ARCHIVE FZJ40

[IPOR]

Those who know me know I love FJ55's, but there is something cool about open top cruising that cannot be denied. My passion for Land Cruisers began with the FJ40. I remember my first job out of college sitting in stand still traffic on I-495 (Wash DC capital beltway) in a suit in the pouring rain with my 40 sporting nothing but a bikini top. Funny thing is I didn't get nods of empathy, I got nods of approval. All the people stuck in the rat race, driving their BMW's and Benz's, trying to break free from their cookie cutter lifestyle saw their freedom personified.

Fast forward nearly 20 years. I've owned a Land Cruiser (or on average about 12 per year) continuously. Married and with kids I'm looking to put something in the garage that captures this moment, but is safer and more enjoyable to drive.

It should be mentioned that during this time span my AAD (Advanced Automotive Disorder) has grown worse, and I have since given up the suit and tie, corporate lifestyle, and traffic (not to mention a steady paycheck!) to pursue my passion for quality fabrication and now own IPOR Inc. This thread is not about IPOR. This obsession is not about IPOR. I have basically quit my day job (at IPOR) and do nothing but work on the FZJ40. Worse still, I absorb incredible amounts of resources with my disorder. If not for the talents of my staff this would be impossible. Vince is an incredibly smart and capable technician, and Jack is equally as talented with body work. John Embrey is so knowledgeable about cruisers, our restorations would not be the same without him. Cam, who I brought on as a friend just helping me to get the job done two years ago, has become my right hand man. (that's old skool talk for saying he knows his sh!t) Cam keeps the business running when I'm off on a tangent like this. Not only a talented welder/fabricator, he also knows the in and out of Land Cruisers like no one I've ever met. But this obsession is not about them.

This is about the pursuit of the perfect 40. (for me, not you) I am not Gary, for whom I have the upmost respect. Project X is amazing. My project began about 4 years ago when I bought a crashed 80 from my friend Todd Oldenburg... on an extended payment plan until we knew that it ran... (I'm close Todd, check's in the mail!) Over the years I nipped and cut, trying to find the perfect balance between the rugged capability and spartan interior that we collectively love in the 40 and the refined capability that we love in the 80.

This thread is about my FZJ40.

to be continued....

 

[Fireman]

Come on, don't be a tease. Kinda like saying "free bee tomorrow."

 

[liljlandon]

This is cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[Waggoner5]

Are you going to do a 40 on an 80 chassis, or keep the 40 chassis and add 80 series components? Get to work on this, I am ready for some new reading...Good luck on the project.
G

 

[IPOR]

Here's what I started with:

 

[Waggoner5]

Awfully nice to start, but what direction are you going with the build? Come on give us a hint....

 

[IPOR]

But I wanted to build the 40 so I built this one on a 40 frame with EFI 350, FJ60 4 spd and split case, FJ60 axles with chromoly axles and diff locks, SOA, shackle reversed, cut/turn, 4x4 labs reverse steering, completely rebuilt body with rock rails, etc...

 

[IPOR]

Then I realized that my wife would never drive a 200hp rig on 39" tires with a manual trans and auto locker in the rear of a 90" wheelbase truck... That's where the 80 came in. She loves to drive it.

The 80 comes with so many things that people come into IPOR and ask us to install: Disc brakes, power steering, good powerplant, full floating rear axle, rear disc brakes, automatic, coil suspension, diff locks, the list goes on. It seems that if you could only combine the best of both you'd have the perfect compromise.

I couldn't bear to cut up my 80, so I sold it to a guy that took it to Africa... I rest quietly at night dreaming of it on African safari... sigh, I miss that truck...

So I bought the crashed 80 from Todd (remember, this is almost 4 years ago... those of you with short attention spans hang in there - you're getting in at the end of the build!) and started cutting.

I kept almost everything 80 related, except the body. I'm running the 80 frame and drivetrain with a 40 body. Here's how it goes:

 

[Waggoner5]

Perfect. I have a 80s generation 40 that I plan on putting the 1FZ, auto and coil sprung axles under, but keep the 40 chassis. I have a few other things to get done with first, but if you need any help or ideas let me know.
G

 

[IPOR]

The first order of business was to shorten the 80 wheelbase. I've wheeled an 80 long enough to know how capable they are - and also that the breakover is one of the few weaknesses. I also didn't want to just stretch the 40 body to fit the 80 as I felt it would be too long for a 2 door truck. (apologies to those driving troopies!)

