First Cranking of Salty - 1973 FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser

I have not been slacking… only working, dealing with life and raising a child. In between found time to tinker with Salty. Here is the next chapter of the story…..

Since the weather finally improved in Oregon (relatively) and I was able to finish up the Land Rover gearbox install. It was time to find a nice tow truck driver that was daring enough to move Salty from the storage place into the garage with a very short and very steep driveway. Here is what the poor kid had to go through. He got it in with nothing broken or damaged.

 

My biggest fear was that water jacket would be all plugged up since I could see crystals and crunchy hoses.

 

Luckily this was only limited to the aluminum thermostat housing.

Removed the plugs and gave it a good Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) treatment over a period of a month. Few squirts of MMO in each of the cyl’s every Saturday morning.

 

 

Then I moved to taking apart the whole cooling system and the parts ordering started. First sign of victory was when I had green liquid all over the garage floor. I was so sure that it would be all gummed up inside the block that I did not even prepare a catch bucket. Never have been happier in my life to mop up a mess! 

Removed the side drain and noticed a solid jam. Bummer, I thought I was done for at this time and the victory was short lived. Started picking at it and it was like a flood gate had been opened, suddenly the dam broke and I was drenched again in coolant. Another happy moment. This 40 has been taken care of where it mattered. The crusty part was only at the outlet, once cleaned it was free flowing.

Was able to find this awesome contraption on Amazon (made by Mityvac), hook it up to city water and compressor and you can control both the water and air. Dropped off the radiator for a recore at a local shop (Mac’s). Bypassed all the heaters, removed the thermostat. Set up an engine block flush line using bits and pieces of hoses and PVC and cycled enough water/air through the block to get clear water flowing out of the block drain.

 

I have never rebuilt a Holley (carb it came with) so it was a 1^st for me. Plenty of experience with Strombergs, Zenith’s and SU’s. Bought a parts kit off eBAY, cleaned up everything and put it back together reusing jets with new gaskets. No extra parts left (always a good thing). Good enough to get to a first start. Did put in a new acc’ pump old one was crusty enough to crack in my hands.

Put back the Radiator with new hoses, filled with the correct mix of coolant.

Replaced oil filter and oil 20W50 (since it had plenty of MMO mixed in by now). Saved a quart of oil that I poured over the valve train to pre-lube.

Filed/cleaned the old points (they will have to do for now) with a dab of silicon grease under the rubbing block.

Cleaned and gapped the old plugs (they should be good enough for now).

Made sure all the HT cables were clean and snug at the coil and disti cap.

Cleaned the battery/ground terminals.

New battery from COSTCO.

Checked static timing (it is close enough).

Hooked up a temporary gas tank connected to a new fuel pump (did not want to take a chance with a leaking pump that would contaminate the oil). Can rebuild the old one, if I can find a kit for it for a spare.

Dropped in about a teaspoon of 20W50 oil in each of the cyl’s.

Made sure transmission was in neutral and so was the transfer case. Just for security chocked the wheels too.  

Removed the HT cable from coil and it was time to crank it. I had rotated the engine many times over the last month or so using a crank handle that fit perfectly (it was from the Land Rover). Unfortunately, you can only do it when the radiator was out.

The day had come for it to get fuel and electricity flowing through it again.

 

Here is the real owner of Salty cranking it for the first time since 2006.

 

 

These things have got to be bullet proof. Here is proof, old Land Cruisers never die. My son running it.

So excited for the next chapter.

  

 

 

And here is my contribution to what the PO left there for me to find. Underneath the seats and fuel tank. The best one (270 Win)

 

 

The complete collection (minus the sunflower seeds, pine needles and dog hair).

 

Until next time.

 

To do:

Paint and install a CCOT gas tank that just arrived.

Get the brake and clutch system rebuilt.

Rebuild the knuckles and steering system.

Search for some old school skinny/tall tires to fit the original rims.

