[boots4]

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Here is a Table of Contents to help find things. These are the main points of each page. Just find your topic and click on the page number in the navigation bar.

• page 1... FJ60 tear down and 2F engine pull, cut up stepvan and cummins 4bta engine pull
  
  page 2... rear frame channel removal and boxing, hydroboost adapting, rear disc idea, 203 tcase disassembly, leaf spring painting and mock-up
  
  page 3... Transgo 4L80E-3 manual shift kit install, rear spring hanger welded, 203 GRB to 4L80e adapted
  
  page 4... Jerry Nichols No. for 203 doubler to splitcase adapter and assembly, front spring placement, tcase rebuild, drivetrain mock-up (4l80e to 203 to splitcase)
  
  page 5... front and rear springs mounted, fix 4BT killer dowel pin (KDP), 4BT cleaning and painting, turbo repair and pyro probe placement, LED dash lights, 4L80e to 203 mated, spectrum coating
  
  page 6... rear axle mock up, 203 drilled/tapped, 4BT and 4L80 connected, 4BT placement, clearance and engine side mounts, downpipe start
  
  page 7... frame side engine mounts, tranny crossmember and mounts, Art Carr shifter mount, intercooler mock-up
  
  page 8... Tranny cable connected, intercooler to radiator mounts, doubler/tcase operation and install, rear axle perch welded, front/rear ubolt plates, front axle mock-up
  
  page 9... front axle mounted, dual battery mock-up and trays, bum turbo, mech water temp gauge placement, dual fuel filters, rear disc brake install, AC compressor placement idea, fixed and improved turbo with link, throttle cable hook-up, front axle caster adjustment, front diff guard and axle truss, hydroboost and brake MC install, power steering box tap for ram assist
  
  page 10... Wheel spacers, front axle shims installed, Aussie locker in front 3rd, completed downpipe, front axle assembly and longfield super 30 set installed, Marlin High Steer, hydroboost and power steering hoses converted to AN, overflow and PS fluid reservoir mount, brake lines, heater hose routing, lower radiator hose, alignment, intercooler routing
  
  page 11… rear weather strip lip fixed, 4l80 rebuild
  
  page 12… rear shackles lengthened, doubler/tcase shifters, rear shocks, front shocks and hoops
  
  page 13… fender skirts, electric vacuum pump and regulator for tranny modulator, sound deadening engine bay.
  
  page 14… doubler/tcase shifter linkage, vacuum regulator install, LED dash lights glowing
  
  page 15… 38's mounted, rear quarters trimmed, reconfigured front packs, minor flex
  
  page 16… fuel pump and cut-off solenoid, wired up t.converter lock-up, spiral baffle in downpipe, reworked lower radiator hose adapter, tranny cooler installed
  
  page 17… first major trip report, contour fan installed using spal controller, baffle removed from downpipe and downpipe heat wrapped, exhaust routed out back, 366 (3200rpm) govenor spring installed, intercooler pulled and cleaned, rig ramped for flex, front drive shaft started
  
  page 18… rig gets named, front long spline driveshaft finished, new water temp sender, rear body mount cut for clearance, rear bump stops, first wheeling pics @ TSF, new amsoil air filter with 4" intake.
  
  page 19… Modify Hydroboost for 1 1/4" master cylinder, bench bleed MC, heat shield for air filter, 8 groove pully alignment on CS-144alternator install, high mount rear speakers, hydroboost with 1 1/8" MC install from chevy astrovan, front fender trim
  
  page 20… lower body line textured and painted, gutter reseal and paint, boost gauge signal line moved, battery straps, hydroassist ram install
  
  page 21… wastegate signal line capped, beach wheeling pics and vid, mountain wheeling pics and vids, broke front driveshaft,
  
  page 22… removeable rear mud flaps, rebuilt front driveshaft with stronger slip-spline, Hilift demount plate for breaking tire bead from rim, tried out BB for internal tire balance, Coretrax tie down strips from rear cargo area, TSF Cruise the Woods pics,
  
  page 23… rear seat back painted, went back to 44mm inducer on my turbo, wastegate tied shut, made 3" intake for turbo mod, extended front/rear bump stops
  
  page 24… intercooler and tubing pressure test for leaks, replace passenger side motor mount, made new tcase shifters and extended the levers, console 10" sub box, heater core replacement and duct cleaning, interior firewall insulation,
  
  page 25… boost leak troubleshooting (gaskets and o-rings), tire grooving, fabbed steering stops, custom intake horn, snow wheeling pics, front shock repositioning,
  
  page 26… 42's (yeah right!), rear shock repositioning, reworked hydro assist mount and clamp, reseal hydrobooster, initial rocker cut and slider mock up
  
