Builds 79 Aussie BJ55 build (2 Viewers)

[brisveganbj42]

Had a win tonight... got the engine in and ended running with the modded bj73 chassis mounts I made when I was using the 55 chassis. Who would of thought the 80 chassis would of been the same width as the 55??

However the bellhousing and gearbox are quite a bit shorter than the 1fz auto drivetrain.. and the gearbox crossmember lines up with the front radius arm mount.. need to figure out how to deal with that..

 

[brisveganbj42]

Bad photo of the gearbox mount bolts and and the radius arm mounts:

still need to work out the final position.. I'm trying to center the gear stick in the trans tunnel cut out:

With the suspension on the bumpstops there looks to be enough clearance for sump between diff, front driveshaft and the swaybar:

There is still a bit of room between the firewall and the back of the block...

 

[sneaky]

Gotta love an easy win! Earl will have a distance he wants the sump from the diff, and moving the gear lever hole is a relatively minor thing in the scale of this build.

 

[brisveganbj42]

Did some more pottering about with the position of everything.. i couldnt get the engine flat left to right so used a jackstand and bit of wood and got it within half a degree of level.. then i dropped the gearbox so the engine was pitched down 3 degrees.

Im as close to the passenger chasdis rail as i can get..

Next i got the gearbox crossmember as close as i could. I have some ideas on how to mod it to fit

To make sure there was enough room for shroud, radiator and intercooler was next.. it will need a bit of massaging for everthing to fit but it will be close. The a/c condenser will have to fit in the front bib..

The shroud fouls on the drivers side so to get the radiator to fit centered in the front bib ill need to mod the shroud a little.

The sump is about 20mm off the swaybar and the firewall will need some massaging behind the bellhousing at the starter

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Man I fought the 2UZ and my long drivetrain position/mounts for a hot minute!

Yours looks great!

 

[brisveganbj42]

This will make mocking up radiator support easier..

 

[brisveganbj42]

So I've been doing some thinking.. and considering I need to modify the radiator shroud anyway.. I think I'll move the engine back into the center a bit more for some clearance.

That will saving having to modify the firewall at the bell housing, and also better align the front and rear transfer output with each diff.. it's only 10-20mm but it all counts.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Frame/body/motor swap is a game of finding and cutting mm for sure

 

[brisveganbj42]

On the weekend i bought some 80 series split rims for $40 (only 2 ), and standard height coils from the same bloke , again for $40.. the rims are +35mm offset and im planning to get some 2nd hand tyres in 255/95r16s. Apparently they are what the new 76 and 79 cruiser utes come with.. these 2nd set of tyres are just incase i cant run my current tyres. The offset should mean very little tyre poke out of the guards too.

Standard height coils are a nice to have incase 2" lifted coils are too big..

I also modded my modded engine mounts again with 5mm plate. They make the engine sit level and it didnt require fabbing completely new mounts.. still some work to do on them yet.

 

[PabloCruise]

.. it's only 10-20mm...

That's what she said!
Waiting for @TachedOutOffRoad to drop the "your Mom" jokes next.

 

[PabloCruise]

On the weekend i bought some 80 series split rims for $40 (only 2 ), and standard height coils from the same bloke , again for $40.. the rims are +35mm offset and im planning to get some 2nd hand tyres in 255/95r16s. Apparently they are what the new 76 and 79 cruiser utes come with.. these 2nd set of tyres are just incase i cant run my current tyres. The offset should mean very little tyre poke out of the guards too.

Standard height coils are a nice to have incase 2" lifted coils are too big..

I also modded my modded engine mounts again with 5mm plate. They make the engine sit level and it didnt require fabbing completely new mounts.. still some work to do on them yet.

On a more serious note - nice work! You are getting it all figured out!

 

[J Mack]

Waiting for @TachedOutOffRoad to drop the "your Mom" jokes next.

According to @cruiserjunktion the "high revving off roading guy" is changing his screen name to "Smallcock Fab" so I'm betting he's going to start dropping weenie jokes next.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

According to @cruiserjunktion the "high revving off roading guy" is changing his screen name to "Smallcock Fab" so I'm betting he's going to start dropping weenie jokes next.

This was supposed to be a surprise!! Deo ruined it!!

 

[brisveganbj42]

My classified search pinged me on another set of split rims this morning and i grabbed another 4 with tyres for $200.. i even got to throw one on while waiting for my engine mounts to cool...
Here is my 0 offset 40 series split rim

Ant the +30 80series split rim

Did more work on my engine mounts..

 

[sneaky]

Another victory! Are the 80 splits 5.5 wide? I've been looking into BT50 and Ranger rims lately as possible candidates

 

[brisveganbj42]

Another victory! Are the 80 splits 5.5 wide? I've been looking into BT50 and Ranger rims lately as possible candidates

Yep.. 16x5.5

 

[xtiaan2000]

Boy! Those wheel well archs are great! Nice work!

I’m just about to follow you down the body mount trail! Between what you have posted and what TachedOutoffroad has put on here you give me hope I can pull it off! It’s just metal, right?

 

[brisveganbj42]

Boy! Those wheel well archs are great! Nice work!

I’m just about to follow you down the body mount trail! Between what you have posted and what TachedOutoffroad has put on here you give me hope I can pull it off! It’s just metal, right?

Thats it.. start with cardboard! Get some 200gsm board and form them around the rubber mounts when using hte 55 body.. I used a combination of 80 and 55 rubbers, all the 80 series rubber mount body mount cups and 3mm sheet!

 

[brisveganbj42]

Engine mounts are tacked in and the engine is within .5 degree of level..

And made a start of the gearbox cross member for the h55f...

3mm plate and a 80x50mm RHS riser..

CAD template for the 3mm sheet that will be run over the top to tie it all in..

I'm hoping the top and bottom 3mm plate will give the outboard mount enough strength once its all welded and tied in to the existing mount.

 

[brisveganbj42]

Well Thursday last week was a public holiday for us and I managed to get the Friday off on leave, so the wife booked an AirBNB at Orford (about 1hr drive from home) and we stayed there for 3 nights..

I had wanted to get the gearbox crossmember and mounts in and tacked on but I only got to weld up some of the gearbox. mount..

The few days away were nice and got to spend some time with the family..

Tonight I got to get more done on the gearbox crossmember..