1974 Pua'a (1 Viewer)

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Those pictures want me to take a look at my piggies.

Pull the weather strip back and look at the corners to see if there is a crack starting to form, Scrapdaddy was the first to bring it to my attention.

Admittedly the cracks @gonzopancho posted are far worse than most I’ve seen, I suspect there is more to the story like hard driving at some point or mechanical failure with body mounts, cross members.
 
I suspect there is more to the story like hard driving at some point or mechanical failure with body mounts, cross members.

My first thought when I spotted them was, “did someone jump this poor thing?”

@Cruiser Innovations did document that he replaced the body mounts. He never said anything about those cracks though. Maybe they didn’t exist then. Seems unlike him to do all that work and not address those.

Unfortunately, I didn’t spot them when I was buying it, and now I get to fix em.
 
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No factory volt meter that I know of, so yeah, it would have to be aftermarket. You basically connect the two ends of the amp meter wires to eliminate the amp meter. You then find a convenient 12v wire (that comes on with the ignition) to tie in the volt meter.
This is the abridged version. There’s much more in-depth information to be found in searches on the 40/55 tech section. I’m going off of memory from last year when I was doing searches on alternator alternatives and necessary wiring mods.

The terminal posts running to the amp meter came from the factory with little rubber boots on them. Not sure how many are still in place...

The first time I pulled the cluster out of the 40 I shorted one of those posts to the metal dash. I damn near s*** myself. Was I am dummy for not disconnecting the battery first? Yes. Is there a need to run 50 amps through the cluster? Debatable. I like the idea of going with a Volt meter...
 
I guess I’ll just break down and paint it Nebula Green.

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The terminal posts running to the amp meter came from the factory with little rubber boots on them. Not sure how many are still in place...

The first time I pulled the cluster out of the 40 I shorted one of those posts to the metal dash. I damn near s*** myself. Was I am dummy for not disconnecting the battery first? Yes. Is there a need to run 50 amps through the cluster? Debatable. I like the idea of going with a Volt meter...

Don’t think I ever once disconnected the battery in preparation of pulling the gauge cluster. Never had an issue, but can totally agree with the hazard. Knowing what your alternator is doing is handy, knowing what your battery AND alternator are doing is even better.
 
My first thought when I spotted them was, “did someone jump this poor thing?”

@Cruiser Innovations did document that he replaced the body mounts. He never said anything about those cracks though. Maybe they didn’t exist then. Seems unlike him to do all that work and not address those.

Took a closer look, Josh (@Cruiser Innovations) painted the inside (and outside) of the truck fairly late in the build, between Feb and April 2012.

There isn’t paint in the cracks, so they cracked after the interior was painted.
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bought some parts from @theside00
  • Front and rear diffs, Nitro 4.88 gears, ARB lockers
  • Air compressor with wiring and switches
  • Air lines
  • Nitro chromoly inner shafts and birfield joints
  • 5 37” tires and rims
  • 1” wheel spacers.
  • Sliders (metaltech, one of the sets from the proto run)
  • Antiwrap bar
  • E-brake cable and handle
I also have a a split case and a rebuilt 4-speed in-hand.

The 60-series housings are coming from what’s left of the 88 fj62, only 160k-ish miles on them.
Going to use the existing high-steer stuff.

(The 62 body is moving to a fjz80 frame / drivetrain. FJ142 in the making)

Gonna do the rear main seal on the F engine while I’m swapping the trans/xfer case around.

Should be 2" taller when I'm done.

Then it's electrical, addressing the missing parts in the tailgate, interior and bodywork. (I just can't paint it green, guys.)

Maybe FF rear in the future.
Maybe a 2F or 3FE in the future.
But neither of these seems necessary for a nice ride.
 
No, I’m not putting an R2.8 in it. They’re cool, but I’m trying to keep it “all Toyota” (except for the seats, LOL.)

Found a 1FZ-FE, and I have a H151 + HF1A setup, and an ODB-era ECU for 1FZ-FE + M/T. Was going to use it in the FJZ80 + FJ62 meld, but now I’m thinking 62s have autos, and I could make the stock shifter work on the A343 in front of the 1FZ-FE already in the mash-up.

A 1FZ-FE plus 5 speed would make for a fast pig, and it will fit.

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Guy at LCS saved a cast-off Toyota mini truck A/C evaporator for me, runs via cables. He thinks it will fit, so maybe I can have AC in the pig too.

Now I’m looking at the 4+ front and rear bumpers on the 40. I know the front should fit. I can always rework the rear. Thinking of taking the 40 back to more of a stock look anyway.

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The blower doesn’t add much, maybe 50 HP IIRC. @NLXTACY makes a turbo kit that adds about 100 HP and 100 ft*lbs of torque over stock at 7 PSI. 9 PSI is possible with head studs and a better head gasket without a disasterous effect on reliability.

Here is a video of @NLXTACY’s kit in @Briano s 80 “On 37s with full armor a fridge in the back, 25 gallon auxiliary fuel cell where spare tire used to be and 4:88 gearing...” This is about 3/4 throttle.

 

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