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Oh and btw, you'd better not think all your awesome work is copyright. I'm thieving ideas for my own UZJ45 
Builds HJ45 Cab On HZJ80 Chassis (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter RocketIron45
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #182
Cheers cult45! Yeah the floor mounted handbrake makes things easier for sure! I really hope the tank comes up nice, waiting on some stuff before I continue on that. Oh, I'm unsure of whether I will use the round or square headlight yet. I'm leaning towards using the older round bezel, but to make things more interesting, possibly a polished stainless grill to fit in the centre with the bezel itself coated black. Yeah, feel free to borrow ideas mate! Anyway cheers for watching, more updates probably next week or so! Stay tuned!
Fuel tank came out quite nice. I tried to mount my spare the same as you did but had trouble with 32" wheel.
- Thread starter
- #184
Update! Well, this weekend I had some spare time and got stuck into the cruiser. The next step for the fuel tank is sort-out the filler neck. In order for me to get the orientation for that, I really needed to fab the sub-frame for the tray onto which the aluminium tray itself will mount. So, like always on this build, I decided to fold up channel sections rather than shop-bought hot-rolled sections. I made four mounting brackets out of 5mm plate which bolt onto the chassis through the factory mounts, then used 3mm for the spans between each mount. To get the mounts at the same level from front to back, I jacked up the front of the chassis until the whole chassis and cab was level, then measured the heights off a box level. This is fairly important as this subframe will have the aluminium tray made off of it. Anyway, here is what I ended up with.....
So, with that fabricated and tacked together, I sorted out the filler neck's location in regards to the sub-frame and scalloped it to suit the tank. So, I wasted no time in fitting it then welding it to the tank. With the tank being made from aluminium, I wasn't too keen on welding the fuel line and breather tubes to the tank, so I have decided to have the fuel outlet (fuel line), breather tubes and level sender all mounted to a stainless plate which is bolted to the top of the tank. This way, if I have to make modifications to the fuel system and level sender at a later time, all I need to do is make another plate with all the additional things on it and I don't need to stuff with the tank itself. Anyway, here is the tank lid with hatch tacked on..
Underneath the lid for the tank, around the hatch, I welded a 6mm plate, which is tapped to suit M6X 1MM threads for the hatch plate. With the lid tacked on, it was time to weld the tank up! For this, I used the TIG, as it has a much nicer finish and weld quality than the MIG, and also allows me to run a smaller, nicer bead especially on the ends, where I am wanting it to look nicest.
I used 3.2mm wire on the top, mainly because where the lid joins to the tank the pressed radius is wide enough for a nice wide weld bead.
For the ends, I used a 2.4mm tungsten and ground it down to roughly 1.8 and used 1.6mm filler wire to create the small fillet weld I wanted
So, with that fabricated and tacked together, I sorted out the filler neck's location in regards to the sub-frame and scalloped it to suit the tank. So, I wasted no time in fitting it then welding it to the tank. With the tank being made from aluminium, I wasn't too keen on welding the fuel line and breather tubes to the tank, so I have decided to have the fuel outlet (fuel line), breather tubes and level sender all mounted to a stainless plate which is bolted to the top of the tank. This way, if I have to make modifications to the fuel system and level sender at a later time, all I need to do is make another plate with all the additional things on it and I don't need to stuff with the tank itself. Anyway, here is the tank lid with hatch tacked on..
I used 3.2mm wire on the top, mainly because where the lid joins to the tank the pressed radius is wide enough for a nice wide weld bead.
For the ends, I used a 2.4mm tungsten and ground it down to roughly 1.8 and used 1.6mm filler wire to create the small fillet weld I wanted
- Thread starter
- #185
With the tank all welded, I then set my sights on sanding down the tank lid's plug welds, dressed any lumps on the welds from where stops and starts are as well as any penetration deformation. Then I leak tested the tank to roughly 5psi with the stainless hatch plate on. I found 1 leak, from a pinhole on the lid which is good news, easy to fix! Anyway, here's what I ended up with...
While I had the TIG in my bay, I grabbed the tank straps which hold it into the chassis, and welded some brackets to which my heat/stone shield will bolt to! Well, that's about it for now! Will get some more stuff done next weekend, until then, cheers for watching!!
While I had the TIG in my bay, I grabbed the tank straps which hold it into the chassis, and welded some brackets to which my heat/stone shield will bolt to! Well, that's about it for now! Will get some more stuff done next weekend, until then, cheers for watching!!
That is one sexy exhaust pipe. Love your work. Love your truck. Keep it up.
Amazing work, truly amazing. What are your plans for the tray, anything special?
Through the course of the last year or two, have amassed a collection of threads concerning engine swaps into vintage Cruisers, vintage body swaps to the 80 chassis, and ridiculously insane fabrication skills exhibited on both.
Last four or five evenings, I've been pouring through the saved threads, preparing and planning the next build (which most work will be subcontracted, because I'm not an artist), spending four evenings reading every thread fc187 ever initiated or contributed to, then moving down the list, coming to this one last night.
I've perused these pages many times, but, when re-reading the first line on page one, a post stuck out that I don't know that I even paid attention to previously, and felt compelled address.
Your twenty four?
Impressive skills at any age and, after seeing the skills of seasoned fabricators progress over the course of a ten or twelve year period, I can't wait to see what's next.
Nice job, man.
Last four or five evenings, I've been pouring through the saved threads, preparing and planning the next build (which most work will be subcontracted, because I'm not an artist), spending four evenings reading every thread fc187 ever initiated or contributed to, then moving down the list, coming to this one last night.
I've perused these pages many times, but, when re-reading the first line on page one, a post stuck out that I don't know that I even paid attention to previously, and felt compelled address.
Your twenty four?
