Builds Cayman Islands FZJ80 DIY build-up

[mmajsw]

Hello Everyone;
I have decided to post some info on my FZJ80 buildup. A lot of it is DIY due to my overseas location and cost of getting things down here from the US. And of course, it's a slow buildup.
I have already done a rear drawer setup and built my own rear bumper with dual swing-outs - one for the spare tire carrier and other for a cooler/fuel can setup (either or both). I will post some info on those later.
I have read through most of the winch installations but no has really done any write-ups about the Ramsey worm gear winches. There was an adaptation of a RE12000 into an ARB bumper but mine will be a full start-from-scratch job.
I'm located in the Cayman Islands so anything I want to get has to be shipped in and 27% duty paid on the total price - cost of buying + shipping to the shipping company + shipping to Cayman + insurance. Result is an ARB bumper that is around US$950 in the US will cost me around US$1600 when everything is factored in.
I have had a RE8000 winch sitting in my garage for about 15 years. I bought it at a garage sale from the previous owner who had it installed in a Dodge Caravan minivan. Never asked why but for US$500 it was mine. It included the 150' of 5/16 cable, snatch block and remote switch. I was going to install it in a full sized 1982 Ford Bronco that I had at the time but a unique piece of equipment came my way and it was installed instead - a PTO winch that ran off the NP205 transfer case.
Factor in one Hurricane Ivan 10 years ago and the Bronco was scrapped. The PTO was unique so nothing was salvaged to use on another vehicle
A year ago, I was glancing through the local adverts and a 1997 Land Cruiser was for sale. It had 62K miles on it at a reasonable price. I went just to take a look and needless to say, ended up buying it. It was rust free, did not burn oil, good interior and few creature comforts outside of AC.
It carried the usual 4500cc 24V engine and A442F transmission but it has a part time transfer case with the CDL switch already installed and front Aisin hubs. Cloth seats with manual adjustment (no 3rd row seats), no sunroof, OBD1 (no OBDII for this baby - would have loved to get a scanning gauge in there), no ABS, no smog equipment, cup holder and passenger grab handle on the dash. It seems to be quite the mixture of US/Japan standard accessories.
Over the past few months, I have been humming and hawing about installing the winch. Eventually, I said why not - the major expense is already done. Plus the wife is away for 2 weeks - serious garage time for me!!!!
The RE8000 is physically larger and heavier than a planetary geared winch of the same capacity - about 4.5" taller and around 5" deeper. Width is about the same. Line speed is slower but it is a brute.
I started out by measuring the space available after removing the paper towel front bumper. I was disappointed in the weak build of it and quickly forgot about trying to adapt it into my project.


More to come. Got to put tools away.

 

[mmajsw]

I originally started with a 1/4x2x2 front winch brace that the former owner had used. Seemed sturdy enough.
Using a piece of 1/4" foam board that was 2.5" wide, I mocked up a pattern and then bought a piece of 1/4 x 2.5 steel strap to make the back brace. Foam board makes pattern making for metal a dream!
Got everything together and then using the floor jack, I lifted it into place. I had a couple options - keeping the winch as close to the engine as possible but not having access for oil changes, etc. or moving it a couple inches forward and being able to do maintenance. The couple inches forward was the best option after querying the 80s group. Turns out that I am closer to the body than most other bumpers. I was worried about really reducing the approach angle but my concerns were unfounded.
Remove front bumper (4 bolts) and the shipping hooks (another 4 bolts but a lot harder to get off - had to use an impact. Use one of the shipping hook bolts and some penetrating oil to chase the threads of the unused captured nut in front of the hooks. The frame is ready to go.
I had some lengths of 1/4 x2.5x2.5 angle iron so it became the basis of my frame extension. I initially cut two pieces 10" in length for each side - 1 for the top of the frame and the other for the bottom. A bit of grinding was needed (about 1/4 inch in total) to allow the edges to meet in the center of the frame and not try and buckle out. I measured 1/8" away from the first cross member welds that you see on the outside of the frame and scribed a line. I then measured from that scribe to the front of the frame (I have no bumper cushions? on my truck - the things that allow you to have a 5mph crash without any damage). Repeat for the other side. Measurements were within 1/16". Good!
Then C-clamped the top piece of angle iron to the top of the frame and using a pencil through the nuts on the bottom of the frame, made a drill mark for the two top bolts. Repeat exercise for bottom plate.

