Builds Dusty the mini truck that wishes it was a Land Cruiser (1 Viewer)

[gpfj40]

I’m a little surprised you guys keep looking at my posts given how little cruiser content there is here, so thanks for following along. I will keep posting if you keep looking.

Here is a pic of the sway bar installed in the back and the duel exhaust tail pipes I did today.

More pics of the exhaust from today. To do this I bought a 2.5” builder kit, 2 flex joints, 1 V band (waiting on 2 more) from summit, 2 small cheap flow through mufflers from KMS Tools and cut the manifold flanges out of 3/8” flat bar with my plasma cutter. So far every thing is just tacked with my mig. I will be practicing up on DC big this week then pull the exhaust out to tig it up. The V bands will make it possible to pull out in 3 pieces. the crossover pipe is really tight between the front cv yoke and the trans/black box mount. May do a little hammer clearancing on this area and wrap with exhaust wrap. I reused a few of the toyota rubber hangers and installed a 2” H pipe crossover to take some of the snap out of what is sure to be a louder setup.

On a more exciting note the lq4 will be coming out and this LS2 will be going in!!
All aluminum, saving 200 lbs up front over the iron head/block lq4
243 heads 10.9:1 compression, premium gas only
Cam will be 216/220 .560 lift 114 duration, should be 400 hp 400 ft lbs
Looks like cromoly axle shafts are in my future.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Can you post up some details on the crossmembers you have? Is everything hard mounted?

Having a mount off-centerline on the transfer case when the other mounts are on centerline will tend to stress the transfer case, and lead to premature failure, unless everything is hard mounted.

 

[gpfj40]

Can you post up some details on the crossmembers you have? Is everything hard mounted?

Having a mount off-centerline on the transfer case when the other mounts are on centerline will tend to stress the transfer case, and lead to premature failure, unless everything is hard mounted.

The engine is mounted with advance adaptor urethane pucks, the BB/th350 tail housing crossmember is solid but mounted to the frame with urethane sleeved bushings on either side, the new rear crossmemember is also solid, mounted to the frame with the same urethane sleeved bushings on either side. My logic was to put the flex points in the same linear plane along both sides of the frame.

If it matters, I believe the frame will be a little stiffer due to the shorter length 1 added tubular crossmember and a stiffer front crossmember and the subframe (once complete) adding 2 crossmember with gusseting.

I certainly appreciate any input. Are you saying I should mount the rear crossmember to the centreline of the t case to remove all doubt? This wouldn’t be hard to do.

And should I add urethane bushing flex points where the trans and case crossmember mount to the trans and t case? I am concerned that this puts too much stress on the tail housing of the TH350 (but I’m certainly not sure I’m right about this and looking for options).



Engine mounts (final welding not yet done):

2 rear crossmember in question. Hard bolted to trans and case. The yellow circles are the urethane bushings I was saying mounted to the frame, the black line is the missing part of the sub frame that goes back the rear subframe crossmember.

Much stiffer front crossmember:

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Yes, exactly. If you moved the transfer case crossmember mount from the tail housing on the transfer case, to the transmission output shaft nut access cover on the transfer case, you'd be good to go. Although those urethane pucks shouldn't compress much at all, but better safe than sorry.

I know I've seen someone with a split case do crossmember like I'm describing, but I can't think of which thread it was. Can't find it. Old school propeller mounts were set up like this too:

75 SBC 40 Restoration

 

[gpfj40]

Yes, exactly. If you moved the transfer case crossmember mount from the tail housing on the transfer case, to the transmission output shaft nut access cover on the transfer case, you'd be good to go. Although those urethane pucks shouldn't compress much at all, but better safe than sorry.

I know I've seen someone with a split case do crossmember like I'm describing, but I can't think of which thread it was. Can't find it. Old school propeller mounts were set up like this too:

Thanks for the advice, I’ll make the change.

Now for the update. I pulled the exhaust out to weld up, took the time to teach myself how to tig for this task, and man did it take time, like 4x what it would have to just mig it up. I’m starting to get the hang of it, but nothing worthy of a close up. I painted the welds with header paint. Still waiting on my summit order so I can add the v bands to the PS cross over.

