Errols FJ40 Build Thread

[feistl]

At this stage ill jump to logical order rather than chronological events….

Once the axle was painted/prepped/drying we started prepping the brakes/hubs/diff…

The standard 40 series used a drum handbrake on the back of the gearbox/transfer case (which was crap as the transfer case always leaked fluid into the handbrake so it wouldn’t work). As we were changing to a 5 speed we needed to build a axle handbrake instead.

Luckily the “standard style” handbrake from a 60 series axle can be retrofitted onto a 40 series axle.
Furthermore we actually have a couple of 60 series rear axles we are using on the other FJ40s and will be doing a 4 wheel disk conversion on, so the parts were able to be used as donors.

Next step was to pull the rear hubs/handbrake/brakes from the 60 series axle…



Then it was a matter of wire brushing and servicing them in preparation for the axle rebuild.
As you can see all nice, clean, painted and ready to assemble.







We also decided to use the 5^th rebuilt diff we did earlier as a spare, plus decided to fit a spare LOKKA diff centre.
The center is pretty easy to install, and luckily with the shims we had it assembled within specification.





We then dropped the diff into the old 60 axle so we could easily wire brush and paint without fear of getting crap into the diff gears.



Once everything was cleaned and prepared, we started assembling the rear axle.

Step 1: Bolt up the brake assembly onto the axle.











Step 2: Add some grease onto the sealing surfaces

[feistl]

Step 3: Ensured the inside of the hubs was clean, then fit the inner bearings.







Step 4: Fill the hub with grease (Apparently Anglomoil is really good stuff)







Step 5: Tap the seals into place on the hub





Step 6: The hub can now be installed onto the axle



Step 7: Slide on the outer bearing



Step 8: Slide on the retaining plate and the bearing locking “nut/plate”





(The really clever part is the retaining plate has a keyway on the axle shaft, so it cant spin. It also has 4 screw holes/threads on the face. The locking “nut/plate” has 6 screw holes, so as you tighten the “nut/plate” 2 of the holes will line up every few degrees with the retaining plate underneath. You can tighten the nut until the preload/pressure on the bearing is correct then screw this top “nut/plate” to the retaining plate underneath. This is how you set the wheel bearing preload).

It’s kinda hard to explain, but if you ever pull one apart you’ll see what I mean.

Step 9: Fit the brake drum (and hold in place with a wheel nut).



Step 10: Fit the diff centre to the axle (Using a gasket and sealing compound)





Step 11: Fit the drive shafts from the end of the axle into the diff centre (Again using gaskets and sealing compound) and bolt into place with the locking nuts and locktite.











Once the axle was assembled, we fitted the rear leaf spring to the axle and fitted some wheels.

[feistl]

We were then able to roll the axle into place under the chassis.

Once in place we bolted up the shackles (Checked the alignment and clearance and everything looked good).







We repeated the same process for the front axle (Installed the springs to the axle then slide it into place and bolted the shackles up).

We now had a rolling chassis J.



To make life easier we also installed the steering arms and steering box. (you can see the complicated counter lever system).





We now have a complete rolling chassis .











Then it was ready to move around the back so we can focus on the tub (which is still in the garage).
Note: We put a tarp over it after this pic.

[feistl]

Now that the chassis was done, we started repair work on the body. Now if you’re a bit of a perfectionist you might want to skip the next stage, as it’s very “backyard hack” repair work.

Essentially there are 3 bad areas of rust on the donor body (Driver footwell, passenger footwell and rear tailgate area). It seems when Toyota switched from the pre 79 to post 79 bodies the changed the grade of steel to a might lighter gauge. The later model bodies have a tendency to rust out in these areas.

First step was to lift the body up so we can access the bottom of the tub easily…



So starting with the passenger side (Which was the worst), here are some of the pics of the rust holes.









Step 1 was to wire brush the entire area back to bare metal (Or more the point the remaining bare metal).








Now in a professional job you would cut out the entire rust area and weld in replacement panels, but I don’t have the right type of welder (My rod welder just blows holes through the thin steel) and don’t have the replacement panels (As they are damn expensive).

