1984 FJ40 Restoration

[nOmS6]

@isiddique: Sir I had the relays installed for the stock lights when the wiring was done. I wouldn't know how they perform without the relay. The light was just not enough so I am guessing without the relays it would be even dimmer.

BTW, I love the new rear view mirrors you have installed on your FJ40. Any alterations or did they fit in the existing holes?

@tareen: Nice to hear from you bro, guessed you were away or something :). You are right about the alternate light fix. I got the Pajero lights yesterday (it has tubes) and the light is now good. Bright and strong.
You were spot on about the tires as well. The previous 265/70s in H/Ts didn't do justice to the rig. Although they were nice on metaled roads and for the engine running in period. One trip to the Ravi bed with Mr. Janj and I knew this had to be done. These MTs look good on the rig and as you say are quite "aggressive"

Found this person on the forums actually. The one I got the tires from. He's based in Karachi, City Tires. He also has General USA in 265/75 R16s in MTs. Those are nice as well. If you want I can forward the contact.

How is your restoration coming along? did you find the right engine so far? Bilal Gunj is quite on 13BT, though v lookin still

[isiddique]

Thank you. These are hinge mounted mirrors. Just remove the screws and mount the mirror arms in existing holes. No alteration required. Regards,

[tareen]

@nOmS6
Thanx brother. I was around but not active on the forums, just reading on & off.

I saw u'r fantastic leaping pics @ river. Thought to hold my comments until we speak. Yet, it was a great opening ceremony. One helluva picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/vsync/4x4%20Engaged%20-%2024-10-2010%20-%20saidhi%20cam/winch/IMG03074-20110410-0902.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/vsync/4x4%20Engaged%20-%2024-10-2010%20-%20saidhi%20cam/winch/1-1.jpg
What was the tire pressure at this time?

Among the very FEW things I don't like about J40's design are the leaf spring hangers, they will try to get engaged with every possible shrub & mound on the way.

The new tires are gorgeous. Awaiting the grabbing pics with them on the next trip.

Kindly do send me the contact name & number of the person @ City Tires. I think the same patterned tires are on @Saidhi's Defender also but the price mentioned at that time scary enough for a person like me. I'll most probably for for them for my 1st J40. For the second one I have already got 37" wranglers, I think I mentioned it to you earlier.

I visited Bilal Ganj a few days back on a very short trip to Lahore & couldn't find a single B series engine. Thats just amazingly frustrating. May be there is a different parts market for Coasters and B series engines will be there. Badaami Bagh may be! Any guesses?

Wassalam

[isiddique]

@Tareen bro let me know your progress in finding B series as well. I am in market too down the road. I am told Badaami Bagh is a better place for B series. Regards,

[nOmS6]

managed to take some pics of the roll cage today..

Family Cage made from 2 3/8in OD 3mm thickness tube. 1/2in jumbolon was pasted on the tube and then wrapped with same leatherite as used in the seats. The cage is bolted using 6mm thick 4in by 4in plates sandwiching the rear wheel tub at 4 points.
Purpose is to secure the rear cabin and the front seats in slow rollover. I wanted to but not have attached it to the frame yet. The joining for frame was made but felt no need to install as it is already quite heavy yet sturdy on current attachment. and I aint gonna race no rallies anyways

Ok. The radiator 'jali' was replaced. The new jali has 4 lines as compared to 3 from the original. I can now actually see through the radiator lets hope the overheating concern is over.
The steering play was also adjusted (reduced) to within an inch of play. Everyone driving was suggesting against the half wheel play. Proved a good idea as it allowed inspection of the whole steering assembly. The control arm aka 'steering kulfi' was found ready to get disassembled on its own. So it was repaired also.

