1977 FJ40 Restoration

[Robinhood4x4]

After about 3 years of him-hawing around, my friend from work finally picked up a 1977 FJ40. Over the years, he was undecided and swayed from Land Rover (previous coworker was a big LR buff), to FJ40 (once I was hired at work), and then to an Early Bronco (another coworker is a big EB fan). Well, I found one on mud and forwarded it to him and he fell in love. Surprisingly, prices on these things have fallen dramatically lately and the previous owner was willing to negotiate.

So we finally picked it up today at lunch.

Here it is at the mechanics, where he made the transfer:
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJgarage.JPG

It ain't foggy in AZ. We'll need to work on the engine a little.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJsmoke.JPG

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJroad.JPG

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJmirror.jpg

We'll need to come up with a proper battery hold down.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJengine.JPG

The steering rod is supposed to be straight, but it sure makes turning way more interesting.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJsteeringrod.jpg

Who needs the leaf springs to be straight anyway?
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/FJ40spring.JPG

Anyway, over the next few months I'll be chronicling the restoration and build up. Right now the plans are to do a frame off restoration with mostly original or replica parts. A mild 2.5"-3"lift from OME, fix the rust, repaint, build some armor, possibly rebuild the engine, possibly lockers, and I'm pushing for 33x12.5 mud tires.

[04 Rocko Taco]

It's beautiful. I love the look of these things. I would LOVE to have one, do a resto, and ude it as my DD. After the wedding, I just might look into it.

[Good Times]

you're gonna run out of garage space in a hurry! :D

[DHC6twinotter]

Very cool! I would love to take a 40 or 45LWB body and mount it on a 80 series chassis. :drool:

I'll be watching this for sure!

[Robinhood4x4]

you're gonna run out of garage space in a hurry! :D


Nah, it's not going to be done at my place and trust me, there's no shortage of garage space at my friends shop.

We're going to start tearing it down this Sat, so there should be more pics up later.

[Lee]

My dream is to do this same thing.

Take an fj that needs some decent tlc (not a crazy rebuild), restore it to almost stock but run 33's with a fresh suspension and paint job

Please keep this thread up to date!!

[Robinhood4x4]

And the teardown begins...with a hammer!

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080651s.jpg

With a project like this, it's always hard to figure out what you're going to get until things start coming apart. From the outside it looks decent for a 34 year old truck so we didn't really know where to start. By the way, this is the first time either of us have done a restoration. So we decided to take off the top and we started with the back doors (above).

Next we took off the fiberglass roof and then got to the upper cross member and ran into some stubborn philips head screws. If I were an automotive chief engineer, I would ban all philips or slotted screws from all designs! These things required a little heat to get them out.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080681s.jpg

This would explain why.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080683s.jpg

So in the course of about 8 hours, including lunch, and after breaking many bolts and screws, we got to this stage.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080727s.jpg

So this looks pretty good, right?
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080653s.jpg

Well, look what's underneath.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080709s.jpg

Such is the story of this truck.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080719s.jpg

The bad news is, yes, there is a lot of rust and lots of holes. We knew the rocker panels were rusted, but we also found rust at both rear quarter panels under the diamond plate, driver side floor board, rear wheel wells where the jump seats bolt down and where the roll bar bolts down, and the rear sill.

The good news is that FJ40 panels are all flat so that makes it easier to fab new panels or weld in aftermarket ones. If we were to buy all new aftermarket panels, the total would be $1600.

It's worse than we thought it would be, but not as bad as some of the restorations on Mud that have come out beautiful. I still think this is a fine truck to fix up and it'll be a fun journey.

[Bob98SR5]

oh holy mother of christ, allah, vishnu, etc! nothing on the ol' biodiesel benz could ever compare to that. that rear end is gonna be a challenge.

if you can find a good body/tub, i would just buy it. this is quite a job.

[Robinhood4x4]

The problem is that any other original FJ tub we find is still going to be a 40 year old tub that has the same problems and if not, will cost a mint. And actually, it won't be that bad to fix because you can buy almost all the panels pre-made and just weld it in, especially the rear. I'm absolutely confident that we can fix this up.

