Big Muddy's Buildup...

[twoturtlesracing]

The new shock mounts allow my 18" Doetsch Tech to soak up all the compression and droop.
(I also moved the rear shock mounts to the backside of the rear crossmember this summer, and moved both of them in towards center about 3 1/2")​

And just a scenic shot or two...​

...

 

[burnttoastburgos]

Nice flex!!...but wayyy too close to the edge for me, i have a hard time cleanin my chimney

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Nice flex!!...but wayyy too close to the edge for me, i have a hard time cleanin my chimney

LOL! I know what you mean. In this case it was mostly mental, especially when you have to drop off of one little bump three or four inches that leans you towards the drivers side as you get halfway over the bridge... WOW! It's a rush

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Shock tower pics

So I wanted to post up pics of the shock towers that I fabbed up this fall. Since my goal with the 40 is to make it as functional as I can while keeping everything either Toyota or at least so that it looks like what Mr. Toyoda's engineers would have done had they ran into the same issue, I didn't want to go with the Ford shock towers. ( I do have a set though, and I'll give you a good deal on them!)

To accomplish this goal with the shock towers, I first drilled out the original rivets and then took off the old shock towers. I then cut of the main tower from the bracket that mounts to the frame, and then cut off all but about the last 2" of the original shock tower. Then, using 3/8"X3" flat strap to make the center vertical section, I cut it to match the original frame bracket, and then narrowed it towards the top to match the upper section. I added six inches in this part to accomplish the upward travel that I needed and still give me all the droop I needed and then some. I then used the rest of the flat strap to make triangles-one for each side to complete the factory look. I then burned these in. I am pretty happy with the results. I kept the upper mount the same distance off of the frame rails as the original was. I was very happy with this angle, as it kept me off of my drag link and I didn't have to cut the inside of my fender to miss the shock body as it tucked up inside.

Another angle:

I used metric bolts and then bolted them back into the factory holes for the rivets. I had to tape nuts and lockwashers to my fingers and then act like a contortionist to get to the the bottom side of the bolts. It was not fun! I then cut a down to fit inside the frame rail to hold the nut while I tightened the bolt head. But hey, it looks stock!​

The only thing that I had to move under the hood was the overflow bottle. I was able to keep this looking factory by just moving two of the nuts that held it down and then welded up the factory locations. Can't tell the difference now!​

 

[bikersmurf]

The new shock mounts allow my 18" Doetsch Tech to soak up all the compression and droop.
(I also moved the rear shock mounts to the backside of the rear crossmember this summer, and moved both of them in towards center about 3 1/2")​

And just a scenic shot or two...​

...

Wish I lived in your part of the world.

I like the way you're building your truck keeping it two steps from stock will keep it reliable.

 

[AndyO78FJ40]

Great pics!

 

[FJ40zen]

Looking Nice. Like those shock towers.

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Thanks Guys!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

I ordered my H41 from Mark of Marks off road today!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Not much progress on the 'Cruiser itself, but have lots of parts ordered/bought (or here) and plan on installing them in the next couple or three weeks...

• H41 from Marks Off Road
• A heater Restore kit from Shane (MetricTLC)
• Another goody that I'm not going to mention for just a few... Just check back

I also joined TLCA! Looking forward to getting my decals. I also am looking into joining Rising Sun 4X4, but haven't figured out just when I'm going to make it up to Denver for a meeting (5 hours away).

And last, but HARDLY least, I signed up for Cruise Moab '11! Can't wait to meet a lot of you there, and hope that I can get all the new goodies together and a couple of maintenance issues taken care of before it's time!

 

[1Fine40]

Would you be willing to snap a picture of the shock towers from the engine compartment? Wondering what to do with my washer bottle.......

Cheers!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Would you be willing to snap a picture of the shock towers from the engine compartment? Wondering what to do with my washer bottle.......

Cheers!

Would be happy to!

Coolant bottle... I drilled a 2nd hole in the top of the bracket towards the middle and slotted all 3 so that they looked the same and I would have some front to back adjustment. Also slotted the hole on the bottom part of the bracket so that I would have some adjustment in the same direction there.​

I then ground off the rear-most nut and drilled out the fender forward of the forward-most hole and re-welded the nut in this position. I can't remember for sure what the distance was, but it is whatever the center distance was between the original factory holes on the bracket. (I think maybe 2 3/8" but not sure.) I then also moved the bottom bracket nut forward as far as I could and still have it behind the fold on the inner fenderwell. I then filled the old holes in and ground them flat so you can't tell that I moved my washer bottle forward. IMHO, it came out very factory looking. (I think that I also bent a small angle on the flat, horizontal part of the bracket, but it was only very slight and just to make it fit a little better..)​

Pics...​

Holes:

Mounted in factory position:

Nut welded in new spot: (Not quite a factory weld, but close enough)

Clearances:

Another shot:

​

HTH, and I can take batter pictures in the daytime if you need me to.​

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Also a shot of a neat little trick I did to keep my blinker wires from being torn up:

I slotted the bolt that holds them down, and was then able to pull them out the side of the bolt above the bottom of the bracket so that the bolt and bracket are below the wires. My tire will only rarely rub the bolt, but would tear the **** out of my wires. Fixing them once was enough for me to not want to do it again.