The soft top is expected around Tuesday. lets see how it goes..
later

[jan87]

fj40 locking nice in pictures

[tareen]

@Tareen bro let me know your progress in finding B series as well. I am in market too down the road. I am told Badaami Bagh is a better place for B series. Regards,

@isiddique....regards brother. Out of the two ways, lets see which one works first:
1. we find a technically competent & reliable person in Lahore to go look something for us, OR

1. We go there by ourselves and do it but will still need a technically competent person .

My plan to visit Lahore is due sometime in mid May. Its a long time and hopefully will request someone meanwhile to help us out on that.

In case I'm able to source any or whatever, I'll definitely get back to you immediately.

Wassalam

[tareen]

and I aint gonna race no rallies anyways

[nOmS6]

Well... the soft top is finally installed.. thought should share the new pics.

It is made by Mr. Habib on Waris Road, off of Jail Road Lahore, near Toyota Sahara Motors. Hood is made of artificial leather used in double layer. The 2 sides and back are open able and are held by Velcro at top. I didn't want to use zips at all and wanted to use my own made Velcro but Habib was reluctant and has used zip for the open able pieces.

The hood is also still lose on the two sides. That is, nothing is holding/pulling down on the 2 sides. Habib wanted hooks and rod fixture and I wanted to use the genuine twist locks. Well, it is left without any for now. Given that I might go for an A/C soon and by judging the performance without side holds for now I think a better decision could be made. Ya'll suggest plz.

[tareen]

Nice design. In first sight it looks just original. And I like the two elements that makes it better than the original.

One is its large windows on all three sides and it will be a pleasure for the occupants to enjoy all around unlike original bunker windows. Secondly, its the discrete tapered rear end. Looks smart.

For the open sides, what I used was Velcro. One bonded to the body and the other sewn to the soft-top. Its still working perfectly after years of use in dust & rains.

[daudbros]

Thanks all for the appreciation. It does matter !!

@isiddique: Your FJ40 is an inspiration in itself. One of my favourites that I have seen on pakwheels. "tareen" and "FJ40"s among them. Thanks for sharing the carburetor experience. Inshallah, after bringing mine on road over this weekend we can share more detailed notes on carb tuning of FJ40

Ok.. so I found a new stock AISAN Carburetor the other day and replaced the old one. The engine said "thank you!" right away but as soon as we reved it up the same problem came back. The distributor timing was way out !! The mechanic who had been trying very hard to get the timing right had to be aided now. So out came the HAYNES MANUAL and we started checking the clearances and gaps according to the specifications.
Came out that the valve clearances were set all wrong. The distributor point gap was set wrong and the plug gaps were set wrong as well. So we adjusted all these according to the manual specifications and then timed the distributor. and VOLA ! engine started behaving great. Then the mechanic asked his "ustad" to visit and have a look. The old timer further fine tuned the engine and found that the point was not getting full current, so adjusted that as well and it all has come out great. Minor adjustments are required but those would be done after a running of 1000Km since the valves and seats and pistons and rings and sleeves are all new in engine and need some running to settle down.

The pics I posted in the last two posts are not showing. I do not know why! So here I am trying to post those and some new ones again. Lets hope they show this time.

The new Carburetor and the engine after tune up

The tub has been painted as well.. here are some random pics

Today, the floor carpet will be cut out, the front bumper will be installed the new seats will be installed and the ride will be ready for a spin !

And yes !! the most exciting part I saved for last I have been able to find the original Toyota Cruising Rims 1994 for my rig. Yohoo !! So in the evening, I will pick up those, get new tires mounted and install new wheels in the rigg as well !
Excited now for the weekend to come when I be extensive test riding the hard work of last 3 months !

NICE work looking great. My TLC-FJ40 needs to change Carb. You also installed In Karachi it's not available. Please advise where I can buy it and how much you paid ?

Regards

Ahmed Dawood Karachi

[nOmS6]

@tareen : thanks bro.. I agree with you on using velcro to hold open sides. I know it will hold fine. and now I have a confirmation from you as well. I think I will go with velcro as well.

@daudbros : sir, i got the new carb from Montgomery Road, Chughtai Autos. At that time he had both original Japani (AISAN) for 25K and the other one was Malaysian made for 15K. The latter works good as well. Their number is 03009444835. You can call them and check for availability. I am sure they will ship to Karachi as well or give you the contact in Karachi since most of their stuff for FJ40 is sourced from karachi.

