Builds HJ45 Cab On HZJ80 Chassis (1 Viewer)

[RocketIron45]

Update Time! This week, with a little bit more extra time on my hands, I decided to sort out my power steering pump bracket and decide upon where I'm going to mount the battery. Of course, sometimes I don't take as many photos as I should and the power steering pump bracket is a prime example. I did get one of it tacked together, and one as it sits now though. The pump is an aftermarket version of the original Holden pump. I will need to sort out the pulleys, but that can come later. The hose will be custom made, but should the need arise, a factory 60 series one will fit.

For the battery position, I have always liked to keep the battery out of the engine bay on a 45 series landcruiser as having it in there can be a pest when working on the motor. I decided to place the battery in a semi-sealed box underneath the tray, opposite the fuel tank. The tray on the hj45 chassis I made toolboxes on either side and carried both batteries. That tray was all steel, this one will be mostly aluminium, (except for the subframe) so I made a steel bracket that bolts to the subframe tower mount, that the aluminium box will sit on/bolt to. This bracket is pretty simple, just a tee made from 2 folded 5mm sections.

So, after getting the little support brace in and bolted, I started to fold the inner sides of the battery box and sat it in position.

I am currently waiting on some more 3mm aluminium flat to arrive so I can actually start fabricating the tray as well as finishing the boxes off! Basically, this box will be mostly sealed, except for a vent on the inside and will, hopefully look identical from the outside to the one opposite it. I will have 1 box for the battery, the other for ropes/straps and maybe for an electric air compressor. I will fabricate the mudguards/wheel arches out of 2 or 1.6mm aluminium and hopefully follow the shape and contours of the guards at the front. Anyway, until the next time, cheers for the encouragements and stay tuned for more!!

 

[RocketIron45]

Update Time! Well, seeing how I have the 3mm aluminium sheet, I can finally start the fabrication of the tray! To begin with, I am considering ditching the idea of locating the battery near the cab, in favour of a new location in the tray, underneath the tray's top, in a box with access through a hatch in the tray floor. I plan on running an Anderson plug in the engine bay and at the back of the vehicle for battery charging/jumpstarting other vehicles. Now, for the tray, I am using 3mm flat aluminium that is to be folded into sections, welded together, then painted the same colour as the cab, which will be 058 Toyota white. Today I cut an entire 1500x3000mm sheet into strips, marked out and folded in the workshop press. Here's some of the pressings...

The two main mounting channels of the tray are built so the tray can't move on the subframe, and for side load strength. For these, I cut, punched and pressed two channels into each other and stitched together. These are bolted in 3 places to the subframe on each forward and rear pressings.

For the tray, I am utilising the steel subframe as a base and then basically just building the aluminium tray on top of it. The tray will also have more pressings between the mounting channels which will be bolted to the subframe also. The width of the tray from outside to outside will be around 1600, while the length will be around 2100 which means I can use a single sheet of propeller plate or checkerplate for the floor! The tray's rollbar won't be pipe this time around, it will be pressed 3mm flat with a checkerplate headboard. I intend to have tie-downs in the tray's floor rather than tie bars under the sides of the tray. The mudguards I will hopefully fold up next weekend and have them mounted so I can start making the underside fill-in sheetmetal.

I'm still undecided for the actual length of the tray just yet, really want the guards made and on before I make my mind up fully. Anyhoo, that's it for now, stay tuned for more and as always, cheers for watching!!

 

[GarethsSixty]

impressive fabrications skills, well done, looks fantastic!

 

[cult45]

Noice one Rocket.

 

[RocketIron45]

Update Time!! Well, this weekend I made some more progress on the tray by forming and welding the guards together. What I want is ideally a tray that looks retro/hot-rod like and to me, squared guards don't go with that theme. I also reckon that they aren't nearly as fun to make as radius guards are! I am aiming to make these look similar to the ones at the front except with different angles and lengths. Anyway, I began fabrication by folding some 1.6mm flat aluminium the same way as I did for the front guards. I am using 1.6 as I had it on hand, but probably 2mm would have been better, but not by too much. I may have additional bracing added to them if I think they need it later down the build. I am using the TIG for welding most of the tray as I have access to it and I prefer it to MIG.