​

Those are the wires back there behind the bracket, but they are not in focus so it makes them kinda hard to see. I promise they are there though!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

So i picked up the other aforementioned "goody" yesterday! I had bought the bored, balanced, and decked 2F that Justin from RedLine LandCruisers had for sale in the classifieds section, and finally got around to picking it up. Great guy, and I really enjoyed looking around his shop and chatting with him for the better part of an hour and a half.

Hope to get the motor, H41, and etc, installed in the next couple of weeks.
Sooo, I'm going to have a tired, yet still running, 2F that I'm going to want to part with if anyone wants something that they can rebuild or just stick in for now to get down the road till they get their rebuild done. Also, I'll have an H42 that is in good shape that I'll be getting rid of.

 

[1Fine40]

Quote"I also moved the rear shock mounts to the backside of the rear crossmember this summer, and moved both of them in towards center about 3 1/2")"

Can you snap pic of that? Will probably do the same, just wonderin' what you used for the pins on the cross-member??? Seems to me it would be easiest to drill through the cross member with 1/2" bit, insert a grade 8 bolt of sufficient length then burn it in....is that what you did?

Cheers!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Quote"I also moved the rear shock mounts to the backside of the rear crossmember this summer, and moved both of them in towards center about 3 1/2")"

Can you snap pic of that? Will probably do the same, just wonderin' what you used for the pins on the cross-member??? Seems to me it would be easiest to drill through the cross member with 1/2" bit, insert a grade 8 bolt of sufficient length then burn it in....is that what you did?

Cheers!

If I remember right, I used a 9/16 bolt about 5.5 inches long (maybe longer- I wanted enough that I would have enough shank to go through the cross member and the shock to sit on, with out riding on the threads. The local hardware store didn't have a metric bolt big enough and long enough for the shock rubber to sit on the shank, otherwise I would have preferred that!) I then used a drill bit big enough (I think it may have been 5/8" or 19/32") so that I could easily get the bolt through the holes. (I would recommend using a right angle drill if you have one as it is a challenge to get a drill up in there.) I then cut the heads off of the bolts so that they would look factory from the backside, stuck them in, and welded them up on both the front and back side. I basically mimicked factory mounts, but unfortunately using SAE hardware.

I'll try to load some pics up when I get a chance! HTH!

 

[1Fine40]

Thanks Coe!

Cheers!

 

[twoturtlesracing]

So I started getting ready for my new goodies this last weekend by yanking my motor, trans and t-case. In there place are going a bored, balanced, and decked 2F from Redline LandCruisers (RLMS on here), an H41 from Marks Off-Road (65SWB on here) and a transfercase from a 3-speed with the lower 2.31 low to add the the H41 so that I will go from a 29:1 crawl to 47:1. This was also picked up from a member on here who was parting out a '73 55 Piggy.

I've yanked motors before but this was the first time for a 40. Quite simple, just like the rest of the rig...

Started by dropping the coolant and detaching all radiator hoses, then I took off the front bib... Man I love that feature and how easy it is to take off!

A quick run down of things needed to be removed when you pull your motor. It's really not a big deal:

• remove radiator​

• Remove the guard under the radiator and the one under the battery
• unhook the coolant line going to the heater
• dizzy wire to coil
• fuel lines to fuel pump (I would highly recommend taking your gas cap off before you do this, as there will likely be pressure in your tank and it will continue to spill fuel as long as there is. It makes a mess. )
• choke cable
• idle solenoid wire
• vacuum lines from my vsv- which is going to disappear during this process
• exhaust
• remove the shifter boots and then take the shifter out of the tranny (Push down and turn)
• remove shifter and gate off of the transfercase
• unhook the driveshafts
• remove the large nut holding the parking brake assembly on. 1 1/16" socket works great. I used a tire iron as I didn't have a socket that big. and then the four nuts holding it to the t-casse and then just remove the backing plate. It would be best to have drained your t-case already or you will have gear lube leaking everywhere.
• remove speedometer cable
• unhook wires for your back up switch
• remove the mounts from the bellhousing to the frame while supporting the tranny and trans with a floor jack
• hook up a lifting device to the motor and then take off the motor mount nuts

Now ease it out of there! I left my tranny hump cover on, and it would have been easier to get the whole assembly out of there if I had removed it, but it's doable either way.

That's all for now, I have got to get to work!

 

[subzali]

Sounds great Coe! 2 months and counting down...

 

[twoturtlesracing]

Sounds great Coe! 2 months and counting down...

I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! Plus, my top was leaking like a sieve, so I've got it off and am going to try to get it refinished! And after that I'd like to replace my rear sill, patch up the rocker panels, swap in discs, do my power steering, etc, etc, etc- I guess I'd better just concentrate on one thing at a time!...