The Projects

[subzali]

So rather than create a bunch of different threads about all the miscellaneous stuff I have to do to the Brahma, I decided to create one thread and I'll update it as I get projects done.

And since my FJ40 is feeling a little ghetto lately I'm going to call this thread "The Projects"

This first post will be about my 2015 Re-Smog Project.
The cooling system will also be refreshed including heater and blower rebuilds and new heater hoses.
The power steering will see some fixing due to some leakage. This turned out to be a non-issue and no work was required.
The gas tank will get some POR-15.
I then disassembled and cleaned the brake mechanism on the 8274.
In the next episode: Oil leaks will be addressed along with speedometer issues. Rear main seal being the big thing.
I will also be replacing my springs with lift springs and new shackles.
I would also like to finally address the nagging turn signal issues that have been a constant plague and have currently left me without turn signals or hazards. Yay wiring!

In 2010 I started this thread about Desmogging a 2F:
http://www.risingsun4x4club.org/forum2/showthread.php?t=14682

I have been leaning toward re-smogging my FJ40 but the State of Colorado is forcing the issue because when my Collector's Plate registration renewal comes due this March, if they follow the law that was passed last year they should require me to pass an emissions test.

So this morning I began by searching through my garage to find all my long-lost smog parts that I took off in 2005 (and then added to in 2009 when I took off the EGR stuff):

I had a box of vacuum hoses:

I had 6 air rail extension pieces (one is in the baggie):

I had 2 EGR assemblies to choose from:

I had my air rail safe in a box:

I had 2 ABVs to choose from - one had a broken mounting bracket so I used the other one. I also had 2 adapter pipes from the EGR valve to the carburetor:

I had my old air pump and some other stuff:

So this is where I started this morning:

Check my driver side motor mount while I was there and it looks correct even though it is missing the cotter pin - never noticed that little skid plate before though:

No EGR:

Took the air cleaner off:

After some futzing about I had the EGR mounted:

Don't forget the EGR gasket:

Next up was the air rail. First I soaked the air rail plugs that have been in there since 2005 in PB Blaster:

I decided to take the valve cover off to give myself easier access, especially to the #6 plug:

With my makeshift cheater bar I was able to get all the plugs out:

I had to grind a little bit out of the JT Outfitters power steering bracket to get the #1 air rail extension back in place - all the rest went pretty easy:

It now makes sense why this water fitting is so wonky on the head - it has to dodge the air rail:

Got everything lined up and torqued down:

One side of the extension is a tapered thread the other is a straight thread:

I then decided to give myself a little bling in the form of a 2F embossed valve cover and screw-in oil cap. I need new valve cover seals:

Next was the smog pump. It barely made it in between the steering intermediate shaft, EGR tubing and the power steering pump hoses. It turns out my pivot bolt is not the original bolt, so that needs to be remedied. It also appears that the support bracket needs a bushing or something, which I was hoping someone could confirm for me. In other words, the rear mounting hole for the smog pump is larger than the forward hole, so for a bolt to be held firmly around its circumference there needs a bushing in the rear hole to take up the extra space:

Next it was time to mount the ABV. Found its original home on the driver fender:

Decided it was time to put the air cleaner back on with new OEM wing nuts and seals:

Hooked up the new air intake hose I got from BTUMAN on MUD - I've been running nakman's dryer hose for a long time now but decided to go with this:

It's not perfect, but neither was my previous solution:

I have this in the garage, in pretty good shape, some small cracks, just in case. Need to figure out how to take care of it.

As of Feb 2, 2015, these are now available - would have gone with this if I had known it was coming:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/air-cleaner-intake-hose-for-1975-1978-fj40-and-fj55.836312/

Next I had to find my vacuum valves. They were in the obvious place with my grease guns, yard flags, and files . Mounted the VCVs - the bracket only goes one way on the thermostat housing:

Mounted my VSVs and vacuum surge tank on the driver side fender. This stuff is specific to 1977 models, so I made sure to take care of it. My EVAP VSV (the top one) had a broken nipple and was inop when I took receipt of this vehicle, so I got a new one from cruiserparts.net. It took a couple tries to get one that was functioning, but we finally got there:

Starting doing up my vacuum hoses:

My Red VTV also had a broken nipple so got a new one from cruiserparts.net. Again took a couple tries to get the right one, but we're good now:

So here's where we ended the day. Not as nice as simps or anyone else in the club, but should be functional and pass visual as long as they don't care about my '78 carb that has extra connections I can't use and my '79 distributor that also has an extra connection I can't use:

I'm still missing some parts - notably the smog pump tensioner bracket and smog pump pivot bolt, which I'll post up in the classifieds for. But at least all of my major components are accounted for after all these years.