Repeat whole procedure for the other frame horn,.
Drill the holes in the plate and bolt them to the frame using 1.25x12x40mm bolts.

The end result should look like this. No welding has been done as yet. I had to pull the power steering cooler down to prevent damaging it when I was test fitting.

 

[mmajsw]

Turning my attention to the winch, I decided to make sure it was operational before installing it. Sitting on plywood for 15 years tends to make things stop working. Applying a battery to the winch resulted in nothing - as expected. I tore it apart, cleaned connections, knocked the relays and everything was working again.

My high tech starter motor bench test fixture

I replaced the old remote connector with a new 4 pole trailer connector. Perfect fit and it looks new again. Put everything back together and mounted in on the truck for another fit. Still have to figure out how to tie that 2.5" flat bar into the frame for the rear support. Right now, the back of the winch is supported by the wooden stool.

The front angle iron extends about 1/2" further than the frame extension - a minor problem.

The power steering cooler can still fit into its old spot. I'll have to replace it later on with something more efficient. Mine is covered in undercoating.... and is probably having no effect on the fluid temp.

That ended the day for me. Before I weld and bolt everything up, I was wondering if the 1/4x2x2 angle would be strong enough? I'll have to do some more research and sleep on it.

 

[mmajsw]

This morning, I decided to do something I should have done a long time ago - read the winch manual.... readily downloaded online. According to Ramsey, the front brace should be at the minimum 3/8x2.5x3 angle! Back to the drawing board.
The new plan - swap the front support with the back flat bar (only needed to drill 4 new holes) and get a new piece of metal for the front. A trip to the local metal store and I came home with 3' of 3/8x3x3 for US$50!
Take the winch back out and remove all previous supports. Quick work with a reciprocating saw, the proper blade, drill press and a grinder and the front support is on the rear of the winch. The angle steel also solves how to support the rear of the winch from flexing.

I cut the new support angle iron down to size (30") leaving 1/8" weld space on each side and decided to notch the angle iron for more weld area. Repeat on the other side.

A test fit for the notched support. Going to have to do some filler welding. Rounding the upper inside corner of the brace will allow for a closer fit to the frame extension.

New measurements and the front brace now extends 1.5" beyond my frame extension (the white line). No problem, I will work that into the design. I did consider cutting off the 1.5" from the top of the angle iron, but the new idea is better. Plus at that height, it will not affect the approach angle.

Time to lift the whole mess back into the frame for another test fit. I found that the top rear bolt on the frame is right where the back brace fits. Great! I can use those bolts to hold the rear winch brace down. The winch came out, the rear brace removed, two holes drilled, put everything back together and one more time lift that hunk of metal back into its position! Whew! It's getting heavier each time I remove it!

Looking good!

 

[mmajsw]

With the mounting of the winch out of the way, time to look at the bumper. I rather liked the look of the Slee Short Bus Bumper as well as the ARB so I will borrow some of their ideas and looks for mine.
I also managed to buy a used brush guard for a Hummer 2 so I will have to get piece of that into my bumper.
Sitting down for a couple hours with some 1/8 and 3/16" foam board precut into 2, 4 and 6" strips (to reflect the 2, 4 and 6" flat bar that is available here) and I have one side of my bumper mocked up.

To simulate the thickness of 1/4" or 3/8" metal, I used double sided tape and joined two thicknesses of foam core together. It was a fun little job and will save me much time when cutting metal.
The two small pieces by the tire (B4 and End1) were not taped on as they are quite thin in width and removal of the duct tape would destroy my notes written on them.
Forgive the drain pan in the pictures. I cut the flexible transmission lines with the intention that tomorrow I will be plumbing in the large tranny cooler that I installed in front of the radiator. I took a sample of the hose to get some new line.

Tomorrow morning, more shopping for metal and lots of cutting.

The major tools I am using are:-
A milling machine (used more as a drill press than a mill),
Reciprocating saw with the proper blades (cuts very well)
4" grinder ( I also have 4" abrasive cutting wheels for it)

I bought a metal cutting chop saw (with a metal cutting carbide blade, not the abrasive type) just for this job. It allows one to cut angles, or chop angle iron and flat bar quickly and accurately. Not really needed but it sure makes life easier.

