Builds Just another 79 build..... (6 Viewers)

[Gun Runner 5]

Hey Carl....got your VM today....sorry I missed your call. Shoot me a call when you get a chance. I'm usually always at my desk but today we had a big meeting to review an interior design for a customers SL Mercede.....going with a very social leather that will run $1000 per hide.....we need 10 hides! Nice.



The Mercedes gets $1,000.00 leather and my HJ75 gets $200.00 Naugahyde.
Both products come from cows however Naugahyde is aged longer .... In other words, when the cow dies of old age.

 

[swamprunner]

Yeah Cruisers and parts are too abundant down here not to take advantage of. Way cheaper than buying or trying to find new stuff in the states. I've met a great contact for cruiser parts down here. Next time I come back I might be stuffing a container full of cruisers and parts. I've been drooling over the new double cab 79's They are everywhere...almost stopped at a dealer the other day just to try and check one out...but I figured why torture myself.
I'm jealous of your progress but seeing all the 70 series down here is giving me motivation to get my done. Even though it won't happen until the fall.

What is the actual height measurement of the toyo's you have...I plan on using the 285 mud terrains.
What springs are you running?

If you are not going to use the 5 star aluminum rims from your the 4runner I will take them off you hands.

 

[c2dfj45]

Leather is crazy stuff.....the hides we're using are coming from the new Pagani Huayra. It's a huge process of what the leather goes thru to achieve the look. We used some Ferrari leather in the last project we did....$600 per hide.....a bargain compared to this stuff.

The Toyos measure out at a true 33". E-load rating, super heavy duty and super heavy. I wanted tall and skinny. They fit the bill. I've read tons of reviews on them...some people love them, some hate them. We'll see. I kind of like that they're not that aggressive as a mud tire yet more aggressive than an all terrain tire. They kind of look like they belong on the truck.

Springs will be OEM for now....I'd like to get the truck built and decide what I want to put on it, if I need to put anything on it. Not quite sure where things are going to settle out compared to a stock FZJ80. From a ride-height stand point, the truck seems to sit fine. My next spring would be a 0" lift OME spring I think. Hoping to have shocks on it by the weeks end.....going with OMEs.

 

[c2dfj45]

Lots of progress today.....lots more parts ordered too.

Got the tank....really nice. We might make the mounts for it tomorrow. In the pics it's sitting a little high....we'll drop it down a bit. Should be somewhere around 30 gallons...we did modify the ends a bit so maybe 28-29. Really sits out of harms way back there. It's a good setup. We'll cut down the OEM pump mount and all should be well.

Found that my 79 series e-brake cable is a bit short between the axles(shouldn't be a mystery) so we'll have to extend one of the ends a little bit(passenger end). Minor stuff.....

 

[Gun Runner 5]

At today's fuel prices when you do get around to topping off all of the tanks it will easily add another $1,000.00 to the overall value of your truck.

 

[Cmoney]

trade

1978HJ45, do you think he would trade either one of us "even" for one of our 75's when that "shiny new purdy truck" of his is done?

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Heck I would need some cash also .....
He may have a shiny new fuel tank but I have kangaroo fur in my front grill.
Plus if I am not mistaken that thing is a gas burner and we all know that causes global warming.

 

[Cmoney]

Trade

You're right again, all that shiny new black paint had me thinking crazy thoughts. Besides, mine has the mileage written on the visor for all the hot spots in Ozzy land.....and we get to buy that cheap diesel.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

You're right again, all that shiny new black paint had me thinking crazy thoughts. Besides, mine has the mileage written on the visor for all the hot spots in Ozzy land.....and we get to buy that cheap diesel.

Glad to see you have come to your senses.
Indeed his is shiny but we have the sheen of patina.

 

[c2dfj45]

You guys and your 75s.....well, my shiny and purdy gas burner may not have the patina and 'legit' factor of your 75s BUT, I get to drive on the 'right' side. lol. Mine has patina by the way....it got the crap beat out of it when Proffitts decided that packing it securely before shipping it wasn't all that important. Not the best kind of patina but patina none the less.....the real patina is on my '66 FJ45. 47 years of patina.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

You guys and your 75s.....well, my shiny and purdy gas burner may not have the patina and 'legit' factor of your 75s BUT, I get to drive on the 'right' side. lol. Mine has patina by the way....it got the crap beat out of it when Proffitts decided that packing it securely before shipping it wasn't all that important. Not the best kind of patina but patina none the less.....the real patina is on my '66 FJ45. 47 years of patina.

...... I get to drive on the "right " side. ........

Carl and I get to drive on the real "right" side. ....... ..... We don't want to be like those "Jeep" drivers.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

OK now that the fun is over with......
What is your total fuel capacity with both tanks?