[Lee]

bah Bob's been out of the rust zone for too long over in Cali :flipoff:

that's not so bad! :hillbill:

[Okie81]

Looks like a cool endeavor, good luck! Maybe keep POR-15 on the table as an option :hillbill:

[04 Rocko Taco]

I think you guys have got a good project ahead of you. I've seen LOTS of rigs come back from far worse fates than this one. Heck, my '84 Runner was almost that bad when it started out.

[Ric]

speaking of 40s, I just stopped by Rocky Mountains Cruiser, that shop is A+ they do some top of line work, if I had a fj40, thats the place Id take mine, being I have no idea how to restore anything, lol

[Robinhood4x4]

Well, that makes 3 of us!

[Robinhood4x4]

Made some more progress today at the shop. Personally, my goal was to get the body off the frame today, but that didn't happen. Close though. Things went slower than I thought because we took our time to take pictures of everything and label all vacuum lines and electrical connections.

We started by attacking the front fenders and grill. It's funny they had the foresight to put the grill on a hinge to work on the radiator easily, but it still takes a wrench to loosen the bolts from the grill to the fenders.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080754s.jpg

Most of the bolts came out easily and we finally got the radiator out, heater motor, brake and clutch master cylinder, and everything else off the firewall. Sure does make changing the oil and spark plugs easy this way.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080822s.jpg

So then we worked on the interior and got the gas tank out and most of the dash items out.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080826s.jpg

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080823s.jpg

Our pile of junk is growing.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080828s.jpg

The body is pretty much ready to come out now. We need to weld in some supports across the bed and doors to keep everything aligned when the tub is lifted out. I think we'll easily have it off the frame the next time we work on it. Clayton has explicit instructions to soak all body mount bolts in PB blaster for the next week.

[DHC6twinotter]

Cool...looks like fun! That frame doesn't look too bad at all. :thumbup:

[Robinhood4x4]

No, we're not expecting to find too much frame damage, at least from rolling around underneath for a while. Plus, all the oil leak/spray over the years has preserved things nicely. So far the only thing that we know needs to be addressed is a little frame gusset in the back.

[Robinhood4x4]

Got some more work done today and reached a milestone. Finally got the body off the frame.

The day started with me whining about my back that I hurt sometime last week, so I got Clayton to do most of the heavy lifting :D. Then we spent most of the morning trying to get the body bolts out, but most of them were rusted in or the nutplate welds broke. This meant we had to either break off the bolts or cut them out.

To get to two of the bolts, we had to use a dremel with a cutoff wheel because of the tight quarters. However, our dremel was out of commission so we headed off to Lowes to get a new one. I walk up to the dremel isle and was immediately assaulted by a representative from dremel who was restocking the shelves. It went something like this:

Dremel dork: Do you know about Dremel tools?!?!

Me: actually, yes we're here to buy one.

Dremel dork: Good! Let me tell you about them, here, take this pamplet!

Me: No, talk to my friend over there, he's the one buying.

Dremel dork to Clayton: Do you know about Dremel tools?!?!?!?

Clayton: Yeah, I'm here to buy one.

Dremel dork: Here, take this pamphlet, let me show you something that most people don't know! See all these bits in the pamplet?!?! They're not available in stores, see, they're not on the shelves!!! But, they're available online at dremel.com...see...D-R-E-M-E-L-.-C-O-M (pointing at each letter in the pamplet).

Clayton: OK

Dremel dork: Let me show you this bit (pulls the grinding bit from the shelf), it can cut through STAINLESS STEEL!!!

Clayton: OK. I need it to cut through a big bolt.

Dremel dork: Oh, then you'll need the dremel 4000 for $99. Is the bolt stainless steel?!?!?

Me: No, it's hardened steel.

Me: (ignoring dremel dork, pick up the Rotozip right next to the dremel tools). Hey Clayton, check this thing out. It's twice as big as the dremel, has 5 times more power, and costs less than the dremel.

