40/45 Mutt (1 Viewer)

[Baf-fj44]

So I've been workin' on my latest makeover of my 40 for the last 2 months. It's goin' slow, but I thought I would start posting the progress for fun, and maybe I'll finish the work around the same time I get around to posting everything

Here's what I started with
77 fj40 - stock 2F and 4 speed/transfer, added 4.11 gears and lockers, power steering, and 4 wheel discs. Lift consists of 1" body lift and 3" longer shackles.

The plan is to remove the rusty old body, lengthen the wheel base a little, repair the frame and make some body mods.

I've purchased a fj45 alluminum tub for it and will build a small truck box for the back. I've also got a Belton FJ55 kit that I'm putting on as well as a PTO winch.

When I'm up for it I'll post some pics of what I've done already

 

[Baf-fj44]

Start of the demolition. A lot of the body could be removed by hand (there was a whole lot of rust under that pretty alluminum!)

Half of a Saturday and it was down to the frame, then a few more things on Sunday (cut the tails off of the frame and removed about 50lbs of dried mud from inside the rails)

The cowl is being set aside for now. When I get a chance I'll prep it for the alluminum tub

 

[craptabulous]

looks like it will be a sweet project .

 

[green40]

I like it! Been thinking about doing the same thing. How much will you be adding to the frame?
I was planning on a stretch of 14" to the frame and running 63" Chevy springs in the rear, 60 springs in the front and a 4' bed behind the cab. Keep up the good work!

 

[dgangle]

bet your neighbors love you! rusty vehicle resto-mod in the driveway

 

[ken_79-fj40]

A friend of mine started a project like this about 5 years ago because the 45 tubs were about half the price of a 40 tub. Lengthened a 40 frame about 12" put in a 70K mile fj60 engine/trans/transfercase, installed an FJ45 aluminum tub and bolted on a wrangler tub cut right behind the door openings. Which oddly enough looked halfway decent. But he never finished it. I think Kina at North Country Landcruisers wound up with it.

 

[D'Animal]

Looks like one heck of a project!

 

[Blueegg]

Thanks for this thread. I've been considering a simular 40 to 45 project myself.

 

[subzali]

Didn't it come with 4.11 diffs?

 

[green40]

I think Kina at North Country Landcruisers wound up with it.

Really, I don't ever remember seeing it in his graveyard. Have to give him a call!

 

[Baf-fj44]

I like it! Been thinking about doing the same thing. How much will you be adding to the frame?
I was planning on a stretch of 14" to the frame and running 63" Chevy springs in the rear, 60 springs in the front and a 4' bed behind the cab. Keep up the good work!

I only added 5" to the wheelbase. The fj55 springs add about 3.5" and I redrilled the spring pin holes on the perches of the axle for another 1.25".

When I cut the tails off and built the new rear, I added 6 inches.

I'd post some more pics, but how does a newbie on mud do that?! (I only have so much room for pics)

B

 

[Baf-fj44]

Didn't it come with 4.11 diffs?

I think after 75 or 76 all of the Canadian 40's came with 3.70 (maybe the 4.11 was an option)

B

 

[Fast Eddy]

bet your neighbors love you! rusty vehicle resto-mod in the driveway

Especially the stretch-the-frame-using-an-angle-grinder weekend. ;p

Sounds like fun. With the extra length, check out a toybox.

 

[nuclearlemon]

I'd post some more pics, but how does a newbie on mud do that?! (I only have so much room for pics)

B

buying a star gets you more photo room.

 

[Baf-fj44]

Okay, so here are some of the suspension parts. Spring pic shows the belton rear fj55 spring (top), the same spring with the big leaf and one other removed (middle - this makes it similar to the front springs), and the stock 40 spring

Also, here are the shackles I am using. The short (front) ones are from Man-a-fre (GSK) and the long rears are some I made a while back and never installed. Bought some greasable bolts to use with them.

 

[Baf-fj44]

So I started off with the frame. My pass. side cowl, body mount had hit a stump at one time and was a little bent (see pic), so I removed it and salvaged another from a spare frame I have in the back yard. Looks nice and straight now.

 

[Baf-fj44]

I then started prepping the tails for the "subframe" rear. You can see in the pic how the rust had scooped out the metal in the lower left corner of the frame (on the inside). There were several layers of flakey, rusty metal here that I removed. The wall gets down to 1/16th (compared to almost 3/16th everywhere else)

The next step was to begin building the subframe. Because I'm doing the work in my yard, I had to get creative to build everything square

I'm building the subframe out of 2x4 tube (3/16" wall)

 

[Baf-fj44]

Oh, I almost forgot. I had to straighten the tips of the frame so that the rails were parallel to match the subframe. I cut slots in the top and bottom of the rail, hammered them in towards the middle, then welded tham up again.

 

[Baf-fj44]

Here are some pics of the preliminary fit between the frame and subframe.

There is one pic of my amateur welds as well. They didn't turn out to badly.

 

[Baf-fj44]

I borrowed a buddy's plasma (Thanks Mike!!) and cut some gusset plates and some holes for the receiver to go through. The one pic shows everything sitting in place (unfinished/unwelded)

The other 2 pics show the receiver welded in and the upper and lower gussets. The bottom gussets give the bottom of the rail a little extra width for placement of the shackle hangers