Builds FJ 40 project

[72cruiser]

lookin good man...lookin real good.

i'm goin to be back in fort mill for a couple days around thanksgiving...wonderin if you'd like to take a look at those parts and maybe if i could come check out your rig in person...just let me know


malphrus

 

[cruiserjunktion]

Is it just me or are those knuckles installed wrong? Aren't the calipers supposed to be behind the steering arm and not in front of it?

x2



great work man....


once completed, the other 75% becomes enjoyable......


BRAKES

http://www.jtoutfitters.com/product...=4429&osCsid=134c2bc57462d7fde5c24327b7b99acd

below is a pic from the jto page

I also run jto brackets up front......

Yours are on backwards.....

The caliper should not be by the steering arm......

The caliper should be behind the knuckle

Also

I run similar rear backets and my calipers are on the rear of the wheel.....

 

[jackbrad]

Updates... Lost of pics.

Hi Everyone,

I have been out of the updating of this site for a couple of months not because I have not been working but, mainly because I have been really busy with everything else it seems like.

As of this moment I am about to have my driveline completed. I am finishing up some of the basic systems and get all my hoses and wires connected up.

I continue to have to thank my brother Pete and cousin Josh. Also, I want to thank my friend Jeff. They all help me in numerous ways and there is no way I coudl get close to doing this without them. Last week I picked out my next project. 33 Ford Speedster Street Rod, I getting excited about the next gig but, this project is still just as exciting. In order to go to the next project I have to finish this one. (So says my wife.) So I feel more pressure to ge this done.

Budget wise I am really Ok. I really don't count the back and forth trips to the auto parts store for little crap. But, I am sure if I did it woudl be more than I suspected. None the less I am still on budget as far as I can tell.

One new development that will likely put me over the top on my budget is my decision to buy a Heritage tub. I looked over my tub and the quality that I was looking for was really going to cost me just as much either way.

Here are some of the picks that I have assembled over the last few months of engine completion. All I really have left to do on the engine is fuel lines wiring and finishing up my radiator/e-fan setup.

I did buy a taurus e=fan from a fellow mudder here but, I am not going to use it. I will be using parts of it with a custom made fan shroud. I will try and document the creation of that as I do it.

When I got the fan it was in perfect condition just as described and while the fit is pretty good it is really not a prefect fit as I hear many people describe. If I did not consider quality and looks as top priorities I woudl throw it on and it woudl work fine.. But, that is not me.

So I will let you guys know how the shroud build goes.

Much of what I did in November and December is get the engine assembled. That was only tough because I want it to be really close to stock. I did make one decision that I am surprised to feel. I am going to remove the AC if I can find a bracket that does not have the AC compresspor mount. Why? Because I don't intend to use the top and as a result I don't expect to really be able to use. On top of that it is a 1000 buck I will really never get anything out of.


Well here are the pics.. (In the next post)

 

[jackbrad]

I did go ahead an stick the transmission on

The adapters fit just as designed. however, I am using the 700r4 for the overdrive. So it is very long and I am a little worried about the distance between the motor mounts and the crossmemember at the back of the transfer case. AA does not recomment this mount in my situation but, i am using it anyway. I will add another support to augment the trans support. I am going to wait until I have all the linkage done first.

Here it all locked together from a different angle.

I used the eastwood coating on a my exhaust manifolds. We have used it on different cars and it turned out pretty good. I had another friend of mine bead blast them to prepare the surface.

After the manifold was installed it looked pretty good to me.

Part of the reason that I have not updated this thread lately is because I have been doing some really boring type of stuff. Putting in spark plugs cleaning junk parts and painting them black.... Putting in sensors. Putting the belt system on... nothing really exciting.

I thought to myself the other day. "I am building a landcruiser by restoring a van." That is pretty true right now. Most of the part I am using are off a donor 350 from a van. All and All I am glad I made that decision. The van parts work really good and I don't have much trouble fitting things since things in a van are tight. even the manifolds will probably work fine.

Here are some shots of the engine. I do plan to replace the transmission filler/stick. It is way to up in the front.

 

[LakeNorman_FJ40]

Wow. Great progress on the restomod. Couple of years back I built an entire "vintage" car from nothing but parts, so I can relate to your entire story of disassembly, cleaning, rebuilding, mock-up, modification, etc. etc.

I'm north of Charlotte and would like to stop by sometime. Getting ready to pull the body off my '79 and probably install an Aqualu 3/4 or whole tub to hold me over until I'm ready for a complete frame-off restoration.

Drew

 

[jackbrad]

Some of these pics are dark because I am trying a new camera.
As of right now my phone takes better pics than my 150 dollar camera

I did have a couple of question if anyone want to comment.
What do you guys think of mounting the trans cooler here. The pics id bad but. there is like a half inch there that is open between it and the engine.

This is a extra dip stick hole on the block ... What would be good to pulg it with?

Anybody running an oil cooler? Where did you mount it?

Just to let you all know I did get a new ebrake drum and it fits prefect!!

