Building A Four Door FJ40 (6 Viewers)

[FouadHafeez]

Rear doors are amazing. Great pictures of your country, so beautiful! Keep the build pictures coming.

Thanks, brother. I'll be sure to post ALL of the 10 thousand pictures I have of this rebuild Steel yourself!

True! Coming together, rather than dividing. The pictures are amazing, they don't show those on the news reports! Would love to travel around the world to see these amazing places in my FJ40! Meeting so many great people along the way! "Who Needs A Road?" was a great book!

Would love to build a 4 door cruiser for my family too! On my list, but never quite figure out how to cut, shape the rear doors so they look nice. I like this look! How did you do the window tracks and rubbers?

Craig

Thanks for the interest and kind words, Craig. It's certainly sounds like an amazing concept: "Around the World in 40 Days"

Re: the rear door windows...well...we salvaged those from junk. I wish I could use some techno-babble gobbledygook to make it sound more inspiring...but we actually decided on the window width...positioned the channels there...and cut the glass to fit, accordingly. Of course, this was also done with glass that was salvaged from scrap. Recycle. And waste not / want not!

world peace through Land Cruisers!

Banzai, brother...Banzai!

 

[FouadHafeez]

Great thread!

Subscribed!

Rudi

Aaaaaand finally...

Thanks, Rudi!

 

[SouthBostonFJ40]

What part of Pakistan do you live in now?

 

[FouadHafeez]

The Fiberglass Roof

The next challenge (there seem to have been an awful lot of the persistent little buggers, yeah?) was to fabricate a fiber roof for the Phantom. Now, we'd located some in pretty decent shape in the local scrap yards, but faced the problem of the SWB hardtop roof being too small, and the LWB roof being too large!

Initially, Il Maestro suggested we fab one out of sheet metal. This was one area where I was in instant disagreement with him.

First off, a metal roof would've been far too unwieldy to be easily-removable by one person...which went against the grain of the design philosophy of the vehicle being "nudity-capable"...or a "streaker".

Secondly, the additional weight was something I wasn't very happy with. Despite being shorter than a LWB Troopie, the proposed metal roof would STILL have weighed a considerable amount. This would've certainly impinged upon its nimbleness...another hard limit...which is why I discarded the idea altogether.

The solution was actually quite simple. We bought a Troopie roof...and simply sheared away a portion of the middle!

But then, perhaps that's an overly naive, simplistic way of stating things. We had to adjust it with a great deal of care, so as to ensure that the profile of the curved roof would appear just perfect. Much hemming and hawwing, ensued. When we thought it was about right, we took a saw to the roof. The "missing" portion between both ends, was made up using fresh fiberglass, and was reinforced with steel pins to lend it structural strength. These were later sanded over and made smooth, to conform to a close-to-OEM profile.

I love out-of-the-box solutions!

 

[FouadHafeez]

What part of Pakistan do you live in now?

I'm from Islamabad, Alex.

 

[FouadHafeez]

Some More Goings-On

Now, as all FJ40 enthusiasts know...one of the biggest impediments to stretching it, is the location, and the requirement for readjusting the petrol filler cap. We got around this, by conveniently re-locating it just aft of the rear doors, on the left hand side. The cap was connected to a metal pipe, which led down into the tank itself, which did not undergo any sort of modification. The pipe passed through the cabin, conforming to the sills. The floor was cut away to form a groove for this, which was later covered, so there'd be no chance of noxious fumes or any such thing. To all appearances, the floor is now flush and unbroken...yet it still hides that all-important pipe!

 

[FouadHafeez]

Extra Wide Mudguards

The next issue to address was the front fenders / mudguards.

We procrastinated over this for some time. I was of the personal view that stock fenders would be fine, but the Maestro was adamant that keeping the front end stock, after such a huge increase in ride height and width would make the "face" look disproportionately shrunken. His view (a VERY bold one, I must admit) was to elongate the front grille and the facia of the nose area, fabricate a custom bezel, and widen the front "muzzle" by a couple of inches on either side. This would have naturally outboarded the fenders by at least a few inches each.

The downside to this, in my view, was that the original shape of the 40 would be drastically altered. Something which I was personally loath to tinker around with. I suggested widening the fenders by 3.5 inches each.

During the ensuing debate, it was rightly pointed out that the broader mudguards would probably interfere with the ability of the wheels / axles to articulate, in spite of the increased ride height. That it would probably cause rubbing. Now, once the vehicle is close to completion and I've thrashed it about some, this aspect is factual...but only over absolutely fearsome obstacles (like climbing over an annoying little Mitsubishi Pajero ). My answer to this is: if and when it needs to go any place that is SO hair-raising...I'd rather just dispense with the mudguards, altogether!

Pictures!

 

[FouadHafeez]

Photoshoot Pakistan

The response to some of the pictures of Pakistan I'd posted earlier was phenomenal...so I'm going to take the liberty of posting a little photosession every now or then.

The last time, it was the diverse terrain of Pakistan. This time around...some urban landmarks.

