ARCHIVE Forge Specialties: What are we working on?

[35inchoverdrive]

I plan to update this thread from time to time with a few examples of the projects that we are wrenching away on, at our humble shop in Fredericksburg, VA.

Hopefully some have you have already come across our previous build thread in the 80-series section, that chronicles the repower of a '94 80 with a 390hp 6.0 LQ9.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/a-1994-80-series-gets-an-lq9-gm-v8.805130/

Here are some of the highlights:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...a few more shots of the 80-series LQ9 swap.

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...and some more...

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...last ones for this thread, but there are plenty more in the build thread:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/a-1994-80-series-gets-an-lq9-gm-v8.805130/

 

[35inchoverdrive]

We did quite a lot of mechanical/electrical cleanup and a few upgrades on this FJ60.

Before:

We ditched the tired, stock seats in favor of some Procars:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...and because open diffs are no fun, that same 60 got a pair of air lockers:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

We had a truck come in with a higher-mileage H55 5spd that had tons of slop in the shifter. It was quite tricky just getting from gear to gear.

The culprit turned out to be some seriously worn shift pins and wallowed out holes.

We picked up some metric dowel pins(on left, compared to worn stock pin on right):

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...and fabricated a collar of sorts, to keep the new pins in place:

...the new collar and pins, installed:

This was the first time we had ever come across this in a Cruiser transmission, but who knows how many miles this 5spd had on it. The fabricated collar and metric dowel pins tightened everything back up.

 

[35inchoverdrive]

We found that a bank of five Contura switches fits nicely into an FJ60 ash tray spot. More details can be found in our thread in the 60 section:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/installing-contura-switches-in-place-of-ash-tray.828453/

 

[OGBeno]

So, um, where are my dead butts gonna go?



Nice work gents.

 

[35inchoverdrive]

The winch bumper was actually peeling away from the frame on this second gen Tacoma(mostly due to it being incorrectly installed at another shop):

These close-ups give a better view of the damage:

As a result, the bumper wings were digging into the fenders:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

With the bumper removed, we could see the extent of the damage:

The stock frame brackets were beginning to crack:

...and both were bent:

Not only did we fix the damage to the stock brackets, but we wanted to make sure this problem never happened again. We started by straightening the brackets and welding up the cracks:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...mock up of the new reinforcement plates:

Out comes the plasma cutter and we knocked out some brackets:

All the pieces are tacked in place:

Then we starting burning everything in:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

The finished product, before paint:

The bumper, reinstalled, never to tweak again:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

How do you mount an ARB compressor, Helton heat exchanger, Shurflo pump and Blue Sea fuse block on the passenger fender of a Tacoma?

You build The Mother of All Brackets:

Here's a .gif of it all going together:

 

[RhinoFZJ80]

I LOVE THIS THREAD. KEEP IT UP GUYS!

 

[35inchoverdrive]

I LOVE THIS THREAD. KEEP IT UP GUYS!

Thanks! We love making the stuff that I put in this thread, so it should work out.

We plumbed the heat exchanger to a couple of self-sealing push connect fittings on the Tacoma bumper:

In the wide shot, you can see them tucked just the the right of the passenger-side headlight:

...testing, in a bucket of water. That's one toasty shower:

 

[35inchoverdrive]

What's in just about every truck bed ever?

A toolbox.

What's the last thing you expect to find when you open a truck bed toolbox?

An ARB 50qt fridge.

Hmmmmmm...it doesn't fit. Whatever shall we do?

The only reasonable thing to do is start cutting and bending...

 

[OGBeno]

YES!!!!!

 

[35inchoverdrive]

...the new fridge cradle is taking shape.