Builds Hell and High Water - A Build

[gregkline55]

Played around with bolting up the rear axle to the front flange of the TC to see what clearance is like without the double cardan joint and its bar better as expected. In the pic below you can see, this isnt with the drivetrain angle perfectly lined up but it allowed me to get an idea of how it would be.

I think the option I'm going to have to go with is the smaller yoke that I've seen others use as well. which is fine, this thing isnt going to be doing HARD off roading, nothing that I could imagine would break it.

 

[gregkline55]

Been a while, but have been slowly working away at some of the more pain in the ass items. Took on the job of cleaning and sealing the gas tank, it was incredibly rusty but wanted to do it now so I wouldnt have to later. Did the initial cleaning with muriatic acid, does a great job, the went in with the POR-15 products and finally their sealant. Turned out nicely. While I was doing this I installed the Mosley Motors pump setup, stoked on this thing, it fits super well and really is the complete package when going to EFI. Now just need to get a new fuel level sensor and finish up a block off plate for the old fuel pickup

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Odd looking fuel hose from flange to pump.

 

[gregkline55]

Odd looking fuel hose from flange to pump.

its a plastic of some sort (polyethylene?), its what is supplied with the pump

 

[gregkline55]

More progress this weekend, tackled the twin stick gear selectors. Grabbed the kit from AA back when I ordered my adapter, ended up going really smoothly with the help of my torch and a few cheater bars. Bent them up nice and clean, turned out pretty nicely!

Also during this mock-up phase I noticed that my rear heater hard line will need some adjustment, a little too close to the head, should be an easy fix.

Cant wait to get the drivetrain back out so i can clean and paint the engine bay!

 

[gregkline55]

So went to the driveshaft shop today to start the process of getting the driveshaft lengthened/shortened. The rear wasnt a problem at all, they'll be bringing that one down to 37" flange to flange, the front was another story.

So with the front having that double cardan joint it wont clear the oil pan on the 4L60e, typical, so after doing pleanty of research I see that most people end up removing the double cardan and just go to a standard u-joint. Once there the gentleman told me that he cant find a flange yoke new with the same pattern so he couldnt do it. But after leaving I got to thinking, could you simply remove the H-yoke (center section) from the double cardan and connect them with a standard tee? Going to call them to inquire

 

[cruisermatt]

Just sell that double Cardon to someone who needs one (they’re not common) and get a regular driveshaft from any Toyota truck or FJ60/80/100
All the ones on Tacoma/4Runner/Sequioa/GX etc all have the same pattern so just get one at the junkyard.

 

[gregkline55]

Just sell that double Cardon to someone who needs one (they’re not common) and get a regular driveshaft from any Toyota truck or FJ60/80/100
All the ones on Tacoma/4Runner/Sequioa/GX etc all have the same pattern so just get one at the junkyard.

THANK YOU

Ive been searching for this type of answer with no luck, so thank you!

 

[cruisermatt]

THANK YOU

Ive been searching for this type of answer with no luck, so thank you!

I usually buy my used driveshafts from the LKQ EBay store, they’re usually only $70-80 and have free shipping.
Pretty much all the lengths are listed on Rock Auto you might be able to find something that just fits without mods.
FJ62 front will probably fit as it is

 

[Kleatus]

Nice work man. All the E30 references and background photos are making me itch again.. had an 86es and 89iX. Loved those cars. Been messing with Cruisers too much lately, I need another E30, it's been 10+ years... carry on!

 

[Major Nelson]

hahaha family used to own a bus company, from the '70s up until 2012, this shop actually burned down in 2007 (with a 1988 BMW M3 inside, if you know you know...) so it was rebuilt into what you see. Once we sold the company it became me and my fathers personal shop. We own a 180 acre farm so this place sees a lot of work of all types.

I almost shed a tear from my non-shooting eye at the thought of an 88 M3 going up in flames. Man, that sucks.

 

[mattressking]

Yea sell me the double cardan joint to me like @cruisermatt said.

Assuming it's in good shape - no issues.

...you have a PM.

 

[gregkline55]

I usually buy my used driveshafts from the LKQ EBay store, they’re usually only $70-80 and have free shipping.
Pretty much all the lengths are listed on Rock Auto you might be able to find something that just fits without mods.
FJ62 front will probably fit as it is

Have a friend with a large collection of parts, so if he doesnt have any ill definitely start my search there! Thanks!

