Locked FZJ80 under a 1964LV Body Project

[Mikesta]

Owning a locked 40th anniversary FZJ80 has been one of lifes simple pleasures. Our 80 series is an asset. Giving us the ability to go almost anywhere on and off road. All the while providing reliability and comfort.

Owning a 45LV wagon is also great. Sitting in the drivers seat, breathing in the air enclosed by 45 year old metal. Its Heretage, its durability and classic lines bring awe and capture minutes, hours and days of thought.

Today after a phone call with a local, I purchased a slightly wrecked 1994 locked FZJ80. I've been waiting 2 years now for this truck and buying this rig brings some pretty good feelings. Mentioning this thought on a few of my LV threads and some research has really pushed me toward morphing an LV body onto the 80 series frame rather than the 55, 60 or 100.

This 80 was wrecked by an elderly man who had an episode. Was going 30 mph when he went off the road and into a ditch. on the other side of the ditch trees had grown up to 30" in base. The truck leaned over and hit the trees. It was not layed on its side... but it was leaning into the trees when it finally stopped. They drove the 80 out of the ditch and onto the flatbed after the wreck.

Its a solid rig with some rash. I will be parting out the body to get some funds for a welder, clamps and a few other tools that I don't have yet and need for this endevor. Along side it, a purist 1964LV will be built up.. just in case a purist happens upon this thread and goes into siezures.

So far its been thoughts. Now the 2 rigs are in my hands and the thought process will go deeper. I'm not clamped into what i will do yet, but here are some of my Ideas.

- 2.5" lift
- Diesel engine w/computer
- complete discreat cage (interior)
- Stretch and widen body (roof, hatch, gate, bezel, hood, windshield frame)
- Use current floor and bracing from 80 series

It may be 6 months before I start this project. Time spent in planning will pay off in the end. I don't belong in the hard core tech with my 2 bannana skills... so my hope is to be streched and learn much through this passion for FJ's.

 

[calfj60]

Had often thought about such a project for my 45lv but have since sold it and now often think about a forty on my 60 series fram with a flatbed looking something like 45 picuk up....

I have spoken at great lenght with a guy who works for Lexus and is building a 45lv to fit on a 80 frame with a Toyota V8.....I think that was what he was doing...been a few years since I saw it or talked with him...Something along the lines of the one Rod Millen did a few years ago...

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Curious why you would want to morph the LV's body onto the 80 series floor. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just keep the LV body as-is and fabricate some body mounts for it? Kinda like what Wagonner5 did w/ his 45 pickup?

 

[Mikesta]

Curious why you would want to morph the LV's body onto the 80 series floor. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just keep the LV body as-is and fabricate some body mounts for it? Kinda like what Wagonner5 did w/ his 45 pickup?

Good question. The chassis of the 80 is wider by 6-8". It is also longer by a noticeable length that escapes me right now. The LV will need to be quartered. Cut down the middle from hood to tailgate and cut in half behind the doors (something I havent put too much thought into).

Another factor is the LV FLoors. The LV body I will be donating to this project has rust and holes for floors but the body is in great shape. Since I will be quartering this body and making new floors and seat frames and contouring the floor to the 80 chassis... I figure it would be quicker and sturdier to piece the quarter'd body on the floors of this 80. After this is done, I can take the body completely off and sandblast it and put it on a rotissery for final fabrication.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[Mikesta]

Here is where I would stretch the LV length wise... allowing me to keep the look pretty standard and giving me room for bigger meats on the rear.

Using Treeroot's sticker (without permission doh!) This is what it will look like.

 

[Mikesta]

Got some done on this today. Picked up the 80 series. The owner said he couldn't get it started. Upon arrival, a quick swap of batteries did the trick. There was some sputtering at first, but it had been around 4 months sinces it worked last.

It was nice driving it up onto the car trailer. My 19.95 com-a-long (twice broken) takes longer to load. I pulled this 80 with my 80 and it did pretty good. On the steep hills the temp guage would climb and the mph would drop... but 40mph was a minimal speed with 70 being the max. It towed really well.

Once home, I took a few pictures and cleaned the rig out. The drivers side glass was busted out except for the last panel in the rear slider glass. With the purchase of this rig, I also purchased $2.48 worth in change, a 4" pipe wrench, a new tarp, some nice bungee cords, a phillips screwdriver and a few other misc stuff that escapes me.

After cleaning the 80 out I posted the body parts for sale and went out to the LV. I've named the LV Brando... which will change once the shell is on the 80. Turned on the compressor and blasted the rear rib quarter on em. There is some rust through and there was about 1/4" of bondo around the rear and under the lowest rib.

The first step in this conversion will be to get brando's body to 95% straight and complete. Then cutting him in quarters, extending and widening the body to fit on the 80.

http://fjtoys.com/mytoys/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2432

Click the link above for all pictures of the 80. A few of them are below.

 

[Mikesta]

This 80 was wrecked by an elderly man who had an episode. Was going 30 mph when he went off the road and into a ditch. on the other side of the ditch trees had grown up to 30" in base. The truck leaned over and hit the trees. It was not layed on its side... but it was leaning into the trees when it finally stopped. They drove the 80 out of the ditch and onto the flatbed after the wreck.

Its a solid rig with some rash.

