HZJ40 RestoMod v3.0 (New, improved, and now with fewer sparkplugs) (1 Viewer)

[lelandEOD]

Operation Gunner

Last week, I picked up my first -40 after more than 15 years of wanting one. I've named him, Gunner.



This project started off as an attempt to get the truck safe to drive on the road and ended up as a full-blown frame-off restomod and at least 4 engines. To date, the truck has undergone three variations; v 1.0- v3.0.


RestoMod v1.0:
'92 4.0L 3FE engine
4 speed H42 transmission
Group 34/78 AGM battery
4" SOR lift
4+ Products U-bolt flip kit
33" BFG/KM2’s
Short Aisin locking hubs
1996 V6 4Runner front brake calipers
FJ62 front brake rotors
Mini truck knuckles and steering arms
GM rear disc brakes
'94 Fj80 master cylinder
'96 4Runner Brake Booster
Adjustable brake proportioning valve
Curt Triflex proportional trailer brake controller
7-pin trailer receptacle
Aux. trailer power with 30A breaker
New tie-rod ends, center arm, and steering damper
Mini truck power steering box
Power steering cooler
'74+ factory roll bar
Three point seat belts
On-board 5lb ABC Fire extinguisher
FJ62 horns
Euro side mirrors
Reupholstered front seats
Bestop Fold & Stow rear jump seat
Front seat heaters
Tuffy center console keyed to ignition key
12v and USB sockets in console
Kenwood DMP stereo receiver w/handsfree/ bluetooth capability
Discrete powered Kenwood 8" subwoofer
Front and rear Pioneer speakers
Rear 12v power outlet
Flaming River battery cut off switch
Custom tailgate
Bare metal/Media Blasted and epoxy primed tub
'74+ Roll bar tub gussets added
Dynamat extreme soundproofing throughout tub and hard top
Tinted Rock-It lined tub
Body cavity wax added to sheet metal voids
Front and rear cup holders
Pneumatic hatch lift struts
Aux. 20 gal, Con-Ferr fuel tank with cab-switched Pollak valve
In-tank front and rear fuel pumps
Aluminum radiator
Onboard ARB air compressor
In-cab air compressor controls
Warn 8274 winch
In-cab winch controls
Ceramic tinted windows
4+ Products front winch bumper
Rear Jerry can holders
Dual swing out tire carrier and cooler basket
Cross bars and Con-ferr safari rack


v2.0:
Dakota Digital HDX instrument panel
-GPS, ambient air temp, compass,
-altimeter, fuel pressure and A/F ratio
Old Air Products Hurricane Air Conditioning system
4x4 indicator switch on transfer case
New ignition lock and matched keys
Late style front doors
Power locks and keyless entry
Power windows
LED headlight conversion (55/60W)
CREE LED fog lights
All Deutsch harness connectors
Hi/Lo headlight relays
FJ80 Throttle lock
Aux. CREE LED rear backup/flood lights
Cobra CB with integrated loudspeaker
Integrated rechargeable Streamlight



v3.0 (ongoing):
1HZ Turbo Diesel rebuild and conversion
H55/split case rebuild
BJ70 full float rear axle
FZJ80 power steering conversion
Dual batteries with isolator and charge controller
2.5 gallon Aux. air tank and QD attachments
Discrete onboard 600W Pure sine wave inverter
Factory LSD front differential
Rear Harrop e-Locker



Before:

After RestoMod v2.0:

It's a one owner truck that spent it's entire life in Chico, CA. and hasn't been registered since '98.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

Nice score!!

Keep taking plenty of pics of the tear down/rebuild. We love our cruiser porn on this site.

 

[reddingcruiser]

Nice find! Chico is right around the corner from me. Welcome to the madness.

 

[waycrazy]

I like your label making idea . I have always used masking tape and a sharpie. My bad hand writing and small writing surface on the masking tape has got me in trouble a time or two. Nice cruiser and good luck!

 

[lelandEOD]

The first task was to see if it would run. I put some fresh gas in the tank but decided to replace the ignition wires first. I had a hard time reaching the rear most plug due to the exhaust routing. So, I started removing stuff until I could get to it.

 

[Kayaker]

I can help you out with some of those unknown wires and connectors using my 3/72 as a gude. The two connectors on the firewall, passenger side go to the fuel tank level sending unit and the rear lights. On mine they also include wires for the 4 wheel drive indicator switch even though that unit dissappeared when the 4 WD selector moved to the floor in the 72 model year.

On the driver's side, the green wire goes to the brake warning senders on the master cylinder (looks like your brake booster is not stock, so you may not have these anymore). The connector goes to the vacuum switch valve, an emissions component that was mounted on that bracket with the bolt in it, which undoubtedled disappeared when the PO ditched the F engine, so nothing for you to worry about.

The single wires coming from the firewall include go to the engine sensors; temperature (sensor and switch) and oil pressure. Again, these may not be relevant after your engine switch.