I cut the frame in half, and reset the wheelbase to 104". This is what I run in my FJ55 buggy and it works well. At the time I had recently helped a friend with a scrambler project and found that I really liked the overall dimensions of the truck. This is modeled after that scrambler, with all the AMC problems fixed. The overall length, bumper to bumper should round out at 161".

The frame is a box section with inner and outter C channels. I cut inner and outter at different points so that I wouldn't have a continuous weld all the way around the frame at any one point. Some of you who've seen the truck in person have been shown where it was sectioned, the rest will have to guess. (ha!) Suffice to say it is shorter than a stock 80 wheelbase.

At this point I wanted to have pics of the frame cut in half, but so many years have gone by that I've since lost the pics - sorry. I do have pics of the 40 body after lengthening to fit the new 80 chassis.

 

[IPOR]

Perfect. I have a 80s generation 40 that I plan on putting the 1FZ, auto and coil sprung axles under, but keep the 40 chassis. I have a few other things to get done with first, but if you need any help or ideas let me know.
G

I'm sure you of all people know it can be done. I think that's doing it the hard way. The 80 frame is stronger and already set up for all of the parts you're trying to keep. I won't say it was easy, but the 40 body lent itself well to placement on the 80 frame. Ha, this conversation is going to get funny before we're through as we start to compare crib notes on our respective builds, LOL.

The 80 axles are so wide you're going to need to re-engineer the suspension to make them work under the 40 frame. Nothing wrong with that, we do it every day but there is something sweet about a factory engineered suspension. (not that I didn't change the resulting numbers by shortening the wheelbase, but you get my point)

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Here's a pic from the rear during initial fitting of the 40 body on the 80 frame. Also shown is a close up of the rockers, which I've replaced with 2x3x.185 rectangular tubing.

I have a cookie for the first person to properly guess the model year of the body used for this project.

You can see that I first tubbed out the rear wheel wells. I really wanted to do this and run just some tall normal street tires like BFG or MTR's. Keep the truck really low, sleeper style. In the end I couldn't get the tires to tuck without carefull selection on tire/wheel combo. With the right tire/wheel combo I was sticking out too far and would be subject to many a ticket here in Virginia. Ultimately I fashioned tube fenders and built flares for the rear to cover the tires - more on that later.

 

[IPOR]

Those of you paying extra close attention to the last pic will notice that the drivetrain has also been relocated. I had to do this in order to have the correct orientation of the front axle in the wheel opening. (and as Gary will point out it is also required to fit the radiator up front - more on that later too)

So with the wheel wells opened up and the body mounts installed I can clear 39.5" tires on stock springs. The 40 body is not shaped like the 80, which hangs lower on the frame rail, so theres some extra room to be had. It's not a crazy body lift, in fact the rear floor is only 1/2" above the coil buckets. The cut out wheel openings make up the difference.

 

[soenke]

Hey IPOR, good idea ... and nicely built !

Those of you paying extra close attention to the last pic will notice that the drivetrain has also been relocated. I had to do this in order to have the correct orientation of the front axle in the wheel opening. (and as Gary will point out it is also required to fit the radiator up front - more on that later too)

it looks a lot better with the relocated engine mounts. -We left everything stock, as we want to travel with the TOYOTA set up. With a body lift the radiator still fits. And these ~10cm moving the cab up to the front were also needed to avoid stretching the frame to suit the cabin...

I am curious how you did the stearing set up...

 

[Tapage]

I take the time to read the hole story .. thought I'm in the starting symtomps of AAD that I woudl translate to ALCD ( advanced land cruiser disorder ) in my case ..

in a secong think about it .. this great build should be your DD .. with Iroks . ?

Ohh I will love to make something like .. I just can't abandon my suit and tie .. ( just a part of my office job .. and well the monthly check !!! )

P.S. I need to come here and read threads like this one more often ..

