'77 FJ40 buildup in Charlotte (finally)

[Cirbo]

This project has moved so slow that I've resisted any idea of posting a build thread. I don't know if it will provide much help, but so many here have helped me that I thought it would be a worthwhile attempt to try.

A friend asked that I consider building land cruiser. I had done one back in the early 90's, that I sold to him. After a few discussions and cocktail napkin sketches, we hatched a mild build plan.

Formula:

'77 or 78 Land Cruiser FJ-40
steel body with no bondo
V8 with decent HP and torque
power steering
AC
automatic
cruisable comfort at highway speeds
decent crawl ratio for the rocks
retro look with modern internals
35's with an overall height of less than 80 inches

[Cirbo]

The donor truck that showed up in my driveway ended up being this.

A '77 FJ-40 that appeared to be in excellent condition. It drove well, (I had forgotten how well since driving land rovers since '94)

[voyager:01]

LOOKS MINT! CONGRADULATIONS you're all done!

[Cirbo]

Yeah, I wish.

When we started to pull the thing apart, it was found to have some issues. Both quarters had been skinned, the boxed section behind the fuel tank was toast, the roll bar mounts were bondo, and all seams appeared to be leaking rust.

[Cirbo]

more fun...

Engine and running gear seemed strong though. The wiring had some suspect issues. The lights had gone out without warning a few times on the ride down here.

[Cirbo]

Stripped it down to a bare tub and frame. Next step was to cut the motor mounts, steering box, and relay out. The frame was in decent shape, with the rear gussets intact and some scale on the rear crossmember.

[boombapslappy]

At least you can still tell it's a cruiser...looks great!

Have fun with it!

[Cirbo]

Sourced a set of fine splined diffs and stuffed them with ARB's I had the axle housings, backing plates, and chassis blasted and primed with an epoxy etching primer (pretty color!). We decided to paint the chassis instead of powder coating. This way we could touch up as needed, and add frame tie-in's for the cage at a later time. (more on this choice at a later time)

[Texx]

Nice looking rig with some issues, but you lost me at auto tranny....

[Cirbo]

Yeah, but remember that it's not my truck. It's being built to someone else's specs.

[Cirbo]

Had the axles painted, rebuilt both with new gaskets, seals, and bearings, and stuffed the fronts with some goodies from Bobby Long. Poly Performance was out of their rear shafts, so the originals went back in place. To keep things quick and easy, I ordered the MAF 4+ kit that gave us shackle reversal, u-bolt flip, springs, OME shocks, greasable shackles and spring pins. Took the opportunity to install rear disks as well.

[Cirbo]

Rolling again!

[Cirbo]

Next step was to get the GM Performance catalog an begin to check out dyno charts. I was told to make sure that it was an old school iron block so that parts would be readily available at any NAPA or autozone, but that it needed to have fuel injection for the off-camber situations.

A quick trip to City Chevrolet in Charlotte yielded this result.

[Cirbo]

At this point, we started crunching numbers for gearing, final drive, and crawl ratio. If you ask 6 different people, you will get 6 different answers to the best formula, so we compared our probable numbers to the owners last wheeling rig ('97 Defender 90 with 4.10's, autobox, and a supercharged 4.0 V8)

It was found that our engine, trans, transfer case ratio would not give us the needed match to the old crawl ratios. Swapping in a 3 speed transfer would also not do the needed drop.....

[Cirbo]

Study.....

Read MUD.....

Call Marlin and order the 2.28:1 Toybox. This would grow our already long driveline by .5 inches over the standard AA adaptor for an extra 6-700 dollars, but give us the needed numbers for a decent crawl ratio.

Marlin sent the tailshaft to TCI to be incorporated into a 700R4 that they would build to our specs.

[dukebluerog]

looks awesome...what did u use for rear disc brake conversion???

[Cirbo]

I think it was either a BTB or Man-a-fre kit.

Edit: Man-A-Fre..

[Cirbo]

Assembled the driveline and tried for a (the first of many) testfit. The first obvious problem was the rear crossmember. I hacked that out and started over.

We pushed the driveline as far forward as possible, while still allowing a clutch driven fan, and hitched the whole mess up as far as it would go (within reason) to center it on the radiator.

[Cirbo]

fabbed up a new crossmember and mounts on the plated section at the rear of the frame. The new tube was bent from a scrap piece of 1.75x.120 DOM.

[Cirbo]

Boxed the front frame channels, added a Saginaw mount, and had the whole thing shot with enamel. Installed a PSC box that was prepped and drilled for hydro-assist (for future development).

[FJota]

Nice truck! It is always nice to do a build on someone else's dime.

[baileyrx]

wow, looks great

[dgangle]

I would give some serious thought as to the radiator you plan to use. IME, that OE size ain't going to cut it, unless you like +230F temps.

What area of Charlotte are you in? I'm going to be in Matthews and Cornelius all this week for work.

[Cirbo]

I'm actually in Fort Mill, just across the border.

The CCOT radiator was sold off and an aluminum V8 unit replaced it. Initially, it was was thought that a brass radiator would be easier to "field repair", but a little research proved that to be false.

[navifoto]

I have a 76 cruiser....I've had it since highschool (roughly 13 years). Does the email attached to your contact info work?
I've recently been reunited with the cruiser ( its been with my parents in Alabama)...I could possibly use some advise in the near future. I don't know if you want to give out your email...Thanks.

[Cirbo]

I had to clean up alot of little things at this point, like one of the saginaw bolt heads falling half way off the shackle reversal plate.

Preloaded the tub with 600 lbs of tires to check ride height. These numbers began to look all wrong. We were comparing them to another cruiser with a 4 inch skyjacker lift, fiberglass body, and V8. We also noticed that the shackles appeared to be pointed in the wrong direction. A call to MAF was responded with assurances that "it will settle in" with a little time and use. (how come I don't believe that?)

After checking things again, we pulled leaves out from both front and back springs.

This will bear some watching....

[Cirbo]

Sat down with a local body shop owner and sketched out a plan to mate the Pilgrim 3/4 tub to the existing firewall. The plan was to have the firewall blasted, grafted to the tub, and the whole thing epoxy etch primed. After paying money and waiting for a good three months, we were finally promised that it would be done. What we found when we arrived to pick the thing up was no prep on the firewall, and peeling primer on the tub.

Time to tally up the lost time and money, collect all the parts, and find someone else to try to put the project back on track. (sorry, the one thing I don't do is paint)

A streetrod shop in the Charlotte area had been doing some of the larger blasting jobs for me. I approached them with the idea of helping to finish the project. They blasted the entire tub and all major pieces, and gave everything a nice sealing coat of epoxy etching primer.

[Cirbo]

When it came time to take measurements for the rear driveshaft, it was decided that 15 inches wasn't enough to squeeze a couple U-joints, slip yoke, and a CV. This meant I needed to gain three inches by flipping the rear leaf springs. I cut the wheel arches to fit the flairs by moving them back as far as they would go. While I was at it, we cut the spring perches off and clocked the pinion up a little. (notice the shackle angle)

[Cirbo]

Sourced a set of Aisin hubs and Bobby Long hub gears to cover the warranty if needed. (couldn't stand the gold color though)