1983 BJ42 Aqualu Restomod (1 Viewer)

[vanisle3b42]

Hey all,
Thought I'd post some photos and a little history on my 83 bj42 build. This truck showed up in my life in a weird way, but it was an opportunity to build my dream truck so I went for it. Sold my nice daily and bought a beater to provide some cash to float the rest of the build.. Then I went nuts. I'm kinda halfway through this already, but... better late than never?! As an 83 model, she's got a factory H55F 5-speed and power steering. It was stripped down to the frame and the engine, transmission and transfercase were rebuilt. The differentials were also rebuilt and fitted with ARB air lockers. The frame was sandblasted and sprayed with POR15, then the running gear was dropped back in and the aqualu stuff fitted. I then loosely assembled the truck to drill mounting holes for doors and such, plus cut out the dash. I had to slightly modify that weird switch cluster/dashdoodle that 83/84 40 series have as the aqualu dash is flat but the factory 40 has an 8th inch or so drop in height somewhere. What a pisser!

Now everything is pulled back apart and in for paint. I went with Rustic Green for this one.. My dream 40 colour! My dad has a nice shop an hour-fifteen north of me so I've moved the cruiser there for final assembly. I've been doing the tub prep in a tent in my side-yard all winter, so a warm shop will be worth the drive.

Major things still to come:
- Modify and install the Vintage Air climate control A/C unit to fit a 3B diesel and have the whole deal run on 12v not 24v as efficiently as possible.
- Recover seats
- Disassemble, clean and re-wrap wiring harness
- Hard top restoration
- figure out how the man-a-fire bumper goes together.

I'll try and post regular-ish photos of the build here. Hoping to have it running for July... Will see how that goes..

Here come a whole bunch of poor quality photos.

 

[vanisle3b42]

All these photos seem to be in no particularly order.

 

[vanisle3b42]

 

[vanisle3b42]

Assembly mode!

 

[jim land]

More

 

[vanisle3b42]

Got the front clip on there for the most part. Some adjusting of gaps in necessary, but overall pretty happy with how it turned out. Yes, the shackles are wrong.

 

[vanisle3b42]

Having a friend CNC a manifold flange to accommodate delightful TD04, too. Will be running a modified Subaru top mount intercooler and pusher fan. I would go front mount, but I need the space for the AC condenser.
I'm planning to break the engine in prior to installing the turbo. Its only got about 45 minutes of run time on it and I'd rather make sure everything is working as it should prior to BOOOOOOOST
Anyone have experience building a log style manifold from sched 40? Seems affordable and solid, but stainless would be sweet.. Or, anything not cast.

 

[vanisle3b42]

Picked up a reasonable hardtop. I've got an older bestop that requires snaps installed which I really don't want to do to an aluminum body..

So much time on this project has been spent trying to find ways to keep the costs as reasonable as possible. I'm starting to realize that simply will not be possible, so I am focusing my energy on enjoying the process and trying to not stress abouts the stupid costs I'm incurring. I don't make very much money, so have had to call a lot of strange favours and work swaps to make this build happen at the level I feel it should be. Anyways. I'm ranting.
Here's some rusty parts I need to fix.

 

[FF LC FREAK]

"Anyone have experience building a log style manifold from sched 40? Seems affordable and solid, but stainless would be sweet.. Or, anything not cast. "

I copied Drew's megacheap turbo build for my exhaust manifold - Drew's MegaCheap homebrew 3b turbo thread. It worked great.

Good luck with the rest of the build!

 

[nfs56]

looks awesome! must be getting excited to finish it all up. I should be starting my 84 BJ42 aqualu resto in July or august.

 

[Honger]

Looking slick man... keep the photos and updates rolling.

 

[bscriver]

Nice build, I saw it on coastal cruisers. Have you fit the door hinges to the new cowl yet? I'm getting ready to take the plung and do this type of rebuild on my 45, I'm just not sure if I want to go all aluminium or just what is necessary.

 

[vanisle3b42]

"Anyone have experience building a log style manifold from sched 40? Seems affordable and solid, but stainless would be sweet.. Or, anything not cast. "

I copied Drew's megacheap turbo build for my exhaust manifold - Drew's MegaCheap homebrew 3b turbo thread. It worked great.

Good luck with the rest of the build!

Thats what I'm talking about! Awesome, thank you! That's whats happening now.

 

[vanisle3b42]

Nice build, I saw it on coastal cruisers. Have you fit the door hinges to the new cowl yet? I'm getting ready to take the plung and do this type of rebuild on my 45, I'm just not sure if I want to go all aluminium or just what is necessary.

 

[vanisle3b42]

ALRIGHT
Finally! I've had some time to work on the cruiser. I've been super busy with work for the past 4 months and havent had even a day to spend on it. My other half went on business trip this weekend so I took that as my cue.

I was able to get the pedal bucket assembled and installed, along with the steering column; clutch and brake masters; battery trays; rear bumper; part of the brake lines and also made bunch of body gap adjustments. TONS to do, but the priority will be brakes from here on out and then I'll tackle it one system at a time until she's running.
Here's a ton of pictures to prove I actually did stuff:

 

[vanisle3b42]

and more:

 

[vanisle3b42]

 

[caper]

keep the pics commin shes lookin good , alot of effort goin into her

 

[Varty Yo]

Hey there yah are Jesse!!!

I was gonna text you to see how the project is coming along

 

[vanisle3b42]

Yeah, its been a minute since I've had a chance to work on this thing. Moving the truck to the new shop plus moving myself AND working full time throughout ended up eating up all my productivity.

I've been following your work on the old 82.. I'm so glad she's in good hands. I've missed that truck pretty bad all summer!