Looks like quite a project you've got going there. Makes me glad mine is more of a maintenance project than a restoration on. Good luck.

Oh yea, I'm really envious of your overflow bottle. Those weren't stock until the 1975 model year - before that, the coolant drained out to the pavement. My own custom bottle was reclaimed from my daughter's school lunch box and doesn't look nearly so macho as yours.

 

[lelandEOD]

I was able to get to the ignition wires but while I was there, I noticed someone had swapped the 1F with some sort of pushrod V8 thing. While I stared at the V8 looking thing for a while, I accidentally left the frame outside and some a$$hole completely blasted and powder coated it.

This was a real problem for me because it meant that I could not ethically put anything dirty back on it.

 

[lelandEOD]

I disassembled the seats and had the frames powder coated and the reupholstered.

Out with the old:

In with the new:

I also set to work rebuilding the axles. The front got upgraded fine-spline birfs, mini truck knuckles, 4Runner calipers, Asin locking hubs, and FJ60 rotors:

 

[lelandEOD]

A big job was getting all the tin stripped to bare metal so I could begin to work on the body.

Luckily for me I'm quite lazy so I opted to have a local shop strip every inch of tin work for me.

I'll say this much... it is so nice starting with a relatively dry body. This truck was is much nicer condition than many I've seen on this board.

And I know there's a lot of rust lurking behind the rear sill...

 

[lelandEOD]

Yup. Rust.

This is why you don't fill rust holes with RTV:

Note: I found out the hard way that the sill needs to go in before the quarter panel patches. Oops.

 

[lelandEOD]

I cut out both front pans and replaced them with panels from CCOT.

This is my first time doing open heart body work and I've made plenty of oopsies.

I warped the drivers side panel because I put too much heat in it while welding.
You can also see where I cut on the wrong side of my guide tape and got half way across with the nibbler before I realized my mistake.

Drilling out all those spot welds was lots of fun.

I put the tub on it's side to reinstall the frame gussets.

I also cut out and welded in patch panels for the few trouble spots where there was a lot of pin holes.

...as you can see, I'm not a trained welder nor do I play one on tv. I am doing the best I can with what I have and I am already seeing an improvement. I can tell you that my biggest headache has come from weld contamination and unexpectedly running into a thin spot and having it blow through.

 

[bigfj62]

That tub was actually in pretty decent shape. I wish mine looked like that. Good work! I need to get brave enough to start my first frame off.

 

[lelandEOD]

Since Farmer Jon botched the rear fender wells, I decided to cut them out and run bushwacker flares rather than return them to stock.

 

[zags]

Looking great! I look forward to seeing you progress. A nice, low rust rig like that makes a huge difference in time and effort.

 

[Chamba]

I've also decided to cut out the botched rear wheel openings with bushwacker flares rather than return them to stock.

I also wasted a bit of time and money on the front brakes. I really wanted to dump the drums and was looking for the least expensive way of accomplishing that goal. In my FJ-naïvety I somehow landed on GM Monte Carlo calipers and JTO brackets.

Well, after doing a bit more reading, I've decided that's not such a great idea for front brakes so I've picked up a set of '82 Mini truck knuckle/hub assemblies and will be converting the front axle over to FJ60 vented rotors and 4Runner 4 piston calipers. I'm on the hunt for a set of fine spline outer birfs too so I can dump the Warn locking hubs for a set of Asin hubs.

The GM calipers are going to be moved to the rear axle. I'm going to pick up a FJ80 1" MC, a mini truck booster and a proportioning valve from Summit to complete the brake system.

Also, I haven't touched the 3 speed transmission or transfer case because I've got a 4 speed setup I got on Craigslist last year. I'm going to run the current setup until I decide on an engine. Then the 4 speed will be rebuilt and installed.

I've got a mini truck PS box installed on a JTO pedestal. I'm running into all sorts of problems with it not clearing the exhaust manifold. I've tried two types of center dump manifolds and one rear dump and they all interfere with the PS box. I'll have to get creative but I can't even address that problem until the tube is back on and I can install the steering column to see where I'm at.

...more to come.

Good idea on the bushwhacker flares. Mine have been great. Just be careful hitting them in extreme cold. Also make sure you seal them well with good silicon top and bottom do they don't trap dirt, salt and grit against the sheet metal.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

Awesome job! Looks great.

 

[volcom79]

this is looking awesome. I'm taking some tips from your metal work.

 

[lelandEOD]

Looking great! I look forward to seeing you progress. A nice, low rust rig like that makes a huge difference in time and effort.

Thank you, sir! That means a lot coming from you. Your build thread served as inspiration for everything I've done to mine so far. I started reading it before I even found a truck to buy.



Today's project was to install the new rear sill and quarter panel patches:

 

[maxamillion2345]

Very impressive, doesn't look like you're over your head to me.

 

[huminajumina]

That engine looks fresh!! hahaha, keep up the good work, doesn't it make you feel good when you see some grimy dirty greasy thing and you take it out clean it up and bolt it back in??? keep up the good work.