Configuring and assembling the cable / power / chains / etc. for the winch.
5. Winching the FJ40 for roughly 15 yards in order to line up the vehicle with the trailer's ramps.
6. Noticing that the front wheels were not turning due to the wheels having the wrong backspace.
7. Loosening the front wheel's lug nuts in order to facilitate their turning.
8. Kicking leaves and dirt back into the muddy trenches left behind the dragging wheels.
9. Winching the still-dragging FJ40 onto the car-hauler.
10. Having the 1/4" steel winch-cable snap whilst the FJ40 was half-way on the trailer. (By the way, I strongly recommend not being near the whipping end of a snapped steel cable.)
11. Winding and knotting the frayed steel cable through the winch-hook eyelet.
12. With no gloves.
13. Hiding behind the truck while winching using the MacGyver'ed cable.
14. Chain-binding the FJ40 to the trailer.
15. Negotiating through the trees, back to the extremely narrow gate.
16. Finding another set of wheels to swap out tires and mount to the FJ before rolling it off at the shop.
BUT I now have an FJ40, with temporary wheels, which is ALL THERE, mostly stock, and it cranks over.
I spent about 2 hours with a high-pressure water-sprayer just cleaning all the moss, algae and lichen off of the damned thing. Turns out that the Cruiser was mustard-yellow underneath.
Next up...
Changing the oil, replacing the fluids, adding a battery, rebuilding the carburetor, and driving to the house. I should also get a matching set of wheels and tires. For the record - 15", 5.5"x6 lug pattern, 4.25" hub center, 3.5" (88mm) (or less) backspacing.
I also still need to get the soft-top, half-doors, trailer yoke, and various other bits and pieces (along with the pink slip) from the old owners... and i need to give them their pink slip for the Accord.
BUT I have an FJ40.
Amber (my wife) is less than enthused.
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