A Time For Blind Faith

Hey All.
It's been a while since the last update to this blog but things have been developing with only a few minor hiccups.  It turns out a bolt in the carrier of the rear differential is somewhat prone to deformation and/or breakage.  The same damage was found in the rear end of both the '72 and the '76.  Weird, hey?  Anyway, I got a used carrier and pin from Man-a-Fre for $75 and I'm having it shipped directly to L & D Transmission to finish the axles with 4.56 gears and the Aussie locker.

When I walked in to Larry's shop after I rolled the '76 Land Cruiser, it was to get a copy of a receipt for the exhaust work they had done so I could give it to the insurance company.  I still had all my stitches in and felt pretty bad mentally and physically.  As you might recall, Larry told me if I wanted to rebuild, I could bring the two trucks to his shop and he'd do all the work for free.  I couldn't believe it and I thought it would be too good to be true.  Larry explained that he appreciated my service in the Navy and that "working on a car" is the least he could do.
Holy crud.
This blog is proof that Larry means what he says.

So this is where I bid my adieu as I deploy today for several months.  I obviously won't be able to update the blog while I'm out and, frankly, I won't have any idea what's going on with my beloved Land Cruiser while I'm gone anyway.  I've dropped off all the stuff I've got, left some useful website info for parts, and given a full vote of confidence to Larry Dempsey and his guys at the shop.  Right now I still have stacks of parts, piles of tires, and an engine on the stand but it really has been remarkable to see the work that's been done and the transformation of the two FJ40's.

As active duty military, it's hard to leave your home and your family to support what can often times seem like an abstract purpose.  The kind of support and generosity that the folks at L & D give has shown me - as well as a lot of members of my crew - has helped me to remember that our efforts support this country's way of life.  This has become a lot more tangible since this project has begun - and for that I am very grateful.

Talk to you all when I get back...

The Product of a Whole Lot of Thought

As you can imagine, there has been a ton of research that has gone into the parts that are going into this Land Cruiser.  I've slipped up a couple times along the way and ordered incorrect stuff but, for the most part, everything is going in just fine.  One place I may have erred (though this is debatable) is with my selection of cam and lifters.  Apparently, the Comp Magnum Cam I got requires a bit of modification to the heads of the 400 small block engine.  Larry sent the heads off to a machine shop up in Brunswick and they came back with a bill for $380.

Crud.

$380 might not seem like a ton of money for engine work but, after tallying up the total cost of the project, every little bit of unanticipated expense is a kick in the hooha.  Anyway, as with any project, a few extra costs are part of the process.

I've also done a lot of research into the tire/wheel setup for the FJ.  Previously I had 37" IROK bias ply tires on the '76.  They were great but they did pull a lot and the super soft compound caused them to wear out early.  On my 2007 FJ Cruiser, I had 35x12.50x18 ProComp mud terrains.  They lasted forever and had really impressive traction off road.  Unfortunately, they don't make them in sizes larger than 35" for a 15" rim.  I ordered a set of 37" Toyo mud terrains but, as fate would have it, Mother Nature didn't want me to have that tall of a tire so she put major delays in Toyo's distribution system with an earthquake and a tsunami.  I thought that was pretty excessive but the message was not lost on me.

I went with the original suspension shackles from the '72 instead of the 2.5" extended shackles on the '76 I had rolled.  In doing so, I lowered the stance a bit which allows a smaller tire to fill the wheel well.  I made a trip to 4 Wheel Parts in Jacksonville and opted to get the ProComp mud terrains again.  I had them mounted and balanced on a ProComp series 152 steel wheel.  The result is a tire/wheel combo that weighs in somewhere around a gajillion pounds.  As a reference, they're much lighter than the old 37" tire combo I ran.

