Abandoned 84 FJ60 gets some love, and a 4bt! (1 Viewer)

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What is that new blue machine in the background? It almost looks like a Subaru Forester.
That's my 2008 Forester 2.5x Sports.
It has been my favorite car ever, and has taken me some very cool places, both on and off road.
It reached the 300k mile mark last week, and needs some maintenance, but is still a great daily driver, and still took my wife and I to upstate New York a couple of weeks ago.

2.5" lift, custom built front bumper, rear locker, home made skid plates.

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That's my 2008 Forester 2.5x Sports.
It has been my favorite car ever, and has taken me some very cool places, both on and off road.
It reached the 300k mile mark last week, and needs some maintenance, but is still a great daily driver, and still took my wife and I to upstate New York a couple of weeks ago.

2.5" lift, custom built front bumper, rear locker, home made skid plates.

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Cool. I was looking at it thinking....thats a subaru hood and front end...but its got a winch and seems much too tall :)
 
So I'm trying to get my Tcase shift linkage sorted out, and after some fiddling around and making a bracket and whatnot, my hi/lo lever is too long and doesn't engage with the shift rod.
Would it work to try to heat and bend this piece, or should I cut and weld? Or does somebody sell a shorter one for use with the NV4500? Advance Adapters sells a bracket that's basically identical to the one I have, and it looks to work in the very few pictures I've been able to find.
@Hojack , what did you do when you got here? Are you still running a stock split case with adapter? I'm gonna go back through your thread and see if I can learn anything....
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So I'm trying to get my Tcase shift linkage sorted out, and after some fiddling around and making a bracket and whatnot, my hi/lo lever is too long and doesn't engage with the shift rod.
Would it work to try to heat and bend this piece, or should I cut and weld? Or does somebody sell a shorter one for use with the NV4500? Advance Adapters sells a bracket that's basically identical to the one I have, and it looks to work in the very few pictures I've been able to find.
@Hojack , what did you do when you got here? Are you still running a stock split case with adapter? I'm gonna go back through your thread and see if I can learn anything....View attachment 3057301View attachment 3057302View attachment 3057303
I was able to make some adjustments with a torch and hammer. Now the tcase linkage will work 😎
 
I was going to say it took some time to get the 4WD linkage dialed in. My first trip wheeling in the snow and went into 4L easily but would not come out. I had to go to the passenger side and move the lever and it came out and shifted fine into 4H then was easy to shift to 2H in the drivers seat. Took some time adjusting the linkage but got it operating from the drivers seat.
 
Finally got some shop time! We should get to hear some bulldozer noises in the next week or two! The little progress over the last week was mostly removing unnecessary parts and brackets, and cleaning stuff up. The drivetrain is ready to go in, and we are ready to start mocking up engine mount locations and figuring out how the crossmember will need to attach to the frame.
Once the mounts are welded up and the drivetrain is bolted in, I can start heading down the path to fab up fuel lines, wire up the necessary stuff, and continue removing unnecessary stuff/wires. Once I'm happy with that, I'll start putting the radiator, intercooler, and Air Conditioning stuff together.
Once it's complete and running, we will get the AC working, and then drive it home for rust repair, sound deadening, new carpet, and seats.
Then I'm gonna drive it a few weeks while I save up for lockers.
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Got the engine in the hole yesterday to mock up engine mount positions and figure out what to do with the crossmember.
My buddies that run the shop are a bit overwhelmed by the project, but I'm very grateful to have their help. I spend a ton of time at work, so anything that helps move the swap along is nice. It looks like once it is running, I'll still have quite a bit of work to do to button everything up nicely and get it up to Daily Driver standards, but within a couple of months it should be a pretty solid rig as I iron out the little stuff.


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Got the engine in the hole yesterday to mock up engine mount positions and figure out what to do with the crossmember.
My buddies that run the shop are a bit overwhelmed by the project, but I'm very grateful to have their help. I spend a ton of time at work, so anything that helps move the swap along is nice. It looks like once it is running, I'll still have quite a bit of work to do to button everything up nicely and get it up to Daily Driver standards, but within a couple of months it should be a pretty solid rig as I iron out the little stuff.


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Que the Darkside of the Force theme music 🎶
 
Today everything got positioned exactly where it needs to go, and the frame was marked for where the motor and crossmember mount brackets will go. The Adapter between the trans and TCase is about 5.85" thick, and as such moves the case back thar amount. This necessitates shortening the rear driveshaft by 5.85", and lengthening the front shaft the same amount. I was hoping it would all line up so I could leave the driveshafts alone, but this will be fine.
I dropped both shafts off at Dave's Driveshaft Shop in Nashville, hopefully those will be ready in a few days, as well as the motor/crossmember mounts, and we can fire this beast up and drive it back to my house so I can button up all the little stuff, and start working on the interior.
 
Think it’s time to update your thread title🤣😎
Lol I guess it isn't an abandoned hulk anymore, huh? I'm open to suggestions, man. 🤣
I'm flattered to have you posting in my thread, sir. I'd be lying if I said your build hasn't influenced mine. I've been watching your YouTube clips since before I made a deal and dragged this thing home.
 
The engine mounts are in, and I have a clear path planned for how to beef them up a bit, while also extending the front bumpstops a couple of inches. Friday, my buddy will help me tow it back home to my shop, where I'll finish up the rest of the work. I no longer need the gantry crane, so I can finish the rest on my own.

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Today we stuck the hood back on it, and towed it back to my place. I'll work on putting in the crossmember tomorrow, and Sunday I'll start putting wires where they go, and hopefully get the radiator and intercooler mounted.
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Think it’s time to update your thread title🤣😎
Darkside of the Force
Today we stuck the hood back on it, and towed it back to my place. I'll work on putting in the crossmember tomorrow, and Sunday I'll start putting wires where they go, and hopefully get the radiator and intercooler mounted. View attachment 3066179
moving along… I had to wait over a month for my advanced adapter between transmission and tcase.
 
Darkside of the Force

moving along… I had to wait over a month for my advanced adapter between transmission and tcase.
Yeah, I believe I saved time and money by just being in the right place at the right time on this one. I bought the engine, transmission, and all the adapters from a guy who was taking the 4bt stuff out of his FJ62 in favor of LS power and an automatic. He mentioned having the stuff for sale in a Facebook group when I posted asking for guidance on diesel swaps. I really haven't had to find many parts on my own, and I can't imagine a DIY job going any smoother, honestly.
But I am losing steam. I need to get this thing going pretty soon, and there is a ton of work to do yet. The transmission crossmember is going to be the next big thing, and hopefully the last big thing.
The 1984 frame had a 3 piece transmission crossmember that bolted to the vertical inner walls of the frame rails as opposed to the bottom of the frame, and the very nicely modified crossmember I got with the package deal is made for the later FJ62 frame. I plan to use that piece, but will attach it to the frame via bolting it to some thick angle iron that I'll weld to the frame.
I'll get started making, measuring, and drilling sometime today, and hopefully make some progress...
 
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Just read all 14 pages. Good work. I had read this when you first started but you hadn’t even gotten the rig home yet and now it’s got a motor swap? Crazy!
 

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