FJ75 firetruck transformation

[crushers]

So, gents, this thread is to help those that feel buying a firetruck with low milage and converting them back to a pickup is a good idea.
I bought this truck with that very idea. a cheap truck with low km, unbolt the fire box and install a new Toyota original box and you have a cool rig.
My original guesstimate was under $10,000.

 

[crushers]

well that budget got blown out of the water quick, the pruchase price was 1080000 jpy with auction fees and contact fees. roughly $10,000 jus tto buy the damn thing.
then there was trucking to Yas, trucking to Japan 4X4 who is doing the transformation.
then the fun began, for me it was just the opening of the cheque book and okaying a continuing lits of parts.
23/05--2 hours underneatht he truck to inspect
24/05---pulled 500 kilos of crap off the truck. 10 hours invested
now the start of the bad stuff:
copied email:
First thing is the tow hook in the rear is welded between the fire box
and the frame. I am sure I can cut that off invisibly.

The rear of the box does not use the regular mount locations, instead it
has two L brackets welded on the frame. They should be easy to cut off.

The tail pipe from the muffler back is not right, it is going to pass
through the mud flap I think. I will not do anything about that till I
am sure. The stock 3F unit has a cutout in the flap for the pipe. This
pipe seems too low for that.

The wiring to the rear of the frame has been hacked. I don't know how
badly yet as we are still pulling it apart. Will consult with you when
I have more information.

The bed work will be coming off on Tuesday morning if no issues come up.
Just two more main pipes and the wiring to undo. At that time we
should know if there are any other issues to be addressed. I will also
install a set of Toyota 16 inch AL wheels. The tires on it look to small.

The rear springs have rebounded a few cm.

SO I AM THINKING NOT TOO BAD YET, BUT WAIT HE ISN"T DONE YET:

I still have to get the fuel tank
out too. The entire bit between the sit down section in the back and
the rear of the cab is filled with piping and controls. Like filled!

AND YET ANOTHER TIDBIT I NEVER COUNTED ON:

One thing about the
fire trucks, humid climate and seldom run, is that they tend to suffer
internal differential metal corrosion in the carbs. I would be prepared
to address that when you get it landed to achieve maximum burn energy.
I bought a carb off one and sent it to Jim C many years ago. He noted
the odd corrosion patterns and asked me where I got it.

SO A POSSIBLE CARB REBUILD MIGHT BE IN ORDER...

 

[crushers]

28/05
MORE BAD NEWS:

The fire truck frame is missing the brackets that hold the rear body on.
I was just looking at the frame and comparing to mine and thought
"what the hell....". Looked it up on the EPC.

WELL, WHAT CAN WE DO? WE ARE INTO THE PROJECT SO FORWARD WE MOVE...

 

[crushers]

29/05

Heavy son of a bitch. The mounts were welded!

Next today is the pump, that will be an other 200 kilos or so.

The exhaust pipe is in the wrong spot for sure. You can see in this
photo that it is running through where the fuel tank will go.

NOT A BIGGIE, WE CAN ORDER THE PROPER PIPE AND AWAY WE GO.

30/05

PARTS ARRIVE AND I AM GETTING EXCITED. SHOULDN"T BE LONG NOW AND WE CAN MAKE THE DECISION ON FACTORY BOX OR TRAYBACK. WHOO WHOO!!

Tank is here. Want me to toss a few coats of paint on it before
installing? Toyota painted it but I am tempted to add a bit, I like
painting parts. No charge

Cutting the oddball frame mounts off this morning. Pulled the exhaust
pipe already and ordered the replacement pipe. Pipe is alleged to be
arriving Kakogawa tomorrow.

Before cutting and grinding we covered the cab with two layers of tarp.
I know grinders even at 3 meters distance chew the hell out of paint.

UPDATE OF WORK:

Sawzall
then
Grinder
then
Sander
then
primmer
then two coats of chassis black.

SOUNDS TO ME LIKE THIS IS GOING TO LOOK VERY NICE WHEN COMPLETED.

 

[crushers]

31/05
AND ON AND ON AND ON

Finished off removing the frame bits today. Noted that the support for
the E-brake cable is missing. Ordered that.

