Eva build (1 Viewer)

[ylexot]

Perhaps it is bad luck to christen a cruiser before it is built, see my Squirtle build retired before it really began. But, my wife is all in in this one and lives the vision and name, so she is/will be Eva. I've been putting off this tread long enough, so here it goes.

This 1988 FJ62 came to me incomplete and in pieces. Saves me some time on disassembly?

As you can see, it has no wheels -- or axles, or suspension or suspension mounting stuff. All of that was deleted by the PO who had planned on a custom suspension. More on that in a bit

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Also no engine, gears or even mounts or cross members. Interior is in pieces but looks complete, less some front carpet and front seats.

But, the body is straight, it is completely rust free and so far it isnt obviously missing nothing I wasn't prepared to change anyway. (I'm sure I'll have some "where the F is the___" moments as I proceed.) But, this one is mine and so it has begun.

 

[ylexot]

So, suspension seems like the obvious place to start here.

I had an HST suspension on my last 62, which I really liked. But, I've always wanted a coil setup on a 60, at least up front. That was the notion that got me excited about Eva with her present lack of suspension.

Josh at Willamette hooked me up up a set of 80 axles and most of the bits for the front conversion in the form of a frame clip. Score.

The rear is less straightforward. The axle has the bracketry for a 4link, but I don't feel so confident about putting that together. Current plan is to cut off all the brackets and put on some perches for a more traditional leaf style rear suspension. This plan was helped along with the discovery that the rear chackle mounts are still on the frame as are the posts for the rear shocks. I haven't started cutting, so for the moment I can change my mind.

The rear axle is mostly disassembled and ready for surgery and reconditioning.

 

[Dallas Cruiser]

I would seriously look into Trail Tailor's coil spring brackets! You already have most of the parts to do the front and rear conversion.

 

[ylexot]

Thanks. I've been slow rolling cutting the bracketry off the rear axle because it's all there. I reached out to TT. He has some nice kit over there, but currently listed as sold out.

My 100 series needs it's bumpers resorted. And it has jumped the priority queue. So I have a little time before I start cutting.

Coils on both axles would be sweet. But I know the 70s successfully ran with front coils and rear leafs and it works for a lot of trucks. My planned use case isn't heavy duty, but if I don't find a solution I think I can pull off (and afford) I'll be ok with going stock(ish) in the rear.

 

[Ocho77]

Awesome!! I almost bought that truck, it was for sale for quite some time. Glad someone on here scooped it up! Looking forward to watching the build.

 

[ylexot]

Long overdue update.

Took some time to shop for parts, research, get more parts, work a bit, hit a snag, buy more parts and/or tools... just to say, while progress has been slow I haven't been idle.

Once I got the rear axle reassembled with fresh bearings and much consternation about rear leafs or coils, I took the plunge and started cutting the 4 link mounting points from the axle housing. I just wasn't confident in my ability to fab and align the 4 link arms.

This cutting chore took more effort to do than I had expected and required several new rotary cutting tools and a plasma torch. The most useful tools were the torch and electric diegrinder.

I rigged up a kind of floor cart to roll the rear axle around the garage using wheel dollies and chack stands, but the legs of the engine hoist, another acquisition, has been a low to the ground but serviceable rolling bench while cutting and grinding.

I tried to salvage some of the mounting tabs for the rear brake line thinking I might be able to reuse the line. That hope looks doubtful now. I saved a couple mounts that will be useful for a new brake line, but i may need to add more.

Next step, welding on spring perches and shock mounts. (The spring conversion kit I have doesn't have the shock mount as part of the ubolt guide plate or whatever that bit is called.) Before I paint and tuck it all away under the chassis I suppose I should make the new brake line and add any additional mounting points that are needed.

 

[ylexot]

After lots of learning, grinding, welding, distractions, stopping to order missing parts, learning more, moving everything to work on the 100 and a little paint, eVa at last has a rear suspension.

7 mo feels like a long time to get here. Im sure a better mechanic could have done all this in a week, but it's just me and an occasional friend working when opportunity arises.

The axle is suspended by a set of Paul Hystee parabolic springs I had installed on my first 62 over 10 years ago. The new owner of that rig was getting heavy and needed more spring and I got these medium duty springs back.

 

[ylexot]

Next up is a knuckle job, fresh brakes, and reconditioning of the 80 series front axle. I'm going to adapt the 80 series front coil spring suspension to the 62 frame. (The PO deleted all the factory suspension mounts for the front.) Lots more learning coming up.

After that, I will start working on the electric drive train.

