1966 FJ40 build-up

[PARANOID56]

Originally Posted by swilson

I wish there were. I haven't turned a wrench on it since I got back to work. It'll be about another month before work will slow down enough for me to get back on the cruiser. I'm still planning on going to Surf n Turf though.

whatcha bringing to SNT?

Shane

[swilson]

I'll be in my F250...


Looking forward to this trip.

[swilson]

Things at work are finally getting back to normal... hopefully I'll be able to find a few hours each week to work on the '40 now. Today I finally got the radiator mounted. I used 8 high-temp rubber pieces (sourced from Custom Cruiser FJ40) to isolate the aluminum radiator from the steel mounts.

I figured out how I want to mount my electric fans... its gonna require TIG welding some aluminum tabs to the radiator, so I'll have to find some time to visit a fabrication shop to TIG it for me.

Looking forward to Surf N Turf. We'll be rolling in Friday... hopefully before 9pm.

[swilson]

Today I had a shop TIG weld aluminum flanges onto my radiator so I could mount the fans the way I wanted. I used Deral fans I got through Summit Racing. These pulled more CFMs and were thinner than any comparable fans I could find. They were designed to have the fans side by side... I took them a part, cut the shrouds so they fit together off-set, and bolted them back together. Then I used the built in slots with the aluminum flanges I had added and bolted the fans up to the radiator.

[Campy]

Lookin good

[calfj60]

Bout time you started workin on that thing again...you are running out of time there soon to be new dad!!!

[Toyoland66]

Looks awesome, I like your work, its very clean and K.I.S.S.

Are you planning on closing in the open spots on your radiator shroud?



I think it might help pull more air through the radiator

[swilson]

There are two small gaps created when I cut the shrouds a part and off set them... those small gaps will get closed up so the fans aren't recirculating any air. But as far as the open areas where the shroud doesn't cover... at least for now they will stay open. These fans pull a ridiculous amount of CFMs... I'll run it as is and if it turns out it has cooling issues then I'll rethink my shroud.

Thanks for the comments

[65SWB45]

Originally Posted by Toyoland66

Looks awesome, I like your work, its very clean and K.I.S.S.

x2! If that works out well [and I have a feeling it will] that looks marketable.

[ChevotaSS]

looks awesome man. giving me alot of good ideas on what i want to build next.

keep postin pics

[swilson]

Baby steps...

Bought some 4" elbows so I could attach the mass airflow sensor and filter as high as possible.




With the SM420 I had very little room left for the heater. I bought a Flex-a-lite Mojave heater since they're so small. Plus it is a heater core and blower all in one, which saves even more room under the hood.

Then I took out all the pieces for the cowl vent (since I won't have one... just a good place for rust to start and leaves to get stuck), cut out one of the reinforcement pieces behind the dash, and tucked the heater up as high as I could.

For mounting I just made brackets so I could use the factory mounting holes.

[swilson]

After experiencing a friend's Deckers's Hot Water Shower on the 'con a few years back, I had to put one on my FJ40. I used a plumbing mount from the hardware store to mount the heat exchanger.



Awhile back I started looking for a solution to putting a VSS in the drivetrain since my Vortec computer is setup to use one. Unless you're using the correct GM tranny (with the provision for a VSS built into it) or using certain Xfer cases where you can add one with some effort... you're outta luck.

I finally thought of mouting my VSS externally... and figured out I could get the 40 pulse per revolution signal from the All Pro disk parking brake I was using if I had a new rotor cut.

I paid a local laser cutting shop $100 for the layout work and cutting the rotor. Then I had it zinc plated. It came out pretty slick, and should work well.

[peesalot]

thats good tech. Where did you get the 4" 90's ?

[calfj60]

Scott....Looks great ....keep it up...

[LCOwner]

Originally Posted by peesalot

thats good tech. Where did you get the 4" 90's ?

Look on ebay

[Rat70FJ]

That disc/reluctor is a hell of an idea. I think it would be marketable.

[swilson]

Originally Posted by peesalot

thats good tech. Where did you get the 4" 90's ?

Got them from http://www.sparktecmotorsports.com

I couldn't find anyone with black ones in stock... though I see there is a guy on Ebay selling black ones right now. Oh well, I'm stuck with Rice Racer blue.

[CPOM]

I have used intakehoses.com for those parts.

[swilson]

Originally Posted by Rat70FJ

That disc/reluctor is a hell of an idea. I think it would be marketable.

Thanks. If anyone wants to sell it, feel free. I'm just thrilled to have a solution... and happy to share it in case it solves a problem for anyone else. I installed it today. I'm very pleased with it. I need to fab a mount for the VSS now, but I'll probably put it off until I take the tub off for paint.

[swilson]

Cruiser work has been slow lately... probably has something to do with lack of sleep. My 2nd daughter was born Jan 19.

Lately I've been filling more holes in the body... both factory holes I'm not using and previous owner created holes. Why do PO's insist on drilling so many holes?


The firewall has the most holes to fill.


I really should have taken a before-photo of the bizzar hack job the PO did to the A-pillar where the door opening limiter attaches. I have no idea why, it looked like he took tin snips and cut all around the hole and then took a hammer to what was left. WHY!!!??? It took some work get the new sheet metal welded in, along with the factory bracket welded to the backside of the A-pillar.


Finally patched the old holes in the tranny tunnel and cut my new shifter holes. I'm thinking cutting off the caged nuts that the factory used to attach the tunnel... they just seem like a great place for rust to hide. A couple of them had to be cut off just to remove the tunnel since the bolts/nuts were rusted together. I tought I'd replace them with nutserts. Anyone got a better idea?

[swilson]

The biggest patch was the cowl vent. Again... just seemed like a great place to catch leaves and for rust to start. Beneath the dash I removed all the hardware for the cowl vent, which gave me more room for mounting the Mojave Heater.

[hopzing]

That fuel cell is interesting. 28 gallons works for me! Thanks for all the photos and keep up the great work.

[calfj60]

Scott,

Keep up the good work.... Congrats and thanks for the pics....

[swilson]

It didn't exactly bolt right up but my Ford SuperDuty hydroboost is now on the firewall. The firewall looked like swiss cheese... 3 holes for the original MC, 4 holes for whatever MC was on there before I bought it, and 4 more holes I put in it for the hydroboost unit. Needless to say, the new bolt pattern was by far the biggest. I welded up all the old holes and smoothed out the firewall before the hydroboost went on.

For anyone not familiar with hydroboost, it uses hydraulic pressure supplied by the power steering pump for brake boost and offers much greater power than a vacuum setup.





I went to install the clutch MC I had bought any couldn't find it. I guess I'll be buying another. Are certain years better than others?

[72cruiser]

how much did that hydroboost setup run, if you don't mind me asking?
looks great to me...

malphrus