1976 '40 Resto/Buildup

[Ullr]

I have turned the corner on my project and am starting to rebuild it and decided to start a thread and post some pics of what I have been working on. I have actually been working on this project for almost a year on and off, but progress has been slow till now as first I moved, then I had knee surgery, and then ski season started (and I had to take the new knee for a test drive)

So, 1976 FJ-40 I have had for about 4 years with about a 4" SUA and 33's, Aussie in the rear, Armstrong steering, and a total rustbucket but I love it. I am repairing/restoring the body but not going for completely stock. Also:

SOA on stock 40 springs
5/85 FJ 60 Tranny and t-case
FJ-60 PS / FJ 60 PS Pump
FJ-60 knuckles
Spring reversal, with reversed and redrilled military wraps
OME greasable anti-inversion shackles
Hi-steer (probably 4x4 labs, TBD)
4.7 Toybox
Electronic ignition
Softop/doors
Custom rear tailgate
Family cage
Sliders
Aisin hubs
Custom driveshafts (TBD)
37x12.5 MTR's
Longfields inners and birfs in front
Poly Performance rears
Aussie rear
ARB front
Fine spline 4.11's front and rear
CO2
Fuzzy Dice

I want to keep it as Toyota as possible, so no v8's etc, I just want to spring it over, add PS, and get lower gearing for these CO trails.

I did a thread when I rebuilt the floor so i won't repost that part here. Here are some "before" pics and a shot of where I am right now.

[Ullr]

Frame repairs, the front crossmember was badly rusted. I shopped around a bit looking for a replacement crossmember but was out there drinking beer one night and decided to just weld in new metal. The bottom of the crossmember was two layers of appx 1/8" steel riveted together, so I cut the rusted section out and replaced it with 1/4" steel. Fixed a small patch with some 1/8" too.

The final shot is the finished product all ground down... notice theres no shot of the welds? Too many 's during fabrication

[Ullr]

The rear shackle hangers were fubar. I don't know if you can tell from the first pic, but the rust between the plate the hanger attaches to and the frame had expanded to about 5/8", bending the plate downwards.

[Ullr]

So I flipped the frame and pulled them off, the passenger side one was repairable, the driver side (second pic) was not.

[Ullr]

So I made a new plate out of 3/16" and used 3/16" rod to make "rivets" to line it all up and help hold it together. I was able to reuse the original shackle hanger itself.

[Ullr]

i didn't really trust my wanna-be rivets on the new hanger plate or just welding the old rivets on the old plate, so I welded everything in hard.

[rutbeer]

Nice work there boss man!

[bandy rooster]

good work, nice welds by the way.

that is a pretty serious axle carrier you have built.... you must have built that when steel was cheaper! lol


what prep's did you take to ensure that the shackle hanger was not welded cock-eyed? just followed your previous rivit hole pattern?

[Ullr]

I built the axle jig out of some c-channel I had leftover from a misguided attempt to build a bumper. The base is actually the base for the bender. I figured the bench vise wasn't going to work and followed Josh's (JCB_Elwood) advice and built the jig to make it easier on myself.

Yeah I just used the rivet holes to line it all up.

[wesintl]

AWESOME Ian.... I need to come bend some tube one night

Those welds look really nice.

[Ullr]

Turning the driveway into a purple beach. I used 30/40 garnet on the frame, zero risk of silicosis and reusable. What a PITA though

By a remarkable coincidence it was right about the time I started sandblasting in the driveway that the neighbors stopped talking to me.

[Ullr]

Ok its decision time. I want to go with a Toybox, but since I am upgrading to a Toybox should I upgrade to a split case at the same time? I know the split case is better but it will require a parking brake kit, especially since I am doing the RDB conversion. So now I am at Toybox + split case + parking brake kit... its getting really expensive.

So how bad is my stock case with a t-case saver? Is it really that bad that I should drop so much more money to go split case? Is the lower gearing in a Toybox going to increase the likelihood of t-case breakage?

[cruiserhead]

I`ve read here on the board that a transfer case with a saver is as strong as a split case.HTH.Keep up the good work.

[bustanutley]

cruiserhead, I really don't buy that, people snap the nose cones on the earlier cases all the time.

[foxfab]

I have a new 4.7 Toybox for a split case for sale

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.p...453#post938453

[bandy rooster]

ever thought of just using a line lock instead of the parking brake? or is there another reason for the parking brake kit?

[jjhancock]

Looks great man, keep up the good work. Who cares what the neighbors think, I wouldn't! I can't answer the t/c question for you, although I seem to recall reading on the forum here at some point that people weren't that impressed wiht the Toybox. Food for thought... Gitter done!!!

[Ullr]

Originally Posted by bandy rooster

ever thought of just using a line lock instead of the parking brake? or is there another reason for the parking brake kit?

No, becuase I don't know what a line lock is. Can you give me some more details? Search turned up nada.

[bustanutley]

ian, line lock locks your hydraulics on your brakes

they are super cool for hotroders cause they can lock just their front wheels and do burnouts from hell.

[edgemonster]

2 types of line locks manual and electrical (aka; mico lock, parking lock, parking brake valve, hydraulic lock......) . I've used the one from Jamar and don't care for it due to rusting of parts in my environment. I'm going to redo my brakes within the next month and replace the Jamar (2 years old) with Swagelok version.

Jamar;
http://jamarperformance.com/TheRealm...product_id=147

Swagelok;
http://www.downeyoff-road.com/Chassi...Brakes_02.html

Electric;
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...=egnsearch.asp

[red66toy]

So, do you have to mount the manual locks in the cab? That seems wierd to have brake line coming into the cab. A cable actuated one would be cool.
Edit, why do they all say that they are not meant to be an emergency brake?

[Ullr]

Very cool, thanks for the links.

I beleive an "emergency brake" is a mechanical system that does not rely on your brake hydraulics, so it can be used in an emergency if the hydraulics system fails.

[ridgerunner]

There is not a snow ball's chance in hell that a stock T'case brake would slow a Cruiser during an emergency. It's a "parking brake" at best.

What sort of RDB conversion are you going to use? If using Chevy parts, you can do a parking brake....

[REZARF]

[quote=
Edit, why do they all say that they are not meant to be an emergency brake?[/QUOTE]

An emergency brake is a seperate system from the hydrolic brake lines.

Picture youself rolling down a steep decent on a nasty trail... now you brake pedal hits the floor... locking up the hydrolic pressure with a line lock in the line will produce no stoppage.

Grab the emergency brake handle, and a mechanical cable engages the brake drum on the tcase...

..."whoa, that was close."-Chris Farley

LIne locks are cool and can give you a third foot sometimes when you really need it, but it shouldnt replace a good emergency brake.

Rezarf <><

[red66toy]

Dude, I dont think that the dinky cruiser ebrake is going to stop anything on a steep decent.

[bustanutley]

Originally Posted by ridgerunner

There is not a snow ball's chance in hell that a stock T'case brake would slow a Cruiser during an emergency. It's a "parking brake" at best.

What sort of RDB conversion are you going to use? If using Chevy parts, you can do a parking brake....

TRUTH