40/45 Mutt

[Baf-fj44]

Finally got a little more work done on the truck (Ha - I took the whole week off from work just to work on the truck and probably got in a good solid 5 days of work)

Here I installed the PTO shifter (from a HJ61). The linkage needed to be lengthened and the front mounting hole was cut off (not shown) because of the raised bolt location on this 4-speed.

 

[Baf-fj44]

Also removed the hump on the floor just below the gas pedal for the alluminum body (it requires smooth transition between the floor and firewall).

At first I cut it, bent it, then welded it together.... but it was ugly. It had thin metal and I made a mess of it. So I ended up cutting the whole piece off and adding a nice new flat piece. Forgot to take a pic, but you can tell what it looks like in the painting pics (coming up!)

 

[Baf-fj44]

Here's a close up of what I had to do to make the alluminum 45 cab work on my 40 frame. The bottom square channel had to be notched to fit around the frame which rises up quicker than on an original 45

 

[Baf-fj44]

Here are some pics during the painting stage. This is after I had primed all of the body parts (except the firewall and tub)

The tailgate and running boards were also painted although they aren't shown here

 

[Baf-fj44]

You'll see in the next few pics that I have some different tires on. I lent my tires to Mike for a local Mudbog so I have his worn 37" SSRs on the truck. His tires are about the same height as the Q78s but are about 2.5" wider.

Here's his truck. SAS'd Taco

 

[Baf-fj44]

Next, did some more work on the frame. Doh! I hate grinding off fresh paint.

Here I am lining up my new sliders. The sliders are 2x5" x 3/16 tubing attached to the frame with 2x2" x 3/16 tube.

On this first one, I forgot to box in the ends of the main tube before I welded it all on, so the welding was a little more challenging. (the other side I did it on the ground first)

 

[Baf-fj44]

Here a couple of pics with both sliders welded in



Here is a close up of how they are attached and the closed ends

 

[Baf-fj44]

Before I painted the frame again I decided to put some more mounts in for the future bed.

I beefed up the existing mount substantially and I added some tabs on the rear crossmember for the back bed mounts.

Here are some pics of the front bed mounts being built



In the last pic, it's all painted and you can see the rear tabs behind the rear tires

 

[hellbent40]

your buddy mike ... is he the guy that found that new tundra left out in the bush...
isnt his build thread of that taco on blackflag4x4 ????

 

[hellbent40]

45 is looking good...

 

[Baf-fj44]

your buddy mike ... is he the guy that found that new tundra left out in the bush...
isnt his build thread of that taco on blackflag4x4 ????

Ya he's the one that found that Tundra. Don't know about the build on blackflag but it could be.

You live up near us or what?

 

[pbgbottle]

how many 40 series in Fort Mac ??

 

[hellbent40]

no dont live in alberta... in victoria... blackflag is a group of guys over here that started a website ... the pics of the tundra are on there two.. along with your buddys build pics of that taco... check it out if you want.... www.blackflag4x4.com

 

[hellbent40]

what price did you get your Q78s for.??
same tire that i am running on my 40

 

[Baf-fj44]

how many 40 series in Fort Mac ??

there are probably 15-20 of them, but I think there are only 5 running around town regularly.

They are more common than old ford broncos and land rovers. Heck, I think there are even more cruisers around then CJ5s

 

[Baf-fj44]

what price did you get your Q78s for.??
same tire that i am running on my 40

Man, I hope you feel worse than I do when I tell you the price.

I paid $300 a tire. Not bad considering a new BFG KM2 33x10.5 runs $280!!

What'd you pay? and from who? I had a bitch of a time finding them and finally found out that some Kal-Tire shops bought a s&*$ load of Intercos last year before the recession. Just called around until I found one with them locked away in their warehouse.

 

[hellbent40]

i paid $1050 for 4 that included taxes, enviro... that was a year ago... through south cariboo offroad.. and south cariboo offroad paid for the shipping to my door.. ( $137 for the shipping to the island.)

 

[Baf-fj44]

i paid $1050 for 4 that included taxes, enviro... that was a year ago... through south cariboo offroad.. and south cariboo offroad paid for the shipping to my door.. ( $137 for the shipping to the island.)

Right on. You got a great deal. Mine were $1320 for 4. A couple weeks later I bought a spare after having thoughts of trashing one right away and not being able to get another one for a while.

Cool.

 

[Baf-fj44]

Finally! I got a little more work done on the truck. I fit all of the body together, bolted it, put in the tranny cover, hung the doors, and checked the fit of everything. It all lined up pretty nice. (forgot to take a pic though).

The seats are going to be a pain. You 45 owners already know how limited leg room is. I think I am going to try out the seats I have from an 81 fj40 as they seem to take up less room. And now I have the hardtop to help position the seats

BUT, here is the tub and firewall sitting together on the frame



Here you can see the tight clearance on the rear tires. Should be okay though

 

[Baf-fj44]

Okay, got some more work done.

Bolted in the tranny hump (big job now that it uses nuts on the bottom of every bolt (and I used way more bolts so there was extra strength between the alluminum tub and firewall. Then I put in the pedal frame and fit the steering column. Because of the body lift there are some issues with the allignment of the column and steering box - more on that after



I also had to modify the bracket on the carb and the one on the firewall for the throttle linkage. The factory set up is pretty well horizontal