I will post more as things get done. Hope I did not bore anyone and please feel free to ask any questions that may pop up.

Cheers
Mike

 

[2fpower]

Never thought about using foam for mock up. Have to remember that.

Looking good.

As long as the paper clip is out, you might look at replacing it with a ford plate cooler. Junkyard search for hard plate (no fins to compress). I found them on Taurus and larger one on exploder (explorer). paper clip really does not do much.

 

[RS6tofj80]

Nice project ! I've got a 92' that I keep on Eluethera 800 miles north of you.... likewise it's a for sure a do-it-yourself place..... my nearest Toyota tech is Nassua... it cost me more to ship it and pay the duty then I paid for it....

the bumpers looks nice - but having a Slee I'm partial !

post pics as you build...

 

[mmajsw]

Hi 2fpower. I am heading to the US in the next month or two and a PS cooler from a Ford Super Duty was on my list. There are a few Explorers on the island so I will check them before I leave. Thanks for the info.

Hello RS6toFJ80. There is a Toyota dealership on Grand Cayman but when a simple oil change runs close to US$150, you readily learn to do what you can. There is a Mercedes Benz dealership here too and when people buy their cars from the dealer and the warranty runs out, they will fly a mechanic in from the US to do major repairs. He will work on a couple cars and leave - all expenses paid plus he gets paid for his work. Looks like the dealer is making a killing!

Not much done today as I cleaned house and did laundry. I did manage to go and buy all the metal I needed to make the bumper wings along with transmission hose and other little bits. I can start cutting at the earliest opportunity.

The seeds of a bumper are hiding in these bits of metal!

 

[thatcabledude]

Bumper looks like it will turn out nice. My buddy has the same winch on his K5 and it is a hoss. Not the fastest, but slow and steady wins the race.

 

[murf]

Nice...I visited grand cayman a few years back. What a great place, we have friends who live there - where do you wheel at?

 

[mmajsw]

Hi murf;
There are absolutely no legal challenging drives in Cayman. The biggest things would be driving on the sand at the beach (and try not to get into the salt water), explore the dike roads and old roads and if one is lucky, drive into the old quarries or into a friend's acreage. 99.9% of it can be readily done in a two wheel drive, high clearance vehicle. My biggest drive to modify is just to see if I can do it. Preparation for the next hurricane is a close second. The three times I used 4WD in the past 12 years was to get myself unstuck in the sand on the beach, pull a vehicle out of the water - he launched his boat on the ramp and the parking brake gave way. The truck slowly slid into the sea. A simple pull out. The final time was driving down a beach access road that went down a short, steep, rocky hill before getting to the sand. Coming back up took a few tries and was definitely 4wheeling! But I keep looking for spots.
I do have dreams of shipping the truck to the US and driving around exploring for 6 months when I retire but that is a while away. Also need to build an expedition trailer. Already drawing plans and collecting parts. A DIY trailer based on a Canadian M101/US M416 with Fiberglas impregnated wood body. But that's for next year. Truck first!

 

[Blazer8750]

I think your bumper looks like it's gonna turn out real nice. With so many out of the box bumper choices, it's nice to see one-off bumpers. I visit Cayman every year for diving and relaxing. Maybe you can show me some of your off roading spots next time I'm there. I used to rent the Daihatsu Rockys when they were available and take those off road, but in the last several years the rental companies have gotten away from the fun old rugged rigs and I refuse to rent a Heep Dangler.

Keep up the good work and thanks for the pics. Hope to share a beer with ya.

Jason

 

[mmajsw]

It was a slow bumper week as I had some other things to address before my vacation was over. I initially decided that I would try and rent/buy a plasma cutter to speed things up. Nothing available via rental - they had never had a request for one before. Buying one locally at 3X the US price was out of the question. Ordering one and waiting 3-4 weeks was an option but I decided to see how much I could do with the tools on hand. Obviously a lot slower than having the state of the art / proper tools, but it is doable.
It took me about 3 hours to cut the metal for one the passenger side of the bumper. I could have gone faster but took my time ensuring that I cut right along the mark-out lines.
The first thing was to determine the piece of metal to use. Not much choice on the large pieces but I was able to use cutoffs to create some of the smaller pieces. Saved metal and cutting time although the small pieces were very difficult to secure for cutting. What I did was to trace the outline of the template with pencil.