 

[c2dfj45]

I'm only running the one tank on the truck. Not sure what the capacity is....as I was told by the fabricator when I asked...."you'll know what the capacity is when you fill it up". Pretty logical answer. I'm guessing somewhere around 30 gallons based on the cardboard mockup we built originally.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

30 gallons will easily give you enough range to drive 30 miles northeast of Tallahassee to show me your Cruiser. You will need a couple of "shakedown runs" to make sure there are no bugs and it will look real good setting in the parking lot of the local Steak and Shake.
I'll will even buy as long as you don't go crazy and want to supersize everything.

 

[c2dfj45]

Hey 1978Hj45......maybe we can meet halfway.....I might only be able to fill that tank up once.

Today I did what I try to avoid doing.......I started adding up invoices(keep in mind we've been seeing our Toyota dealer's parts delivery guy 2-3 times per day for the last 3 weeks). It's WAY over budget.....not really a big surprise but kind of a big surprise by how much. I build things like this for a living so I shouldn't be THAT surprised but it's usually for customers who pay me to build them. She sure is a beauty though....thus it's OK to spend this much.

Made a lot of progress this week.....I think the only things left that I need for the chassis are shocks. Every piece of rubber has been changed out. All bearings, gaskets, seals. All brake stuff. Mostly every bolt(steering box bolts are used).

New Toyos went on today along with the freshly re-done wheels....they were still warm from powder coating. Really digging these tires. Due to the fact that the 80s axles are a bit wide for the body, I'm hoping that the skinny tires help tuck them in a bit. I have fender flares front and rear so that will help too but the 80 axles really push everything out.

 

[c2dfj45]

My tech came up with a pretty cool setup for the upper support for the fuel tank....he roughly tabbed this up today. This will be the upper support for the tank...it bolts in to existing holes in the frame. We'll build a wrap around skid plate for the lower portion of the tank(3/16" steel) that will cradle the bottom of the tank and keep it supported against the upper frame and obviously protect it. It will be removable so we can drop the tank from the bottom if we need to. We'll probably Line-X the skid plate and/or the upper frame so it's nice and cushioned when the tank is sandwiched in there. We could Line-X the tank as well. Not sure what we'll do......

 

[hzj79lee]

If you're building a daily drive rig, why do you use steelies? They r tough but heavy.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Hey 1978Hj45......maybe we can meet halfway.....I might only be able to fill that tank up once.

I am not good at reading maps and I don't own a GPS but Lake City ( on I75 ) looks to be half way.

 

[c2dfj45]

We've been picking at the truck slowly but surely....seems like we're always missing a part or piece which holds up the show. Not completely unexpected but part of the process. Glad I'm patient.

Chassis is pretty much done. Shocks went in today(no upper mounts for the rears were with the original truck)had to order those on Monday, came in today. Pretty cool that nearly everything we've bolted on is new(pretty expensive too). Fuel/vent/return lines are run but not terminated....need the cab and motor in the truck to figure out the front line configuration. We'll finalize the rear tank lines on Monday as I know now where they're going to be. I didn't want the lines to run on top of the frame but I figured that if I ever needed to access them, I can simply pull the bed off to do that. Shouldn't ever need to be messed with. Kind of nice that they're protected pretty well up there.

I had my tank Line-X'd...I thought that was the best solution for what I wanted(protection/cushion where we mount our cage/frame). We're going to build a cradle for it next week...it will be suspended from the chassis in rubber mounts to help keep it isolated from vibration/torsional flex. Not sure I need to do all that but I think it will serve a couple purposes(we'll make a skid plate for the bottom) and it will make it very easy to remove.

 

[c2dfj45]

Motor is nearly done.....couple missing gaskets and small parts. Not a big deal. Goal is to get the motor trans in the frame next week so the cab can be mounted and we can begin plumbing brakes from MC to chassis ports, building the exhaust, figuring out the shift lever situation and probably 2000 other things. Fun.

Mocked up the supercharger today as well since it was quiet....I bought a used kit and it didn't come with all the parts. Probably a mistake....should have bought new I suppose but it was kind of an impulse buy. I'm sure I'll still be ahead of the game by the time I get all the parts(needed the crank pulley and the tensioner from TRD...very expensive). One of the missing parts was a heater bypass from the thermostat housing....we're going to install an AN adapter and route a line up and over the supercharger.....TRD doesn't list that part separately. I'm going to paint the blower parts next week I think too...they're a little beat up and tired. I'm in a textured black mode these days so I think I'll do it in that.

No surprises on the motor....it was exceptionally clean and free of any issues. Probably didn't need anything more than a head gasket but while it was out and we had the time we did a complete re-build. Used all OEM parts....hope it lasts for another 173K without issue. I think my motor had been well taken care of....appeared to have all OEM parts on it(even the filter).