  page 27… tube bending for sliders, pics of inside of rockers,
  
  page 28… sliders mounted on the frame, car crushing pics and vid, smaller lower steering joint for shock clearance, rear bumper 1/4 sliders,
  
  page 29… rear bumper mounted, mudflaps fix and remounted, radio flyer welding cart, bilstein 5150s leaking seal,
  
  page 30… skid plate frame brackets, CB radio info, TSF wheeling testing out Dirtgypsy's SOA, bending tube for front bumper,
  
  page 31… front drive shaft lengthened/retubed, johnny joint and antiwrap bar links, antiwrap bar axle brackets, Poly performance rear axles installed, aussie locker installed in rear, new front axle shock mounts,
  
  page 32… Bilstein 7100s mounted, Brokenparts front bumper mounted, rear 1/4 protection bent and mocked, line lock swagelok ball valve and brake line routing, skid plate slapped together,
  
  page 33… Rubicon 2009 trip report, Antiwrap bar,
  
  page 34… Front bumper phase 1, massive tire failure,
  
  page 35… TinyTach install,
  
  

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Alright fellow forumonians, I've got a project underway and it's time to start sharing. I've lurked here for a while and have absorbed much knowledge, so now it's time for me to show what I've done with that collective knowledge and put it to good use.

So here's the plan, and like all good plans the important part will be adapting to what comes my way.

Cummins 4bta (intercooled)
manual 4L80e
203 to splitcase doubler
SOA
38s
hydroboost
hydroassist
larger fuel tank ***decided to run the cruiser tank instead 10/07***

and some other stuff like:
some kind of insulation/liner for interior floor/firewall
custom bumpers
fender trimming
marlin hysteer
arp knuckle studs
longfield super 30 set

Intended use is a capable all-rounder for trips, DD activities, some towing, and a whole lot of wheelin! It's been almost a year since I sold my last truck/wheeler and the offroad videos on youtube just aren't satisfying my need for the great outdoors, so I'm pushing forward on this project. I've got another kid coming soon so having more room to haul the family became a necessity since my wheelin' "photographer" pulls double duty as a mom.

So lets get some pics in here since all of us seemed to be into the picture books as kids rather than the story books. I'll have a bunch of pics to start with until I get caught up to where I'm at.


That's what I started with.





rear axle out


grill and headlight out


Front axle out


Yup, my seals were shot, bearing grease should be thicker than that. It's being rebuilt anyways.


the brakes still worked fine with that line smashed (wasn't me)


looks good inside


it's floating now


prepped for cut n' turn


this is where I'm at with the front axle so far


goodbye bumper brackets and spring hangers


starting to collect some s****



next I started working on the springs I'm planning on using. The rears will be the chevy 63 inchers and the fronts will be a hybrid pack using a ford ranger rear main leaf. I used a 3 leaf plus overload on a ford ranger I built up and I was happy with the results so I'm going to do it with the cruiser since it's got such a big butt (plenty of room to mount). I have a 4 leaf pack that I'll thinking I'll add one more leaf to start out with and tune from there. The ranger main leaf is 58 inches long so I have a little work to get them under the front, but those flexed pretty well too. I'll just have to build up the pack since the 4bta is heavy in the mid section. I wire brushed and painted each leaf. The chevys are in the front and the ranger main leafs are the furthest away.


front spring mock up. The plum is the original center and since the holes are offset on the ranger springs I figure the axle will move forward 1-3 inches. I wanted to move the axle forward so this is good.


I'm doing a shackle reversal so I don't snag a shackle when approaching obstacles and the long springs will push the mounting point out to the very front.


the rear mount will be tricky since I plan on going through the frame to keep the SO low and that point of the frame just starts to curve out. The crossmember will be removed and relocated.


burned in a front channel and mocked up the spring hangers. So I bought a stepvan for the 4bta and have found that the frame has a lot of steel I can use for fabbing parts. Those hangers were made from that frame. Not bad for living in the recycling age.


you can see the plate I put in there to distribute the weight to both crossmembers on the front of the cruiser. Probably over kill but diesels do produce some good torque.


decided to commit and burn the hangers in. I'm using flux core since I'm doing this outside and am newer to welding than some of you so I usually end up touch-up grinding/flapper wheeling my welds since they aren't the nicest to look at. Paint usually improves the appearace some, or hides it in my case. I'm using a Ready welder II and really like it. Great for portability since I built a little cart to haul my batteries around with. Future plans include dual batteries in the cruiser and a connector wired in for my welder for trail repairs.


I'm out of time so I'll get more pics up tomorrow. Once I'm caught up, pics will probably come more on a weekly basis. I usually get 2 solid days to work on the cruiser on the weekend and after that I upload the pics.

Glad to finally join the ranks and build something I hope to be proud of.