Builds fj60 going to EV FJ45 (3 Viewers)

[workingdog]

I'm looking at what it's going to take to make the EV street legal (as opposed to DMV registered, for which I have a stack of paperwork ready). In CA, I'm going to need to have

Parking brake - this is going to be a challenge, but not impossible. I wish I'd left those bosses on the rear axle.
rear mud flaps
Wipers
Mirrors (windshield and driver’s)
Back up lights - I could wire this off the switch in the NV4500, and just remember to use reverse when I'm getting tested.
Seatbelts - Do I need shoulder? Or just lap? If I need shoulder, I'm in trouble until I have the roll cage installed.
Horn - going to be a push button on the dash for now.
License plate with light
Side markers and reflectors - not sure exactly what I need.
Headlights, running lights
Turn signals - do they have to be self-cancelling? there are (expensive) systems for UTV's that do that. None of the fj40 turn signal systems will work on my EPS column. So, I'm going to have to use something generic.

 

[DangerNoodle]

The NV switch is really easy to wire up to. Just needs a constant + and then the output to power lights IIRC.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, could not get a remote reservoir to work on the master cylinder. It's just sits too high. So, decided to go with welding. I bought a fancy hot iron welder that in theory can weld any plastic, but did not have any luck. I could not get the plastic to mix/pool enough to form a decent bond. Maybe it wasn't hot enough or maybe the plastic isn't very suitable. One limitation I had was I wasn't sure what kind of plastic I was dealing this. I also bought this on Amazon for like $20

It seems like one of those scams they sell on Facebook or late at night on TV. Bonds anything permanently. but it worked great - so far. You spread the liquid (from the pen end, the black body is full of the liquid) in the gap and then use the LED in the other end to cure it. It cures in 4 seconds. The liquid is easy to maneuver and move. Much more like actual welding. It took about 10 minutes to work my way around an inch at a time. Then go back and find the pinholes that were left and plug them. Very happy with the results - so far. Still have to see if they can tolerate brake fluid. But since it's a polymer, I think it can.

More photos after I get it dried out from water testing and installed. hopefully I'm low enough. If not, I'll lower the next too.

 

[workingdog]

Moving onto fenders. The stock height/extra wide fenders arrived last week, and now I can figure out how they are going to fit. This is the part of the project that I really struggle with. Like the high/wide fit, the fenders do not taper back to follow the apron to the cowl. Instead, they just protrude into the engine bay. Blue tape is apron line. I realize this means less rubbing, but it plays havoc with mounting stuff on the fire wall.

The vacuum pump will have to find a new home and there is no way the battery is going to be okay where it is. So, move it? Which I really don't want to do. Or make another giant cut in the fender for it?

I had to seriously cut into the fender, not just the inner apron, but all the way into the top of the fender (but inside the apron line).

Thank God the coil over tower is inside the apron, as I hoped. But it's looking awful high. My math said it ws low enough to accommodate the hood on my 40, we'll see what happens when I put the Aqualu hood on. If it's too high, I have no idea what I'll have to do. It's ass pucker time.

The reservoir is too high, I knew that. Not sure where it's going to end up because it has to be above the radiator. The radiator also might be too high, but I'm hoping it's okay, but finding a lower home for it will give me more mounting options for the reservoir.

I like how the tire fits in the fender, much better than the high fenders. Axle is very forward, but it looks good if you like that look.
I still think the bumper end of the fender can come up a little more - 1/2"? 1"?
I've got to get the other one cut, and the bib bolted in, then I can use the bib to lift the entire thing evenly in the right line.
More fun with skill saw and jig saw! Yea! There is not easy way to make that cut.

 

[workingdog]

Okay - the batteries and 12v charger are flipped (more useless holes in the firewall). The passenger side fender has been hacked.

And the fenders and bib are on

And now setting the hood on to check clearance.

The coilover towers fit!!!! And even the radiator clears. Although I think it needs to find a new, lower, home.
It's going to be a real challenge to get all the front body panels to sit so the hood lines up. You can see it's got an overbite right now. I think the big needs to drop to 'stretch' the line. And is sitting wide. I played with it for 10 minutes and could not get it close. Move anything and something else goes out of whack.

There are no holes for bolting the apron to the cowl. Not sure if I should drill and bolt or not? Asking Aqualu. It's too damn floppy otherwise. HDPE in between to allow it to move??? The rear of the fender is very floppy, wondering if I need to stiffen it somehow.

 

[peesalot]

Mine does that too, some cracker before me decided to weld where you noted no bolt holes and over the years, lots of twisting, it has same overbite.

 

[workingdog]

So, Rene at Aqualu said that there's supposed to be a 3/8" gap between the apron and the cowl. that will help fix the overbite. I've ordered a piece of 3/8" HDPE and I'm going to bolt it in there. It's going to be interesting to try the slide the fenders 3/8" forward. Hopefully I'll be doing that later today. There is enough room to mount the radiator on the back of the bib, but I'm having to redo the way the front of the motor controller plate mounts to the motor mount. Once that is done and Tapp makes the HDPE, I'll give it a go.