 

But this is also fishing and camping season in Oregon so progress will be slow. 😊

 

Sunstones, Pronghorns and Geological wonders

What better way to start the summer of camping after being in the house due to COVID for most of the year than to go on a road trip of Oregon. We had decided that we must try our luck at searching for the state gemstone, Sunstones after enjoying our trip to Glass Butte in search of obsidian. We also had seen the pronghorn antelopes on a pervious trip through Nevada so decided to combine that with travelling on one of the scenic byways and visiting Fort Rock, Christmas Valley and other sites on the way.

First stop was going to be Hole in the Ground. Got lost while searching but found another couple that were also searching for it and after a couple of dead ends, ultimately we all got there None of the maps we had were good enough. Need better GPS and mapping software for next trip.

 

After that a quick lunch and break at the Christmas Valley Golf Course/Library park and off we went to look for Crack in the Ground. Drove on the dirt road for eternity but never reached the spot. I didn’t air down (mistake) and that jarred every bone and filling. Better maps and preparation for next trip. Fort Rock was very nice and we enjoyed our short hike there.

 

 

We then drove down to Lakeview enjoying the history and the small towns on the way.

 

 

 

 In Summer Lake stopped at the Summer Lake Store and chatted with the gentleman working there about his 1976 280Z and fishing in the area.

 

 

He recommended to drive up Mill Road in Paisley and try the Chewaucan River there, which we did and landed 3 fish in the 10” range and a few long distance releases in half hour of fishing. Nice small river with fish hungry for BWO’s.

 

Next day we took off in search of the BLM Sunstone Collection Area in the Rabbit Hills section of Lake County. I had better maps, but the local signage was sufficient.

 

 

After only an hour of gathering within sight of the camp area (that was full) we had found enough and started our drive towards the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge (near Plush OR).

 

 

  

Checked out the refuge and put on our list for next time a hike out to the Petroglyph Lake. We were not prepared this time.

Stopped at the Werner Wetlands Wildlife viewing area and saw these amazing weaver birds going in and out of their nests (does anyone know what bird it is?).

Maybe camp at the Refuge CG next time and hike in from the trailhead on way to the Refuge HQ. Twice saw pronghorn bucks but either I was headed in the opposite direction or they disappeared before I could pull over and get the camera out. Except for this mama pronghorn that just stood posing for us and then slowly walked away. In any case junior was able to see them along with many deer and quails. We will have to see about the Hunter Ed' card that he recently received from the state. :-)  

 

 

Returned via Plush back to Lakeview and enjoyed some local ice-cream at the Burger Queen. Our dinner of burgers from the same place the previous night was great. For breakfast we went to Tall Town Cafe and bakery and before leaving grabbed drinks and snacks at the High Desert Coffee.  Both places we enjoyed and met some great people there.

 

Junior commented that the people are so friendly, even the somewhat tipsy gentleman we ran into on our after dinner walk through town even said hello. 😊

Until the next adventure….. Ah yes, work on Salty still continues whenever I can find time, have extra $’s to buy parts and not be the chauffeur for a budding soccer goal keeper!

 

1973 FJ40 - An Introduction

 

Having spent my early childhood travelling around the northern areas of Pakistan, there was always a special place for Toyota’s FJ40 Land Cruiser in my heart. While my father was working on the Karakorum Highway (KKH) that the Pakistan Army Frontier Works Organization (FWO) was responsible for, the FJ40 was the most popular mode of transportation. I remember not wanting to travel in the “Russian Jeep” (Gaz) and always wanted to drive around in the FJ40’s. CJ5's were the other common mode of transportation back then mostly used by the civilian population.

 Pictures like this from that era kept that desire to get one someday. I was following Toyota’s development of the FJ Cruiser (“It has daddy’s eyes”). In 2007 having saved enough money and looking for a new vehicle for an expanding family I drove-off the local dealer’s lot a brand new (only new car for me to date) a Titanium Silver ‘07 FJ Cruiser. We brought our son home when he was born in that and still have it to this day.