Finding the right wheel was a trick in and of itself in that the stock Land Cruiser rim was a 15x8 wheel with 6x5.5 bolt pattern.  They had a large center bore and a 3.5" offset.  The ProComps I went with are 15x10 inch wheels with a 3.75" offset.  They barely clear the tie rod on the '72 but had a little more clearance on the '76 with the disc brake set up.  I've learned that I definitely would not go with more than a 3.75" offset with the stock steering components.  Anyway, here's a picture of the wheels and tires along with a bunch of the other junk in my garage.

If you see anything in the background you might want, chances are pretty good it's for sale!

That's it for the build for now.  As a side note, I read an article in the latest issue of Off-Road Adventures yesterday about an event to help Gulches Off Road park in Laurens, SC.  The recession has hit the off road industry pretty hard and the folks at Gulches are no different.  Skip Wilkenson and his wife own the park and they are really great people.  Whether you've got an extreme rock-crawler, bogger, or a stock pickup or jeep, the park is top notch and has every level of difficulty available.  If you have the opportunity to visit Gulches, please make the trip.  I've even got a video on youtube from my trip there in my 2007 FJ Cruiser.  That's Skip you see spotting me.

A Shift In Vision, a Vote, and a Confirmation

So Larry at L&D has been great about this whole project and offered to paint the FJ40 too.  As you may recall, my original vision was to combine a rat rod, the family station wagon, and the Grave Digger.  I think I'll still be able to nail 2 of the 3.  With the new paint job, I believe the truck will be slightly more refined than a rat rod.  I'm almost sad to get a nice paint job but this Land Cruiser is going to be really top notch when it's done.  I've been really thinking hard about what color to do and I think I've narrowed it down to a few options:

Snowman white.

I think it would look something like this.

Cubbie Blue.

Here's my old Cubbie Blue car.  I miss it a bunch.

Dinosaur Brownish.

Like this.

Or some kind of silver or gray color again.

What a pickle.  If you have a preference, let me know and you'll probably help me decide!

Lastly, I'd like to wrap up the loose end concerning the big winner between the blog photos.  In case you're not up to date, I had two consecutive posts to gauge how marketable different photos were in terms of traffic to the blog.  The first was of Laya Bella:

And the second was of Schlitz beer:

Not surprisingly, Miss Bella beat out the beer.  As an interesting note, however, these two posts were the most popular pair by a really wide margin.  Haha!  I would click on these pictures too.  For a blog about rebuilding an old truck, it's funny how few people will read the post if it's accompanied by a picture of the vehicle itself.  Weird, hey?  This week we'll see how Frosty fares.

Next post will have pictures of the newly assembled transmission and transfercase as well as the engine as it comes back together...

A Study In the Parts of the Car That Connect the Wheel Thingies to the Dooliejab

A note to those who have followed this blog:  As you may have gleaned from this post's title, the following is highly technical.

So stuff doesn't fit right.  I'm not horribly surprised really.  Toyota changed the FJ40 fairly substantially between 1972 and 1973.  They also had a transitional period between 1973 and 1975 where they combined new parts and old parts together before it was all new in 1976.  Weird, hey?  Combining a '72 and a '76 figured to have some bumps but it's kind of interesting to see what unexpected hiccup pops up.  I believe I've sorted through the nonsense and have even come up with a few different avenues for those who are trying to combine an early and a late model Land Cruiser. 

My original plan was to use the entire driveline from the '76.  The motivation was that the '76 has a good 4 speed transmission that can take me on the highway while the '72 has a 3 speed that will get me run over.  The '76 axles are a little stouter and the differentials have a 4.11 gear ratio while the earlier ones had a 3.70.  With bigger tires, I would prefer the 4.11.  Plans change, however, as facts begin to present themselves.

As the wrecked '76 was being pulled around from the back of the shop, I noticed an interesting phenomenon.  One rear wheel was rotating in the opposite direction as the other.  I don't claim to be an automotive genius, but I did get an engineering degree - the labors of which have given me the education and background to assess the vehicle as being crapped up.  My diagnosis was affirmed as I overheard one of the mechanics make the comment to his pal,  "whoa, that things crapped up."
Upon closer inspection, the drive shaft had been jammed into the differential and had snapped off such that half of the pinion gear was inside the differential precisely 90 degrees off of its designed orientation.  "Yup, that's crapped up," I thought.  Just in case, we took off the differential housing and cover for look-see. 