Then using a steel ruler and carbide tipped scriber, I marked the cut lines into the metal. That scribed line was then marked over with a wide black permanent marker (red can be used but I prefer the contrast with the black).

Finally, I once again passed the scriber freehand over the previously made line so highlight the metal underneath. Result is an easy to follow bright line for cutting.

At the end of it all, you have a nice pile of labeled pieces that need welding together.

I do not have the latest MIG/TIG unit. My main welder is an old Lincoln 225AC tombstone unit. It has been faithfully working for me for about 30 years. I overhauled it a couple months ago (cleaned, re-lubed and repainted) and she is ready to continue doing her work.

Using my fancy welding table (two cement blocks, a 2' square piece of 3/16 steel), some clamps, welders magnets and 1/8 6013 welding rod, I began to assemble to pieces. The first thing it to tack weld everything into position, making sure that I am happy with the fit and angles. Some minor grinding was needed and I will have to either create a couple thin shims for gaps or weld the gaps shut for a couple spaces, but overall, things are looking up. This is a view from the bottom.

This is a far as I got this afternoon before calling it quits. I figure that a good hour with the welder and I will be finished the passenger side. Add a couple braces for the back part of the bumper and it can be welded to the plates currently bolted to the truck.
I intend to position and tack weld the bumper, then unbolt the plates from the truck and give everything a nice, solid weld. My vertical and overhead welding skills are nonexistent. Horizontal welding is good. The finished will probably be Rustoleum Truck Bed Spray liner which I found in a local hardware store on Wednesday while searching for some varnish.

 

[mmajsw]

Another view of the bumper - this time from the front - and it's upside down.

The front of the bumper will have all seams fully welded and then ground smooth. The back will only have stitch welds of about 1" long every 2".

Close-up of the front welds. They are a bit thick but I know that the penetration is good. I wanted to have extra material for grinding.

More to come!

 

[mmajsw]

About 5 days behind in updating but here I am.
Finally got the welding all done and installed the bumper for fitting purposes. Not easy as a DIY project. But with enough pieces of wood, scrap metal and whatever else I could get my hands on, I managed to get it into place. A few C-clamps allowed me to clamp the bumper to the frame extensions. A couple spot welds to hold everything together and I unbolted the passenger side assembly. Off to the welding table and within a 1/2 hour, everything was welded and back on the truck with the bolts holding it into place. I also added a couple of top to bottom bumper braces which I will show in a future image. It was dark and my first pictures were not the best. So bright and early Tuesday morning, before heading to work, I took a couple pics for your review.

I haven't welded the front brace of the winch in as yet as it needs to be slightly lifted to allow the frame extensions to be removed and replaced. I am now contemplating bolting instead of welding. Thinking about future repairs where each side can be removed to fix as needed (or to scrape the remains of plastic bumper cars from the metal . On the other hand, the extensions are bolted to the frame, the winch can be dropped independently of the bumper, and the whole bumper removed as a unit if the front needs welded or repair. Will contemplate the options. Anyone want to chip in with their thoughts?

I was also thinking of the roller fairlead installation and I believe I will leave it at the top of the brace. I can easily rewire the motor to reverse the rotation of the winch so that the cable will spool over the top when in use. I will just need another length of angle iron.
This weekend, build and install the driver side of the bumper. I think that the next pics will be with both sides installed since all of the work will be a repeat of the passenger side.

 

[mmajsw]

Sorry for the delay in updating. Between the rains, work and other distractions, I am making less progress than originally hoped.
The bumper is in and the winch and roller fairlead braces are fully welded in position. After doing what welding I could, I had to remove the whole unit and flip it upside to weld the pieces that required upside down welding. I was off work today so it was a good time to do it. 20 minutes to remove bumper from the truck, 5 minutes to remove the winch and break the unit down. 15 minutes to weld, 10 minutes to paint the areas that were welded and other awkward places, another 10 minutes to put it all back together with the winch and 2 freaking hours to get the two top back bolts started in their holes. All the holes I drilled were 1/32" oversized. Unfortunately, during the reassembly, the additional hole size all added up the wrong way. Once the back two were snug, the other 6 were in place and tightened up in under 10 minutes. Over 3 hours spent on somewhat simple job!
But it is all back on the truck. The final thing to do is to bend the tubing to make the grill guard. Maybe tomorrow if the rains hold off.

