86 trooper/ bj74 mashup (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 16, 2021
Threads
5
Messages
35
Location
montana
Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster here.. picked up a 86 5spd diesel trooper a few months back to get into some trail driving and as a daily driver. Well the motor kicked a rod about 600 miles after I got the rig with a “freshly” rebuild motor.. guess tightening rod cap bolts wasn’t part of the job.. anyways I also acquired the drivetrain from an 88 bj74 to repower my Isuzu and get it back on the road. An 13bt with a440f, seemingly low mileage combo.

since getting the rig. I went through it front to back with seals and bearings, put in ome rear springs and shocks all around, built a stainless downpipe for the turbo and an air intake setup.

I’m currently in the beginning states of starting a solid axle swap with the axle from the bj74 and will be swapping to the rear Toyota axle as well.

anyways here’s a few pictures of the rig and the current state after popping the motor. Thanks for looking.

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the rear bumper and hitch was damaged from
The precious owner, this is a bumper I was working on before the motor let go. Just need to finish the hitch mount area and add some chain hangers and pulling lugs.
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Ifs frame brackets all cleaned off and started getting the bj front axle mocked up. Rear mounts fabricated and tacked into place. Going to need to make some gussets for the insides of the hangers. Now need to figure out shackle hangers for the front and find some bushings.

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Fabricated front shackle hangers last night, need to the correct bushings to show up and I can get this thing back to being a roller. And then hopefully start working on the steering and shock mounts later this week

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Thanks guys, been making some slow progress but it’s still progress.

Motor is in and mounted, trans crossmember built and needs additional supporting yet. Working on getting some odds and ends ordered up to speed up future work.

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Also got some 35x12.5s for the mock up wheels I was using.. actually found out there are a pretty reputable company so i disassembled them and sent them off to power coat as well.. the first color I had done on the faces didn’t really excite me so I sent them back in to get done in a light gold color.

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As it sits, I got the rear axle swapped over to the Toyota axle and flipped and new mounts loosely sitting on there. Need to extend or redo the rear shock brackets.

Trans crossmember is done for the time being. Also got started on the trans tunnel. Lots of piecing in to make it work how I want.
 
Star tree d making front shock mounts, shocks are on order but not sure when they will actually arrive, also picked up a radiator that I think will work decent. Going to require some core support modifications but should cool decently being a double pass.

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Steering box is at the wrong angle for my crossover conversion, so once the motor is out I’ll try and rotate and remount the box to angle straight down to help with clearance.. also picked up a reman box from a newer Isuzu since mine has boogered threads on the pitman arm side and leaks pretty bad.

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Ended up changing the driver side panel for the trans tunnel, didn’t like the way it was without a curled upper edge, and finished welding up the tunnel completely. Kinda looks funky but whatever, it’ll do.

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Also finished up all the frame welding and chassis welding, got it all prepped and painted, fender Wells under coated as well. Drivers and passenger flop pans were getting pretty surface rusted so I went over the entire area.

Also cut out and fabbed up and changed to a beefier rear crossmember with a cutout for 3” exhaust and offset driveshaft

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Steering box mount is redone and clocked correctly now, I build a steering shaft but didn’t get a picture of it yet, steering arms are single pass welded and need a cap pass yet, front and rear shock mounts are done. Ended up changing the front shock mount to a design with more clearance.

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