Impressive skills at any age and, after seeing the skills of seasoned fabricators progress over the course of a ten or twelve year period, I can't wait to see what's next.
Nice job, man.
- Thread starter
- #190
Hey chill will, yeah I'm leaning towards fabricating an aluminium flat tray maybe with drop down sides. Things have been busy the last few weeks and I haven't had the chance to work on it much unfortunately. Should have a chance this weekend to get stuck in!! Hoorah!
Yes Delancy I am 24 years old, cheers for the encouragement! I must say that I have been a metal fabricator for 3 and a half years since completing my apprenticeship and count myself lucky for being trained in a workshop where we build pretty much anything and everything out of steel, stainless and aluminium! Anyway, cheers for watching, will update in a few days!
Yes Delancy I am 24 years old, cheers for the encouragement! I must say that I have been a metal fabricator for 3 and a half years since completing my apprenticeship and count myself lucky for being trained in a workshop where we build pretty much anything and everything out of steel, stainless and aluminium! Anyway, cheers for watching, will update in a few days!
Man that tank looks awesome. Looking forward to the progress on this build. Well done.
- Thread starter
- #192
Cheers Sam Stewart! I'm looking forward to finishing it! Anyhoo, I'm back on the build today and have managed to make some more progress! To begin the day I fitted the fuel sender unit to the stainless tank plate. The sender is a Vertical unit that has a slide float which is perfect when baffles may prove in the way of a conventional arm float type. I also added a 1/2" breather tube, a 5/16 fuel pickup and a spare 5/16 tube for future use. All of the tube I used is #316 stainless so I wont have to worry about coating it for rust prevention. Here is how I went with that....
With the tank pretty much done, I turned my attention to the tank mounting brackets. These required welding and some additional strengthening. After finishing these I decided to get them blasted, primed and back on the chassis. I threw the tank straps in with the stone shield for reference to where the tank goes. I also removed the tray's sub-frame and tyre mount for pretty much the same treatment while I was at it.
This is the first time the stone/heat shield has been in position so here's what it looks like from underneath...
Well, that's another weekend gone, hopefully this week I can get my hands on the rubber strap for the tank so I can get that into position. Then maybe I might work on the tray. Anyway, until next time! Cheers for watching!!
With the tank pretty much done, I turned my attention to the tank mounting brackets. These required welding and some additional strengthening. After finishing these I decided to get them blasted, primed and back on the chassis. I threw the tank straps in with the stone shield for reference to where the tank goes. I also removed the tray's sub-frame and tyre mount for pretty much the same treatment while I was at it.
This is the first time the stone/heat shield has been in position so here's what it looks like from underneath...
Well, that's another weekend gone, hopefully this week I can get my hands on the rubber strap for the tank so I can get that into position. Then maybe I might work on the tray. Anyway, until next time! Cheers for watching!!
Love your work RocketIron! some very nice metal work there mate. Im in the process of putting a 383 in my 45. is it possible to get some close up pics of your engine mounts? what mounts did you use? I'm guessing you fabbed them up yourself given your skills!!! i have a set of marks 4wd mounts but not 100% on them.
Cheers!
Cheers!
- Thread starter
- #194
Hey Chippa81, cheers mate I do try my best 
For mounting my 253, I chose to use the original engine block bracket, then the original holden rubber mounts and then for the chassis side I have decided to fab and weld mounts that I hope will look very similar to the stock ones I removed. Obviously if you intend to put the 383 into your riveted 45 chassis, I would be more inclined to have something that bolted to the chassis rather than welded to. At the moment they are just tacked in place, and will be slightly modified from how they are now. I made them out of 3 separate pieces of 6mm plate with folds and bends to give a factory like look to them. The photos aren't great quality but I hope you get the idea....
The last two shots of the top side show in chalk roughly where the top piece of 6mm will be made to cover. It'll all be revealed later down the build, once I get this monster back to the chassis again! I hope that helps. Anyhoo, until next time! Cheers for the encouragement as always, stay tuned for more!!
For mounting my 253, I chose to use the original engine block bracket, then the original holden rubber mounts and then for the chassis side I have decided to fab and weld mounts that I hope will look very similar to the stock ones I removed. Obviously if you intend to put the 383 into your riveted 45 chassis, I would be more inclined to have something that bolted to the chassis rather than welded to. At the moment they are just tacked in place, and will be slightly modified from how they are now. I made them out of 3 separate pieces of 6mm plate with folds and bends to give a factory like look to them. The photos aren't great quality but I hope you get the idea....The last two shots of the top side show in chalk roughly where the top piece of 6mm will be made to cover. It'll all be revealed later down the build, once I get this monster back to the chassis again! I hope that helps. Anyhoo, until next time! Cheers for the encouragement as always, stay tuned for more!!
RocketIron while you're offering advice on the 45 chassis is it possible to extend these riveted chassis around the rear cabin mount. I would like to add a few inches to the rear of the cab if the chassis can handle being extended. I have a spare frame for the extension so it would only need one join on each inner and outer rail.
Love your build man bet the engineer gets a shock when he see's your work.
Love your build man bet the engineer gets a shock when he see's your work.
- Thread starter
- #196
Hi ozcrusier! I have seen 40 chassis extended before but I haven't personally done it or even looked at it sorry, can't really help you. I would personally steer clear of extensions on a riveted chassis. They are designed to have a bit of flex and aren't made from mild steel which makes welding not really suitable unless you re-inforce the hell out of it. Basically, I don't believe the chassis can handle it mate. That's my opinion, for what its worth! Cheers for the encouragement anyway!
Awesome build man, can't wait to see this come to fruition!
Add a section to the rear of the chassis, this keeps the same wheel base, that's what I did on mine? you could do the same and pickup 6"-8"