I have also been attempting to learn how to mig weld aluminium with a spool gun. I find it much harder than mig on steel. After some tips from a welder bud about buffing the crap out of the material right before you weld with specific SS bushes and discs I started to see some constantsy in my welds so I built the bed cross members. Also changing to .030 from .035 helped. The bed started with some 16 ga aluminium sheet metal being bent at a local sheet metal shop then I added the cross members and mounts out of angle and square tube. The bending cost WAY more than I thought it should but they did a nice job, and it was quick so I can’t complain. I’m pretty happy with how it has turned out is so far, still needs lots of work. There will be aluminum bed sides wrapping around the curve in the back corners. I chose aluminium to save weight and to give myself a reason to learn how to weld it.

4 of the 5 39.5 x 13.5 r 15 Bias Irok I ordered showed up this week!!! May have to trim a little up front, time will tell.

 

[gpfj40]

It’s been awhile, between a 3 week family vacation, followed by busy season at work, with a spring snow wheeling trip in the middle progress has been slow. Here is the gauge panel I’ve been working one, its not super pretty but it will get the job done. Note the manual air switch mounted beside an air gauge lower on the dash. I have decided to skip those annoying elec air solenoids cause I seem to have nothing but trouble with them. This manual air switch was $35 which is WAY cheaper than an ARB solenoid, hopefully is works.

 

[gpfj40]

I mounted the iroks on the bead locks, then on the truck, thinking I’m pretty happy with the size. I used a static balancer to figure out how much bead weight they will need. The range was 3.5-5.5 oz at the outside of the tire, not the rim. I put 8 oz in per tire as per the instructions.

The dual group 34 batteries are going on either side of the rad in plastic boxes. The aluminum box isn’t strong enough to support the weight of the batteries so I built a bracket off the frame which will include hold down brackets.

The rear sway bar links are part Cruiser, part jeep. I just welded some rod to finish them up. Then I welded some brackets made out of flat bar to the shock mounts. I believe I will be able to use linch pins on one side to make it easy to disconnect at the trail head.

 

[gpfj40]

I added double shear limit strap tabs on the frame and bump stop plate.

Mounted the 16 ga aluminum sides I had the local sheet metal shop roll back when they bent up the ribs for the bed. the bolts are tapped into the tubing, the fasteners will be changed to button head hex screws. KMS had bead rollers on sale, but out of stock so I ordered 1. The plan is to bead roll a few pin stripes down the side of the bed sides to make them more ridged.

Both the Toy and the GM fuel senders wouldn’t work properly with the equus fuel gauge I bought, which is 0-90 ohms. Turns out the GM fuel sender I have is 40-240 ohm (or something like that) and the Toy is 60-0 ohm (or something like that. The toy gauge would only read 5/8 and it would be backwards and the GM is way out of range so it would on read the bottom 1/4 of a tank, on the top half of the gauge. The simplest solution was to buy an equus 0-90 sender and mount it in the former top fuel line bulk head I already welded shut.

 

[Onebadlc]

Awesome build! What talent you have! Keep up the fantastic work!

 

[gpfj40]

Big change of plans on the fuel line, mounting the hose was going to be a pain. Not to mention the paranoia I have about fuel hose falling apart from the inside out. I ordered some 3/8 aluminum tube and -6AN tube nuts from summit. I’m way happier with how this turned out. I bent a vent line out of the same aluminum tubing, I’m running it around a tank sized square in addition to check valve on the end of the tube pointed up, double protection from leaking gas in a roll over. There will be an aluminum cover over the tank and plumbing. You will also note I painted the rear frame cause its getting close to done. The rear brake line runs down the upper link and you can see where the trans cooler will mount in front of the rad.

I started wiring up the Land Cruiser E locker which was going really good, I’m using a new 10 pin weather tight plug to run the 5 locker wires and the 2 indicator wires forward to the dash switch. This lead to re bolting the actuator to the third when I noticed the locker gear and fork had fallen down to the bottom of the housing because the axle shafts are out. Crap, out comes the third. As I put it back to gather I managed to twist off the rarest dam bolt toyota ever made, the bolt that connects the actuator rod to the shift fork. It is M6 .75 fine thread. I had to order this from Toyota, hopefully it is in stock.

