[RHINO]

in getting ready for ROTM i realized i have never formerly introduced my pig, so here goes.

this will prolly be in 3 parts with pics so give me a few minutes to finish before replying please that way it stays together for easy reading/viewing.

RHINO is a 75 FJ55 that i have had for a long time,,, but i think i should start from the beginning.

i got into cruisers for one reason, the piggy, thats all i was interested in and the pig is still the cruiser that gets me going. back in '88 i made my first pig purchase of an early '69, unfortunately for you people i only have one or two photos of it and nothing worth scanning to post up here, it was a very stock and very basic rig.

at the time i was living in Wa. state and planned to explore every inch of it with the pig, but i got an itch, an itch that would take me accross the wetsern U.S including Alaska living in the pig for 7 mos while i traveled and worked a few odd contruction jobs here and there. i always liked Idaho and when my trip was all done i planned on settling down there, but i met a girl in Az. and never made it back.

one day i was perusing the adds in the paper and saw something i liked,, a 75 pig. of course i liked it cause it was a major upgrade from the 69. 2F, 4 speed, a/c ect. so purchased it in '90 and sold the '69. it remained mostly stock for a long time. the only real mods being a set of heavy ironman springs and 33-9.50 BFG's,. roof rack and c.b. i dont know what happened, but one day i just started building it, and building and building. i got into the rockcrawl thing for a while and that was the direction of some of the mods like the SOA and crawler gears,,, most of that is out of my system and i have been working on getting the pig back into shape for a general trail rig, including work on things like creature comforts, weatherstripping and the like. more attention is being put into the body and chassis of the rig instead of just how to get articulation and big tires.

its been a long road and i dont think it'll ever be over, but now its at the point where i still have a capable rig in the rocks but it is much more balanced for just about anything i can throw at it, including long stretches of pavement.

so, where is it now?

SOA and SR
currently building a new front bumper
rear bumper with swing out
body integrated sliders
FJ60 power steering with crossover and beefy rods
isuzu 4BD1T turbo diesel engine
5 speed tranny
marlin 4.7 doubler
4 speed case with plate steel bolted on to keep it together thus far.
4 wheel disc
traction bar
OBA
filled in the rear side windows with steel
bucket seats and ammo can center console
late model toyota truck steering wheel
c.b., am/fm cd player
rear box/drawer that holds all the recovery, repair and a few days of survival gear.
and a beer bottle opener

i think thats about it,, still a pretty simple rig with most of the right mods.

i know i know, you want pics,, ok here goes.

1: an overall pic of the rig
2: rear bumper, swingout tire carrier
3: sliders

[RHINO]

1: under the front with discs, steering, SOA and SR
2: under the rear with discs, traction bar, exhaust routing, air tank, water separator and shocks set-up
3: engine bay

[RHINO]

1: cockpit
2: in the back showing box/drawer, hi lift mount ect.
3: how i did the sheet metal to keep the lines of the window and of course the bottle opener

[RHINO]

and finally a few pics of the rig in its environmnt

[SuperT]

Good story Rhino.
My favorite features are your diesel, your 5spd, your discs, and your bottle opener.

[ChuckB]

I want that diesel!!

I like what you did with the turn signals under the head lights. Kinda D90-ish looking. What did you use for those?

[Eric Ellis]

Originally Posted by SuperT

Good story Rhino.
My favorite features are your diesel, your 5spd, your discs, and your bottle opener.

All great, but you gotta love that bottle opener.

[oldfj40]

Great looking rig!

I like the paint scheme and the way you filled in the rear windows.Did you weld the sheet metal in or can you go back to glass if you choose?
Looks like you got that mix of trail/expedition you wanted and that diesel is sweet.

BTW - you're still in AZ.You still have the girl?

[RHINO]

thanks guys

chuck the signals under the headlights are gone now, but they were just generic running lights, i have motorcycle turn signals mounted on the fender skirts ala the early '69 i had.

old fj, i stitch welded the sheet in, it can be removed easy enough but i'll never go back to glass, broke it too much and i like the panel wagon look.

p.s. still have the girl and, unfortunately, two teenage kids.