For those of you who may not be familiar with some of the technical jargon I've used thus far, I've included photos of what a "crapped up" differential looks like. 

As a rule, it is undesirable to see shiny metal chunks and massive gouges in gears with relatively tight tolerances.  This is a good thing to keep in mind regardless of the application...

The decision was made to use the rear axle out of the '72 and everything else from the '76.  This required a little creativity.  I got 4.56 gears for both differentials and master install kits.  I got a locker for the rear differential and I picked up cool flanges from cruiser outfitters in Sandy, UT that fit on the fine spline aftermarket pinion.  I was pretty cranked because they have the bolt pattern for both early and late model drive shafts.  They make the flanges for the transfercase side too so I'll be able to run my newly ordered drive shafts full time with the ones from the '72 as a freely interchangeable standby. 
In a word, bitchin'. 
For you Land Cruiser buffs, I found a cool kit at JT Outfitters that allow you to mate the early model transfercase to the 4-speed transmission.  It's about $135 and allows you to run the 2.3 low end ratio of the early model instead of the 1.9 of the later ones.  I found this kit too late though and, alas, I now have two or three transfercases that I'll be able to squirrel away.

In a nutshell, I'll be using the late model front axle with disc brakes, the late model transmission, transfercase, and drive shafts, and an early model rear axle with the stock drums.  All the gearing will be perfect for the large tires and will still allow the truck to be comfortable on the street.  I'll have a locker in the rear for taking it off road and, when everything is put together with new seals and gaskets, it will be far less crapped up and, hopefully, all the wheels will roll in the same direction.

A Few Observations

So Blogspot.com tracks how many people view your blog and which country they're in and some other stuff that I can't imagine anybody cares about but it turns out there's a handful of people from France who have taken an interest in an old Toyota muscle truck build.  Pretty cool, hey?  Bonjour to you my Frenchy friends. 

Another interesting side note: I discovered this blog shows up on my facebook page accompanied by the photo in the post.  My last post had a picture of Laya Bella and, as it would turn out, I had the single biggest spike in page views since I started this buildup!  Haha!  I guess cars are cool but girls are better!  This time I might try another unrelated photo so as to rope in the target demographic:

Anyway, the engines have been pulled from both Cruisers and I feel like I've definitely made the right choice in terms of which engine to keep. Both trucks are pretty much gutted and we're ready to start doing the upgrades to the 400 small block. 

                                         Chevy 400 small block before upgrades

          '76 Land Cruiser underside with the guts out.  Yup that's the ceiling you see.

                        '72 Land Cruiser being used for nothing but storage - for now.




I sold the 350 for $500 which is a screamin' deal but now I don't have to worry about it.  I've also been able to sell the top and doors from the wrecked truck for a fair price too.  That helps me out with:
1. Buying more parts, and
2. Rationalizing my buying more parts
The roll cage from Metal Tech 4x4 got delivered today too.  Jeff at L&D is a bad dude fabricator and is going to weld it all up with frame tie-ins, front hoop, and stinger. 

So far my biggest concern has been the drivetrain for the new truck.  The '76 has better components but some stuff was wrecked in the accident.  What a pain.  The next post will go into the details of bypassing the compatibility issues between the two models.  Most people probably won't care but a few Cruiser buffs might be interested to know what I found out.  Au revoir mes amis.

p.s. In my verifying the French phrase above, I typed it into google and the following forum post popped up:

"Hi, I'm doing the radio show again tomorrow and this week I've got to do a "can't speak French" item on the zoo!

I think the following phrase is correct but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry! After all, I'm far from brilliant at French!

