Well, we are in the final stages of parts gathering for my dads 1971 FJ40 swap. We originally picked the truck up in the fall of 2000 at Fall Carlisle. Plans for the truck include a Chevy 4.3 V6, TH350 Auto, 3 speed t-case, Saginaw Power Steering, FJ62 Disc brakes, and 3.73 diffs. This FJ40 will probably never see offroading time, so we are building it so that my mom can drive if need be and to just have some fun with. We have my Tacoma and now 4 Runner for wheeling.
After some work and a few other things it was on the road and ready for body work. We spent the fall and winter cleaning a ton of sand out of the truck, it was originally from New Jersey.
One of the reasons we purchased the truck was because the body was in such great shape, a little rust in the one rocker, rear quarter and rear sill, but very minimal. We had a local shop do the metal work since we didn't have the tools or time to do it properly. The results were great and now the truck is 100% rust free. My dad new a guy up in Perry County that worked for a paint shop that said he would paint the truck at his place if dad help. Dad found a color he liked and ordered it through the local automotive paint distributor. A few weeks later they painted it and it came out great.
We then set to reassembling everything and installing some new seats out of a Mitsubishi Eclipse, since the original 60/40 bench sucked. That has been the most of the progress over the past few years.
Then I came across a listing on Ebay for a set of 3.73 diffs, which is what we wanted to install, guess who was selling them, your friend and mine Gary S. he also had disc brake parts from a FJ62 that we also purchased. i now have all of the parts ready to install for the disc brake conversion and diff swap for better highway running.
I contacted a vendor, TGTW Offroad, on Pirate 4x4 that handled Advance Adapter parts to se what pricing he could give me, I was blown away by the discount he was able to give me over AA’s pricing. So we placed an order for a TH350 to 4 speed t-case adapter, cross member, motor mounts, and front driveshaft to clear the sump on the tranny. That arrived a few weeks ago and was top notch and shipped fast.
We also went ahead and purchased a power steering conversion kit from Man-a-fre. I know most will say piece a kit together from various vendors and what not. Well we didn’t have the time to do that so when we found this kit that was fully rebuilt and warranted, we got it. It arrived at me work the other day and everything was again top notch and perfect.
The engine was next on the list of things to purchase, we had gone back and forth on whether to go with a 350 small block, like we have in our 1970 FJ40, or try the 4.3 liter V6. I figured the 4.3 would offer a longer rear drive shaft, fuel injection, 20-25 MPG with the 3.73 diffs, and a more compact setup, plus the accessories are the same as a small block. Well I am going to look at a 2000 4.3 V6 with 70k on it tonight out of a Blazer. If everything works out with the engine, I will be picking it up with the harness and computer this weekend or so. The harness and computer will be sent out to be stripped and reprogrammed by Jim’s Performance. I have heard nothing but great things about this shop, so that is what I am going to use.
That is where we are at right now. I still need to locate a TH350 for the swap and then we can drop that off at the tranny shop for a rebuild and rear output shaft swap to mate to the 4 speed t-case.
After some work and a few other things it was on the road and ready for body work. We spent the fall and winter cleaning a ton of sand out of the truck, it was originally from New Jersey.
One of the reasons we purchased the truck was because the body was in such great shape, a little rust in the one rocker, rear quarter and rear sill, but very minimal. We had a local shop do the metal work since we didn't have the tools or time to do it properly. The results were great and now the truck is 100% rust free. My dad new a guy up in Perry County that worked for a paint shop that said he would paint the truck at his place if dad help. Dad found a color he liked and ordered it through the local automotive paint distributor. A few weeks later they painted it and it came out great.
We then set to reassembling everything and installing some new seats out of a Mitsubishi Eclipse, since the original 60/40 bench sucked. That has been the most of the progress over the past few years.
Then I came across a listing on Ebay for a set of 3.73 diffs, which is what we wanted to install, guess who was selling them, your friend and mine Gary S. he also had disc brake parts from a FJ62 that we also purchased. i now have all of the parts ready to install for the disc brake conversion and diff swap for better highway running.
I contacted a vendor, TGTW Offroad, on Pirate 4x4 that handled Advance Adapter parts to se what pricing he could give me, I was blown away by the discount he was able to give me over AA’s pricing. So we placed an order for a TH350 to 4 speed t-case adapter, cross member, motor mounts, and front driveshaft to clear the sump on the tranny. That arrived a few weeks ago and was top notch and shipped fast.
We also went ahead and purchased a power steering conversion kit from Man-a-fre. I know most will say piece a kit together from various vendors and what not. Well we didn’t have the time to do that so when we found this kit that was fully rebuilt and warranted, we got it. It arrived at me work the other day and everything was again top notch and perfect.
The engine was next on the list of things to purchase, we had gone back and forth on whether to go with a 350 small block, like we have in our 1970 FJ40, or try the 4.3 liter V6. I figured the 4.3 would offer a longer rear drive shaft, fuel injection, 20-25 MPG with the 3.73 diffs, and a more compact setup, plus the accessories are the same as a small block. Well I am going to look at a 2000 4.3 V6 with 70k on it tonight out of a Blazer. If everything works out with the engine, I will be picking it up with the harness and computer this weekend or so. The harness and computer will be sent out to be stripped and reprogrammed by Jim’s Performance. I have heard nothing but great things about this shop, so that is what I am going to use.
That is where we are at right now. I still need to locate a TH350 for the swap and then we can drop that off at the tranny shop for a rebuild and rear output shaft swap to mate to the 4 speed t-case.
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