 

[gpfj40]

Well it’s time for an update, I’m at the stage where there is 100 little things to do and they all take forever so there isn’t much to update. Here’s a pic of last weekends club effort to remove burnt out vehicles from the local public off road area we call The Dunes. Its amazing how many vehicle get burt in there every year, at least 5, often a dozen. Its a sad cometary on the oil patch city with a population of only 70,000.

I finally got the coolant lines to the rear rad mounted, 1.5” exhaust pipe.

The exhaust system is DONE. That was time consuming, the fit around the front CV/Trans/black box is tight but it fit without hammering pipes. it is 2.5” full dual with a short 2” H pipe. I welded in bungs for wide band o2 sensors and used V band clamps so the whole exhaust can be removed without cutting. I’m glad to get this behind me.

 

[gpfj40]

For the steam line I decided to use the left over 3/8” aluminum line to run under the cab so I that is now mounted. The pics show where it comes up in the engine compartment and back beside the rad on the cap tank side. I also painted the tubing that makes up the box but forgot to take a pic.

Next up is to mount the rest of the rear wires, reassemble the locker when the rarest bolt in to world comes in, and finish wiring the locker. Then mount the bed for good, bead roller the box sides and install. That is actually my goal for this up coming weekend.

 

[mts2snd]

really cool build. Impressive.

 

[gpfj40]

really cool build. Impressive.

Thanks!!

Yes, exactly. If you moved the transfer case crossmember mount from the tail housing on the transfer case, to the transmission output shaft nut access cover on the transfer case, you'd be good to go. Although those urethane pucks shouldn't compress much at all, but better safe than sorry.

I know I've seen someone with a split case do crossmember like I'm describing, but I can't think of which thread it was. Can't find it. Old school propeller mounts were set up like this too:

I finally got to this mod, the pic speaks for it self I think. Most of the cutting was done with my plasma. Thanks for the advice GLTHFJ60!!

The low point in the cooling system is going to be the tubes that run under the cab and give the lack of drain cocks anywhere else i stalled 2 in points along the tubes where I can cleanly capture the coolant without making a mess. i plan on running Evans Waterless Coolant which is super expensive so I want to be able to re use it all when I need to drain the system.

As for the locker actuator, I got the bolt from Toyota Parts Direct which is an online vendor which I’ve started using rather than the local dealer. The the web site has all of the Toyota parts diagrams the dealer does and no bad attitude about looking up a part number for Land Cruisers, especially without a VIN. The web site is 20% cheaper than my local dealer and shipping is cheap cause it is based in Canada. The dealer has actually tried refusing to order Land Cruiser parts based on the fact they have never sold them at their dealership, talk about customer service. Anyway, the wiring is done, I decided to expand the guard for the actuator.

 

[gpfj40]

Here is a pic of the back with the wiring and breathers all tied up and routed. All of the bolts are tight and the springs are in, getting very close to done on the back half. The sway bar links are in, notice the DS are pins and not bolts for disconnection at the trail head. If you look close you can see the wires and breathers following the rear brake line up the DS upper link.

Since all of the plumbing and wiring is done on the back half I reinstalled the bed and the new piece of aluminum I had bent (cause my break is only 30”) between the rad the bed. 1 small oversight lead to some notches being cut out for the exhaust. I also installed the battery boxes on either side of the rad and ran the cables into the cab.

Next was to build a protective screen to cover the fan to protect against junk in the bed from hitting the fans. This is 3/4” aluminum flattened expanded metal.

Next up is pull the iron head LQ4/trans/bb/tcase, then build functional triple cable shifters mounts for the Split Case. The LS2 and a new built th350 will get mounted to the bb/tcase and go back in. There is some wiring to do since the LS2 is a Gen 4 block, the injectors are getting changed from stock 22 lb to 32 lb bosch/ls1 style and the knock sensors are now by the motor mounts instead of the valley and the cam sensor is on the timing cover rather than behind the intake. I plan on staying with the Gen 3 ecu though, the engine builder has made all of the changes for it to run on the Gen 3 platform including sensor swaps and 24x reluctor install.