"Au revoir mes amis morts"
(I'm looking to say "goodbye my dead friends" - as in literally dead [they were eaten by leopards])

Thanks,
Dillins"

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

An Apology and a Small List of References, Resources, and Supplies

Well, it's been a while and, as with most automotive projects, this one is panning out to be a bit of a pain in my arse.  I'm sure it will be worth it though.  I've been able to look at close to every piece and part of both trucks to figure out which one will be used and which one goes in stand by.  I've settled on the following:

- '76 4sp transmission, transfercase driveshafts, axles, steering box, shocks, and uhhh, driver's side seat bracket
- '72 frame, body, steering components, leaf springs, and passenger's side seat bracket
- Chevy 400 small block engine
- Comp magnum cam, lifters and springs
- March pulley set (solely for looks, thank you very much)
- Rochester Quadrajet carburetor
- Full roll cage from Metal Tech 4x4
- 4.56 Sierra Gears for front and rear differentials
- Aussie locker for the rear differential
- Corbeau front and rear seats with 5-point harnesses in front, 4-point in the rear
- Wiring harness from EZ Wiring
- Body mount and bushing set from Energy Suspension
- Winch mount bumper from JT Outfitters
- Optima yellow top battery (why the hell not?)
- Warn m8000 winch
- 35x1250xr15 ProComp mud terrain tires
- 15x10 ProComp steel wheels

For those of you who don't care much about car stuff, this list is fairly mundane and boring.  For car folks though, this is a pretty fun lineup of stuff to have on one vehicle.  I will concede, it is all probably more interesting when it is all put together and, of course, that is the final destination of this project and blog.

I have received nearly all the parts listed above with the exception of a couple of items and whatever else I get a bug to pick up (hopefully not too much as my budget is dwindling).  I have fortunately been able to get a bunch of recommendations from the folks at L & D in addition to some good technical data from Land Cruiser buffs around the country and a few of my references.  I've consulted only the most reputable publications for my build.  These include Haynes manuals, Summit and Jegs catalogs, Off-Road Adventures, Hot Rod magazine (the girlie issue), and a couple Archie comics that have proven invaluable. 

- A quick note on the Hot Rod magazine, Laya Bella is pretty darned attractive and has been banned from the house so as to not distort my daughters' conception of the female form thus damaging their self image.  Haha!
 
All apologies to those readers who might be youthful and impressionable.


Anyway, I digress.  While tearing apart the '76, I've found a lot of issues that have popped up with the wrecked Land Cruiser that I didn't anticipate.  Both driveshafts have snapped along with the gears in the rear differential.  In all likelihood, the transfer case has gone south as well but I'm checking to see if it's salvageable.  In the mean time, I've purchased new driveshafts from www.cruiserparts.net as well as a transfer case off ebay.  It might work out where I have a ready spare.  This deluge of parts also means that I've got a ton of stuff that I won't be able to bring with us when we move.  I've been throwing a lot of stuff on craigslist.  If you know anybody that would like an entire driveline from a 1972 Toyota, you might refer them to this blog and perhaps they will owe you a drink or something.

The Engine Plan.

We're starting with the engine build and swap.  The FJ I rolled had a Chevy 400 small block engine with an Edelbrock intake manifold, Holley carb, and custom fenderwell headers dropping to dual exhaust.  The new FJ has a Chevy 350 with Edelbrock everything but block hugger headers that are a little rough.  Most hugger headers don't breathe much better than the stock exhaust manifold so the 350 has some upward potential by bolting up my headers to it.  I decided I liked the 400 engine a little better in the truck so we're going with that as the primary engine and boxing up the 350. 

Larry over at L&D thought that replacing all the seals, polishing up the valve covers and intake manifold and repainting the block would make it look like a brand new engine.  I agreed but thought a Comp magnum cam and new lifters, springs, and timing assembly would help too.  I get the feeling this thing is going to be scary fast when it's done...
We'll clean up the welds on the motor mounts in the good Land Cruiser, repaint the engine compartment, and swap the built and polished 400 into it.  Here's the spot this monster power plant is going in:

When the dust settles, this Toyota will be pushing around 400 hp.  That should be just barely adequate to make it to and from the grocery store!