 

[Waggoner5]

I'm sure you of all people know it can be done. I think that's doing it the hard way. The 80 frame is stronger and already set up for all of the parts you're trying to keep. I won't say it was easy, but the 40 body lent itself well to placement on the 80 frame. Ha, this conversation is going to get funny before we're through as we start to compare crib notes on our respective builds, LOL.

The 80 axles are so wide you're going to need to re-engineer the suspension to make them work under the 40 frame. Nothing wrong with that, we do it every day but there is something sweet about a factory engineered suspension. (not that I didn't change the resulting numbers by shortening the wheelbase, but you get my point)

Lance

I though about that, but I hate to cut up a really nice 83 FJ40. I figured that I would leave it on 33s and not wheel it hard, but use narrowed 80 axles. Its more for an improved driver than anything else.

I fixed the radiator in the back, issue by the way....2UZ up front gives me several inches for a good cooling system. How much did you have to move the drivetrain to keep everything under the hood?
That was a huge amount of work Im sure. I took the easy route the first time, but am being paid back with it now. Beautiful work by the way.

 

[IPOR]

I am curious how you did the stearing set up...

The steering and suspension are all factory 80 series, with the exception of the coil springs which are OME heavy duty replacements.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

I fixed the radiator in the back, issue by the way....2UZ up front gives me several inches for a good cooling system. How much did you have to move the drivetrain to keep everything under the hood?

I saw the thread on the motor swap - as always, very nice work. I only had to move the drivetrain a few inches. To be honest moving the HVAC was a bigger job - LOL! I know you didn't go into much detail on the unit you used in the 45 but I'm sure you faced much of the same issues.

I'll try to post up some more pics here before the kids get up...

 

[IPOR]

So at this point in the build I had to make some changes. The 39.5 bias ply iroks on factory wheels were traded out for 37's on 17x9 Champion beadlocks. 37's were part of the plan from the start, the 39.5 were just available so I used them for mock up. I found that where the 39s rubbed the frame quick on compression in the rear the 37's clear all the way up into the body. The 37's are also radials because I want to daily drive this truck and my 5 mile commute means the bias ply tires will still be square as I pull into the office parking lot. Can't deal with that.

Anyway, I'm the type that likes to have first hand experience with new products so I've tried just about every beadlock out there and find the Champion beadlocks are the best bang for the buck. Good construction, they run true and are easy to mount. About a year ago when I was at this point in the build they were experimenting with something called Rock Knobs. Some new (at the time) trend of putting studs on the beadlock ring that can be driven into the obstacle to provide additional traction. I thought, "sure, I'll give it a try..."

Having settled on tires and wheels I now had the problem of the 80 axles sticking out 6" on either side of the 40 body. On a buggy this would be no problem, on a street driven vehicle in VA it is. They only allow 3 or 4 inches or you get a ticket. I didn't want to be hassled so I had to come up with a solution.

In the tan truck above you can see that I've done tube work in the past. Can't do that again, it's got to be something new... hmm... needs to be able to take an impact without being destroyed - I am after all going to drive this truck, not park it in the garage and rub it with a diaper. So I came up with these steel fender flares. I built a sample from sheet metal then sent it off to our laser cutter and had them build a prototype for a new IPOR rock proof fender flare.

 

[IPOR]

The flares add 3" per side and while the tire still sticks out a little I'm well within the legal limit. The flare is made with a 1/4" back plane and 1/8" face. I did them this way so that if someone wanted to bolt a set on instead of welding they could just drill and tap the back side. I welded mine in. (or rather, I had "burn it in Beasley" do the panel warping for me- ha ha!)

So I needed to do something with the front fenders too. Again, going with the idea that they needed to be able to sustain an impact I built tube fenders from 2"x .120 HREW and skinned them with 18 guage galvanealed sheet metal. They are also approximately 3" wider and they have support braces and bracketry designed to keep them in place on trails like upper 2 in Tellico, where you may need to drive the fender into a wall to get the line you want.

The reason for limiting the width of these to 3" is not only to keep it narrow enough to fit down the trail, but also to keep things proportional. I've seen stretched 40's and I've seen widened 40's but they seem to look disproportionate and awkward. Most people who had a chance to see the FZJ40 during the build process had to be told that it was stretched - it's suttle enough to go unnoticed.