doing some mods to the cruiser

[fj-rankenstein]

i thought i would post up what i have been up to with my cruiser.. i started with intentions of installing my marlin crawler toybox and ran into some issues when i pulled my tranny apart to rebuild it.. the countershaft was in bad shape and i am currently waiting for another to show up from Japan hopefully..
So then i turned my attentions to doing a turbo setup.. well, i got sidetracked trying to source all the parts to make it work so in the meantime i decided that i should start on my fuel cell and rear bumper build as well.. nothing like having 5 things all at once going on..

i pulled the top and doors off last weekend to get the truck in the garage and got started..

i am just going to throw up a bunch of pics and you guys can comment if you want..

i got started with both the rear bumper and fuel cell.. the rear bumper was supposed to made out of 3/16 material but instead communication got crossed and now i have a bumper that is 1/4 ich thick.. i will end of cutting quite a bit out of both corners once i "smiley" the bumper to help with approach angle but its still heavy.. looking online though it looks like there are a few companies doing bumpers out of 1/4 inch if they are really being loaded up with things mounted to them.. the bumper brackets are made from 3/8 thick material.

the fuel cell needs a few mods as well but the overall fitment is perfect back there.. i cant wait to get some much needed cab space once i get rid of the original tank under the passenger seat.. after the tank is gone it will make room so i can also start on my roll bar..

i got a bit more done on the bumper.. so much work but i will be happy with it when its done.. i hope to have the majority done by the weekend..

the first chop

here are the swing arm insets being built. i havent really seen it done this way so i figured i would give it a try..

ignore the extra material hanging out the sides.. there are some mods to the bumper that will involve tucking everything in and up so i wanted to leave myself a little extra to work with..

and one final shot from the back..

 

[fj-rankenstein]

i have a bunch of that "umhw-what ever the fawk its called cuttingboard material" that i am going to use behind the swingouts on the bumper along with those great mcmaster and carr latches that are horrible to find in canada to lock the swingouts closed..

as far as the fuel cell goes, i wanted to get the stock tank out of the cab to get a bit more space to throw whatever under the seats.. plus the extra room will make it easier to mount my metaltech roll cage in the cab as well..

i am trying to get as much done before next month because the wife and i are going down to the Black hills in South Dakota for the Black Hills cruiser classic.. i am also contemplating a solo run down to the Rubicon again this year for Marlin Crawler roundup but i wont make any promises on that.. we are also planning to come down for Cruiser Moab next year as well.. that has been big on the places to go explore.. i am jealous of all the great scenery that Utah has to offer.. the biggest rock around here is about an hour north of Saskatoon and i already drove over that years ago.. lol..

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

better picture of your rear upper shock mount would be great! Looks like a simple way to get more travel in the back. and when did they start anodizing the rear toybox plate?

 

[fj-rankenstein]

no problem..

the rear mount works very well and is super easy to do.. all i did was take some 2x2 1/4" wall square tubing, cut it in half and drilled a 1/2 inch hole in it for the shock mount part of it. the piece that is welded to the cross tube on the frame is 1/2" thick. its all i had at the time for metal to make a mount like this so i went with it..

as far as the toybox plate goes, it was a return from another customer of Marlins that used it for a display piece or something along those lines.. it was all they had left and i didnt care what colour it was so it worked out well.. i kinda wished the other adapter plate was anodized to match but oh well..

 

[miker]

I like that rear bumper design with the inset swingouts! That is going to be cool!

 

[fj-rankenstein]

a few more of bumper progress

 

[fj-rankenstein]

and more progress of the bumper..

i am starting to put some serious time into the truck again.. i wish i had another month before our trip to the Black Hills cruiser classic but i will get as much done as possible.

keeping on with the bumper.. the undersides are getting built..

its really starting to take shape now..

nice angle upwards for better departure angle..

nice overall shot of whats going on..