The fairlead is off center due to the way the Ramsey winch is constructed. And yes, we did level out the bumper so that the spacing between the valence and the bumper was a little more equal. The driver's side is 1/4" lower than the passenger side.

During the rains yesterday, I undertook a smaller project. I had a pair of 12V Fiamm air horns that I have had for at least 15 years or more. I bought them in the UK but never got around to installing them on any vehicle. About 2 weeks ago, I made a trip to the dump to get rid of some construction and yard debris. On the top of electronics recycling pile, still in the package, was a 12V air horn kit. Grabbed it for the horns but when I got home and tested the pump, it worked too! All that was missing were the nuts and bolts - easy to get. I had already replaced the stock electric beepers with some louder and better sounding Fiamm units, so I decided to install the air horns as well. The first thing was where to place them. The transmission cooler is on the driver's side of the rad and a 14" electric fan is slated to go on the passenger side. I decided to mount them with the two existing horns. A few minutes later, a couple holes and some nuts and they were in place.

Part 1 done. Now to find a location for the air pump.
This was a bit of a challenge. I will be installing a second battery in the very near future so using any space between the rad overflow and the air cleaner was a no go. I saw the air cleaner and gave it a shake - pretty strong. Opened it up and there was enough space between the housing and the air filter for a nut and washer. Once hole later, the pump was installed. Unfortunately, I needed a longer hose and a T-fitting to plumb the hose. A trip to the local auto parts store netted me 3' of vinyl tubing and a plastic T to get the air to both horns.

 

[mmajsw]

I now needed to get electricity to the air pump. The biggest problem is that the pump requires me to run it off a relay due to its current draw. I needed to get some relays added somewhere so I searched ih8mud and got the idea of mounting them to the battery hold down bracket as done by jcardona1. 12" of 12 gauge 1-1/4"angle iron, a few holes, nuts, bolts and washers, a piece of hardwood to get the metal away from the battery and this is what I ended up with. The piece of wood has a groove in it to accommodate the bolt heads and prevent them from touching and wearing the plastic battery case.

Even though I mounted 5 and drilled for 6, I can readily increase the amount to 8. Just can't think of what else might need a relay right now. But I'm sure something will come up!
I placed the bracket on the battery, tightened the holding nuts and all looks fine to me. I will be labeling the relays for future reference.

The next step was to get relay plugs ready. I am using 5 pin AGT 40A relays from Amazon. About $14 for 5 with plugs. Locally, they sell for US$19 each without the plugs. Gotta love the power of US shopping!!

I only needed 4 of the pins as I would not be using the constant power option. So I removed the white center wire and connector to prevent any accidental shorting in the future. The bottom of the relay is numbered so it is easy to identify what each pin does. Diagrams are readily available online.
When looking at the relay wiring diagram, I noted that the power came into the black wire and the ground used the red. A small screwdriver later, I had the colors in their proper socket. Black is ground, red is to battery power, yellow to the switch and blue to the item being activated.

I still need to run some power to and from the interior switches to activate the relays.
So far, I will be using the relays for the air horn, high beams, low beams, aux fan and driving lights - 5 things. Not sure about the driving lights though. They are small 18 watt led units that draw 1.6A each - 3.2A combined. The Seachoice switches (#12421 - red illuminated - labeling to come later) I am using can handle 15A. Seems a waste to run the lights off a relay but safety first.
Looking ahead, I want to wire the winch to run either from in the cab or from outside. Ramsey uses readily available 4 pin circular trailer connector for plug and receptacle. I am not too sure about using an antenna switch to control the winch. I have one in hand but it is only momentary contact - the winch will only run when the button is being pushed in. The Ramsey winch speed is S-L-O-W. 15 feet per minute when using the top layer at 4800 lbs but only 3'/minute on the drum at 8000 lbs. Depending on how I am stuck, I could be holding the winch button down for an awfully long time! My thought is to either use two switches in parallel - one using the antenna switch for those short winch sessions and the other for the longer periods. The downside of this is that I will be using 3 switch slots. The third is for the winch master switch to prevent accidental winch activation. The master switch will control a PAC-500 relay that controls the power to the winch. When the master switch is off, winch is dead. Or a manual battery disconnect switch can replace the PAC-500.
Or, just use a DPDT switch and save a switch location. Anyone care to comment?