With the radius shaped by the press brake, I then cut and notched where the radiuses will be formed.

With the help of my bench and English wheel, I formed the radius in the web of the guards, then got to work forming and welding the corners.

For added strength at the weld joins, I run a weld bead on the inside of the guards, which will remain mostly untouched whilst the outer welds will be sanded smooth later. I had toyed with the idea of making a patch in place of the 3 welded sections, but it would have been just as much work for not much gain. At least this way, if the welds fail somehow, it will still hold its shape. Anyhoo, here's what they look like clamped to the subframe.... I'm thinking they look funny by themselves, but I intend to have fill-in panels to help support the guards and have Toyota branded mudflaps on them.

I have also decided that my proposed position for the battery is no-good as it means the tray would have been made too wide to cover it. I will mount the battery inside the tray and have it suspended in the subframe. That will most likely be my next part of the build. Anyway, cheers for the encouragements!! Stay tuned for more as it happens!

 

[GarethsSixty]

NICE!

 

[Sporty Forty]

I must say that the level of your craftmanship is outstanding.

In an area where most people will just bodge something up that will always look like that, your work is fantastic in a field where skilled people are becoming harder and harder to find as they are usually nearing retirement stage.

When your finished on yours you can do some work on my quad cab body on my 1984 45 chassis.

 

[cult45]

How goes the build Rocket?

 

[RocketIron45]

Hey cult45! Unfortunately I haven't had much time for the 45 lately, my attention has been on other things . Should get some work done on it this weekend and there will be another update soon! Cheers for staying tuned and the encouragement and praise is always welcome!

 

[tonka8110]

Praise and encouragement will be all you'd get with the level of workmanship your putting in

 

[RocketIron45]

Cheers Tonka8110! I'm not keen on cutting corners or being rough with this build, I figure with time and patience I could end up with something I can be proud of 100% Anyway, update time!! Today I finally found some time and tacked together the revised battery box, made some mounts for it and cleco'd it into position! My idea is to have the battery under the tray top, with access via a hatch from the top. I intend to install 175 amp Anderson plugs under the tray and in the engine bay for jump starting/battery charging when access to the battery is difficult (when the tray has something on it). Unfortunately I didn't take too many photos of me making the box, but its pretty simple. I used 1.6mm aluminium flat, folded a edge that will face the hatch on the top with a crimp-on seal, a few bead rolls for panel strength and made the supporting/mounting channels from 3mm and welded them to the tray structure. Ideally, I would like to have the box removable from the top when the deck is glued/riveted down so I can remove it rather than picking up the whole tray. I have made the box to be fully sealed from water coming in through the hatch, I will add some vents later.Here is my revised idea....

As you can see, there is plenty of room around the battery which will come in handy when I run the cables for the plugs/isolator etc.
Anyway, with that sorted, I added some more channels, drilled some water drain holes and moved on to the headboard.
With the headboard, I had folded sections from the off cuts when I made the tray sides/structure. I used almost the same profile except the two outer folds pointed in rather than out. So, after a bit of pondering, I came up with this shape....

The top of the headboard is in line with the top of the gutter pretty much. I cant really see a future of this beast carrying ladders or steel lengths so I decided not to go too high with it. With it tacked, I welded it, added some blanking plates to the height where the propeller plate will come to, and also folded up some 2mm bracing to where the propeller plate will mount.

I also chamfered the front tray edge to be in line with the headboard pressing, welded and sanded most of it flat. I am thinking about folding some sections to act as bracing to the whole thing rather than two pipes like on my steel tray. Anyway, hopefully I can get more done tomorrow and I can update this space with more photos! As Always, Cheers for watching, stay tuned for more!!

 

[RocketIron45]

Another day, another chance to work on the beast! Today, I focused on making a gusset or brace for the headboard. I have always wanted to keep with the theme of making everything custom but neat. I toyed with the idea of getting some aluminium tube to make the headboard bracing but thought it might look funny attached to something completely sheetmetal so I went with bead rolled and pressed panels. To start I used 2mm aluminium flat sheet, marked it, notched it and put some bead rolls in it.