 

[fj-rankenstein]

so far so good today.. i got the hitch put into the bumper.. i wish it didnt stick out the back end so much but there is no other way to do it and still get a hitch pin in.. it will be fine though.. i have a little more cutting to do and then i can take the bumper off and finish the underside welding, install some tow hooks in it mabey and put on the eyes where the chains for the trailer hook onto.. that will end the bumper part of the build.. from there i can work on the swing outs..

yup, its a hitch

the underside view

here is the ole' princess auto 10 inch drop hitch

 

[fj-rankenstein]

a bit more progress..

should be done the tire rack part of it today.. i am not going to worry about the other side till after our trip..

after it was too late to run the grinders i started on the exhaust manifold..

 

[fj-rankenstein]

i hope you guys are getting something out of this.. i see that there are lots of views but not much for comments.. so any comments, critiques, happy thoughts?? this is my first real try at a functional bumper.. i dont think i have seen any one else do it this way with the arms inset into the bumper itself and i thought this might give a few ideas to the 45 guys being that the tail lights are hard to work around.. i didnt want to move them into the bumper and have the swingouts on top..

anyways..

just a quick pic update..

a pic showing the stops and slides to prevent metal on metal.

here are the stops and rests that i made..

welded completely inside and out..

its got arms that are welded on!!

me making a spirograph!! actually, its for the tire holder

the upright is upright

looks like it works..

still have some work to do but its almost done..

 

[miker]

Nice work!

 

[2fpower]

The reason there are few comments is because we are in awe of your work!! Seriously, this stuff is cooler than the other side of the pillow!

I love the rear bumper.... and now you added those neat inserts. Damn. This is going in the wish list for my next build.

Oh, and that manifold you made up... DAMN! I mean DAMN! I was going to heckle you about maybe adding a place for the gasses to actually go down to the turbo, but was too much in awe of your work.

To summarize. Awesome work. Thanks for the motivation to get off my a$$ and get to work in the garage.

 

[79fj40moneypit]

Nice job on the swingouts!

 

[FJ40 MATT]

Yea what 2Fpower said, you do really nice work and it looks great on the 45. Can't wait to see what it looks like all painted up. My buddy is starting to teach me how to weld this summer and seeing the bumper you made, makes me even more excited to learn how to weld and create my own stuff. Great job man.

 

[2fpower]

Had a question for you on the swing outs. How are you (or are you) going to hold the swing out arm out fully, so you can open the tailgate? Are you going to add some spring loaded detent things?

 

[jc71fj40]

nice job on the bumper. looks very unique!

 

[fj-rankenstein]

thanks for the kind words guys.. i really appreciate it.. i will have a big update here in the next couple days.. as of right now i am working on finishing up the turbo on this thing.. i got the manifold pretty much done and got my machinist to face all mating surfaces. building and welding it up on a spare head that i had was definitely the way to do it.. my machinest said it was only 0.025 thou warped so very little facing was necessary.. i also got the oil pan off, drilled a hole and welded a -10 (5/8") jic fitting in the side of the pan.. it all siliconed up and re-installed.. i also put a new gasket on the rocker cover because it was leaking pretty bad as well.. tomorrow i should have 98 percent of the turbo done including exhaust.. just a little bit of tuning to do on monday.. than tuesday to thursday and i will finish the bumper, put on my rook top tent and get the truck packed for our trip to the Black Hills Cruiser Classic next week.. i cant wait!!

well here, i cant leave you with no pics.....

 

[fj-rankenstein]

got the turbo almost done tonight.. i just have to make up the pressure line to the turbo, connect the downpipe to the original exhaust, fill it up with oil and see if it works.. i have to hook up my piro and boost gauges but i am hoping to get most of this done tomorrow..

here are a few quick pics..

newly painted manifold..

 

[CycloSteve]

That looks like such a simple and clean setup. Once she is fired-up, definitely we need a YouTube clip of how she sounds.



Steve

 

[jefishing]

Sooo toybox in yet,you have been home a day had to do it. Good seeing you again and meeting your wife.