As usually happens, then life happened. Many changes and then I got into British cars, but always had a soft spot for the true Land Cruiser, the FJ40. Having completed all the hard work on the Jaguar and the Land Rover, in the summer of ’20 aka COVID induced late night web surfing, I once again started searching for an FJ40. Well my current car projects were done and for my “therapy” and sanity 😊 I needed another car project to keep me busy. The search took me and my son (he is a great sport) all over the region and into the neighboring state. Looked at over a dozen vehicles – all the way from vehicles offered on BAT to backyard restorers to professionals selling FJ40s to many Craigslist ads. My requirements were simple; I wanted something that still needed work (to keep me busy), was as original as possible (no conversions – except for 3 to 4 speed), minimal rust and had to be between 1970 to 1974. Why?  because the Jag is ’70 and the LR is ’72. I am stuck in the early ‘70’s era and I love comparing technology from a particular era. We met so many nice owners, so many wonderful stories a and heard so much history, that we could probably write a short book. But the most wonderful was when we met Don.

The story of Salty.

In middle of October one such search took us to Oregon’s north coast and we met Don. In 1973 24 year old Don walked into the local dealership and purchased an Aug’73 build date FJ40, because the Jeep dealer in town would not sell him one. All his buddies were buying Jeeps at that time. For the next 33 years, this was his rig. It took kids to school, went on deer and elk hunting trips in the coast range and performed all kinds of chores expected of a fine off-road vehicle. In 2006 since it was now showing its age and looking tattered in some areas was driven into the garage located under his house and parked until our phone call and visit in October.

My son and I drove up the Oregon coast to look at the FJ40 after talking with the owner over the phone. We drove up his property and he let us into the garage and it was love at first sight. 😊 An original owner FJ40 was smiling at us.

I poked around the vehicle, looked at all the items he had kept all these years. The original wheels and tires. The complete original tool kit with the grease gun, factory FSMs and owner’s manual. I asked him why he was selling and his answer, “I don’t know if I will ever get to make this run again and I don’t want to sell it to someone who will trash it”. Though it made me sad initially, I found solace in knowing that this owner appreciates his vehicles and has a bond with them just like I do and maybe I can get this back on the road again. I told him that I was looking for one so I can get it ready for my son to take his driver’s test in 3 years with it. Not so easy with the Jag and the Landy. That is when we started the story telling. If I had not already fallen for this smiling FJ40, then it happened every time he told us something about it. How he used to pull his buddies out with the winch, how he pulled the elk after a successful hunt, the litter of Golden Retrievers he brought home in it. He shared his whole family went to U of O and I shared that me and my family for two generations have been OSU grads. I made an offer and he said he would think about it and get back to us. After a couple of weeks passed, I texted him and got no response and I moved on. Looked at another couple of FJ40’s and I got busy with removing the gearbox and transfer case from the Landy (it was fine – I just “thought” it was a bit notchy 😊 – more to keep me busy over the Thanksgiving break). Cyber Monday I get a text from Don, “Are you ready to buy it?”. I text back: “I thought the Ducks losing to the Beavers this year turned you off and you did not want to sell to me!”. He tells me no, he was out hunting but now back in town and I better come get it before he changes his mind. He even gives me the contact info for a local towing company that can move it for me. I make the necessary calls to arrange the move and the following weekend my son and I are back in the garage with Don. He had pulled out the FJ40, gathered up all the parts he had saved for the last 47 years. Tow truck guys shows up, a real character himself that has actually hunted with the owner in this very vehicle since the late 70’s. Then the neighbor shows up and starts telling us of the adventures they had since the late 70’s in it. Seems like everyone in the county has a story to tell about this vehicle. I am so lucky to have met the owner and his Land Cruiser. I cannot say enough good things about the owner and feel immensely grateful for having met him and him agreeing to let me take care of it next. He comes from a long-time mariner family from the Northern Oregon coast. I am happy to say that the vehicle was safely transferred to my home base in the suburbs of Portland. The tow truck driver told me that he was flagged down twice on the drive by people offering to buy the Land Cruiser.

