1981 FJ45 troopy build

[Dylan Bill]

1981 fj45 troop carrier (New Zealand new) only a hand full ever made its a rare truck in my country with only a handful known to still be around
Plans 12ht , 5speed ,cable lockers
currently building it into a tuff tow rig and capable 4wd

Hey guys iv had this truck for around 5 years now and finally getting around to it
im currently sick so i though id take my downtime to make a post
i have worked off and on over last 5 years on this truck when i picked it up originally it had a 350chev , 5 speed
but did have a 6.2 turbo diesel out of a chev (funnily enough i have one in my k20 truck years later that i built last year)
i started putting a 1hdt ,5 speed into in the first year i had it but ended up pulling it back out selling and buying a 12ht ,5speed
im not gonna lie I'm a bit of purist i like to modify stuff that is easily reversable anyways heres some pictures from 2021

anyways i dont have much more picture of it in its early days
so about 4 weeks ago i started working on it hard i have deadline (november 2026) so its gonna be done !
started by stripping the chassis down cleaning it all panting and cavity waxing , i used a 360 spray gun to get inside the rails used KBS coating kit seems to be very nice ! but time will tell

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Welcome. 12HTs are nice!

 

[Dylan Bill]

so once cleaned i spent ages prepping it and making a huge mess of my shop

ened up getting another engine stand and made a cheap rotisserie for painting as picture below

 

[Dylan Bill]

Welcome. 12HTs are nice!

they sure are ! best sounding out of the cruiser IMO !

 

[Dylan Bill]

once painted i got it back rolling now i built these diffs along time ago if you have questions ill try answer as best as i can to answer

anyways i gave everything a quick lick of paint and started assembly
the diffs are 40 series axle housing that have 60 series cable locking heads i wanted to keep the same track width there was some things i had to work out to get it all to fit into the housings but all and all not a hard swap !

 

[Dylan Bill]

once i had it rolling i couldn't wait to get the engine and box in !
but first i had to put the transfer box thats been in a tub for last 5 years
i fitted a rebuild kit ,removed the vacuum setup and fitted the manual pin!

decided to go twin sticks as i had enough parts kicking around , still in the process of building this twin stick setup

 

[Dylan Bill]

once the transfercase was built i got it mated to the engine now there is a a bunch of different parts you can use to get it to fit into the fj45 using all Toyota parts my list im using is , early 2h bellhousing and RHS mount from a hj60 this will put the gearbox on the correct angle and also be able to go Power steering at a later date for the rest of the mounts im using hj47 LHS engine mount ,hj47 gearbox crossmember

 

[Dylan Bill]

once mounted i started on the next problem cooling!
using two radiator mounts i cut and welded them together giving me a bigger one (hj47 have wider rads)
so i was able to mount the new copper 3 row hj47 rad! not cheap i must add but its a thing of beauty
now for the fan i cant remember what i used but its got more offset so the blades don't hit the rad also redrilled and moved the rad forward as much as possible now iv heard there's a Hilux fan that will bolt on so i think im gonna try one of those

 

[Dylan Bill]

now iv caught up roughly on the chassis side this is the tub !
its a pretty tidy tub really just needing a little love to the front floor pans and few little spots (not everyday you watch tv through your floor pans)
now my mates gonna be doing the rust for me to help meet my strict deadline ! i have welded in the passenger floor pan and a few other spots over the 5 years but takes me along time (not a panel beater)

 

[Dylan Bill]

anyways off she went for some metal surgery
now my mate smashed alot of panel work out but didn't get to finish due to health issues so this is how it currenty sits got a few things to do but all and all im happy with where its at !

 

[Dylan Bill]

so this is where im at with the project ill try keep this updated as much as i can ! and im more then happy to answer questions about doing a 12ht swap in more detail ! also have this old school bar im gonna modify to fit this warn m8274 !