'68 basket case resto-mod

[Napoleon047]

Where it starts:

I brought home a 68 FJ40 that my friend had sitting in his back yard for several years. Prior to his ownership, it changed hands at least twice between members of the local off-road club. Sometime in the prior ownership, the engine, trans, transfer case, driveshafts, steering box and relay rod all went missing and it got the start of an SOA.

There was an SBC with a TH350 (no transfer case) sitting on the frame rails and a piece of tube at the rear, with a couple ratchet straps, and the rest of the miscellaneous parts in the cab.

 

[Napoleon047]

My friend had intended to lower it, use an SBC/TH350/NP205 and make it a cool driver for his wife, but he decided to sell it, and I have always wanted one (for better or worse).

The FJ did come with the drivetrain from a 79 k20 for a donor and a set of mini-truck axles for disc brakes, so I would have a pretty decent start on the project as far as major parts go.

I ended up doing some craigslist deals to swap the TH350 and NP203 from the k20 for an SM465 and NP205, since I prefer the manual trans.

 

[Napoleon047]

The goal: have a neat driver that I can do some light off-roading in (camping, hunting, exploring and such). I had an 86 4Runner with an SAS on TSLs and I dont need to go that crazy anymore (the sheet metal paid the price).

The plan: SUA with lift springs, saginaw power steering, SBC/SM465/NP205 (twin stick!), fix the rust and paint in a flat tan with 35" tires (rubber overdrive).

So I started with the front suspension/steering/bumper:

 

[Napoleon047]

Next I went to work on the rear. Since the NP205 has a centered rear output and I had a set of mini-truck axles, I built a 40/Mini hybrid rear. The only hiccup was that the mini-truck axle tubes were severely rusted where the u-bolt plates sat (a center punch went right through with a light tap), rendering them useless. Luckily I had a Dana 35 from a Jeep sitting in the shop with 2-5/8" tubes! The tubes were a bit big for my lathe, but I was able to turn them to the right diameter for the Mini-Truck tube ends.

 

[Napoleon047]

The front steering setup is 1/2 ton GM and Dodge TREs in the stock mini-truck arms and knuckles. I reamed the steering arms from the top, which moved the tie rod and drag link up 3" and was a good match for my flat pitman arm.

 

[Napoleon047]

After getting the truck back to a reasonable height (it was over 7' tall), I started work on getting the drivetrain mounted and doing some rust repair. I found a set of AA SBC mounts in the boxes of parts, so I went ahead and tacked in the engine mounts and built mounts for the NP205. I clocked the NP205 up 18 degrees for better clearance.

 

[Napoleon047]

The center crossmember was in really bad shape, so I cut it out and replaced it with a peice of 3x5 angle. It's 1/4" thick, which is overkill, but I wont have to reinforce it where I mount the seats or seatbelts.

 

[Napoleon047]

Next up was the back half of the tub. I strongly considered buying an entire tub, aqualu, etc. but I REALLY wanted to use budbuilt 1/4 panels, so I went that route. Budbuilt doesn't offer a cutout for an early filler, so I had to cut that myself.

 

[Napoleon047]

Here is a shot of the body mount area of the new angle-iron crossmember. The spacer is temporary until I get everything welded back together and I will use some poly body mount bushings. I also got the other quarter panel tack welded in and the top put back on to check fitment.

 

[Napoleon047]

Can anyone tell me what the purpose of the cowl vent is? From what I can tell, it isn't connected to the heater system at all. So I assume it is just an air inlet? or outlet?

Mine is in pretty bad shape and the grill cover is missing, so I was considering just welding it up with a panel and blending it.

 

[thebigredrocker]

Pretty sure around 74 is when Toyota started welding them shut. My 76 is factory welded but still requires spendy drain tubes.

Cool build. Subscribed.

 

[Napoleon047]

Removed the outer rocker panels and the floorboards. The inner rockers are in decent enough shape that I can patch the ends. I also bought a sheet of steel to cut the new floorboards out of.

Can anyone tell me if the floor crossmembers with the body mounts (where the front of the seats mount) connect to the outer rocker panels from the factory? Mine had a bunch of poor repairs in the outer rockers that I am not 100% sure what should be going on there.

 

[Napoleon047]

Made a patch for the driver side a-pillar tonight

 

[65swb45]

Nice job on the crossmember. Bionic.

 

[Napoleon047]

Made some progress on the floor pans today. Yes, the HF bead roller is worth the money.

 

[Napoleon047]

This weekend has been almost entirely spent working with the shrinker and stretcher to make the 'sink' (what it looks like) for the gas tank and flanges to stiffen the floor around the tunnel. The slight curve in the rear of the sink is for frame clearance.

I've decided to run the stock seats (with new covers) and retain the toolbox, simply because I think it's neat. The rear corners of the toolbox need to be replaced and I need to make new flanges to mount it to the floor.

 

[65swb45]

More bionics! Glad I'm subscribed.

 

[1MAC]

Nice work! I just looked at the HF website and couldn't find a bead roller- did you buy yours a while ago? I need to make a couple of beads to repair my door.

 

[Napoleon047]

For some reason they don't call it a bead roller like everyone else: 18 in. Sheet Metal Fabrication Kit

 

[kevos37]

Nice fab work!!!!