 

So, what is in store for this. First would be to get it running and then keep it as original as possible. I have plenty of projects going on, including raising a child alone, so things move a bit slowly and I have ~3years to get things ready. Slow and steady wins the race!

It has not been started since 2006, but the PO had been turning the engine over by hand, so nothing is frozen up. I still plan to follow the Marvel Mystery Oil regimen. Of course, all fluids will be replaced, same with the filters, cleaning of the water jacket. Clean and seal of the fuel tank, clean the radiator, change the plugs, points, clean the carb (it has a Holley), new tires and see how the engine fires up. After that will come a rebuild of the steering system (all the tie rods), knuckles and then the rebuild of the brake and clutch system. I can already see the similarities between the Land Rover front end components and the FJ40 and the famous pre-load and shims……. That will give me enough time to read all the on-line forums, look at other build videos, search out the most economical parts suppliers, etc. After all the mechanicals are done and it is running well would I move on to the body.  I would really like to keep the patina on this one. Except, the rear needs help. Even though I am an ok welder using MIG, maybe I will seek out someone in the local area to help me with that part or just practice a lot on thin gage sheet metal before delving into it. If anyone wants to help, feel free to contact me or pass on a local resource info. Even though more recently I have been focused on British vehicles (plenty of rust there too) and Lucas electrics, I grew up in the 80’s, tinkering with all the family cars. The Datsun 120Y/B210/180B, Mazda 1300, 808, Toyota Corona, Corolla, and a whole host of other Japanese models. Staring at the Toyota engine bay it is all coming back and a lot of familiar stuff. One thing is for sure, I need to pick up more tools. Yipieee… it is not SAE and Whitworth anymore. Now time to get more metric tools!

The day we picked up

Some of the pictures the original owner (Don) sent me with the original captions from him.

 

My favorite hunting partner

Having a beer in the LC on a rainy afternoon

A successful hunting trip

 

Rehashing hunting season with friend

Oh, if you are wondering about the name “Salty” that we have chosen for the FJ40, I am sure you guessed the mariner connection from the coast and my son has been naming all our cars since he was a baby. Yep, Thomas the Tank Engine characters….. there is Molly (Jag), Henry (Land Rover), Spencer (FJ Cruiser) and now Salty. I did not even come close to using my allocated budget. I definitely could have spent more on a much nicer vehicle, but never saw one that was a single owner. Salty will be sharing the garage space with three other single owner vehicles. 😊 Till next time….keep smiling.

In praise of simplicity and the humble 3-Way RV Fridge

 

3-Way Norcold 323T RV Fridge

 

 

Since we bought our new to us 2002 Hawk ~ 5 years ago, we never used the Norcold 323T 3-way fridge for anything other than as a storage cabinet. With many trips to nearly all the western National Parks and camping/fishing outings the trusty green Coleman was always our go-to cooler. Many a bags of ice were poured down it always ready hatch. This COVID time with working from home gave me some ideas and one weekend I decided to take the Norcold apart and give it a really good cleaning. The many videos and posts on various websites helped provide the basics. Cleaned out the chimney, made sure all the previous charred residents have been evicted and all the orifices cleaned up with compressed air. After thoroughly cleaning up the burner area, I applied a match thru the tiny window and was thrilled when the blue flame caught on and burned with a nice blue flame. I tried lighting it with the piezo starter and was even more amazed when it worked perfectly every time. If the flame did not catch, I lit up the stove inside for 30 sec to purge the gas lines and every time it has fired up. This purging is especially handy after tank refill. We decided to use this on our next camping trip to our favorite high desert site in Oregon. Well, it worked so well that during the night it froze the milk (night time cab temp was 70F and inside the fridge was 25F – reminder for next time to use the LOW setting!). My 12 year old kept a log (nice math practice for him to log data and even plotted a trend). We noticed that when the camper  temp was  hovering around 85F, inside the fridge was 41-43F. We used a small wireless Accurite thermometer with remote sensor that I put inside the fridge.