So instead we cut out some replacement sheets to stick above and below the normal floor pan.
We started with the under piece first, by cutting out a 3mm plate to the appropriate size/shape. It appears someone has previously (poorly) done some repair work (The part im talking about is behind the plate in this pic). We used this to our advantage to tuck our new plate behind.



It’s a bit hard to photograph, but I cleaned in behind this plate and applied some paint to stop further rusting…



Then we painted the entire area in cold gal…



And applied bitumen paint under that repair plate and in the general area…





We then made a plate to fit the lower section of rust







Then painted the remaining bare metal in cold gal…







Then a top coat of bitumen paint…







As I didn’t have the right type of welder, I decided to liquid nails glue and pop rivet the plates in place (Pop rivets are aluminum and shouldn’t rust).

[feistl]

Starting with the top plate…







Then the middle plate…







Finally the lower plate…







Once I was happy with the underside, it was time to start working on the inside. Now normally you need access to put a bolt down from above, however I decided to weld the bolt to the floor so I could cover over it.





After welding the bolt in place, I gave the entire area a quick wire brush then a coat of cold gal…



Then it was a matter of cutting out a plate to sit in the foot well to give it strength…



After making the plate I decided to make another to cover the entire floor (So you don’t feel any strange bumps with your feet.



As I extended the plate, need to do a bit more painting…



Before gluing and pop rivting the plates down, I decided (rightly or wrongly) to fill the sill/gaps with expanding foam filler.



Then added some liquid nails…



And glued/pop rivted the plate into place.





Now I couldn’t really photograph it, but once the first plate was in place I squirted a lot more expanding foam in the gaps till it was oozing out everywhere… And quickly put the second plate down (So under both plates is full of expanding foam)



Added more liquid nails, pop rivets and cleaned everything up (mostly).

[feistl]

Now that the passenger side was under control, we switched over to the drivers side. The rust wasn’t anywhere near as bad, but it still required attention.

It was pretty much the same process as before, strip the old paint off back to bare metal, inspect, make up some plates and paint the whole thing in cold gal and bitumen. Then liquid nail glue and pop rivet the plates into place. At a later point we filled in all the gaps to ensure water cant get in anywhere.





























Cut out a template from paper…



Then made the real thing…













So at this point we are pretty happy with the results. I know this isn’t a traditional repair, but it has lots of strength and i will be adding a layer of dynamat on the top and bottom so everything should be water tight.
It was also virtually a free repair (Cost of paints, liquid nails, metal sheets etc is minimal).

Once its fully covered up you won’t know it’s there.

[feistl]

Last area of rust to deal with was fairly minor in the rear section of the tub. Didn’t get a pic of the original rust section, but we cut it out and created a new plate to go in its place. We also created another backing plate so we can pop rivet/glue them together for extra strength. Same process of cold gal/bitumen to protect the steel.





Now that the rust issues had been dealt with, it was time to wire brush/clean up the rest of the interior and coat in cold gal/bitumen paint.









This included the rest of the interior at the front…



Also finished prepping the firewall and gave it a coat of cold gal…



So this pretty much where we are at with the FJ40s. Next steps will be finish prepping/painting the under side of the top, the top coating the interior and sticking down lots of dynamat.

[feistl]

Now for some other news, I had an issue with the VY Wagon. It appears one of the bolts of the adjustable bush in the rear subframe worked its way lose and fell out… Which caused as interesting driving experience. Annoying, the bolt on the other side of the bush has moved around and wore a much larger hole in the rear subframe itself. So I had to drop the entire rear end of the wagon out (again). I could have welded a new plate or something in to fix the elongated hole, but decided I may as well replace the whole thing (They are pretty cheap at a wreckers as no one ever needs them second hand).









It was also a good chance to take the diff back as it had been making a slight whining noise since I fitted it late last year.

I am still waiting for the diff to be fixed, so the wagon is currently sitting in the driveway….

So that’s pretty much everything that’s happened over the last 2 months.

Next steps will be fixing up the wagon (Should only take a few hours), hopefully we will then get the chev engine back soon from the machinist so we can start assembly.

The aim is to finish this latest FJ40 as soon as possible, get it registered and insured and use it for the remainder of the 4WD season. After its finished we will switch back to the other original FJs.

