1971 fj40 build "?l Diablo" (1 Viewer)

[LQ9 4D]

As I have been on mud for a short time now, I have wanted to make a build thread even though I have already completed alot of things I still have more to add, so here is Ѐl Diablo. I think this name suits this 40.

This was my first vehicle which I purchased when I was 16 years old. The body was decent with its share of minor rock damage and loads of holes, motor was tired, and wiring harness was shredded with household switches for the headlights. After sending the body to get body work and paint (swiss red) and the motor to the rebuild shop, I got it all back and rewired with painless, new switches, brakes, engine tune up parts, new rubber everywhere. It took 9 months and I was driving it to school before I was 17.

I will add some more info/pics/progress which I have done to this thread as the days go on as I sit at home with a broken arm. I had to one up a 12 year old at snowboarding. I failed.

 

[LQ9 4D]

I needed more Power and a decent cruising RPM

Years go by as I have a second vehicle (DD), I’ve thought about a V8 and auto trans swap. After hours on the phone with Jim at Downey and lots of time on the net figuring out the motor and trans I wanted to use, I settled on a 6.0 vortec with a 4L65E trans which I bought and brought home. So I removed the entire drive train. Sorry no pics were taken at the time of the swap. I had bought the necessary items to do this build from Downey. Engine mounts, adapter plates, extension housing (short one), output shaft from 4L60 to 3sp TC, TC mount, companion flange, 240zx u-joint from spicer. Modifieded the 4X4 shifter. Got it all together and installed.

Then came the electronics. When I got this motor there was no wiring harness or ECU. I went to Turnkey for their Delphi ECU and wiring harness. This is a 71, no need for all that emissions junk here in cali, which tunned the motor down. No more catz, evap, or mass air. So now I would have 390hp/420fttq instead on 345/380. As for the trans, I went with TCI trans controller which you can customize the shifts thru the laptop. Currently, I am trying to work out the bugs with the trans.
Then I found an awesome forum online, ih8mud if you didn’t know, which is a huge network of people who hook up their Toyotas. SCORE! Too bad I didn’t find this earlier. HAHAAhaa. Sold the F motor, using the forum I was talking about. That person got a hell of a deal. I rebuilt the front axle with new seals and bearings. Next on the list was brakes. 4 wheel disc with a fj60 MC, added a residual valve and prop valve for rear line. I knew I would be smoking the rear tires, so in came chromo rear axles from poly, into the aussie locker. Got a deal on some 33X10.5X15 BFG mudders. Then the 4” springs from BTB went in, super soft ride.

Then it sat for a while as I changed jobs and went back to finish my degree which is almost done. I moved had a garage to work in then I built the cage. And made 12" Fox shocks w/ resivors happen in the rear.

 

[orangefj45]

nice looking cruiser.

make sure you keep those u-bolts tight. that 6 liter is gonna try to twist that pinion upward like nobody's business.

georg

 

[LQ9 4D]

Trans mount

Next on the list was to raise the TC because I needed to straigten out the front driveline angle and give it a tummy tuck. In the pics above you can see that i was using the propeller mount on the TC and how low the case sits. This type of mount limited me to raise it higher. The propeller mount was already against the body, and I didnt want to cut the body support pieces. Also, the original cross member was in the way of my e-brake assembly from raising up any further.

So the plans were to make a trans mount off of the existing threaded holes in the extension houseing and use the original cross member but move it back a bit and have it removable.

I floor jacked the trans pan, pulled off the propeller, grinded down the frame mounts, raised the case, made some 1/4" plate pieces to fill in the factory speed holes in the frame so I can weld the tabs to the frame, measured some things.

I went with this design. Made some tabs out of 3/8" plate, bent up some 1 1/2" tube, used a 3/8" plate welded to the tube.

 

[LQ9 4D]

make sure you keep those u-bolts tight. that 6 liter is gonna try to twist that pinion upward like nobody's business.

georg

Thanks george, I do plan to fab a trac/anti wrap bar off of the cross member. I have seen alot of other members designs and I think I have an idea on how I want it. I like chicago's design. This will definately be next on the list.

Should I get new U-bolts, or is it alright to reuse the same ones which where holding on the the old spring packs? I dont want my axle to come off, that would be no good.

 

[LQ9 4D]

crossmember

After the trans mount was finished, I moved on to complete the crossmember. I sawzaw'd it off as close to the frame as possible to save the most amount of length because the frame gets wider more towards the rear. I wanted to still use it so it would look factory.

Cut some 3/8" plate with the plasma and drilled some holes. Tacked the plate where it needed to be so I could drill precise holes in the frame as I wanted this to be a removable cross member. Grinded the tube down flush. It was still a bit shy, so I added some 1/4" plate circle spacers, tacked in place then removed to weld fully. It turned out great, bolts need trimming.