Nice work man. All the E30 references and background photos are making me itch again.. had an 86es and 89iX. Loved those cars. Been messing with Cruisers too much lately, I need another E30, it's been 10+ years... carry on!

I almost shed a tear from my non-shooting eye at the thought of an 88 M3 going up in flames. Man, that sucks.

LOVE all things E30, some of the best cars ever made, and made to be driven! Losing that car was an absolute shame, but its since been replaced with another!

Yea sell me the double cardan joint to me like @cruisermatt said.

Assuming it's in good shape - no issues.

...you have a PM.

Will do!

 

[gregkline55]

Progress is being made, started this weekend working in the rear, got the tank back in with all of its components, and did it solo! Hell of a job to do alone but with a couple of jacks I made it happen. Feels good to have that all buttoned up. The made an access for the fuel pump in the floor, this will get cleaned up and I'll add a removable cover that will be held down with some riv-nuts. And finally made my fuel lines, supply and return, so thats all set! Ticking things off slowly!

 

[gregkline55]

Some progress being made, got the rear heater line moved on over to avoid the head. Just cut the tab off, moved it over, and re-welded it. simple and effective. Then started removing 2 or 3 broken bolts from the disassembly process, one of the firewall that successfully came out (while doing this I discovered that there are 30mm spacers on it, this being the first time ive had to pull a wheel) and then moved onto the one at the lover fender mount. I knew this area needed to be fixed due to rust and an old patch job. So cleaned it up to see what I had to deal with and decided to source a patch panel for it, found someone to cut out the piece for me and its on the way!

 

[gregkline55]

Have made some progress on the old girl, have been busy planning a wedding so have been chipping away at some smaller stuff. Pulled the entire chassis harness out so I could remove all the unused connections that were a part of the emissions system, also to fix the wrong doings of the previous owners and fix some connectors. Also adding in and adjusting things for the vortec swap.

Got the main section of the harness all cleaned up, thinned out, and rewrapped. All nice and clean now!

Also tackled the rear sub harness, fixed some cut wires in here and added wiring that will be used to power the new electric fuel pump thats run off of the PSI engine harness that I'll be getting. Still need to fix the small section that runs between the tail lights because someone really botched some trailer light wiring...

Finally I have been working out how I will be managing the air conditioning in this thing. It didnt have an AC amplifier when I got it, the connector was just jumpered, guessing to just always power the compressor when the switch is on. So I'll be controlling it all with an adjustable thermostat that will read the existing thermistor on the evaporator, it'll also utilize the existing low pressure cutoff. I'm also going to add a high pressure cutoff to the system for a little extra safety. The thermostat will also send signal to a relay control module that will run the fan when the AC is powered on while also getting fan signal from the PCM when needed. It all works in my head and on paper so it has to work in person right?

This is the thermostat in the old emissions controller housing

 

[gregkline55]

Awesome FB marketplace find today, scooped it for $100. Warn 5687 high mount, in really good shape too! Got it home and tore it down to clean it up and replace items as needed, was a little bit of water in the gear housing, doesnt seem to have been in there for long as there wasnt any bad corrosion on the gears. Brake system is mostly there, the clutch lever is broken, push-pull cables are obviously gone too, and the motor is toast. Going to replace the bearings/bushings, clean it all up and make it look nice, replace the motor (hopefully with a reversible version), and get some new cables for it. Then run it! Bumper will need some adjustment too. Will have to place an order with Herm!

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[diesellibrarian]

I recently acquired a 5678 too! Came with my "parts" truck. I also plan to run it after giving it a once-over. Have the cab controls too, which is cool.

 

[gregkline55]

Cleaned up the switch sub harness the other night, also added in some provisions for USB power onto the cig lighter circuit

 

[gregkline55]

Really fun part of the build Ive been working on recently, the dash. So with the LS swap the PCM will be able to give me all kinds of great information through the OBD2 port so i want to utilize that. So I decided to build a cluster based around a digital screen (tablet) that could show me all that live information, and all of this is reversible and done in a non invasive way incase I want to change it. So have been testing the main layout and shape of the dash and have it figured out pretty well, got it cut and bent by SendCutSend (which is awesome). The black circles are turn signals, high beam, seat belt, parking brake, and check engine light indicators. Still need to get hardware so ignore the zipties