Finally would like to point out that it took nearly 5 hours to write up this update… It’s a bloody time consuming process so I hope you enjoyed it.

Cheers,

[IJ.]

And that's why I update incrementally and often as it can eat up a huge chunk of time, well done on project 47 engines and 13 chassis!

[Micks]

Errol bloody great update/write up ..when do you get a chance to sleep?

[feistl]

And that's why I update incrementally and often as it can eat up a huge chunk of time, well done on project 47 engines and 13 chassis!

Thanks mate, Yeah i was surprised just how long this one took. Spent the last few evenings putting it together. Its also a great reminder of just how much work we have done....

Errol bloody great update/write up ..when do you get a chance to sleep?

Thanks mate, yeah we are doing some pretty long hours (Taking advantage of daylight savings). Pretty much every weekend is from ~9am - 9pm.

Haven't kept a specific count on hours, but would literally be in the thousands now for the entire project.

Dropped the heads off this morning at the machine shop, they will hopefully have the engine work done by next week.

In the end we decided on

• Acid/Hot Dip the block
• Bore and hone to .040” over
• Shave the block/heads
• Fit new flat top pistons
• Regrind/clean/balance the crank
• Fit a new performance cam and genuine lifters
• Fit a new double row timing chain and gears
• Fit a new performance oil pump
• New gasket set including single piece sump gasket
• New bearings (Main caps, conrods, cam)
• Clean and reseat the valves
• New set of valve springs
• The heads already have hardened valve seat inserts fitted as it was previously running LPG.

Its around $2500 for parts/machining, plus we will do the assembly. (Assembly quotes were another $1200-1500).

In the end its a far more expensive rebuild than we were hoping, but id rather spend $2500 on the engine than $1200 on a 304 EFI motor and $1200-1500 on an engineering cert. Lets just pray that there are no issues getting this engine registered (I have already spoken with vicroads, the historic car club and the mechanic who'll be doing the RWC).

Cheers

[Woodchukka]

Thanks for spending the time on the write up Errol. Was a great read. Had a chuckle seeing so many pistons, valves, etc all lined up. A lot of work cleaning there.

[feistl]

MEGA Update time:

So as before, I am posting this stuff up in logical order rather than chronological order as we often swap between jobs while waiting for parts etc. It’s easier to follow this way, but sometimes you’ll see stuff done in the photos that isn’t explained until later in the thread. That is also partially why I update every 6-8 weeks, as it allows everything to be posted in a logical order rather than jumping around in chronological order as the work is actually completed.

So starting point… Finished fixing up the VY Wagon… Replaced the rear subframe and got the diff fixed up. I’d say when it was rebuilt the first time they didn’t change the bearings… He changed the bearings this time and gave me the old ones, which had done many many miles. Vast improvement now, at certain speeds with the rear seats down I can hear some slight noise, but not normally noticeable.





Got a bunch of the V8 flywheels machined (For the Chev 350 and Holden 304s, One had damaged ring teeth so didn’t use it. Had a replacement for it anyway)



Engine Time:

Firstly, managed to sell the Chev 400ci for a good price, although I did have to deliver it to Ararat (6 hour round trip). Luckily it fits in the back of the wagon, so the drive wasn’t too bad.

Here are some pics from the ad…

[feistl]

Chev 350:

The block/heads came back from the machine shop and was happy with the quality/price of the work.





Started by putting the block on the engine stand and giving it a coat of paint.





Installed the cam/welsh plugs (all orange paste used during the build is Threebond 1207C)



















Installed the new camshaft (204/214 .422”/.444” @ 112LSA) first, as it’s easier to guide in without the crank in the way.

[feistl]

Gave the block a wipe down



Installed the rear main seal (It was a special seal with an offset lip as the crank had wear where the normal main seal goes, so may have leaked. The new seal goes against a “fresh” part of the crank and wont leak).





Installed the main bearings and lubed everything up







Then dropped the crank in place (You can see how the new offset seal works)





And installed the main caps (Torqued and marked with a red dot)





Checked to make sure the crank spins over nicely and freely, once we were happy we moved on to assembling the pistons/piston rings.