 

[72cruiser]

lookin good jack...glad stuff is coming together


malphrus


oh, and post up some pics of that '33 when you get a chance

 

[72cruiser]

oh, and with the trans cooler...i don't know if i'd put it there.
i think it would have a better than good chance of gettin full of mud and stuff, but that would depend on how often the cruiser would be offroad.

i think most guys usually just toss the cooler on the front of the radiator, but that's not quite the 'clean' look i think you're goin for...


malphrus

 

[my64fj40]

When I got my cruiser it had a cooler that was a little larger than your trans cooler pictured, but it had two inlets and two outlets. That way it could cool the tranny and engine oil. If your cramped for space that may be the way to go

 

[Morse_FJ40]

Nice work. Things are really looking good.

later
Ryan

 

[joel0407]

Just wondering how long your tail shaft will be with the T700, mate.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

I have the exact same tank. Got it here on Mud. Not ready to put it in but your description is great. Thanks. Keep up the good work.

 

[jackbrad]

You will love this next post.....

 

[jackbrad]

Fuel System...

It seems like in every project in life there are obstacles that seem to be more difficult than others.

My fuel system is a great example. It really should be simple but, getting it like I want it was tough and has cost me some time because of my perfectionism.

When I bought this cruiser as soon as I saw the gas tank in the cab I hated that idea. Much of my inspiration comes and came from the TLC Icon. I looked to see where the Icon had relocated and that is where I got the idea that I could use an auxillary tank in that location for mine. The TLC has the fuel pump built into its tank. I am using a late model chevy TBI setup so I decided that I needed to do the same. Meaning I wanted the fuel pump in the tank as it would be in a standard Chevy.

Few things have been extremely cheap on this project but, I got very lucky when a friend here on mud sold me his aux fuel tank for a hundred bucks or so. It was in alaska at the time so I shipped it here via parcel post and have had it ever since. That saved me enough to make all this come true.

The first step in this process was to get a chevy fuel tank and fuel pump. I went back to the old van that I have used many times in this build for parts and pulled the tank out.

From here on out just check out the pics and commentary to see what it takes to put a stock chevy electric fuel pump in a aux tank.



Here is the tanks and the fuel pump that I started with.

The fuel pump itself was actualy to long to fit all the way down inside the aux tank so the first step was to shorten it up.

Shortening it up was actuall a little difficult because I has to cut the pieces a little and the weld them back on. All old I really just had to take and inch or so off so that the strainer would be just above the bottom of the tank.

As a BTW note. The very first thing I did in shortening was to break off the sender parts that are on the intake tub in the fuel pump. I will not be using it at all.

Because of the way the pump is designed really all I had to do was to take the fuel pump off and move the bottom foot up . I drilled out the original welds to get the foot off.

since I needed to get about and inch more clearence I cut off 1.25 inches off the bottom.

Getting everything positioned and welded back was sorta a pain but, I finally got it knocked out with the help of my brother Pete.
He is the welding guy between us.. I can do it but, he keeps his practice up.

BTW I went with a new electric pump and and wires etc... So you will notice that old crap pump is gone.

The finished pump foot fit the tank really nice.

 

[jackbrad]

Fuel System... On to the tank

Now that I had the fuel pump pretty much set up I had to cut the whole in the top of the tank and weld in the mount for the fuel pump..

First things first though I had to have the mount.

These pics speak for themselves.

The important thing here is the placement of the fuel pump so that the foot and actual pump is right at the front of the tank. Also as you can see I got very close to a baffle that is in the tank. Ultimately it was not and issue but, any closer and it woudl have been a problem.

Once we had it we just welded it in...

As little vacuum and a little paint and it looked perfect.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Great photos of the mounting.

 

[jackbrad]

One final note on the fuel system...

I as force to cut and flare the lines in order to fit custom fuel lines to the pump.

It was pretty.. #$%^#$ difficult because of the space limitations.

Here is the finished product of over a few weeks (but, probably only 10 hours of work)

 

[jackbrad]

Fan Shroud

I don't knwo if you guys will care but, while I was screwing around with that fuel pump and fuel system... I built a fan shroud.

I first have to say a few things about the options here.

Before you build a fan shroud everyone is going to tell you to use the taurus fan shroud and fan. I liked this idea.

In fact I went so far as to buy one from camcruiser.
I think it was 50 bucks. He sent it in record time and it was exactly as described. Cam was super easy to deal with and the parts were perfectly fine.

I choose not to use them because I am a little bit more of a perfectionist and if you are looking for a good fit the taurus setup is fine. If you are looking for a perfect fit the taurus shroud is not that great.

It only took me about 2-3 hours to build this shroud out of 18g steel.

I did not take any pics while I built it because I did not have my camera.

Here is the finished product installed. As for the fan I bought it at NAPA for a 100 bucks. it is made by flex-a-lite.

http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/trimline-fan.html

 

[jackbrad]

Got my cooler made...

Flex-A-Lite makes a stane alone transmission cooler with dual passes.

I am going to use it as a Oil and Trans cooler mounted on the fender well.

I got mine in the mail just the other day. I will be getting my fenders in the mail this week.

Once I get it put in and setup I will post the pics.

 

[jackbrad]

Just wondering how long your tail shaft will be with the T700, mate.

If you mean how long will the drive shaft be...

14.5 inches.