This was confirmed today. The place that this happened was right by his house and we drove by it. Its perfect for this build. The only damage this truck took was to the roof, left side of the truck... from the wheel well up. If you look at the pictures you will see tree chaff and tree bark in the windshield. The grain is running vertical. There was absolutely no dirt, sand, grass or gravel in the wrecked part of this rig. The rig simply went into a ditch and got stopped by trees (saving it from flipping over). The other part of the guys story (only going 30 mph) is also justifiable. He is 62 and the road was a 35mph zone... and pretty straight. Was real close to his house.

Went around 40mph down my local street... smooth and straight... no wobble, no leaks. The PO had just spent $2k getting the brakes done and knuckles rebuilt.

Overall, very stoked about this truck.

http://fjtoys.com/mytoys/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2524

Above are the rest of the pictures took today of Brando.

 

[Mickldo]

Cool build up.

What diesel engine are you planning to use?

What sized wheels and tyres?

Think carefully about how you do the floor swap. You do a kind of body lift/reverse channelling(hotrod lingo) depending on where the new floor is stitched in.

You have read Wagoneer5's buildup thread right? Just checking.

 

[baxter650]

Very cool project, i can contribute to the build fund by buying the rear flares and mud flaps off of your donor 80 when the time comes.

 

[lowtideride]

Cool build, I am doing the same thing but putting a 60series body on a 80 series frame and axles..I got the body off the 80 and am cutting it up for scrap.

 

[Francesco_from_Italy]

If you need some help I put 80 series axles with electric lockers on my Fj 40...

Francesco

 

[Mikesta]

If you need some help I put 80 series axles with electric lockers on my Fj 40...

Francesco

Thanks Francesco. I'm covered on the axles though. Basically just going to wrap the LV body around the current 80.... just a Shell Swap. It will be a Locked 80 with a widened and streched LV body on it.

On another note, all the body panels are for sale in the "Parts for sale" category.

 

[Cammy]

Are you planning on quartering the LV through the window frame? Have you considered sectioning just behind the rear door to avoid having to have the glass custome made?

 

[Mikesta]

Are you planning on quartering the LV through the window frame? Have you considered sectioning just behind the rear door to avoid having to have the glass custome made?

Cammy, right now my plan is to quarter the LV in the center of the wheel well. This will force me to stretch the glass. I'm still meddling in my thoughts though. I will need a solid 8 hours of time to really figure it all out.

Here are some statistics on wagon axles

Overall Length
45 - 4651 (mm)
60 - 4576 (mm)
80 - 4780 (mm)
Wheelbase
45 - 2650 (mm) 104 (in)
60 - 2730 (mm) 108 (in)
80 - 2850 (mm) 112 (in)
Track Width
45 - 1404 (fr) (mm), 1400 (fr) (mm)
60 - 1485 (fr) (mm), 1470 (fr) (mm)
80 - 1595 (fr) (mm), 1600 (fr) (mm)
Springs
45 - Leaf
60 - Leaf
80 - Coil

 

[FLYINGLOW]

How about cutting out the back of the wheel opening and relocating that part. It would be easier than quartering. You only have to move it a few inches. Then you don't have to mess with the top or the window opening. You will have less overhang too, which for any amount of wheeling will be a good thing. As for width, I'd just put some custom wheels on with a different offset and be done with it.

 

[Francesco_from_Italy]

Basically just going to wrap the LV body around the current 80.... just a Shell Swap. It will be a Locked 80 with a widened and streched LV body on it.

Probably the best and easiest solution, good work!

Francesco

 

[89s rule]

How about cutting out the back of the wheel opening and relocating that part. It would be easier than quartering. You only have to move it a few inches. Then you don't have to mess with the top or the window opening. You will have less overhang too, which for any amount of wheeling will be a good thing. As for width, I'd just put some custom wheels on with a different offset and be done with it.

If you look at the stats above its not possible to "just get diff offset rims" There is 8" of track difference!

Looks like a sweet build! I am definately going to tag along! If this ends up being anything like wagoneer5's build then I will be very pleased with sitting on my couch and dreaming over this one as well.

 

[Cammy]

The reason I ask about the glass is that I had a friend who created a station wagon fron a Mitsubishi pick-up. The most difficult issue he had was getting the glass to fit right and stay in the rear windows that were cut and stretched Pinto wagon rear glass frames. You have a great idea here and am looking forward to watching it come together.

 

[Mikesta]

How about cutting out the back of the wheel opening and relocating that part. It would be easier than quartering. You only have to move it a few inches. Then you don't have to mess with the top or the window opening. You will have less overhang too, which for any amount of wheeling will be a good thing. As for width, I'd just put some custom wheels on with a different offset and be done with it.

Good suggestion. Right now being in the thought stage, after I read this I went out and looked at the rig.. cutting out the wheel opening is very doable... I'm not sure if I'm going this route yet. However I do want to widen the body. The hacking will all be suseptible to the 80 body vs. the LV body measurments.

Cammy, Flat glass is easy to have made... did your buddie have flat or rounded?

 

[Cammy]

He had flat glass. The problem he had was getting the opening "square/straight". It looked ok but the glass just didn't sit right. Leaked more than not.
When you cut through the window frame there has to be something that goes back in. If that something is crooked than you'll have issues. Same goes for widening the body and dealing with the windshield and rear glass.

DO NOT interpret my comments as must adhere to! I'm just throwing out my observations for your consideration.