Working on figuring out the wiring now. Your truck seems to have 7
wires to the rear, mine has 8. I think it might be the back up alarm.

your truck was built as an IV4
(incomplete chassis) so if I go by the part numbers listed I will end up
with the same stub harness that is on there now. I ordered the part for
the Gen spec rhd 1991 FJ75. I foresee no great problems.

I also ordered the two block off plates for the transfer case and the
one extension mount for the E-brake cable today.

I forgot to order the donuts for the exhaust pipe but may have one or
two kicking around.

I am very glad to have my truck parked here to compare too. I would not
have noticed the frame mounts till too late.

I CAN SAY I AM GLAD WE TACKLED THIS IN JAPAN WHERE PARTS ARE EASIER TO SOURCE.

NEXT CONCERN:

The tube cross member passes through the frame rails. I have taken the
old one out this AM, will be installing the new one after you get back
to me. Problem is this, the frame is not going to get wider and I need
to insert both ends of a tube right through the frame. Obviously when
this was first done the frame was not one part. So I am thinking two
options. I favour the first:

Cut the new tube, insert a sleeve in it, weld in place. The welds will
be visible on close inspection.

Cut the ends off the tube and just weld the flange section to the frame.

Option two is faster. Option one is cleaner.

WE OPT FOR OPTION 2

 

[crushers]

01/06

ANTENNA:

There is no hole in the fender for an antenna. First time I have seen that!

Well there is a hole but it is on the right fender, never seen that!

Looked at the wiring today, will start that on Tuesday. There is an AUX
fuse box in the cab and a great huge serpent of cables running from it
to the rear. Will also pull the governor next week.

I gave your rear frame a coat of chassis black today.

OH OH, WIRING ISSUES...OH HOW I HATE WIRING!!

COMMENT TO REMEMBER;

I am stunned by how many parts are not like they should be on this thing.

 

[crushers]

04/06

Pulled the front seats today to get at the wiring. What a pain!

 

[crushers]

05/06

I tried pricing out the fuel lines yesterday, hard lines, no longer
made. The existing ones are too long. Will cut and flare them. Model
on my truck.

I still have one huge bundle of cables that snakes up into the dash to
pull. I do not want to cut it, there is a chance that it is spliced
into something and if I don't know..... Anyway I will try just taking
off the glove box and seeing if I can manage from there. But if worse
comes to worse it will mean also pulling the instrument panel.

The seats are back in

New wheels mounted. The tires are directional.

Fuel tank parts are all in so will start on that Thursday.

Your mud flaps are the ugly ones. The front ones are just flaps of
rubber. This is the same as the Australia spec ones.

OOOH, I AM GLAD HE IS TACKLING THE WIRING NIGHTMARE!!
SO FAR TODAY SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD DAY...I AM THINKING I WANT THE POD REMOVED FROM THE DASH:

The pod on fire trucks houses an oil temp gauge that is routed to the
engine oil pan. The pan is tapped on the lower left side. It is way
cool to have, I almost bought the same pan for mine but at the time
could not afford it.

There is also a big knob with G written on it. I think this runs to the
flashing lights but not sure.

SO I AM THINKING< I HAVE A LJ78 SITTING HERE I CAN GET A PROPER FACTORY POD AND DASH PAD FROM SO NO BIGGIE>

I ALSO WAS THINKING OF INSTALLING THOSE E/LOCKERS LEFT OVER FROM THE PZJ75 BUILD>>>NEED WIRING HARNESS

OOH OOH, HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM...

OK, here is the issue, I am concerned that if I leave the rear PTO drive
on it will not clear the new cross member.

If I rotate the cross member it will interfere with the fuel tank.

So this morning I popped the PTO off.

Under the PTO the rear shaft sticks out far more than it should. Like
too far to get the OEM cover on.

I am going to go and measure on my truck and see if the PTO can stay but
it looks iffy.
I just checked the EPC and the Japanese FJ75 and HZJ75 take a different
shaft than ALL other 70 series.

We have 11 cm, we need 13.

Pricing tranny.

