Builds 4Door FJ40 Build (FZJ40) (1 Viewer)

[derekweitz]

Kind of got side tracked the last 5 weeks. I ended up pickup up more FJ40 parts than I needed, now I am trying to clear up room to work. Good news is I picked up two smog exempt frames with titles. The great news is the tub arrived and just thew it on the body for a quick pic. Project feels real now.

I was able to separate the 1972 cowl from the tub reasonably cleanly. I used a combo of cut off wheel, sawzall and air chisel. There area some areas that are rusted through so I will probably cut out the rot and replace it with slightly thicker steel where the tub bolts to the cowl. I cant imagine the extra thickness will affect anything.

 

[derekweitz]

Aqualu Tub.... I really like the quality. The one thing I dislike so far is the inside rear wheel well is high vs stock. I like the lower stock height because I can pack a few items in those nooks when loading up for a trip.

 

[GW Nugget]

Wow that was fast.
How does she lineup do you think the front wheel alignment is an issue?
You're going to really enjoy those higher rear fender wells because the 80 series rear axle really does like to flex, they're going to tuck in their just Dandy.

 

[White Stripe]

When I ordered my aqualu tub they asked me where I wanted the rear inner fender well to be as far as height goes. I too like the inner Fender to be in the stock position so that's what I had them do when I was working out ordering the tub from them. Make sure before you Bolt the tub to the cowl that you mount the front doors and get the alignment right. After it's lined up drill your holes in the floor and a pillar. It's also a good idea to make another hole toward the bottom of the a-pillar and the bottom of the rocker on the aqualu and pinch those two at the very bottom with a bolt just to reduce Flex a little bit more

 

[gwalt584]

Nice, Looking forward to following this!

with the standard width 4 door body, how much do the tires stick out from under the fenders since the 80 frame is wider than the FJ40?

 

[derekweitz]

As it sits now with the stock tires and wheels they stick out 4.75". I was hoping to find some wheels with a favorable back spacing to help.

 

[derekweitz]

Been spending most of my time filling holes in the cowl. I ended up cutting out some of the rot where the cowl and the tub join on both sides and welding in a piece of 1/4" flat bar steel. I cut out the stock captive nut as part of that because the new tub needs its own bolt hole and does not line up with the stock spot.

 

[derekweitz]

Question:

If I look up under the dash there is some light surface rust up in there in some of the nooks and crannies. I for sure do not want to spend my time hand sanding all those hard to get areas. Should I...

1. Pay someone to sand blast and powder coat it (I am not willing to spend more than say $450 combined)
2. POR 15 the inside areas
3. Just spray some rustoleum over what I can get to
4. Other

 

[GW Nugget]

Sorry, but what ever you do its best to take care of it permanently now.
Do it right or not at all.
It takes money to play....
Luv this build, kept posting.

 

[PDoyle]

i used a mobile sandblaster for some work recently. See if there is someone in the business around you.

 

[White Stripe]

I would probably remove the dash panel. You will have to drill the spot welds and cut the welds on the side, not too hard. It may be worth while it's apart drilling all the spot welds in the cowl and separating all the pieces. Their will be rust in between all those spot welds. Clean the rust, spray weld through primer, then re spot weld back together. Sounds like a lot of work but really not that bad. That will ensure all 50 years of rust is removed. Will be easy to do any mods to the firewall or dash while it's apart.

 

[dirtyboots]

option 1 all the way- spot weld cutter bits are easy to find and work quite well...the POR will only get to where you can reach so if you get any moisture in there it will ooze rust marks out of that area which is a short term issue. Long term issue is it’s continuing to corrode..and POR is not really fixing the problem

Having said that it’s easy to sit and make decisions for someone else to do the work! If you have that tub you’re on a different level and won’t be satisfied with minimal effort! Go for the win!

 

[derekweitz]

Thank you for the replies. I think I might try to separate the dash.

Here are a few pics of mounting the cowl to the FZJ80 body mount. Aqualu attached some diagrams for mounts they use if you buy their aluminum cowl, but I did not realize that the instructions were for aluminum so I ended up getting 1/4 steel 8" wide and making mounts out of that. So I just ran with it because I already bought it. I was trying to cut some holes in the bracket to be make it look nicer but my holesaw bits were not happy about it.

My new poly body mounts bushings are about a 1/2 shorter than the stock ones (my mistake again), so I picked up some 1" body lift blocks. Even with the 1/2 lift I still had to trim the bottom of the cowl supports because they were hitting the body mount frame. I am unsure what my final plan will be on the bushing \ body mount height but I assume it will depend on the engine placement.

Also I ended up having to shim the cowl forward to get the right spacing on the door. Not sure if that is normal.

View attachment 1679196

View attachment 1679202

 

[derekweitz]

I might be skipping ahead on the correct order of operations but I am going to try and get the drive train mounted to make some room in the garage.

