1973 FJ40 Bucket List Build

I finally got my hands on a 1973 FJ40 with the stock F 155 engine with the 3 speed transmission. It starts right up and runs great. The frame is in great shape - basically preserved in the NM desert for the past 49 years.

new shoes as of mid September:



inside looking good ...

 

Passed inspection and titled!!

Ditched the doors until I cut them down to match the rear height. New side mirrors since I don't have doors. It's actually running quieter now than a week ago. I think it's working out some gunk. Looking forward to fluid replacements over the weekend.

 

TODO for inspection - PASSED

• DONE get the horn to work
• DONE rebuild the seatbelt so it latches when stressed or get another
• DONE get the parking brake to work

 

I want one soooooo bad. Congrats!

 

Thanks. I’m pumped. I have a few things to knock down to pass inspection- wiper blades, fix the brake lights, high beam indicator and the horn - and then looking forward to putting a few miles on it and slowly fixing / upgrading where necessary.

 

Finally cut the square doors -- much better in my opinion. I added the writeup in the welding page: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/anything-welding.113957/page-1140#post-27207713

 

Adjust the valves. Easy but you WILL have issues if you don't adjust them occasionally. Just need to pop the cover and either a 10 or 12mm wrench, screwdriver and feeler gauges.

 

slowly but surely -- definitely a long term project. I was able to fix the exhaust leak and it drives MUCH quieter. But it is still sputtering / backfiring out the exhaust so I think I'm back to dialing in the carb. it has an old delco remy distributor (old chevy disti I think) and I got an OEM to put in its place. So when I get back and find a bit more time I'm going to replace the distributor, check the valves and re-adjust the carb ... and see where I stand. It drives fine around the neighborhood and town but if I need full throttle (hills) I run into the sputtering issue.

 

That is an awesome find! Would love to have one. Actually my bucket list item is a 77 Ford Bronco but the prices have skyrocketed.

 

Yes the prices are crazy. these and the broncos seem to range from fully built and priced to the point where you'd be scared to take it out of a garage to still overpriced but lacking an engine with rust holes all over the body and frame. I feel I lucked into this one, although patience pays off -- I've been casually looking for about 5 years). But it is still way overpriced to something like an old CJ.

A friend down the street has a rebuilt old Bronco that will likely never see dirt ... but is awesome to putz around town. I'll share a pic next time I see her.

 

New wheels and tires on the 40 last week. I put the rear suspension in and will get to the front soon. I have about 1" of fender trimming in the rear and it will be set. I took the old struts out - compressed them manually ... and they simply remained compressed. As you can imagine, it rides a ton better now.

 

Sweet 40. Im engine swapping my '74 FJ40 that had its engine lock up on me randomly. Yours is in much better condition than mine was after rescuing it out of field after 25 years.

 

This one sat in a guy's yard in Las Cruces for almost 20 years and was a ranch truck in Mexico before that. The desert sure is nice, but there are plenty of gremlins to tackle. Needless to say I am learning a ton.

 

I've been battling engine stuttering / hesitation for awhile now. Definitely bad until warmed up and anytime under load in that 2800+ RPM range. Especially going up any incline. Timing is good. Compression good. Carb tuned per spec. Last night I changed the fuel filter with one I can see. I took the original off and couldn't blow through in to the out. It is clogged. I finally broke through but even after getting some flow it was still very tough. New filter - no more hesitation. I got up to 4k RPM for probably the first time. Perfect. 55 mph no problem. Incline no problem. I think I'm good.

BUT ... I look in the glass of the filter and there is clearly sediment building up. I think I have 2 options - clean tank or new tank. Either way I'll pull it at some point and investigate further. The filter can be cleaned ... and I added some seafoam so I'll go that route for now and observe.

 

I would keep a few of those clear filters in the glove box and change them out. Odds are the tank is rusting from the inside. Keep an eye on it and with running a few tanks through it may flush some of that crap out. New tanks are $$$$$. Filters are cheap.

 

Ordering a few extra filters now. The pic below is after 15 or so miles to/from work and around town.


Below are my own notes for reference -- but if anyone can add details or confirm / reject my assertions please have at it. Before changing the fuel filter, the basics were done:

• timing set 7* BTDC per spec.
• compression good ~125 across all cylinders. The spread across the 6 < 10 which is good by the book. Plugs look OK - definitely coated with soot about anytime I check, but I nothing terrible.
• carb tuned based on the manual - think the 'lean/drop method' with idle RPM about 700
• At this point, the vacuum pressure (I put a gauge in the cab) holds steady around 17 while idling and driving. It's not spiking. There is a very very minor leak at the where the header mates to the exhaust but it basically holds steady. It has been constant at 17 for some time now with the above numbers.

The only thing I changed from above is the fuel filter going on the theory the fuel delivery is the cause of the hesitation under load. This defintely resolve the hesitation, but my vacuum readings now sit around 13 and, while it doesn't hesitate / stutter, the overall power has definitely decreased.

Since I clearly now have better fuel delivery is it a given that I need to re-adjust the carb (to get my vacuum pressure back). I think that if you change timing, vacuum, compression or fuel delivery you need to tune the carb. Basically - I'd love confirmation on the following approach / order of operations and note anything that is clearly missing:

Verify the following:

1. verify / set timing
2. address vacuum leaks
3. ensure good compression
4. ensure good fuel delivery

If any of the above changes: progress in the following order

1. set timing
2. tune carb
3. verify timing

So for me I just changed fuel delivery and need to go back and adjust the carb -- hopefully getting the correct mixture and cranking up the vacuum pressure in the process.

 

... cleaned the fuel lines, tightened the exhaust gasket and re-tuned the carb. I also replaced the accelerator cable. It was frayed and the pedal down wasn't pulling the throttle enough. Now it runs better, but after about 30 miles vacuum went from 18 steady down to about 12 so it's pretty sluggish. The whack-a-mole game continues ... I tightened the vacuum weak point where the engine mates to the exhaust so I need to work through to find the source of low vacuum.

 

the 33x12.5 wouldn't fit on the rear tire carrier. I added a 2x2 bar to the base and it now sits where it should. We will see if everything holds up over time.

 

Awesome time wheeling yesterday with more pics in the tacoma build thread. I had the Tacoma at 10 psi and this at 15 psi. Next time I may bring these down to 8 -- it's just so light. I am now looking at solid options for a lower low range and F&R lockers. And I need to cut about 1/2" out of the rear fenders. I didn't push the 40 hard simply b/c I wanted to see if I could get to/on/from the trail. I put about 130 miles on the truck throughout the day.