Brake reservoir is still to tall. I'm going to cut the fill neck down to minimum and try that, but I may have to go to plan B or C.

 

[peesalot]

FWIW, IIRC there is a factory rubber piece for that gap.

 

[workingdog]

Really? I'll go look for it. No idea what to call it.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, first, shortening the brake reservoir won't work. Once I got the bib set at the right height for the hood to look right, there was no room. So, either I'm figuring out the remote reservoir, or I'm going to have to go to an FJ60 or fj80 booster and master cylinder.

And now on to the main event. Spent some time wrestling with the front body panels trying to get them to look right. Still not sure I've got it right. I've put the 3/8" shims in between the cowl and apron (at 45 degrees, it's more than 3/8") - but it seems like it needs all the space it can get. Also have the fenders as far up/forward as they'll. And I finally got the front of the hood more or less even with the bib. I really want to put some bolts between the apron and the cowl to lock that in, they want to flop out, but there's not enough meat on the return on the cowl to get a hole in there. I might be able to notch the apron and put a hole in the cowl to get a couple of bolts in there. I should say that Aqualu says that when the side step is in place, it helps secure the fender and holds the apron in place better. Not sure I'm going to put in the side step, I'm expecting my sliders will be there instead. And you can't connect the fender to the slider.

The Aqualu hood is really floppy at the cowl end. Not sure what to do about that. And the reveal between the hood and the apron sucks. Not sure if there's anything I can do about that.

Windshield should be ready this week. I might just put the hood hinges onto locate it and be done with it.

super sexy!!! I'm too sexy for my fenders, too sexy for my hood .....

Passenger side

driver's side. I have idea what to do about the fact the hood doesn't come all the way down to the cowl. When I had the bib higher, this was worse, and the hood stuck out in front more. This is the best I could get it. I guess, when I'm done. I'll have spacers at the bib end, lifting the hood and making the line look better.

I'm happy with this bib/hood interface. they aren't exactly even left and right side, I'm going to have to figure that out.

1" of body spacers locating the bib vertically. I had it higher, but lowered it to get the hood to look right.

View of joint from inside. You can see on the left/cowl side how little space there is to get a bolt or nut in there. I'm tempted to drill it and thread it. Do you think threading that thickness of aluminum will work?

View of joint from outside. It's hard to see, but it's out of plane about 1/2";

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Imo, looks great. All 40 hoods are floppy.

 

[workingdog]

What are people using for hood spacers/pads. Should I use the stock things? It seems like there should be something in the front corners.

 

[waiting for time]

I don’t think it is wise to connect the aprons to the cowl that way. The fenders are hard mounted to the frame and the tub is not. You could make brackets that are attached to the top, horizontal, lip of the apron and the fender. That will give you the rigidity you want. If you use sunken screws the top of the apron will remain flush.

 

[workingdog]

My fenders are not hard mounted to the frame. They are mounted to the cowl and they are mounted to the bib. The bib would usually hard mounted to the frame, but I'm going to use body mounts instead of the traditional hinge - at least that's the plan for now. However, I agree it needs to be able to move/work - which is why the HDPE is in there. I also agree it wasn't the designers intention they be hard bolted together. but they also intended them to be more secure attached and not as side as the Aqualu design. If I have to do a strap, it would be inside and not on top.

 

[waiting for time]

Just to give you an idea.
1 is the apron
2 is the fender
3 is the bracket
this way the bracket is invisible from the outside.

 

[workingdog]

Thanks so much for taking the time to make that drawing. That is much clearer. I will attempt the bracket and post pictures.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, attempted the bracket.

Clamped in position

Just the bracket.

The problem is the entire fender is rolling out a little. So, I went ahead and bolted them together. We'll see what happens. I'll add it to the long list of things that I might have to change in the future. It sits perfectly now. And it can still work/move.

 

[peesalot]

I see what you mean, they do sag a bit which rolls the apron outward. Might get worse as they bounce around. Could do a brace off rear of shock tower or just behind it to keep fender flat. I have a set of metal tech tube mounts all pre bent for the old skin fenders they sold. They have a tube meant to do just that in the kit. PM me, I'm in Windsor, you can have em if you think it'll help. The kit is basically a tube skeleton of the fender intended to have a skin attached, might fit nicely, maybe use the kit to reinforce and incorporate the outer tube just under fender lip then transition the tail of it into the step/slider. Basically you already have the skin.

 

[workingdog]

@peesalot - thanks - I'll keep that in mind as I right my way forward.

 

[workingdog]

Okay, time to wrestle with the parking brake, since it's required to be street legal. And I'd like to the option to be able to drive on the street without getting a ticket. Also, the eclectic motors have very little resistance to rolling. So the thing really needs an e-brake. I bought Jeep Gladiator E-brake cable, knowing it would connect to the wheel and hoping it would be about the right brake. I also bought the Lokar handle, which is pretty basic, but I think it will work.

I made a new bracket for the axle end.

The real challenge is going to be routing the cables up to the cab and figuring out how to transition the 2 gladiator cables into one cable that can connect to the handle.

Edit: So, I finally found the places that make custom e-brake cable. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to head that way, unless I just get really lucky.