That's it for today.

Edit - I was participating in another conversation regarding using an antenna switch as a winch control and I will not be using a DPDT switch. Firstly, the manufacturers do not have continuous on switches for their winches. They are all deadman switches - if no one is pressing the button, the winch will not work. Secondly, there is a safety issue. No one wants a winch accidentally running on and on. It generates a lot of power and can do serious harm if it is not continuously monitored when running. I still might take a look at a DPDT momentary contact switch.

 

[mmajsw]

Back to the bumper.
I was basically done but it needed something to balance the lower hanging portions. Conclusion - brush/grill guard of a kind.
After some line drawing in Photoshop, I came to the conclusion that a 2" tube that guards the grill would be best. Off to get 5' of black pipe (I needed about 4' but needed some overhang for the tube bender. No DOM is available on island. I got 1.5" ID with just under 2" OD.
The worst thing about bending pipe is the lining up of the bends. I don't know how to twist misaligned pipe nor do I have the equipment to even try! The first thing was to create a reference line on the pipe. I laid the length of pipe in my workbench and found the weld line besides a 4' long level. Placing that weld line at approx. 135 degrees to the level, I scribed a reference line. This line will match the center-line marks on the bender. A bit difficult to describe so see sketch below.

The reasoning behind this is that the weakest spot in the pipe is at the weld. You do not want to have stretching or compression on this line so you keep it away from the areas that are affected the most. Secondly, in case the guard gets a good solid whack in an accident or other misfortune, the weld line is not pointing straight ahead or behind as it would be if it was placed at 90 degrees to the reference mark.
I measured 14" in from the end pipe I placed my first reference bend mark. I knew (based on my measurements) that the two bends needed to be approx. 29" apart. I would leave a bit for trimming at each end. Filled the pipe with wet sand and used duct tape to seal the ends. The 14" reference mark was placed in the center of the pipe die and the bending began. I am using a Harbor Freight 12 ton pipe bender. Used it before and it works as it should.
The bend angle needed to be about 45 degrees so in a short while (and using a magnetic protractor to check the angle), I bent the pipe to achieve about 47 degrees. The extra is to compensate for the spring back of the pipe. The pipe was removed and the process repeated at the other reference mark. In making the second bend, I took the time to make sure that the reference mark stayed on the center of the die. There is a little rotating of the pipe when the initial pressure is applied at the start so you need to compensate. Once it is locked in place by the pressure, the only movement is longitudinally along the pipe during the stretching. Total time to make the bends, 15 minutes.

Here is a picture of making the second bend. I have to stress that make sure your alignment is good because once you make the bend, it is fixed!

Ends were trimmed and the pipe welded to the bumper.
The end result was this...

Triangulated braces were also cut then welded to the back of the guard for strength.

Finally, a front view.

The final things to do are bolt on the fairlead and install a couple LED spot driving lights I have been hanging on to. Still have to add power to the winch and install the cable but I need to look a moving the solenoid pack to a higher location.

 

[OGBeno]

Great build and nice work!

How many Land Cruisers are on the Cayman's?

Man, if there is enough demand, I could *ahem* come out with parts.

 

[mmajsw]

I would say about a dozen or so. A mixture of LHD models (from the US and Central America (probably Mexico) all gasoline engines automatic or manual transmission) and some RHD (mixture of gas/diesel and auto/manual) - more diesels than gas though. When I first went to fill my truck up at the gas station at the self-serve, the attendant came running out telling me that I should be using diesel. I replied this was a gas model. He was surprised.
A couple have the factory winch option and one that I have seen has the locking differentials (or at least the dial). They don't come up for sale too often - maybe 1 or two a year. I bought mine is Sept 2013. The next one came up around Feb 2014 for US$2600 - 4.5L, manual, RHD, broken birfield. There is one for sale right now (FJ80, auto, minimal rust, 103K miles) for US$3600. Most people use them to tow their boats so you keep your eyes out for sea water rust on the underside.
I have been in touch with the insurance companies for a diesel/manual model that has been in an accident and keep my eyes on the classified adds. It looks like mine is the only one that has been even slightly modified.