IT SEEMS THE PTO ON THE FIRETRUCK IS ON THE MAIN OUTPUT SHAFT WHICH MEANS EITHER TEARIGN DOWN THE EXISTING TRANNY OR INSTALLING A NEW TRANNY... GREAT! ANOTHER $3000 INVESTED

 

[crushers]

07/06

Got the wires out of the dash this afternoon. Going to clean up the cab
and call it quits for the day.

Exhausted and huge headache!

NO CRAP, WIRING CAN DO THAT TO A GUY!!

there is a plate with a set of butterfly valves under the carb.
This is the control system for the governor. the rest of the system is removed.

MAN, THIS THING SHOULD BE A ROCKET WITH ALL THIS SCRAP METAL REMOVED.

WELL I SHOULD BE GETTING AN UPDATE ON THE BILLING SOON. THEN I WILL KNOW HOW MUCH OF A PITA THIS UNIT IS CAUSING...

I SHOULD HAVE PASSED ON IT AT AUCTION.

 

[BJ-44]

Are you a noob Wayne! Sheesh, posting about some work and no pics

 

[crushers]

Buddy, i try and try to get pics of the work progress but the guy is great at working on cruisers and it seems quite camera shy...
i would LOVE to post up pics, you know me i usually post lots...

cheers

 

[lshobie]

Damn, big job eh. I have seen how firetrucks are built, kind of like putting multiple additions on to a house - you just don't know where some stuff starts and where it ends.

"I SHOULD HAVE PASSED ON IT AT AUCTION."

That's why I stopped at 150,000 But I do love the pickups and see why you got it.

 

[Landpimp]

WOW, alot of work but the guy thats doing this in Japan seems to be on top of the game.....

interesting info for sure, thanks!

 

[crushers]

Damn, big job eh. I have seen how firetrucks are built, kind of like putting multiple additions on to a house - you just don't know where some stuff starts and where it ends.

"I SHOULD HAVE PASSED ON IT AT AUCTION."

That's why I stopped at 150,000 But I do love the pickups and see why you got it.

fire trucks usually sell around 200,000 and it turns out i was bidding against Outback for Dan at 4wheelauto...
the interesting part of that is i mistakenly told Dan i was interested in this unit the day BEFORE auction date and the bugger tried to buy it out from under me... i in hindsight i should have let him get it...

learned a couple lessons from this:
only buy a firetruck if you want a firetruck.
do not trust those that seem to be your friends with ideas or dreams.

<live and learn>

 

[crushers]

WOW, alot of work but the guy thats doing this in Japan seems to be on top of the game.....

interesting info for sure, thanks!

yep, he is right on top of it... i do not think he will take on another conversion though...

 

[nickw]

Sorry to hear its turning into such an ongoing project/nightmare for you.
Can you sell any of the fire equipment to help recover some costs?

Also curious, what is your plan with it once you are done?

 

[crushers]

well, originally i was going to stick a factory box on it and have a one of the kind in Canada but now i am thinking a aluminum bed (i know, i know) with a hydralic dump so i can get some use out of it on the acreage.

i think i am going to call this one "More Money" since that is what i am dumping into it... more and more and more money...

 

[nickw]

well, originally i was going to stick a factory box on it and have a one of the kind in Canada but now i am thinking a aluminum bed (i know, i know) with a hydralic dump so i can get some use out of it on the acreage.

i think i am going to call this one "More Money" since that is what i am dumping into it... more and more and more money...

Cruisers are all about function and reliability. If we wanted to cruise around town, we could buy a few year old BMW or Mercedes. So it think an aluminum box with hydraulic lift would awesome (but thats just me). It can still look good too.

How would you power it? Off the power steering system? Or a closed circuit with electric pump?

I like all original resto's, but I also like refreshes a lot too.
Meaning fix it up, mod it how you want it, and use it.
Thats what I am doing with my suzuki truck.
It won't be 100% stock. but it will still look stock, and be stock in a lot of ways.
And newer better, and more functional too. So I say go for it.

Cheers,
N.

 

[crushers]

so after conversing with Bruce this morning the firetruck will now get a dump bed installed on the back once it comes over here... that should make it more useable around the acreage...

 

[tlcruiserman]

So what are you going to do with the fire truck bed?? I think there are some collectors of Land Cruiser Fire Trucks that might be interested.

Cheers,

Michael