67 FJ45LPB build

[Cirbo]

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.

Ok, I suck at taking pictures. That Fall Crawl venue was the bomb. I had a killer time on the trails there, but it came at a cost that will be revealed later.

October 2020 - Campsite at the Fall Crawl. I guess I was having too much fun to capture any good trail shots.

 

[cruisermatt]

I am hopefully going to make it to Fall Crawl this year

 

[whitey45]

We are on the same page!!!

 

[Cirbo]

I am hopefully going to make it to Fall Crawl this year

Very worth the effort. The trails up there are great.

 

[Cirbo]

We are on the same page!!!

View attachment 3848787

That's too funny. The bad stuff that happens on the way home from that Fall Crawl trip leads to even more similarities.

 

[Cirbo]

I've always been of the opinion that unnecessary weight should be shed from a wheeling rig, and I was beginning to entertain that idea with this project. Out came the red wrench and off went the schedule 80 pipe.

I started cruising youtube to see what people did when they built wheeler 45's and quickly came to the conclusion that the rear overhang had to go. I've always liked the general look of the longer beds more than the short beds, so started playing poor man's photoshop.

 

[Cirbo]

March 2011
Axles rebuilt with new bearings and seals. Ordered a set of Longfields including hub gears, so sourced a set of Aisin hubs.

Ron Davis fabbed up a Vortec version of their Land Cruiser V8 radiator to go with a Man-A-Fre (I think) mounting system. I learned about the steam port and LS hot spots in the heads.

My plan was to use a viscous coupled fan instead of the electric option. I was looking for serviceable off the shelf solutions and easy field repairs.

 

[Cirbo]

April 2011

Driveline placement. I started thinking about the break-over angles and decided that the transfer needed to be placed as high as possible between the frame rails. I also learned that the rear crossmember supplied with the AA kit is wider than the frame rails, necessitating more mods.

Notice the shave-job on the crossmember too.

I stuffed it up as far as I could, even clearancing the underside of the tub for transfer linkage.

 

[Cirbo]

I bought a power steering kit from one of the usual vendors, with the idea of mating it to a Flaming River tilt column. The finished package (box, column, and power steering kit) ended up not working correctly. When centered, the lock to lock swing of the system was not getting close to the steering stops. This was remedied in late 2012 or early 2013 with a Jeep Wagoneer pitman arm bored out with a new tapered sleeve TIG welded in place. The longer pitman allowed for perfect swing from stop to stop when properly adjusted.

It's worthwhile mentioning that the underlying theme for this build is to prove that nothing fits correctly out of the box. Best laid plans and all. The thicker steering column contacted the brake pedal in the cab. Had to pull that off and apply the red wrench again to clearance things.

 

[Cirbo]

The motor placement and Sanderson shorty headers allowed for just enough clearance to fit the steering shaft, less than 1/8 inch in places. I guess this is one of those cases where the fit was correct.

 

[Cirbo]

July 2011

While swapping in the newer vintage rehabbed axles and U-Bolt flip kits, I noticed that the front leaf springs appeared to have SOR labels on them. The rear axle was found to have course spline half-shafts and delivered a complex removal process when it was found that the locking pin in the differential spacer block was broken.

I figured the longer shackles would eventually need replaced with something closer to stock, but that would need to come later.

 

[Cirbo]

September 2011

After all test-fitting was done, it was time to strip the truck down to the bare frame and send it out for blast and paint. I had been looking at that warped and rusty rear crossmember for almost a year without knowing what do with it when I went off the deep end. I had plans to wheel the truck and figured that both rear corners would take a heavy beating with that large overhang, soo......

Out came the torch and grinder.

 

[Cirbo]

Why did that old transfer case leak? Not a paper gasket to be found, only silicone RTV.

 

[Cirbo]

Not sure what to say about this series in pictures.

 

[Cirbo]

I had a pair of pieces cut and bent to make up the new rear crossmember. The shorter piece was welded to the angled frame supports, and the longer outer piece was welded to the frame channels. The two pieces were drilled and thru bolted to allow for future bumper mount points.

 

[cruisermatt]

you did a really nice job on the chop and I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out to me the first time I saw this truck.

 

[Cirbo]

September 2011

Frame stripped of all unnecessary brackets and parts, ready for blast and paint.

 

[Cirbo]

you did a really nice job on the chop and I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out to me the first time I saw this truck.

Thanks Matt. That means a lot coming from someone who spends as much time working on Cruisers as you do. Terminating the wheel well lip and rebuilding the lower body line took a little work (for someone who doesn't know sheet metal or bodywork).

 

[Cirbo]

The paint shop smoothed over my welds and as much of the age-related dents and dings as possible. I picked a LC color code that would match the local Carolina dirt/mud to allow for less frequent washes.

If you look closely in this next shot, you can see the weld seams and amateur metal working used to build the lower lip of the body line.

I cut the lower sheet metal into 3-inch lengths so that I could use a pair of sheet metal pliers to form the lower lip, followed by a few tack welds to join them back together.

 

[Cirbo]

November 2011

Frame blasted and painted. ARB's and 4.88's installed (which later went to 4.56, then 4.11, and currently at 3.70) with Longfield 30 spline shafts, birfields, and hub gears. Rear axles are stock '78 fine spline shafts.

10mm brake junctions and new soft and hard lines installed as well. Driveline put back in place.

I had neglected to mention that I had purchased and installed a blueprinted PSC steering box that was also pre-drilled and tapped for ram assist. I wanted to be able to accommodate 37's or larger someday in the future.