'Til next time...

 

[nakman]

Nice work, Matt! notice any difference in how it runs? man I'd forgotten about that dryer vent...

 

[simps80]

man that took some good foresight to save all that stuff!!!
that's cool

for whatever reason I get excited about smog equipment that works...maybe its because you know its only going to get worse trying to keep plates on these trucks.

very neat Matt!

as far as that air pump bracket it is bushed down diameter on the the block side of the bracket.....the picture shows the spacer behind and that bushing for diameter
but iirc it was just two separate 'spacers'

edit..
Yea its two spacers front and back..got a better pic..

 

[subzali]

man that took some good foresight to save all that stuff!!!

that's cool



for whatever reason I get excited about smog equipment that works...maybe its because you know its only going to get worse trying to keep plates on these trucks.



very neat Matt!



as far as that air pump bracket it is bushed down diameter on the the block side of the bracket.....the picture shows the spacer behind and that bushing for diameter

but iirc it was just two separate 'spacers'



edit..

Yea its two spacers front and back..got a better pic..



View attachment 40382

Thanks Mike, that picture helps because I'm missing all that stuff.

But I am also curious about the lower bracket. It seems the rear mounting hole needs a bushing as well.

Tim, I haven't run it yet because I need a new belt for my air pump and power steering pump. But I can't drive it to the store because my steering gear decided to puke all over the place. But that's a different "Project."

 

[SteveH]

That was a lot of work - congrats. Looks much like my fully smogged '78. Best wishes in rounding up the last little bits and getting it back on the road!

 

[simps80]

I have an old pump with the lower bracket still attached..looks like you are right it has a bushing in it..
Lemme know if u need it..

 

[subzali]

Thanks Mike, Ima gonna see what my man Gene at Groove has for me in a few days and go from there. I will let you know.

 

[Rzeppa]

[sarcasm]Of course you realize that if you hadn't completely resmogged your 40, you would be the individual that would tip the climate change and we'd all die! So good work on that, and thank you for saving humanity![/sarcasm]

Having spent most of last night re-installing the (cleaned, lubricated and now functional again) smog pump on my 60 last night, with the scrapes and bruises on my forearms and wrists to show for it, I totally feel your pain man. Nice work, even if it didn't do jack to make it run better, get better fuel economy, or be more reliable...

 

[subzali]

Ha ha thanks for that Jeff.

Does anybody have good pictures of the PCV hose routing, including support brackets?

 

[simps80]

Mine goes up from pcv
Two loops on air cleaner carry it around the back.
A bracket mounted to carb insulator plate with loop carries it down then into the fitting on the manifold.

mine has an extra loop now with an oil separator after the last bracket on the carb insulator but before joining the fitting on the manifold....but without that it catches the bracket on carb insulator then into intake

 

[subzali]

Thanks Mike!

 

[subzali]

So I forgot the EGR gasket so had to take off the EGR assembly to put it on:

There are lock washers and nuts to put on each of the two studs.

Next I wanted to get my air pump pivot bolt installed. This bolt is discontinued by Toyota, but the washers and nut are still good. Here is what it’s supposed to look like, with a flat washer, lock washer, and nut:

Here is the one I took off and threw in the trash because it had a 13mm head and nut:

Next was the tensioner arm. Didn’t get any pictures of that, but there is a spacer that goes between the arm and the water pump. The EPC didn’t show a lock washer under the head of the bolt, but I put one there anyway. The arm, spacer and bolt are all discontinued by Toyota so you have to go junkyard diving to find them.

Last was the adjusting bolt. The bolt I had from the EPC was too short so I’m still trying to figure out the right part number. There is a thick washer that goes under the bolt that is still available from Toyota.

It wasn’t until I got all these mounted up that I realized how misaligned my power steering pump is. Hopefully I can move it back a bit to get it more in-line. Now that the air rail is mounted I don’t really have access to the head bolt that the JTO power steering pump bracket mounts to. Might have to pull the valve cover again to get access. My air pump might be crooked too, so I need to pillage some parts from simps:

I then put these parts in a safe place until I can fix my heat shield thingy – I’m surprised this hose is still available from Toyota:

Sized a custom belt at NAPA this morning so will try that out later. Almost there!

