67 FJ45LPB build (2 Viewers)

[Cirbo]

I've been tinkering and wrenching on this truck since 2010 and feel that it will need a new home someday soon. With that in mind, I thought a good first step would be to try to recall (and detail) what I can about the last 15 years of ownership. Hopefully that will answer some questions that invariably come up when trying to sell a rig.

2010
After an exchange of pictures, questions asked and answered, and money exchanged, this is what arrived by truck transport in August 2010 from the west coast. The plan was to make it a shop truck/parts chaser for local travel.

A semi-original LPB with a 2f mated to the original column shift 3 speed, PTO winch, newer windshield frame, disk brake front end, bug catcher windows, and split rims. She rolled off the transport with little to no brakes and a stripped driver's side window regulator. Other than that, she was ready for a cross country trip (well, almost).

I started by bleeding the brakes in an attempt to make it road-worthy. This didn't do much, so I moved to examining the different components. What I found was a little scary (to me), as whoever installed the front disk brake axle did so without replumbing the original single circuit pipes and junctions. They actually folded over the brake pipes and hammered them flat to split the pipes into different circuits. I had not seen that one before.

It appeared to have a mini-truck booster with a non-ABS 80 series master (guessing here). Adjusting the play out of the shoes on the rear drums brought the brakes back into semi-normal working order. A quick drive through the neighborhood indicated that the steering was the next order of business, as it was almost impossible to keep between the lines. 5 turns in on the steering box brought that back to normal.

 

[Cirbo]

Some may be wondering why I chose this forum. The purists would not like what was done to the truck in the end, so I decided to post the build here.

 

[Mike Shull]

 

[Cirbo]

A few more tours around the neighborhood left me with the feeling that the driveline was making more noise than I remember these trucks in the past. I crawled back under the truck to check fluid levels in the diffs and driveline. While the diffs seemed ok, I had problems even being able to gauge fluid levels in the trans and transfer case. The transfer drained a pint of foul-smelling coffee, and the transmission drained about a half cup of sludge and what appeared to be a single gear tooth. The winch yielded a teaspoon of gold colored paste. I also noticed that the transfer case looked to have been resealed with a liberal application of orange RTV as well. Not knowing how long it had been like this, I figured the best course of action was to fill them both with fresh gear oil and try again.

The next test drive sounded much better, but I was greeted by a 12-inch puddle of gear oil under the truck a day later.

Ok, I'm beginning to question my idea of a shop truck/parts chaser.

 

[whitey45]

Thats Bulls old truck! I have a twin!!

 

[Mike Shull]

I hope to see the next set of pictures showing some highly custom mods, like a bobbed bed, double cab, coilovers, Diamond axles, dual cases and 43” tires, etc. Let’s see what you have done.

 

[Mike Shull]

@whitey45, What exactly is the part used for on the front of the hood? Is it a hood lock?

 

[matzell]

I hope to see the next set of pictures showing some highly custom mods, like a bobbed bed, double cab, coilovers, Diamond axles, dual cases and 43” tires, etc. Let’s see what you have done.

Thats what the hardcore section is all about!

 

[whitey45]

It was a previous owners idea of a hood lock! Agree, this shouldn’t be in the hardcore section! Here is my other 45 , it should belong here!

 

[whitey45]

Hijack over!

 

[Cirbo]

Whitey, I like!

This is Bull's old truck. I've been tweaking on it since summer 2010. While it has less DOM welded on, there have been a number of changes between then and now.

Toyota trails in 2021.

Tubing adds and bed cut teaser.

Probably not hardcore enough for Mike, but I'll do my best.

 

[Cirbo]

I ended up parking the truck (with lots of cardboard sheets under the transmission) for a couple weeks while I pondered what to do next.

Back in 2010, transmission/transfer lumps could be had around here for $150-$200, and axles for about the same. I decided to see what could be sourced and was able to line up a list of parts in pretty short order.

78 front axle complete
79 rear axle complete
78 transmission/Transfer case
driveshafts
8274-50 with synthetic line
FJC steel wheels with some well used 35-inch mud terrains

Then a strange set of occurrences happened on the same day. I had a friend call with a need for a complete 2f, and found a local MUD member who wanted to sell an Advance Adapters V8 swap kit, including a Ranger OD for what seemed like a decent price. All parts were new, and had never been installed.

 

[Cirbo]

Sold the 2f
sold the winch and PTO gears
sold the seats
sold the axles

I ran the 78 vintage transfer case but left the older case under the bench. This later turned into a side project where I swapped the low-range gears from the 67 case to the 78 housing. While making this change, I found a possible source for the driveline growl.

The shaft closest to the camera is what came out of the 67 case.

Rebuilt case was treated to a bra and girdle along with fresh bearings and seals.

 

[whitey45]

Wow, a whole different truck. I cant bring myself to mod an original truck, so I need both! This is how it looks in street trim, cage is removable, and stock bed swaps with the short bed!

 

[Cirbo]

Wow, a whole different truck. I cant bring myself to mod an original truck, so I need both! This is how it looks in street trim, cage is removable, and stock bed swaps with the short bed!

View attachment 3848008

View attachment 3848009

best of both worlds...

 

[Mike Shull]

…I cant bring myself to mod an original truck…

I can. Where is your torch? Just kidding…well, not really.

That is a sweet 45!

Probably not hardcore enough for Mike, but I'll do my best.

I’m not really hardcore, I just liked the conversation better over here so I cut my cruiser in half to fit in.

You also have a nice 45. You should keep it. I’d like to see it out on the trail.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Jim is pretty hardcore. This truck is pristine, and I mean pristine, in person, and I've seen him take it up some pretty gnarly trails. Things I wouldn't do with a truck like that.

Don't sell it.

 

[matzell]

I saw this truck in person at Fall Crawl two years ago or so. Yes it is nice! I will not give away the details and will let them play out here. If I fit in a 45 I would have bought one years ago, I have passed on a few nice ones. I keep threatening on building an ext cab version. I do like 4573 for a short bed racer.

 

[Cirbo]

December 2010

Parting the old girl out.

February 2011

The folks from Advance Adapters were nice enough to trade me straight up and swap out the Gen 1 parts with Vortec replacements, so a concept started to form in my peabrain. Rather than search a for a junkyard engine and have to strip and rebuild a harness, I used a company bonus check to order an aluminum 5.3 from Turn-key Engine Supply. My thought was that the stand-alone harness would make the build easier...

 

[Cirbo]

Mated the collection of freshly painted driveline parts for the mock-up process.

This was the '78 case before the older low range gears were installed.

I stripped the truck down to a bare chassis and cab to facilitate the driveline mockup. There was what looked like a piece of Schedule 80 pipe welded onto the rear crossmember, and someone had torched a hole for a spare tire hoist and chain. Someone had also welded a generic receiver hitch to the back of the frame with a lot of plate steel for support.