Life's Full Circle. My 1977 BJ40 Resurrection. What Once Was Will Be Again... And then some ;) (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 18, 2010
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Location
Northern California
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It's been a long time since I've posted on this beloved Cruiser Forum and I finally feel it is time to pull my boots back up yet again to take on the passion that seemingly still lives within...
As some of the MUD OG's know I got involved with Cruisers back around 2006 when I began building what I had hoped would be my legacy for my family. A portfolio of truly unique cruiser builds that started off with a few hiccups but was finally starting to form into something truly special.
Fast Forward to 2018... The Campfire as it was later coined burned down our small town of Paradise, California and for the past four and a half years my family and I have done little more than fight our insurance, fight the Utility Company who was responsible for the fire, fight our neighbors with serious levels of paranoia and anxiety, fight our lawyers who jerked us around, and the list goes on. We spent nearly two years living in a travel trailer and more than 4 years repairing our home damages. Our insurance covered just the cost of materials and little else so my family and I have done little else but work on our property. Live and learn.

Needless to say I have been heavily disconnected and overwhelmed for quite some time.

A week ago we returned from a 5 week vacation to Costa Rica where we finally had a chance to separate our minds from our consuming reality. We laughed, played, took naps, drank a lot of rum, and most importantly connected with family. While on our visit I was reminded of so many memories my wife (a Costa Rican Tica) and I shared in the beginning days of our relationship. Nearly 18 years of growing family life can quickly make you forget so much of who you once were or are.
It was an amazing perspective to see so many land marks that still existed. All our land marks in the town I grew up in (Paradise) are gone. You don't realize how much a spot of dirt or a building truly means until it's gone.

Upon our return I felt compelled to prioritize our 1977 BJ40 Land Cruiser which was our first family vehicle and not only just a vehicle but it represented an idea and passion to pursue cruisers as my family's main source of livelihood. The Cruiser was torn down many years ago in hopes of restoring it but unfortunately it got lost to our family's immediate needs so it quickly became a back drop of parts and nothing more.
Over the years many parts were used for other needs so my cruiser is not only in a million pieces it is also missing a lot of parts...

Today I purchased a 1983 BJ60 I will be using to get my cruiser back in action. I have a lot more to share about all this but my wife is now waiting on me to watch our shows so I have to go...
I'll leave this message tonight by saying I look forward to sharing this build with my community of Cruiser Junkies. I have a lot of ideas and only hope I can see it all through :)

Good night Mudders!

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Your using the drive train from the BJ60 I assume?

How much did you tear it down … so these are before pics above… let’s see just what u did to it :)
I’ll take some pictures today 😬… I believe I have old tear down pictures as well…

These pictures of our cruiser were taken around 2004-2005… I was around 24-25 at that time… I’m 42 now 💩
 
So I have a few minutes to add a bit of context to this writeup...
The BIG Plans for my 1977 BJ40 Land Cruiser:

-Suspension and Steering
2.5" Skyjacker soft ride springs (Already have in my shop)
Spring over Axle lift
Front Shackle reversal and will likely move axle forward by 1"
Rear axle will be set back approximately 1" to center wheel in wheel well
Cut and turn axles for proper alignment and driveline angles
Cross over high steer with 6 Shooter knuckles
Saginaw Power Steering box (Already have it in my shop)
Custom built shackles front and rear out of 2"X1/2" flat stock
Fox 2.0 Shocks front and rear
GM Tilt Column

-Wheels and Tires
Possibly Detroit Steel "Mack" Wheels 20X11 with custom offset
Toyo R/T or M/T 37X13.50X20
Matching spare which will be mounted on a scratch built spare tire / Ice Chest rack

-Drive Train
1983 BJ60 3B diesel which at minimum I plan to pull the head, have head machined and rebuilt before installing all new gaskets and freeze plugs.
Fuel system will be entirely new / rebuilt and properly calibrated: Injectors, lines, pump, etc.
Ma a Fre rear tank (Unless I build one from scratch... Just got a brand new miller spool gun :)
Custom GM high output alternator setup
Custom GM Saginaw Power Steering Pump setup
Hydro boost brake system
13BT Exhaust manifold setup with a properly turbo mapped Borg Warner Turbo
BJ60 Axles which will be completely rebuilt and gear ratios changed to properly support the larger 37" Tires
Rear Disc brake conversion
Limited carriers slip front and rear
H55 5 speed manual transmission rebuilt with Exedy performance clutch
New Clutch master, and slave cylinders
Drivelines will be built by HIGH ANGLE DRIVE LINE here in Paradise and I'm sure they will be over built lol!

So of course I have a lot more on my list but this will give you all an idea as to where I'm headed with this ole girl.. Pretty excited!!

Here is a picture I got from Jimmy in Texas just before my donor BJ60 was loaded up in order to head to Paradise, California... Yup, I'm still in this dump of a town.
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Sad to hear about California. Good to hear you are back to a point where you can travel and play with land cruisers again 😊

I also have a 1977 BJ40 that I imported from Costa Rica, and I am a tico myself. Pura vida. Good luck on it. Subscribed.
 
13BT Exhaust manifold setup with a properly turbo mapped Borg Warner Turbo
be very careful with the turbo setup. A fellow mudder had a 3b in his BJ75. (Albeit) He turbo’d it with a turbo he found in a junkyard, but his engine blew up within a year, and he got a second 3b, and it blew up soon after.

However, I have also seen people turbo their 3b with great success. It just can’t handle too much PSI

@theglobb
 
Sad to hear about California. Good to hear you are back to a point where you can travel and play with land cruisers again 😊

I also have a 1977 BJ40 that I imported from Costa Rica, and I am a tico myself. Pura vida. Good luck on it. Subscribed.
Pura Vida Mae! Tuanis! I suppose we are family then :)

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be very careful with the turbo setup. A fellow mudder had a 3b in his BJ75. (Albeit) He turbo’d it with a turbo he found in a junkyard, but his engine blew up within a year, and he got a second 3b, and it blew up soon after.

However, I have also seen people turbo their 3b with great success. It just can’t handle too much PSI

@theglobb
I appreciate your words of caution… I have built a few turbo BJ40’s over the years including a few very high end Cummins qsb cruisers.

Turbo charging any engine requires a number of very important factors:
-Volumetric efficiency of the engine
-Displacement
- balanced fuel to air ratio: For the B and 3B the pump can be adjusted enough to work with most applications.
- increased cooling capacity: radiator improvement of course but also oil cooling is equally important.
- exhaust system design which eliminates back pressure that can spike EGT’s.
- and of course the engine’s general health.

Trust me when I say that my turbo system will be anything but a shade tree DIY caliber setup lol!

This was the last cruiser I built:
 

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