J A N U A RY • F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 5 Hello Reid: Have you directly hooked up the motor to a 12V battery? In looking at both a 1978 FJ45 and a 1977 FJ40, the blower motor has a two-wire hook up. It shows that if you hook up positive to one of the terminals, it will move the motor one direction. If you hook up the positive to the other terminal, it will turn the motor in the other direction. Does the motor move air if positive is hooked up to one of these terminals when using direct battery power to the motor? The negative lead of the test wires will need to hook up to the other terminal to make a connection that will turn the motor. If in either direction, air is not moving, then something is wrong with the blower. But if you get air moving out the side of the blower that feeds the air tube to the heater box, then something downstream is blocking the air. You will need to look on the inside of the firewall and the air tube. Is the tube fitting tight against the firewall? Are the coupling areas of the air tube leaking air? If so, use some foam sealing around the tube. You make it sound like the blower motor does turn but maybe the connection is going in the wrong direction and is sucking air from the heater box and not pushing air to it. That is why I am suggesting using test leads and hooking directly to the blower motor and seeing what happens. If the 12V hook up produces more forceful airflow, then you may have an issue in the switch or the wiring. The resistor is meant to lower voltage to slow the speed down. So if you have more force directly hooked up to the battery, then you have a circuit issue. Thanks. Robbie What would you suggest we consider as a replacement muffler on a 1989 FJ62? Thank you. Henry R. Taylor, Member #22,689 any manufacturer over another. I just do not have enough knowledge. If I were looking at paint for a Cruiser, it would be a multistage paint system, where you have a primer, base and clear coat. Old school classic paint jobs seem to be the most durable (and the one preferred by classic car paint shops). My first frame off that I am running through my shop for a customer is just this: primer, base and clear coat. I will have the body and frame at a classic paint shop by the time the Toyota Trails comes out. I am taking it into the shop this coming week for the long process of the body getting restored. And yes, there is a paint booth involved to heat the paint to dry it quicker. The process I went through in finding a shop that would do a great job went well. I interviewed three shops on the phone, took the customer’s Cruiser to them, looked at different projects going on and got estimates. Then I made a choice based on what all the information meant to the customer and to me. I know my limitations for what I can do. I am not a paint and body guy and I do believe I found a great shop to meet my needs. I will reserve final judgment for when I get the Cruiser back. It may be in your best interest to look at some classic car body shops and talk to the owners to see what direction you may want to go. It does sound like you want to do this on your own and for that, you may want to talk to some of the other guys in your club or other clubs nearby. Good luck. Robbie Hello Henry: If you were not planning on doing this yourself, then I would head to a muffler shop. Ask for an original style of muffler to be installed. The muffler shop may need to order your muffler in but you would then have the stock sound like you are looking for. I would suggest at least the material of the muffler be steel with an aluminized coating for longevity. How is the rest of the exhaust system? Any holes or leaks? If so, I would get more than just the muffler fixed. If you have high miles, say over 250,000 miles, you may want a new catalytic convertor installed. Or you could wait until you have an emission test that fails (unless you do not have emission testing). Anyhow, most muffler shops should be able to help you get it fixed up. Thanks. Robbie Paint Recommendation Mr. Antonson, Coming to the close of a major renovation on a 1987 FJ60. With the amount of detail and cost put into the renovation, I want to make sure we put the best quality paint on the vehicle. What do you recommend for the final surface paint or surface treatment and is there any special preparation required to ensure the product adheres and remains durable. I have heard of heat being used to seal an after coat. Need a good shine and something that can take some punishment. Thanks. Paul J. Benson, Ph.D. Noisy FJ62 Hi Robbie, I hope that you can help me. We have a 1989 FJ62 that needs a little loving. Someone put a Glass Pack muffler on it and it sounds awful. We can’t stand the noise anymore and need to replace the muffler. Hello Paul: While I am a good resource for many things mechanical, I do not have much information on paint. I may in a few months (as my business direction is changing some) but as for a specific paint product, I cannot recommend 17