 

[gpfj40]

Drive train is out, now it’s time to final weld all of the brackets. Note how much of the floor I had to cut out to pull the t case while attached to the trans because of the subframe cross member being welded to the frame. I’ll need to build a removable tunnel.

I also just got a great deal on a set of bloggers already cut, 38x11R15, just in case i feel the need to take this thing mud dragging.

 

[gpfj40]

I started on the new roomier trans tunnel which will act also serve as a triple shifter mount.

Once upon a time I found just 1 thread on (it was on mud of course) in the 60 section about adapting cable shifters to a split case but I couldn’t find it again so I just went at it the best way I could figure. I opted to have the cables loop to the rear cause I think the exhaust clearance will be tight if they looked forward. The black box cable mount is meant to loop the cable forward so it wouldn’t work. I replaced the 4x sensor with a drain plug (same thread) and used it as the 4x cable mount.

 

[74fj40]

Pretty cool idea with the cable shifters on a split case... where are they from?

 

[gpfj40]

Pretty cool idea with the cable shifters on a split case... where are they from?

Thanks. Northwest Fab is where they came from. Black box’s normally come with a single cable shifter, but when ordered it 18 months ago I had them upgrade it to a triple stick. I really didn’t see any other way to shift the t case, as you know, the stock linkages mount on the trans, or in the case of a AA adaptor swap they mount to the adaptor. Since the nwf blackbox is the adaptor there are no previsions for stock T case shifters.



Here’s the update for today: A while back I had purchased a barely used th350 that had just had an HD build by a local reputable transmission shop. It includes HD intermediate sprag, an extra friction in the direct drum, shift kit, and 2500 stall converter. I went this way so I wouldn’t have to wait for a rebuild of the th350 i used in mock up. The only down fall is this new one is auto valve body. I will get the other one done right, with a revers manual valve body as originally planned and swap it in down the road. I chose to leave the 2500 stall converter out at install the new stock converter, most of the wheeling I do would be pretty annoying if the engine hard to rev to 2500 to have the converter grab hard.

I tig’d a bung for the temp sender in the pan and mounted and set the shift linkage. I also removed the reverse lock out on the Pro Stick Shifter. I really like these shifters but sure hate reverse lock out. I’m undecided if I will mod the gate to the pirate mod, the Pro Stick’s gates seem more intuitive on a 3 speed than 4 speed.

The rest of the day was spent mounting the engine trans t case combo. Including plugs, motor mounts (and painting them), steam line, starter, ski flex plate etc. The biggest challenge of this was getting the bottom torque converter cover to fit. K case th350’s come with a cast aluminum cover rather than a sheet metal cover, but they are designed for SBC, not LS’s with or with out stock oil pans. I ending up cutting a fair bit of it out so clearance the oil pan flange, although not nearly as much as if i was using a stock oil pan.

All of these little things took lots of time so I didn’t get the driveline back in. I still need to weld some more in the inside of the frame rails and finish the sub frame. I also need to buy a few different length bolts before it goes in.

 

[gpfj40]

I welded up a bunch of the brackets, gussets and mounted the front brake lines while there was space now that the drive line was out. Next up was to test fit the ready to go driveline with the cable brackets installed in the modded tunnel.

It was quite a job to stuff it back in there, the little extra clearancing I did wasn’t enough, especially with the cable brackets so I cut out another 1/2” on the driver side, quite a bit at the back on the driver side and little on the pass side up front. I had to bend up the tunnel up by the gas pedal since there was less than 1/4” between the bell housing and the tunnel.

Here are the finished panels which are removable. When I started on this project I wanted to build something that didn’t need any body or sheet metal work cause it was the least enjoyable part of my cruiser resto. I was reminded again why I was trying to avoid it, it really is tedious. I went the lazy with the fasteners, just using sheet metal screws instead of captive weld nuts. I’m pretty happy with the results. The next step on the tunnel will be seam sealer, then paint, then heat shield.