Then, using the little 60t press brake, I folded these up, welded the outer edges on my bench then tacked them into position. Bearing in mind I made no templates and was making this to the image I had in my mind like always, I am proud of the results. I am sure some would say this isn't to there liking but I like it so its a goer. I also intend to make panels in front and behind the mudguards so I think it will look in proportion, maybe even like its stock....hahaha

Anyway, that's as far as I got today, I am still needing to work out what I'm doing for the fuel tank's filler before I weld the bracing in because of the placement of the tank. Until next time I guess, cheers for watching and stay tuned for more as it happens!

 

[BOOSTED80]

Awesome metalwork Rocket

 

[cult45]

Nice work Rocket.

 

[sodafeld1]

Another day, another chance to work on the beast! Today, I focused on making a gusset or brace for the headboard. I have always wanted to keep with the theme of making everything custom but neat. I toyed with the idea of getting some aluminium tube to make the headboard bracing but thought it might look funny attached to something completely sheetmetal so I went with bead rolled and pressed panels. To start I used 2mm aluminium flat sheet, marked it, notched it and put some bead rolls in it.
View attachment 944663
Then, using the little 60t press brake, I folded these up, welded the outer edges on my bench then tacked them into position. Bearing in mind I made no templates and was making this to the image I had in my mind like always, I am proud of the results. I am sure some would say this isn't to there liking but I like it so its a goer. I also intend to make panels in front and behind the mudguards so I think it will look in proportion, maybe even like its stock....hahaha
View attachment 944664
View attachment 944665
View attachment 944666
Anyway, that's as far as I got today, I am still needing to work out what I'm doing for the fuel tank's filler before I weld the bracing in because of the placement of the tank. Until next time I guess, cheers for watching and stay tuned for more as it happens!

God, you got so far , so beautiful. What happened since 2014?

 

[bluehawk]

Cheers Tonka8110! I'm not keen on cutting corners or being rough with this build, I figure with time and patience I could end up with something I can be proud of 100% Anyway, update time!! Today I finally found some time and tacked together the revised battery box, made some mounts for it and cleco'd it into position! My idea is to have the battery under the tray top, with access via a hatch from the top. I intend to install 175 amp Anderson plugs under the tray and in the engine bay for jump starting/battery charging when access to the battery is difficult (when the tray has something on it). Unfortunately I didn't take too many photos of me making the box, but its pretty simple. I used 1.6mm aluminium flat, folded a edge that will face the hatch on the top with a crimp-on seal, a few bead rolls for panel strength and made the supporting/mounting channels from 3mm and welded them to the tray structure. Ideally, I would like to have the box removable from the top when the deck is glued/riveted down so I can remove it rather than picking up the whole tray. I have made the box to be fully sealed from water coming in through the hatch, I will add some vents later.Here is my revised idea....
View attachment 944308
View attachment 944309
View attachment 944310

As you can see, there is plenty of room around the battery which will come in handy when I run the cables for the plugs/isolator etc.
Anyway, with that sorted, I added some more channels, drilled some water drain holes and moved on to the headboard.
With the headboard, I had folded sections from the off cuts when I made the tray sides/structure. I used almost the same profile except the two outer folds pointed in rather than out. So, after a bit of pondering, I came up with this shape....
View attachment 944311
The top of the headboard is in line with the top of the gutter pretty much. I cant really see a future of this beast carrying ladders or steel lengths so I decided not to go too high with it. With it tacked, I welded it, added some blanking plates to the height where the propeller plate will come to, and also folded up some 2mm bracing to where the propeller plate will mount.
View attachment 944312
I also chamfered the front tray edge to be in line with the headboard pressing, welded and sanded most of it flat. I am thinking about folding some sections to act as bracing to the whole thing rather than two pipes like on my steel tray. Anyway, hopefully I can get more done tomorrow and I can update this space with more photos! As Always, Cheers for watching, stay tuned for more!!

Love the Maiden sticker on the back of the cab.