Since someday I want to upgrade to either a newer model of Hawk or my ideal camper the Alaskan 6.5’ CO ( anyone have either of those to sell, feel free to contact me 😊 ) I don’t plan to put any solar in this camper nor buy those fancy $$$’s expensive batteries (yet). Neither do I have plans to be obsessive over battery power, usage, Bluetooth modules and shunts! I am keeping all those extra brain cells to convince those little red band trout to accept my fly or me getting better at stream side entomology.  Also living in the PNW, solar is somewhat limited and where we go, either we are seeking out shade during the day or there are clouds (perfect for BWO hatches). Now that propane is working so well, I wanted to try out a small experiment since the 3-way are power hogs on 12V. I have always wanted to upgrade the trailer plug wiring to improve the battery charging from the truck alternator (and battery) to the camper battery. The most optimal way and granted a bit of an overkill for our particular situation (details below) is to go to heavier gage wire direct from the truck battery for the minimal power usage we have.

I picked out the Renogy 20A DC-DC charger. This is a basic unit and a good way to get camper battery to charge from the truck.

Here is the set up I ended up with for my usage:

Ram 2500 Tradesman (2016) single battery set up. 4G welding cable positive from the truck battery terminal goes 8” into a 30A mini-ANL fuse, after another 6” goes into a 60A circuit breaker w/push to reset that I can use to cut power if needed. Then it goes to the back of the pick up bed and terminates in a Anderson Pole connector rated at 120A. The negative cable (4G welding wire) same as positive goes from truck negative terminal to the Anderson plug. Both cables follow the factory harness path and are shielded in their own split loop and zip tied to the factory loom (away from any moving parts and exhaust which is on the right side of the truck anyway). From this Anderson connector, a 4G dual cable and sense wire (tied to the 7 pin plug power for 12V+ sense) goes into the camper battery compartment. For this part of the wiring I used a good quality 4G battery jumper cable and cut off the alligator clips. Both cables (+/-) go directly into the Renogy 20A DC-DC charger. The output +ve goes to a 60A fuse and then to the camper battery.

Camper battery is a Optima Blue Top (66Ah). Our power usage is very minimal. 2 LED lights (0.5A) , exhaust fan (0.8A) amps while cooking, water pump and porch light (0.12A).  The output from the camper battery both +/- are fused at 30A to the camper power distribution block. The battery also gets charge from the old style IOTA DLS-30 (remember this is a 2002 model Hawk) when connected to AC.

What I really wanted to do was; run the 3-way Norcold off the camper battery while driving and continue to charge the battery at the same time, with minimal worries (apologies to those infatuated with solar set ups, large battery banks 😊 ). BTW, the Norcold pulls in 10.1A when on 12V DC  and I think we have been successful at that so far.

 

 

 

Just returned from our maiden voyage (more data collection will happen over future trips). Here is what we did.

Started the Norcold on AC at home 4-5 hours before we were expected to leave. Put in all of our pre-cooled food into the fridge that was already at 41F. Disconnected AC, switched the fridge to 12V DC and took off for a 3hr drive to our fishing spot. Stopped twice on the way (25 min total for gas and drive thru lunch). At the campsite switched from 12V to propane on the fridge and it did not miss a beat. Plus I did not miss buying bags of ice or lugging the cooler. We repeated the process on the way back. This time switching from propane to DC before leaving camp.

For the electrically minded, the Renogy is a 20A max unit, so nothing too crazy or dangerous. When outputting the max 20A, the input side is supposed to max out at 30A.  We have only done this once, this last weekend which was the hottest days in the PNW (Beaverton hit 100F) and there was no issue with the cooling. I know some of the folks run their 3-way on propane all the time while travelling. I did not want to bother with the flame shields, the auto relighters or switching it off before going to a gas station with an open flame. I used it as the 3-way was built, on AC, DC and propane and found it worked well for my situation. YMMV. Now if I can remember to check and clean the propane burner once per camping season, I think this will work for me.

Oh BTW, if you have a newer Alaskan or Hawk for sale, send me a note. 😊 Happy travels.