Dremel dork: Oh, but are the RPMs fast enough for you?!?!? The dremel does 30,000 RPM!!!!

Both of us: we don't care about RPMs, we need torque. Let's get this Rotozip.

Dremel dork: Oh. Well, how do you know it's more powerful?

Clayton: Because it's 5 amps.

Dremel dork: Oh, well let's see what the dremel is!!! (starts reading the descriptions on the shelf)

Clayton: Dremels are about 1 amp.

Dremel dork: Oh. Well, you'll probably need a bit. (Points to the same little grinding bit) This one cuts stainless steel!!!

(Another customer shows up)

Dremel dork to new customer: Hi, do you know about dremels?!?!? Here, take this pamphlet!!!!

Both of us: Let's get out of here.

It took all our strength to be polite to this guy.

Anyway, we got back and let me tell you, I'm never buying a dremel again! That rotozip is way better than a dremel and can use all the same bits and more. The only negative is it's single speed at 30,000 rpm. Using the fiber reinforced cutoff saw through a size 14mm bolt head, it barely started to bog down.

So we got the last of the bolts out and the tranny tunnel off.

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080839s.jpg

Then we welded in some braces across the front and rear doors to keep everything aligned and prevent the tub from bending.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080847s.jpg

With some handy ratchet straps and an engine hoist, began pulling the body off the frame.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080859s.jpg

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080865s.jpg

And there it is. The culmination of about 24 hours of work (48 man hours), over the course of 3 weeks.
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080881s.jpg

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080886s.jpg

Thankfully, we didn't find any surprises, everything is as we thought it would be. The frame looks solid. The next step will be to pressure wash everything and take out the engine, then the tranny and transfer case. From there it will be combination of working on rebuilding the transmission and transfer case, and working on the axles, steering and suspension.

[4x4mike]

Great project guys. Looks like you know what you're doing and doing it right. I'd love to have a project like this but I just don't have the time. Space is also and issue considering it would take me forever.

[Obi..]

WTH..you not only have a Piper Cub sitting in there but a bi also! Jealous.

[DHC6twinotter]

WTH..you not only have a Piper Cub sitting in there but a bi also! Jealous.


x2

[Robinhood4x4]

That's just the place where we're working on the truck. The biplane is for sale. Anybody interested? :D

The nice thing is, since the airplanes are wooden, it's important to keep the area climate controlled so that means we can still work on the truck even if it's 115 out.

[Skywagon]

I figured I may as well chime in as it is my project... haha.

Yeah, the shop is my hangar and the Piper Cub is mine; my father and I restored it 18 years ago. The biplane is for sale (it was my father's who passed away) and that space will allow for another project, maybe another airplane restoration is in order next...

I do want to say that Steve is a great friend to help me with this project and we are both learning a lot along the way. I have rebuilt engines, transmissions, differentials, done bodywork, repained, etc over the years but never tackled a project as extensive as this one. Although it was his idea/influence that got us into this mess to start with... haha.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I know when I got to the "frame" protion of my body swap on my '84 Runner trail rig, I was almost overwhelmed with everything that needed doing.... but after a few deep breaths, and some lunch, I got back to it.
You guys are doing some good work, and I am greatly enjoying following this thread.

[Robinhood4x4]

Now that it's well over 110 deg out, we're a little more sluggish and taking things at a more relaxed pace, despite the swamp cooled hanger. The first order of business was to give the frame a nice power wash. Unfortunately, the heated water function wasn't working so it only got the loose stuff off and not the 1/4" layer of dirt and grease that covered everything.

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080921s.jpg

Once things dried off we got to business by taking off the drive shafts and tranny/t-case.

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080958s.jpg
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080961s.jpg

After breaking out the sawsall for one stubborn motor mount, the engine lifted off effortlessly.

http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080990s.jpg
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080991s.jpg

Overall, the day went pretty smooth and without too much fuss. Thanks to a probable leaky rear main seal, most of the bolts were well oiled and didn't put up much of a fight.


