Project Space Shuttle - 5.0 powered '84 FJ60 on Coilovers (1 Viewer)

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jcj_78FJ40 said:
This is awesome. With the popularity of a TBI or 5.3 conversion, I'm surprised a Mud vendor hasn't picked this up...hint...hint.
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The key to this is whether or not I pass the evap test for CA emissions. This was a pretty straight forward project with respect to cutting and drilling. It was far less hazardous than installing an in-tank pump in my stainless steel fuel cell in my GPW.
 
FordFascist said:
The key to this is whether or not I pass the evap test for CA emissions. This was a pretty straight forward project with respect to cutting and drilling. It was far less hazardous than installing an in-tank pump in my stainless steel fuel cell in my GPW.
Click to expand...
I just took another look at this. Did you have to cut an access hole in the tank? Initially I assumed you swapped out the stock fuel supply/return lines.
 
jcj_78FJ40 said:
I just took another look at this. Did you have to cut an access hole in the tank? Initially I assumed you swapped out the stock fuel supply/return lines.
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Yes. I used a hole saw to carefully cut the hole and a body hammer / dolly to make sure everything was smooth and level.

I re-reouted the stock fuel lines slightly but am still using most of them.
 
My '60 has been going pretty well over the summer. The A/C works absolutely stupendously and the exhaust note is music to my ears.

Right now I'm fixing issues after the build for the '60. Mostly just minor things but some major.

  • Steering wander
  • Full turning
  • Death Wobble
  • Brakes
  • Small interior fixes
Steering wander
My steering box is the most common steering box ever made. I researched this and what I say is fact. This came on EVERY Ford truck from 1980 to 1997. I mean EVERY Ford truck, from the Ranger to the F-450. Since I bought my used steering box on E-Bay for $40 I figured it was a gamble. And it definitely was worth that $40 since it had about a 20* dead spot in the center portion. I finally decided to make a move and replace it with a rebuilt one for O'Reilly's.

Next I took it to an alignment shop because I had recently broken my toe, was being sent to Colorado for a few weeks and then was headed to Canuckistan after that.

I took it to a local alignment shop that is pretty good most of the time. One of their techs is a 'wheeler so a 3 link won't confuse him. Somehow there was a mix up and he wasn't able to get to my cruiser, so one of the less skilled techs tried to align my cruiser.

When I got there this guy was scarring up all my links with water pump pliers and adjusting the lower links. I naturally expressed my displeasure of him messing with the lower links (they control the axle placement front to back). I informed him that to adjust caster you have to adjust the upper link only. After arguing with me for about 15 minutes about the suspension that I DESIGNED AND BUILT, the manager finally came out and apologized refunded my money and gave me a free future alignment.

I went home, built a test fixture to center my axles out of a scrap piece of 2x2x.090 wall tubing and got the axles equal front to back. The dummy at the alignment shop had adjusted my left side a full inch shorter than the right side of my cruiser. I was unimpressed.

The '60 has sat for the last few weeks because of my travelling and my injuries. I finally got to drive it the other day and it was death wobbling so bad I couldn't even keep it on the road. From my reading DW occurs when something is loose, the tires are not perfect (which mine aren't), the toe is off, and the caster angle is too little (<2*) or too great (>7*). In the case of mine, the knuckles were a bit loose, the tires are used and not that good, the toe was 1.25" in and it had 16* of caster. Thanks alignment shop.

DW Fixes
I gave up on the alignment shops, so I built my own test stand to align this. I took no pictures of this because I was in a hurry.

  • First I took off the wheels and checked the knuckle preload.
  • There was about 5lbs of drag, so I removed .005" of shims from the knuckles, now they are ~ 12-14 lbs
  • Next I checked the wheel bearings and added a slight amount of preload to those as well.
  • I reassembled everything
  • I clamped 2 1x1 angle iron to both drive hubs and marked them level
  • I set my alignment to 1/8" toe in using both ends of the leveled angle (18" from center). The alignment shop had me towed in 1.25"!
  • I have a camber/caster gauge so I checked the caster while I was at it - it was <8 degrees (which is the highest the gauge goes to). I later took measurements and determined it was at 16*.
  • I ended up putting the caster to 5* and the toe to 1/8" toed in.

No more DW.

Full steering

I noticed my drag link hit the track bar bracket and the sway bar links. It was time to borrow from the Super Duty, so I removed the tie rod and put a gull wing bend in it.

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I haven't got to the brakes yet, but this will get the Tundra brake upgrade with 13WL calipers and 12.75 x 1.5" rotors.
 
Sweet looking underside. So clean! Great work, impressive!
 
Very nice work!

I'd love to hear the exhaust on this thing if you are able to film a driving clip, etc.
 
Reminds me of being back in Belton, I'm a 90's kid so this makes me happy!
 
FordFascist said:
I don't have a GoPro, but here's what it sounds like as of this morning. I'll get more of it driving later on.

Click to expand...

Awesome it is refreshing to see someone figure out something with hacking it up or just throwing parts at it. I built a FJ40 years ago that I used to flat tow behind my pickup. After the lift and tires it wouldn't take turns when being towed. I spoke to several shops and cruiser guys and was told I need to tie the steering wheel to the seat when I tow it! Imagine that a 75mph when it came loose. I ended up figureing the caster was out as stock was only 1 degree. I put a 2.5 degree shim in the front as an estimate to roll the knuckles back and increase the caster, and magically the thing towed like it did before.
Well done hope my 60 build turns out half as nice as yours.
 