-2003ish Chevy LS 4.8 from Tilden with their heavy duty low profile oil pan.
-FJ60 split case Transfer with 4:1 gear set rebuilt by Valley Hybrids
-NV4500 Early 1995 GM Version
-AA Transfer Case Adapter 712577 AA
-AA Clutch \ flywheel Kit 712500T
-AA Clutch slave bracket 716288
-AA Bell housing 712577

On the NV4500 you need to pull off the tail housing as the AA adapter takes over that space. You then need remove the sleeve from the output shaft. After ruining 2 pullers and bending some think steel I realized that it is not pressed on and its actually multiple pieces and the end piece screws onto the shaft (Idiot!!!) With two taps of a screw driver and hammer the end retainer backed off and it was off. Next you need to cut off the unneeded part of the output shaft.

On the Engine I had to remove the automatic flywheel and put on the manual flyweel. I also had to press in a pilot bushing (spacer) into the outer recessed area of the crank shaft area which came with the clutch/flywheel kit. The new pilot bearing then fits into the it to provide the right spacing. After that it was straight forward to assemble the clutch and bell housing / fork and throwout bearing.

View attachment 1707315

 

[derekweitz]

I ran into an issues last week while installing the NV4500 Transmission. There is a spacing issue, the input splines are touching pilot bearing and I still have another .5 inches to go to mount it flush. I am currently working with AA to find out what is going on. My NV4500 input shaft measures approx 7" and AA says it should be 6-5/8. My NV4500 bolts up to their early GM bell housing so its the right year. Unsure if the guy I purchased it from modified the input shaft or not.

AA's website says this about 1995 GM NV4500.. The input shaft is 6-5/8" 1-1/8" 10 spline with a .590" pilot tip.
I read that as 6-5/8 + .590 which gets me close to 7". In any case they want me to try and press the pilot bearing deeper into the spacer bushing. In any case they said the outside edge of the pilot bearing needs to be flush with the outer edge of the crank.

In the mean time I decided to mount everything up without the clutch, pilot bearing and get the motor mounts and transmission mounts going. I purchased the AA LS mount kit. For the Transfer mount I am hoping to modify the stock FZJ80 mount.

I was looking at some of those liquid polyurethane kits to try and replicate the stock shock absorber.

 

[derekweitz]

Here are some pics... I am hopefully going to weld up the motor mounts tonight then start on the rear supports.

 

[derekweitz]

I got the engine mounts welded up and engine mounted. The engine mounts extend past the frame rail on both side even with a 1" off set toward the drivers side. I tried to put the engine as low as possible without the oil pan getting too close to the 3rd member. The height ended up being that the extended engine mount sat approx 1/2" above the frame rail. I end up cutting off the end or over hanging part of the engine mount incase the engine twists under load.

Once the front was set I moved to the rear of the drive train. In order to get the downward slope of 4 degrees I had to put a 1" body lift on. I also trimmed floor boards at the rear of the hump area to make room for the transfer case to come up so I could get the angle I wanted.

I was hoping to use the stock cross member or slightly modify it, but that looked to be too much work. I decided to try and make my own but use the stock frame mounting area. I used 1/8" thick 1" square tube. I initially only had one support but tried to add a second, I probably need to add some more steel to where the forward support meets the flat steel section.

Right now I just have some rubber pieces sitting between the crossmember and transfer case adapter. I ordered a liquid polyurethane kit and am going to try and make my own bushing.

 

[GW Nugget]

Sorry if you posted already, but what tranny & Tcase are you using? I'm guessing 60 series stuff.

 

[jfz80]

Great build and progress.....keep the updates coming.

Sorry if you posted already, but what tranny & Tcase are you using? I'm guessing 60 series stuff.

Nv4500 and 60 split case with valley hybrid 4.1 and twin sticks is listed a few posts up. Drool.

 

[derekweitz]

After going back and forth about painting the underside of the tub or not I decided to paint it. I have never painted Aluminum so this might go badly. I purchased some Eco Etch E670 to remove what ever corrosion layer that inhibits paint sticking to aluminum. I might try apply the EcoEtch and stray primer on this weekend so if anyone knows a better way please speak up.

I am waiting for my cowl to come back after being blasted and powder coated. I am also waiting on a new gas tank, I tried to fit the stock tank back in its original spot but the shape of the tub does not allow that. I also tried to fit it behind the rear axle like the aftermarket FJ40 tanks but I did not like how is fit or looked. I found a guy at a aluminum boat repair shop that moonlights building off road gas tanks so he is making me a 27 gallon tank that will fit under the rear of the tub.

I also ended up buying a GM tilt steering column, which is on the way.

I shortened the back of the frame by 7" per Aqualu's instructions. I am unsure if I should just re attach the rear part of the frame and supports or weld in some C channel and call it a day. The stock piece is bent up a little from an accident I am guessing. I am leaning toward paying the $40 bucks for new C channel.