 

[subzali]

Wasn't going to post up yet but decided I wanted some opinions.

Last night I drained my radiator because I wanted to install this:

This is what the drain connection on my radiator looks like:

Unfortunately my drain takes a M10, but the drain **** is an M12. I thought I had an OEM radiator but not sure how to explain this. Jury is still out on what I'm going to do. I would like to not put that plastic plug back in because it's half stripped and dodgy.

Anyway, what I was really after was this because it is interfering with my power steering belt and it really shouldn't:

Took it off and compared with my new OEM hose:

For the new one, I bought new hose clamps:

I also wanted to replace my lower thermostat housing with the correct one that only has one BVSV port. Don't know why the one that is on there has 2 BVSV ports but it does and one of them is broken off.

I took a few shots to compare the two lower housings:

Later model:

Correct one:

Later model:

Correct one:

Later model:

Correct one:

Side by side:

However when I got the correct one installed the BVSV was dangerously close to the belt:

So I put the incorrect one back on and then saw that it's not much better:

That is where I stopped for the night. Really I should move the p/s pump toward the rear to line the belt up better with the rest of the engine, but it's already so close to these housings that I'm concerned. I've been running narrower belts up to now on this installation and haven't encountered this problem yet, but now that I'm close to the correct width I'm starting to see there's a problem. Does anybody have any opinions on how to fix?

 

[simps80]

Got nothing real solid for ya there...
On the 12 to 10 thing..can you just use a bushing to go down to 10mm?

On the other..could you use the lower bvsv and plug the fore port to avoid interference?

I like the new oem-ness!

 

[SteveH]

I run a minitruck pump with a remote reservoir, which takes up less space, but it seems to me that lowering your pump in the engine compartment would move the belt away from the upper radiator hose, and the BVSV.

I presume you have an air pump underneath the Saginaw pump, so lowering the pump may not be an easy task. Just a thought. I spent a long time getting my pump located in (almost) the correct location and it hasn't given me any trouble.

 

[subzali]

I run a minitruck pump with a remote reservoir, which takes up less space, but it seems to me that lowering your pump in the engine compartment would move the belt away from the upper radiator hose, and the BVSV.

I presume you have an air pump underneath the Saginaw pump, so lowering the pump may not be an easy task. Just a thought. I spent a long time getting my pump located in (almost) the correct location and it hasn't given me any trouble.

Treeroot has the same pump, bracket and air pump configuration as me and he made it work. Maybe I just need to tweak it a bit more.

 

[SteveH]

Agreed - the previous image looks good, clearance-wise.

 

[MDH33]

Is the pulley on the Saginaw bigger than an FJ60 or mini truck pump?

 

[subzali]

Got nothing real solid for ya there...
On the 12 to 10 thing..can you just use a bushing to go down to 10mm?

On the other..could you use the lower bvsv and plug the fore port to avoid interference?

I like the new oem-ness!

got some feedback from MUD on my radiator and it looks like my drain has been modified at some point. Will probably have to make my own extension if I want that functionality or just buy a plug somewhere. Need to get rid of that plastic job though.

I like the idea of using the lower BVSV port if I cannot find relief any other way. I should probably get one of these though:

Is the pulley on the Saginaw bigger than an FJ60 or mini truck pump?

Don't know, but I can find out. The other variable is that I am not using a Saginaw pulley like treeroot has - I swapped over to a Volvo pulley a while back because it takes a wider belt.

 

[subzali]

Got some more done tonight.

Started by installing the "Bypath" hose and new clamps:

Compared to the one I had on there that was an emergency solution for when my coolant decided to puke all over Stevinson's parking lot right before a meeting.

Next I installed the large upper radiator hose:

It clears the belt a lot better; more like the picture of treeroot's above.

I also installed my PCV holder clip - it's a little different than simps but is correct for my year:

I then installed a hose clamp on the lower radiator hose:

I then installed new clamps on my air supply hose:

I then installed the two flat washers on the EGR tube - so that is finally done:

Finally I took a look at a new smog pump bracket that Simps gave me. It mounts under the motor mount, so I decided not to try and replace it in-situ. The bushing in it looks like it's pressed in there tight and I wasn't in the mood to try and get it out and then press it into my existing bracket. So I took a bushing that I used for my OBA compressor and installed that instead. The fit isn't perfect but it's better.

That's it. I have a few more parts for the engine and then I can move on to the power steering and cooling system projects.