[nOmS6]

While at work yesterday I decided to get the FJ40 up on my self made ramp and give it a thorough inspection from beneath and install one shield as well whose location no one was able to figure out.

Also, note the new primary head beams. They are from Mitsubishi Pajero and give better light than the stock ones. The new radiator jali can also be seen. The risk of over heating is minimized now.

Here are some pics..

and here is a view from underneath. The steering damper shock and the front tubes are visible here

The front left M/T, wheel assembly and the shock

Behind the steering assembly.. The shield that was finally installed is visible on the top left, protecting the distributor and same side of engine compartment. The two off road trips have already removed the paint from the bottom of the engine sump

The front look... notice the Pajero lights and the clean breathing radiator

and a view from behind

and from below

and some fun angles

I have already placed an order with Mr. Saqib, aka, @Janj for a Safari Snorkel to be installed. So I am eagerly waiting for its arrival and installation.

800+ Km have been put on the odometer so far and with 2 successful off road outings, the reliability factor is gaining strength. I will keep on testing till it's time to take the rig this July to Babusar Top and beyond via Naran. Interested travelers are welcome to join.

[daudbros]

Thanks for cell no. and prompt respond.

@tareen : thanks bro.. I agree with you on using velcro to hold open sides. I know it will hold fine. and now I have a confirmation from you as well. I think I will go with velcro as well.

@daudbros : sir, i got the new carb from Montgomery Road, Chughtai Autos. At that time he had both original Japani (AISAN) for 25K and the other one was Malaysian made for 15K. The latter works good as well. Their number is 03009444835. You can call them and check for availability. I am sure they will ship to Karachi as well or give you the contact in Karachi since most of their stuff for FJ40 is sourced from karachi.

[4X4X4]

Fantastic project...........

I rather suggest this raised suspension and 35" MT's for your BEAST!

[nOmS6]

Fantastic project...........

I rather suggest this raised suspension and 35" MT's for your BEAST!

Thanks for the kind appreciation. I wanted to restore to stock first and let need dictate all the mods n enhancements etc. Like already am putting a snorkel kit on it and a Warn 8000 winch is almost ready for installation. Then a complete 4 inch lift kit, 35" MTs, ARB Diff Locks (air lockers) are all marked. I think though that I will swap the engine before any mods to suspension.
I am loving it as is for now. Yea the 2F as well..
(H)

[tamoorwazire]

Sallam

I am loving the beast, really a great project.We are in process of restoring 1984 mdoel.

What is the total till now ?

Regards

[nOmS6]

@tamoorwazire : It really is a great machine. Thanks for liking this beast
the total so far bro has crossed 700k. I would not boast upon the budgeting side of the project. not doing good here.
Please share your FJ40s and their progress with us. It is of great interest to see an FJ40 being restored.

regards

[tareen]

already am putting a snorkel kit on it and a Warn 8000 winch is almost ready for installation. Then a complete 4 inch lift kit, 35" MTs, ARB Diff Locks (air lockers) are all marked. I think though that I will swap the engine before any mods to suspension.
I am loving it as is for now. Yea the 2F as well..
(H)

An impressive list of upgrades & additions to an already great restoration.

I will keep on testing till it's time to take the rig this July to Babusar Top and beyond via Naran. Interested travelers are welcome to join.

Mostly depending on the completion of my vehicle, I'm all in for the trip.

[nOmS6]

An impressive list of upgrades & additions to an already great restoration.

Mostly depending on the completion of my vehicle, I'm all in for the trip.

Thank you bro for your kind appreciation. I eagerly await the restorations you are doing and am sure they will come out better.
It will be the best thing if you can accompany on the proposed trip. We still have 2.5 months before the time is right to travel and am sure your projects will be done Inshallah by then. I will pray so and it will be my good luck if you can join in.

regards,