Did you paint your steering wheel black or did you find a black one? If you painted it, how has it held up?
 
Few questions for you.

What output flanges did you use on the Dana 300?

Are they Land Cruiser or Mini-Truck bolt pattern?

Custom length drive-shaft or a conglomerate of OE?

How did you extend the transfer shifter to sit at the stock floor opening? Possible to replicate with twin sticks?

Gosh, it sounds like I'm planning something ;)
 
Answers in line:

cruisermatt said:
Few questions for you.
Click to expand...

cruisermatt said:
What output flanges did you use on the Dana 300?
Click to expand...

WFO Concepts output flanges.

Dana 44, 30, 300, Toyota Flange, Dual Pattern, 26 Spline | Dana 44/30, Dana 300, Dana 18/20 | WFOConcepts.com

cruisermatt said:
Are they Land Cruiser or Mini-Truck bolt pattern?
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Mini truck (84-88) 60x60mm style. I'm running single cardan shafts on the Space Shuttle.

Here's more info from the mighty PBB -> Driveshaft flange bolt patterns - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

cruisermatt said:
Custom length drive-shaft or a conglomerate of OE?
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Both Shafts are custom length. 39" in the rear and 38" on the front. Both are made from OE mini truck shafts and have a max operating angle of 42*. I don't need long travel slip yokes on either because my pivot point on the front axle is in line with the suspension links, and on the rear because the mounting points of the Chevy springs and the half length of the arch of them mean the axle flange stays at within 1" distance chance of the t-case throughout suspension travel.

cruisermatt said:
How did you extend the transfer shifter to sit at the stock floor opening? Possible to replicate with twin sticks?
Click to expand...

I built a mounting bracket that bolts to the side of the S5-42 case and allows the use of a single shifter. The Single shifter for Dana 300s are somewhat problematic in stock form. I may put a twin stick on this at some point, or build some sort of overly complex shifter linkage that mimics that of the stock case. I haven't decided yet. It seems to work fine for the time being I actually just modified mine slightly yesterday:

ZF's are known for transmitting a noise known as "gear roll-over." It sounds like the transmission is bad because it's loud, but it's actually the space between the gears to allow cooling getting transmitted via the aluminum case. Iron cases do a much better job of suppressing gear noise.

This creates a problem if you bolt the shifter directly to the case, as it acts like a tuning fork in the cab. I decided to build a rubber isolated shifter to alleviate the problem.

  • I used a piece of 3/4" steel pipe with a 1/2" nut welded in top to allow a place for the cab shifter to thread into and to add as a vibration damper.
  • I added an ultra thick piece of 1/2" heater hose inside of the 3/4 pipe to act as an isolator.
  • I added a small 1/2" rod to the original shifter pivot point and slowly pressed the isolator over top of it using silicone spray.
  • I reinstalled the whole assembly again and now I don't get any of that weird hissing type noise when I'm going 80 MPH.
  • Mission success.

cruisermatt said:
Gosh, it sounds like I'm planning something ;)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the answers!

Did you keep the differential flanges Land Cruiser pattern or did you buy the Marlin conversion flanges for those too? I'm thinking my best bet is to get two Mini-Truck slip yokes and have my Land Cruiser shafts re-tubed (Toyota truck shafts have the same splines as Land Cruiser).

My previous plan was a combination of various Land Cruiser and mini truck parts but it's just easier to have custom ones made I guess.

Also,

A ZF transmission like you have is close in length to an NV4500 right? Do you think something like this would work with longer extension bars? I want to keep the shifters in the stock location.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/images/pics/linkages/currie_dana_300_twin_shifter.jpg

Thanks!
 
cruisermatt said:
Thanks for the answers!
Click to expand...

cruisermatt said:
Did you keep the differential flanges Land Cruiser pattern or did you buy the Marlin conversion flanges for those too? I'm thinking my best bet is to get two Mini-Truck slip yokes and have my Land Cruiser shafts re-tubed (Toyota truck shafts have the same splines as Land Cruiser).
Click to expand...

Build a new driveshaft. Most competent shops will tell you that retubing something is usually more expensive than just building a new one. I would go with mini truck stuff top and bottom. FJ60 yokes do not have nearly the operating angle as mini trucks, nor are there as many out there so parts are problematic.

I redrilled my LC flanges using a spare mini truck 60x60mm yoke I have lying around. Get yourself a drill press and a 10mm bit from Amazon and save the money on a new flange. I did not replace the crush sleeve in either of my diffs.


cruisermatt said:
My previous plan was a combination of various Land Cruiser and mini truck parts but it's just easier to have custom ones made I guess.
Click to expand...

Yes. Go custom mini truck drive shafts. FJ stuff sucks to get parts for. Mini truck yokes and joints are 1350 equivalent anyway.

cruisermatt said:
Also,

A ZF transmission like you have is close in length to an NV4500 right? Do you think something like this would work with longer extension bars? I want to keep the shifters in the stock location.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/images/pics/linkages/currie_dana_300_twin_shifter.jpg

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Just build your own. You're going to be in it just as much time and money trying to get an off-the-shelf kit to work with a D300 in a FJ60. I bought 1/2" bar stock at Home Depot and used my press brake to bent it to fit the hole. You can also get away using a torch or a vise.
 
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