 

[kirvesmies]

After that, I will start working on the electric drive train.

sacrilege i tell ya, sacrilege! that's like getting a meat eater to turn vegan. no, it's all good. just not this old fawkers cup of tea. will be watching the progress though

 

[ylexot]

@kirvesmies, it won't be wholly running on electrons, unless batteries take a big leap in the next year or 3. I'm planning a series hybrid as a range extender in the end. Eating this elephant one bite at a time.

 

[kirvesmies]

@kirvesmies, it won't be wholly running on electrons, unless batteries take a big leap in the next year or 3. I'm planning a series hybrid as a range extender in the end. Eating this elephant one bite at a time.

mmm, interesting. so, like a part time vegan then? keep gnawin', that's how it get's eaten

 

[ylexot]

Holy schnikes, it has been a while since I updated this thread. The last year has been all about the front axle, suspension and a fair amount of calculations and preliminary thinking on the power train. Hit snags. Learned a bunch. And lived a life.

Last week I finally got her up on 4 springs and 4 tires and cut off the casters that had previously held her up.

 

[ylexot]

A few notable details.

Passenger side knuckle was a learning experience but after I got over the amount of mess, it went pretty well. The driver side spindle was somehow out of round by 0.01in. Made getting the bearings to seat properly really difficult. Bunged up one of the studs on the hub assembly while trying to get the bearings to seat. Replacement spindle looked like it was the wrong part. The bearing surfaces had different profiles, but everything seemed to line up once assembled. Hub rotated smooth and not inteligble play after a little thread doctoring to get the hub reassembled.

The FJ80 axles were accompanied by a frame clip that included the shocktowers and spring buckets. After a brief attempt to cut the parts off with a torch, I quickly decided to buy the Trail Taylor coil conversion kit. Cut the holes in the wheel well and was able to tack weld the kit into place and hired a professional welder to afix the tower/bucket as well as the radius arm brackets to the frame proper. A little too critical for my learning hands.

I do recommend following the directions and wait to paint the parts until after welding. Welding is hot and makes a mess of paint AND more importantly needs to be cleaned away from where welds will go or it will contaminate the weld.

Went through a surprising amount of MIG wire. Went through the better part of 5lb and then had to get more. The Hobart 140 performed like a champ tho. Welder was surprised how it didn't have duty cycle issue and welded well.

There's plenty of work left to do on the front end much of it is pending settling on the final ride height when the drive train and batteries are on board. Things left to do: cleanup frame and paint, adjustable panhard, steering linkage, stabilizer as well as fabbing a bracket for the stablizer. Spring hollow just arrived yesterday. Shocks and almost certainly caster correction.

To complete the suspension I need to get onto the fun stuff and get the electric drive train working. Onward!

 

[ylexot]

3 day weekend provide some time to clean up the garage a bit. Scoot the project over to make some working room and begin setting up the bench top test. Got so far as connecting the high voltage wires to the inverter/controller. I've got some low voltage cabling and connectors to sort out next.

 

[ylexot]

I have a 135kw (180hp) UQM motor and controller that was pulled from an electric Airport shuttle van. It revs to 7700rpm and makes peak 320Nm (235ftlb) torque from 0-2700rp then drops linearly to 125 at 7700.

Will be ample for the 62, but needs a little bit of gearing, mostly for accelleration. 1.6:1 underdrive was about ideal for most conditions.

I have always planned on using an LC transfercase to get power to rear and front axles. I had planned on adapting the motor directly to a centerdiff (no sharing of gear oil) until I realized I needed gear help. I considered a few approaches: fixed gears, H42 and split case, 3spd and split case, and auto and center diff.

The 3spd 2nd gear is pretty close to ideal. With taller gears in thirds, it would work well, except the 3spd tcase is known to be a weak link.

Fixed gear solutions were generally expensive and often didn't meet the need. Aftermarket gear reduction usually were too tall and cut int top speed. (85mph passing speed is one of my min criteria) 5.7s in the diffs and 10% reduction gear in a centerdiff get really close to the 1.6 but fall short and are on par cost wise with the previous option.

H42 would work well shifting between 2nd and 3rd. I jever figured out a solution to couple the motor to the 4spd, but I'm sure its doable. I'm not sure how well it work shifting without a clutch. I know it can be done, just no experience. Asmuch as I like a stickshift, I didn't want to add another project of adding a clutch.

I got caught up in the idea of torque multiplication in a torque converter. The 2nd gear in the LC autos is close to ideal already. I have the fj62 gear selector. And there's a parking pawl.

The A440 didn't have a TC lockup that could be electronically controlled. So I got an A343 with center diff from an fzj80. There are a lot more connectors on this thing than I expected. I hVe some learning to do on it. But I do have a plan for how to make the adapters.