FJ45 Pick-Up LWB build up

[Bozo]

Hi All

I have been lurking on MUD for many years now, and have gleaned almost all I know of Cruisers from these pages. I have spent countless hours following other people's builds, and am always in awe of the quality of work out there. After moving back to South Africa from the UK, I have recently opened a small Offroad Fabrication shop. Last week a customer dropped off a sorry looking FJ45 LWB that he wants fixed up.

So after reading so many of the builds on here, I have decided to start my own one. This partly to keep it all documented and show the client what we are doing, but mostly to try and tap into the wealth of experience on MUD. I know I will have loads of questions, and am hoping to get some answers ons here.

Without further ado:
The current owner bought it as a non runner. It had been standing for 6 years. After checking the fluids and installing a battery, she fired on the 3rd go. Not bad! Unfortunately we have almost no details of the vehicle. There is no paperwork, so I am not even sure what year it is. It has a 2F mated to the H41 4spd gearbox. It was also resprayed (not very well) light blue shortly before going into storage. The blue seems to be hiding a lot of rust on the shell, but the chassis looks in fairly good nick.

Will see if I still feel the same after it has been blasted...

 

[Bozo]

So far we have drained all the fluids to get a better idea of what is going on. The front diff oil was extremely thick. Looks like there may have been some water ingress. Engine oil was filthy with loads bits in it - seems it started to rust on the inside.

Other than that we are tearing into the bodywork, one to make space to get to the motor, but two so we can send stuff off to get cleaned up.

At the moment we are seriously looking for a 2F FSM. Anybody know of an electronic version out there? I have found an only for the F. Have got the body/chassis and transmission manuals.

Thanks

Bozo

 

[Landpimp]

Look to be an 1983-85 vintage

 

[rockcod]

It looks like there is a VIN plate above the heater blower motor. The VIN# will tell you what year it is, post a pic of the plate and we will know for sure.

Looks very solid, Good luck with the project.

 

[canadian marty]

question.

that spot on the back of the cab painted yellow. it has that gasoline thingamabob attached to the gas tank. on my truck it is on the inside of the cab, but what is it for? it is a vacuum system for an auxiliary tank?

 

[Bozo]

VIN plate

I have taken a snap of the VIN plate. The Trim # starts with an '82, does this mean 1982 build year?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[rockcod]

From the frame # it was manufactured in March 1980.

 

[Bozo]

Thanks Rockcod

I'd love to know how you could tell. Also, does it say what colour it was originally?

We have come across what look like 4 different colours: Beige (might just be primer), Yellow and two shades of Blue.

Cheers

 

[Bozo]

Day 2

More tearing down. We have managed to get the cab stripped completely, and have it off the chassis. Confirmed out fears that there is extensive rust in some areas of the tub. Would love to know who was at it before us. Whole sections of the floor have rusted out, only to be covered with a single mat of glass fibre and then paint. A miracle no one has stepped right through it.

Although the chassis is filthy, it looks to be solid. Can only see surface rust so far. Not bad considering that in some places it is filled completely with mud.

Hope to get the cowl section stripped completely so that and the load bin can get blasted. Need to know if we should be on the lookout for another body.

 

[Bozo]

More photos

 

[Bozo]

Question

Could anyone please tell me what this was for. It was mounted on the firewall, inside the cab, between the accelerator and brake pedals. It seems to be some sort of solenoid but it was not connected. Is this OEM?

Thanks

 

[1tontoy]

Yup, it's the OEM turn signal/flasher relay - would have had 2 wires with a connector pluged into the two prongs on the relay. In the pic, it looks like one of the prongs is partially bent flat.

 

[rockcod]

Thanks Rockcod

I'd love to know how you could tell. Also, does it say what colour it was originally?

We have come across what look like 4 different colours: Beige (might just be primer), Yellow and two shades of Blue.

Cheers

Specter Off Road has production number tables. Looking at the truck, I would say it was originally Mustard Yellow.

 

[Bozo]

Not much to show for progress. Continued stripping the frame down as far as we can. Had to hire an engine crane to lift the motor. All went easy enough. No body panels to get in the way. Got some square tubing and welded up an engine stand. The idea is that we should still be able to get to most parts of the engine to clean/paint. Mostly following Matt's example in the 3300 miles thread.

There was some awful buildup in the coolant lines with some of them blocked completely. Will have to tear into that at some point.

 

[Bozo]

Some more photos of the engine and stand.

 

[rockcod]

That's a nice looking stand!! I need to make something like that.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

The condition of the FJ45 reminds me of the condition of my truck when I started. Lotsa welding ahead my friend.

The dash is not original for a 1980 truck- how does the dash sheetmetal look behind the instrument plates?

Will be keeping an eye on your progress

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

Frankencruiser - 79 and later gas tank and post 81 steering wheel and post 82 dash... Sounds fun. Either way, they are all upgrades!

 

[Bozo]

New update

Took off all the last bits from the frame. Springs really look tired. Looks like they are the original 30 year old items. If the price of new (or newer) springs aren't too bad, it will probably be a better bet than trying to rescue these.

Have a couple of leaks on the axles, but these should be easy fixes when we rebuild them.

 

[Bozo]

Had to rent a flatbed trailer to move the frame and axles to and from to the sandblasters. It never seizes to amaze me when parts come back from blasting. It all looks so clean and new.

Brought it home and got some paint on the axles. Using Hammerite, as POR15/Rust Bullet etc is not available here.

The plane is to have the frame powder coated, so not painting that now. Frame looks in very good condition. It only had surface rust. Incredible after removing at least 4kg worth of dried mud from the inside of the rails.

Only damage we found so far is a cracked engine mount (left side). Opened up the crack with an angle grinder and then welded it back in. Also made a 5mm plate that we welded onto the back of the mount to make sure it won't move again. Pictures will explain better.

Next job is trying to source parts for a power steering conversion.