[andrew.fletcher]

This is a great rig and I'm happy to say I'm one of the fortunate ones to see this in person and even got a chance to drive it! This is the ride that really sold me on the whole Isuzu diesel route which I'm slowly getting together.

Rhino-For your steering, did you change the whole column or just the wheel. That's the next task for mine is figuring out a suitable steering column.

[RHINO]

wow you make my rig sound so special !!

i just changed the wheel, still the 55 column.

[animaldevictor]

That nice rig, and the SOA looks great, can I ask if the tie rods Are OEM, I am tring to make something like that on my one, come down to Costa Rica, the rainy season start in one month and the color of the mud here, match with your car

[RHINO]

i'd love to cruise around south america, maybe some day.

tie rods are .250 wall with FJ80 tre's.

[animaldevictor]

actually is central America, south america is kind 3 weeks drive from AZ, thanks for the info man, always very helpfull

[animaldevictor]

another thing ,,, ISUZU engines rocks, i planing to 15B on mine is kind the toyota version of the ISUZU 4.1 liter , i have a friend here that has ISUZU and runs great that engines have no complaines at all

[hks3sgte]

Any video clips? I would love to hear that isuzu in a piggie!

[RHINO]

my son does youtube so i'll see if he wants to help me out with that,,, actually a cool idea to put up a vid or two from outside driving by and maybe an in cab vid,,, i'll work on it.

[RHINO]

okay, HKS asked for it, hope it works. the only thing that sucks is the mic didnt pick up the trubo whine.

YouTube - FJ55 Diesel

[ridgerunner]

Oink.

Nice work Clay.

[n2666s]

Clay........awesome..only thing better sounding than an F or 2F is a diesel growling

Lou

[stumpofj40]

that is one tuff piggy, i love what you've done with the indicators on the side of the guards - they look like little pigs ears! i think im going to steal the panel wagon idea only i might use aluminum sheet. keep up the good work.
dan

[RHINO]

thanks guys

hey dan why aluminum? how do you plan to attach it?

[RUSH55]

Great job Clay! What are your future plans, if any?

[RHINO]

the near future will be spent fixing some mechanical issues, rear main seal, rear 3rd needs rebuilt, put in a dbl cardan rear shaft, stuff like that.

the further future will mostly hold tightening up the overall rig, mostly getting the doors and weatherstrip all working right. also plan some general rewire work to clean things up from all the additions i have done over the years.

and finally,, as the kids are spending less time in the pig i might take out the rear seat and get started on a living/sleeping mini r.v type situation. i have some big plans for a convertible kitchen that i could use inside the rig during bad weather and then flip it around for use off the tailgate, one of the ideas is a sliding rear section that would slide out over the tailgate and still make a sealed interior for living/sleeping with access form either side. we'll see.

the pig has good metal. i figure as long as it holds up i can always change mechanicals to keep the body on the road eh? this pig should last me my lifetime.

[stumpofj40]

Originally Posted by RHINO

thanks guys

hey dan why aluminum? how do you plan to attach it?

ive already done some inside skins in aluminium so i thought i'd just stick with the theme, would probably just mount it with some rivetts and sikaflex i suppose

[RHINO]

easy enough,,, when i did it i originally was going to mount it to the steel lip but i decided i didnt want the panel sunk in so far. i thought the best look was just a hint of the window line. it'll be good either way, i worried about a huge blind spot but its hardly noticeable.

[hks3sgte]

Originally Posted by RHINO

okay, HKS asked for it, hope it works. the only thing that sucks is the mic didnt pick up the trubo whine.

YouTube - FJ55 Diesel

Damn! I guess i'm too late. It says it's been removed!

[RHINO]

huh i didnt remove it,, are youtube links linked to a PC or are they downloaded? i ask cause i recently had a PC crash and it affected my pic and video uploading among other things.

[DWitcher]

How loud is that engine from inside the cab?

[cruiserland]

that is a rad pig