Next project will be the traction bar.

 

[40girl]

You put the cross member in. so that explains why you were disappointed in yourself. broke the arm... sad day. a 12 year old really???

 

[LQ9 4D]

Output Shaft Threads

This output shaft is for a 4L60E transmission to a 3sp Toyota TC. I bought from AA and upon install into the transmission I did not notice the jacked up threads it has. Upon inspection, there is an addional set of shorter threads between the taller threads. The nut threads on but very loosely and has plenty of wiggle room. When I was tightening up the supplied nut, it kept popping back a thread. The original nut from the old stock transmission is barely smaller as I am unable to use.
Didn't know if anyone else has ran into this problem..
I was going to tap the threads on the output shaft to fit a different nut if its possible, didn't know if it is hardened. Removing the the output shaft is out of the question, Im not gonna break the transmission down all the way for this shaft to return it or tap it when its out.
I was wondering what I should do-
How tight this nut should be?
If I do try to tap it, what thread size I should use when tapping.?

Left Nut is the one from AA, Right Nut is the original

 

[LQ9 4D]

Start of the trac. bar

I first made some cardboard templates of the mounts for the trac bar on the axel as well as on the cross member. Then off to the plasma cutter to cut some steel. 1/4" plate. I also made some exhaust flanges, as I am gonna have to redo half of my exhaust system and split in to two easily removable pieces. The new location of the crossmember and then the needed room for the trac bar. I will try to get this finished before next weekend.

 

[FishNinJay]

As I have been on mud for a short time now, I have wanted to make a build thread even though I have already completed alot of things I still have more to add, so here is Ѐl Diablo. I think this name suits this 40.

This was my first vehicle which I purchased when I was 16 years old. The body was decent with its share of minor rock damage and loads of holes, motor was tired, and wiring harness was shredded with household switches for the headlights. After sending the body to get body work and paint (swiss red) and the motor to the rebuild shop, I got it all back and rewired with painless, new switches, brakes, engine tune up parts, new rubber everywhere. It took 9 months and I was driving it to school before I was 17.

I will add some more info/pics/progress which I have done to this thread as the days go on as I sit at home with a broken arm. I had to one up a 12 year old at snowboarding. I failed.

Sweet rig. I'm thinking of going to a more stock look on my '71 rig.
Wondering.. what are you doing for side mirrors? In the original pics, they look like door mount, but in the red rig, it's mounted up front. Like everyone else... my passenger side mirror is useless with the roll cage upright.

Ok.. thanks.. very nice.
-J

 

[Sando Serious]

Nice work!

 

[LQ9 4D]

@ARC1- my pass side mirror is useless with the cage as well. I was thinking of heating it up to bend the tube back a little bit to get around the cage. Might look funky if one is bent and the other is straight. Or get the door mounted mirrors on later fj40s. I really like those.
@jake- thanks man yours is coming together nicely.

 

[FishNinJay]

@ARC1- my pass side mirror is useless with the cage as well. I was thinking of heating it up to bend the tube back a little bit to get around the cage. Might look funky if one is bent and the other is straight. Or get the door mounted mirrors on later fj40s. I really like those.
@jake- thanks man yours is coming together nicely.

Yeah, if I could extend it, heat it, and bend it some, it'd probably work.
And funky is ok.. in fact, funky is practically stock!

Only problem with the door-mount is when I take the doors off. The front fender mounted ones look kind of odd, and I hear they bounce a lot.

The search continues...

 

[kling-on]

nice ride

 

[lenross1]

Did you ever figure out what to do with the output shaft?

 

[LQ9 4D]

No I havn't done much in the past couple of weeks. Im in my last quarter of school, which has been keeping me occupied.
I need to find a nut that will work and then tap the threads to the size. I hope this will work out.

 

[LQ9 4D]

Trac Bar continued...
Well I finally got it all finished and put a couple of coats of rattle can on it.
Thanks to everyone else with their designs which I tryed to mimic.
Next thing to do would be the rest of the exhaust system.

 

[LQ9 4D]

The output shaft has been fixed. I was able to thread it to a 3/4 by 16 pitch, then out a grade 8 nut on it, hammered out the cover a bit rtv and the gasket, tightend bolts, done deal.

Now to finish the exhaust system. Both Toys need the exhaust worked on,

 

[nick]

Taking it to Pismo this year?

 

[LQ9 4D]

Thats gonna be a really close call to make. I need to work the bugs out on the TCU. I need to be able to drive it there and back and mosh it out in the dunes. Maybe..