Dad's 1978 FJ40

[Nate]

Very early on, like week one in the process, I decided on the Kwik Wire 14 circuit wiring harness. Once the body was mounted I started playing with 3D design for printing a bracket. In the end, the answer was to punch and thread a few holes in the back of the KW fuse block backing and mount it on the firewall.

 

[Nate]

The wiring battle has been going really since July. Trying to sort out the OG wiring harness that was torn out, the updated wiring harness that was abandoned, and the KW book. Coolerman's drawing is pretty close but it took some comparison between that drawing, the 2F FSM, the Chasis & Body FSM, the Haynes manual, here, and Mud to get it sorted out. I've made plenty of notes and will update the diagram to keep with this 40.

 

[Nate]

I took some sanity breaks with the wiring to get body parts on. Aligning them was a lot more difficult than I was planning. The rear doors especially drove me right to the edge. Brutal, because the captured nuts in the quarter panels for hinges are not captured. That is a major nightmare to get them aligned and properly positioned.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

looks great!

 

[Nate]

More to come tonight, but sneak preview. I'm gonna need some help. When I try to start the engine I'm getting a gas mist backfiring through the carb and not sure where to start.

 

[wesintl]

Bet timing might be off a tooth, I could probably come by tomorrow and help you if you need.

 

[Nate]

Bet timing might be off a tooth, I could probably come by tomorrow and help you if you need.

I was thinking that as well (after some forum work) and was gonna pull the distributor and reset it again. @wesintl if you're bored tomorrow your welcome to swing by. I'm way out in SE Aurora.

 

[Nate]

I repaired the lid and placed a new double thickness headliner in. This was my first shot at using in air sprayer for primer, paint and clear.

It came up pretty good. I used some RV self leveling seam sealer to take care of sealing all the rivets. It is stored until the end since it's too convenient to stand up inside the rig while doing all the internals.

 

[Nate]

Next was more wiring with the wiper motor, switches, and tail and side marker lights. I had numerous problems with motor and rotten wiring. I desoldered and resolder wires on several contacts because they were brittle they wouldn't take new pins. I'm using Deutsch connectors everywhere it makes sense to me to do so.

 

[Nate]

Spent some time rebuilding the fresh air fan too.

Pretty impressed how well all these components hold up over the years.

 

[Johnny Utah]

This is great! You’re doing a wonderful job. Can’t wait to see her when she’s done!

 

[Nate]

This is great! You’re doing a wonderful job. Can’t wait to see her when she’s done!

It's a roller coaster of the 80s Toyota oh what feeling commerical and wanting to sell the damn things sometimes. But more, oh what a feeling.

 

[Nate]

As hard as it can be to find stuff on his site, Toyota Matt from Mud has parts you can't find anywhere and Toyota connectors are not something you find on Amazon. Matt's headlight switch pigtail kit is on point. Huge life saver.

And those $30 Toyota headlights are impossible to beat. Look at the grill

 

[Nate]

Wish I could share the video, but I was able to use the KW built-in relates for the horn and the flashers with no issues. That cleaned up the wiring quite a bit.

ToyotaMatt also has the connector and plugs for the combination meter. I don't know he does because I spent hours trying to find the triangle style connectors for the combo meter pins.

Sister sent that magnet after she heard the video of the horn, which was also fully restored.

 

[Nate]

Quick updates to cover tons of work. You just can't photograph wiring. All the switches have been scrubbed and painted. And just added a new coil yesterday. Wired in the resistor, and am getting spark on 6 plugs confirmed via spark tester today. Photo below is with jumper as coil was net getting voltage. Turns out, I'd somehow turned off the master kill switch on the KW fuse block.

The next photos are as it sits tonight. With the backfire issue I mentioned above. Will try resetting the dizzy after everyone goes to bed.

 

[Nate]

Oh! The seats have all new cushions and fabric courtesy Arthur at Auto Trim Specialists in Evans. They're on storage for now, but whoa. They came up nice. Photos coming later.

 

[simps80]

capturing how much work good electrical wiring is impossible with photos
this looks like amazing work and results!!

 

[Nate]

capturing how much work good electrical wiring is impossible with photos
this looks like amazing work and results!!

Yeah, and yet it would be some dang helpful to have a video or series of photos of some one doing one, but I've found there is so much variability in parts. That get tacked on and taken off over the years that it may not really be helpful to most.

 

[Nate]

After some solid advice from Wes and a video from the 40Channel on YouTube, I am at this point in the start-up. Super close I think. Any thoughts on why it won't catch? Still a timing issue?

 

[Capriblue45]

Are you sure you are not 180 out on the distributor, I have had engines act like this when they are 180 out? You can check by rotating the engine until you are on the timing mark on the flywheel and if the first and second rockers are not in contact with the valve and the rotor is roughly pointing at the #4 plug you are at TDC.