Got a question about the fly wheel though. Are these cracks normal or do they mean we'll need a new fly wheel?
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/UY/FJ40/teardown/P1080999s.jpg


So the next order of business will just be to clean everything. Our plan is to park the frame, engine, tranny over a big tarp (as it is now) and just start scraping and soaking the layers of grime that covers everything. Once that happens, the real fun starts! We'll get started on rebuilding the axles and suspension.

From there, things are kinda up in the air as Clayton decides on whether he wants power steering, AC, and injection.

[DHC6twinotter]

Injection? You guys swapping out the motor? 2FE "hybrid", 3FE, 1fzfe, or something else?

Anyways, you guys have a really great project going. I'm pretty jealous. :drool:

[Robinhood4x4]

The 2FE hybrid is a consideration, but more likely an off the shelf TBI kit, or a custom direct injection scheme. One of the advantages of working for a place with a bunch of motorhead engineers.

[corax]

Got a question about the fly wheel though. Are these cracks normal or do they mean we'll need a new fly wheel?



Those are probably just surface cracks, machining the flywheel will take 'em off

[04 Rocko Taco]

Got a question about the fly wheel though. Are these cracks normal or do they mean we'll need a new fly wheel?



Those are probably just surface cracks, machining the flywheel will take 'em off


Agreed. Although, make sure you check the thickness of the flywheel after it is machined. (the step difference between friction surface and non friction surface around the edges) I had a lot of trans issues with my G series trans due to a flywheel that was machined a few to many times.

[Bob98SR5]

any diesel engines under consideration? what i'd suggest is find a good source of wvo, make a filtering system w/ a centrifuge, build (or buy) a 2 tank wvo system, and then you got the ultimate off road machine with fuel costs being a relatively small issue.

looks like a fun project. wish i was there to advise you guys on the rust issue and help where needed.

call me if you have any questions, steve.

[DHC6twinotter]

Any updates on this? :D

[Robinhood4x4]

Not right now, it's the off season with 114 deg weather and relatively high humidity making the swamp cooler almost useless.

However, Clayton has a fresh injection of cash so he's going to start buying the maintenance stuff he needs, like axle seals and engine stuff. We'll probably start back on the project in a couple weeks.

[DHC6twinotter]

Cool...I look forward to any further updates.

[TeckniX]

Since it's been a few months, I figured I'd bump this up and see if any progress had been made on the restoration.

[Robinhood4x4]

Not yet, we've both been pretty busy at work and haven't had a chance to work on it since it's cooled down. It's really only cooled down enough for a few weeks now anyway.

Plus, the owner has changed his mind of the direction a few times now. At first, it was going to be a full on renovation and update, including injection, power steering, AC, lift, tires, and good paint job, then it got downgraded to just a quality budget rebuild, and now it's back to full on extreme make over.

The plans now are a Toyota V6 or V8, modern manual or auto tranny, AC, extremely nice body work and paint job.

We'll see, he'll probably change his mind again.

[DHC6twinotter]

Cool! I vote for a 2uz mated to a H151 5spd tranny, or a 1hd-fte diesel with a H151 tranny. :drool:

[Robinhood4x4]

We finally got a chance to work on it again over this holiday break. It doesn't look like we made too much progress, but it was a full day of just cleaning the frame. The day started with taking off the shocks, which came off surprisingly easily, and all the remaining electrical, fuel and brake lines.

To show what we were dealing with, here's a shot of the inside frame before we got to work. Unfortunately, we both forgot our cameras so I had to resort to my iphone camera.

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0095.jpg

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0111.jpg

We started off by scrapping off as much as we could with a paint scrapper then we rolled it outside to hit it with a couple angle grinders with wire brushes.

At the end of the day, this is how it turned out, which we think looks pretty good.

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0113.jpg

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0120.jpg

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0118.jpg

The back bumper/frame area needs a little work because of rust, but it's nothing we can't fix. I think the fix will be pretty simple, actually.

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff380/antinode4x4/1977%20FJ40%20rebuild/12-28-11/IMG_0116.jpg

BTW, the plan has now gone back to a more simple restoration, rework the engine and keep most things looking stock. I'm taking bets on how many more times the plan changes.