I have no doubt, that in some of the upcoming posts of this sort...it's going to be American classics, with Toyota engines!

Enjoy!


The Shalimar Gardens (Lahore, Punjab). "Shalimar" means "House of Joy". And yes...the world famous Guerlain fragrance is named after this place. Historically, this is the place where the Mughal emperors of a few hundred years ago would bathe, lounge, relax, and generally engage in all sorts of lecherous, depraved, debauched activities. Frisky buggers that they were!

The Peshawar Museum (Peshawar, Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa). Peshawar is one of our provincial capitals, towards the North West of the country. This museum is one of the world's foremost repositories of Gandhara civilisation art from a couple of thousand odd years ago.

Gwadar Port City (Baluchistan). Gwadar is (perhaps) the world's only natural deep-water port. Located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, it's currently undergoing development, and is likely to become a major player in economic transit to and from the Central Asian States, China, and Afghanistan. Beach-front property, anyone?

The Municipal Corporation (Karachi, Sindh). This magnificent building is a relic from the times of the British Raj...which is now the seat of the City District Government. Karachi, of course, is our other coastal "fishing town" of 22 Million people. Whoa...we Pakistanis sure know how to make a lot of other Pakistanis!

The Islamabad Expressway (Islamabad, Federal Capital Territory). We call Islamabad "The Beautiful"...and while I may be biased for belonging to this place...I think it fits the bill. This shot shows the Expressway which connects Islamabad to the rest of the world. How many motorways have greenery like that for mile after mile, after mile?

 

[FouadHafeez]

That's all for now. More stuff on the rebuild, later!

 

[FouadHafeez]

Jumping The Gun...AGAIN!

These...are for Tom.

And THESE...are for cult45

 

[singletrackjunkie]

Awesome build and great pics of your county! I look forward to following along. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cult45]

Wow. Nice Impala! That ToyV8 fits in there almost too well.. I'm sure it fits in amongst the HM Ambassadors

 

[sarca]

*subscribed!
Love the pics - and I think your manner of explaining your particular path is just fine.

I got very envious reading your description of the availability for old Toyota parts...makes me want to go to Pakistan - between 40s and good food, I don't know if I'd have time for sightseeing all the beautiful places you've referenced.

I vote for videos of the Phantom!

 

[lostmarbles]

Jumping The Gun...AGAIN!

These...are for Tom.

And THESE...are for cult45

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4749/20120730153106.jpg

Thanks Fouad.

And (like Cult45) I appreciate classic "American Iron" such as that old Impala too.



PS. If I put a Toyota donk in one of those in this country I would foresee myself getting all sorts of hate mail.

 

[notsomint65]

<<envious
dude, you and your crew are badasses! love this 40 project, the impala makes me drool, and the shop is classic. keep up the good work. wish i could take my yota over to explore your sights...looks beautiful out there. can't wait to see more
thanks for sharing

~doug

 

[roma042987]

Simply amazing work! I would have never imagined a toyo powered impala in Pakistan.

 

[78fj40mg]

Deleted

 

[78fj40mg]

Fouad, Thank you very much for the very detailed and informative build process of your FJ40 "Phantom", and of course all the beautiful pics of Pakistan! I look forward to all your future posts with anticipation and eagerness to see the final product! Cheers! Mike

 

[alberta mac]

Very Impressive... Your command with the english language, discriptions and grasping the imagination and attention of the Mud community ! Whats more is your ability to turn an idea into reality !
No doubt this is not your first build and to find a crew of builders to follow out your commands.

Cheers to you and your fabulous Cruiser !

Cheers
Alberta Mac

 

[FouadHafeez]

Once again...thanks for the positive energy, guys!

Tom...you can't begin to imagine the grief I got from some of the "purists" here, when I bunged that donk into the Impala. Of course, it was somewhat mitigated by the fact that it already had a Toyota engine in it (a 220 bhp 2JZ-GE)! The fact that I was putting in a vastly superior engine, somewhat lessened the rage.

The reason for such "sacrilege" is quite simple: availability of parts. Since the early 70s, Pakistan has been gradually swamped by Japanese and (later) Korean cars. American engine parts have fast dried up, and body parts have become virtually non-existent. Their import has become well-nigh impossible due to the inordinately high prices from abroad, prohibitive shipping costs, and crippling import duty/tax regimes. To get around this...you do what you gotta do. An example is the front screen of the Impala...which was cracked when I got it. A "new" old screen from the US would have cost me something like US$700-800, with no guarantee that it'd even reach safely, or that I'd get the right dimensions. I ended up getting one locally fabbed for a quarter of the price. Not "genuine"...but certainly effective!

I DO have a stock Impala - a 67 four door hardtop, currently being rebuilt - but I can foresee that keeping that vehicle on the road and running, is going to be very expensive. Which is why it's going to be used very sparingly, indeed.

Sooooo...when the "purists" gather round me to tie me to a stake and burn me...I look them square in the eye and say..."I'm more of an enthusiast than you lot...for keeping it alive and on the roads. You'd rather I just left it to rot and/or stay as a museum piece?"