JT's FJ40 build

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Just put your best up POS here and grab this one.

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Bumping this because I'm getting ready to list the old girl for sale. Not much has changed since the last posts...over 7 years ago! Ginny wheeled her for a little while after Ivey was born and I built the buggy, but she's been sitting in my shop ever since.

I'll get her out and washed off and post some current pics in the next few days, but, while it was on my mind today, I thought I dig up the build thread. Pretty decent documentation on the build here and a TON of f'ing awesome memories.

JT
 
fountainhead said:
I saved this quote in my research notes a while back and never really mentioned it. Now seems like an appropriate time to bring it up. A bit of context, first:

Several years ago a surgeon in Arizona decided that he wanted to build a wheeling rig and, in the process, educate himself on how to weld, how to bend tube, how to build a motor and assemble a drive train, how to design and build a 4 link front and rear suspension, how to properly size coilovers, how to re-gear diffs, set preload and backlash, install ARB's, etc. etc. etc. He started with zero experience and a complete FJ-40. He ended up with mad skills and a mother fxxxing tubed chassis monster. The only bits of the original 40 that remained were the cowl and about 12 inches of frame.

Sometime during the middle of the build, while debating the intricacies of cage design, number of supports required, and various DOM wall thicknesses, someone brought up the issue of weight and how he appeared to be ignoring it. This went back and forth for a bit, with the Dr. ultimately declaring that his goal was to build the strongest, and therefore, safest rig possible...if that came at the cost of extra weight, then so be it. He concluded his argument thusly:

"Fortunately, I'm not emotionally invested in the weight issue."

The almost immediate retort came from our very own Georg...and I quote:

"i bet you will be when some punk-ass kid in a pos $3k mini walks up an obstacle that you can't "conquer". gravity is a bitch, i don't care how much traction you have, how much belly clearance you have, where your cog happens to be, how good or bad a driver you are. weight will work against you everytime.........."
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This
 
wngrog said:
This
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LOL...I told the story of this surgeon to some random dude at RoundUp last year. His pirate (OG pirate) nym was bellydoc...you can still find that stuff out there on the interwebs.

The other part of the story that I thought was interesting but didn't mention originally was that someone asked him in the middle of the build if he thought that being a surgeon made him a better metal fabricator. He replied that it was the other way around...all the fabrication that went into building that buggy made him a better surgeon. Lots of really cool history in this little hobby....
 
fountainhead said:
LOL...I told the story of this surgeon to some random dude at RoundUp last year. His pirate (OG pirate) nym was bellydoc...you can still find that stuff out there on the interwebs.

The other part of the story that I thought was interesting but didn't mention originally was that someone asked him in the middle of the build if he thought that being a surgeon made him a better metal fabricator. He replied that it was the other way around...all the fabrication that went into building that buggy made him a better surgeon. Lots of really cool history in this little hobby....
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That was a crazy build for sure
 
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