Builds Mad Max - Another 60 on 80 (plus diesel goodness) (1 Viewer)

[Broski]

I wouldn't be opposed to running a factory bumper in the rear, if one could be found and made to work. I wish I had one handy so I could better vizualize how to make it fit. I think too there are differences between the 60 and 62 bumper... and probably attachments?

The only aftermarket bumpers I know I really like on the 60-Series are from Trail Taylor and Dissent Offroad. I don't think either would be interested in the headaches associated to helping some psycho adapt their 60-Series bumper offerings to an 80-Series frame.

Either way, I don't plan to run a swingout on this truck so I am going for a subdued/unassuming look to the bumpers. Thanks for the feedback!

I would think that if you want to run either of those bumpers you just order it without the mounts and build your own.

 

[AcroSteve]

I made mine to accommodate the factory 60 bumper bolt locations. Using some 4" channel I had, after removing the original 80 rear piece. But I did flip my rear frame section. I didn't modify my body at all.

 

[fl4031003]

I’m running a stock bumper on mine. I did not flip or cut the frame just extended the rails to mount custom made bumper brackets

 

[lelandEOD]

I have made some more progress on the build.

The frame plug welds have been filled and blended.

I extended the 80 frame by 3" using a section taken from another truck.

I didn't take photos but I added a 9" section of 1/4" plate to join the two pieces together. The way I welded it makes me think the joint is stronger than the surrounding frame members. It ain't going anywhere.

I got the LCA buckets reattached now too. I just cut into them and peeled the fingers back until it matched the inside radius of frame rails. ...worked pretty well.

 

[lelandEOD]

Also, something I should mention:

I turned all four lower control arm bolts to points on a lathe. This allowed me to double check the square of the axles (to some degree - rubber bushings don't exactly lend themselves to precision) by taking diagonal measurements between front and rear attachment points.

It landed to within 1/16" which was also within the margin of error in just holding the tape. I call it good-n-square... ...ish.

 

[lelandEOD]

More work today. I now have the body completely mounted to the frame and the engine positioned. The last body mounts were the two under the radiator support. Since they are probably the most visible, I took some extra time to make them look nice.

I tacked the engine in place a couple days ago and found I could use the 80's original 4-speed auto location for the transmission crossmember which put the engine pretty close to where I wanted it. But, it was still about an inch/inch and a half too far forward. Moving the engine to the rear is easy enough for the front pedestals, but the same can't be said for the rear crossmember. Then I recalled a 70-series H151 transmission mount has the mounting studs offset by about an inch and a quarter. ...luckily I have a brand new HZJ76 mount sitting around I had ordered by mistake years ago. Low and behold, that sucker moved the whole assembly back just the perfect amount and put the engine to firewall gap exactly where I wanted it:

...sometimes you just get lucky.



...theeeen, I realized the transmission inspection cover will have to be relocated to the rear about 2"-3" which will be a big job ...so perhaps my luck has cancelled out.

 

[cruisermatt]

it would be neat to use the H151f/H152f 70 series weld-in floor section, boot and transfer linkage - they are available new pretty inexpensively.

 

[lelandEOD]

it would be neat to use the H151f/H152f 70 series weld-in floor section, boot and transfer linkage - they are available new pretty inexpensively.

@cruisermatt Tell me more.

I have not been able to find the correct shifter linkage for the H152 to put the shifter lever in the correct spot. What years/models are you thinking would be correct for this application?

 

[cruisermatt]

what more do you want to know?
the h15x shifters are all a lot further back then H42/h55, that just is what is is. What I meant in my previous comment was to cut the removeable section of the 60 tunnel out, weld it up as if it was all just a regular floor, then drill two 4" holes and put the 70 series floor section over that for the boots to bolt to. Pretty simple if you can shorten a chassis.

I'm no 70 series parts wizard like some one here but I would think 58013-60071 and matching boot (58280-60370) would work great? That's from a late LHD VDJ79 which would have a H15x transmission. I mean, those are the parts I would buy first if I were attempting the same project.

There's really zero need for that section of transmission tunnel to be removable and by welding it all up solid you will definietly cut down some NVH, I'm planning to do this in my FJ62

 

[Swissmat]

holy smokes, great work and great photos @lelandEOD !

Since I'm dealing with the same situation albeit months behind you, can you elaborate on what you meant by:
"Since I wasn't afraid to clearance the area where the coil buckets, shock bolts, and frame rails interfered with the body, I was able to get the position of the body relative to the frame pretty dang close to where I think they should be. I keep reading threads where others found their 60 body sat 3-4" higher than needed from the front and rear frame horns.I'm guessing this was due to unwillingness to do dirty things to the floor pan like I did. Take a look at this and tell me what you think…” #36

I don’t think I follow as to what you actually had to do to make it look / fit that perfectly!
Can you elaborate on how you scribed / fit those so perfectly?

thanks again, fantastic work! I’m jealous of the rust-free ness

 

[lelandEOD]

I'll try to get you some photos to explain what I did, buddy.

Coincidentally, since I'm done with the bulk of the frame/body matching fab work, I brought the truck home to play with more mock up stuff in the comfort and convenience of my garage.

 

[lelandEOD]

I have a long list of things that need to find a home/solution for in the engine bay.

Fuel primer mount
Vacuum canister
Cruise Control motor
Battery boxes
Air cleaner
Catch can
Intercooler

...to name a few.

The air cleaner was a real pain in the ass. Getting the lid to line up with the turbo inlet, while clearing the shock tower, battery, and hood was more of a job than I expected. ...I played with ideas for days. In the end, I settled on pushing it farther forward than I really wanted it, but was able to make it work to my satisfaction. The issue with this orientation was that the dust particle catch can hit the inner fender. So I had to do some dirty things to the cleaner housing and relocate the catch can.

 

[lelandEOD]

More stuff. The vacuum canister found a home:

I joined the 80-series steering box to the 60-series steering column joint by shortening the old 80-series intermediate shaft. I didn't get any good photos of the joining process but I spun both ends on a lathe and to create a slip joint that was then welded over.

I also decided I couldn't stand the cruise control motor cable crossing over the valve cover so I decided to relocate it to the driver side fender. I'll just have to reroute the harness (no biggie).

Fuse box no. 2 was also mounted to the fender.

 

[lelandEOD]

Here are some photos of the coil bucket and frame interference. I just removed the material needed to get the body where I wanted it and figured I'd deal with the rest of it later. Since I'm moving to three point harnesses for the rear I don't need the seatbelt attachment so I completely removed the reinforced structure. I also cut holes for access to the shock hardware as you can see.

I will have to address the inner-fender pinch weld and floor clearances once the body comes back off.

The upper shock mounting brackets will also need shorter bolts so they don't contact the floor. You can barely see the issue in this photo

Hope this helps!

 

[lelandEOD]

...answer to the question never asked:

If you completely hack apart an 80-Series evap canister bracket and reassemble the bits in a very specific way, you can produce a fairly respectable catch can bracket!

 

[reklund5]

Beautiful work as usual

 

[lelandEOD]

More mock up. Mockup mockup mockup. I'm going to be mocking this thing up for a while.

Just getting everything squeezed behind the grille is going to be a challenge. There is no room anywhere in the engine bay or under the headlight frames for an A/C drier so I'm looking at sourcing a condenser that has a built in drier to save on packaging constraints.

But getting that to fit behind the intercooler and that to fit behind the grille and valance is proving to be a challenge.

Mockup mockup mockup....

 

[Swissmat]

gawh .. you're EONS ahead .. slow down! I need to catch up!

 

[lelandEOD]

gawh .. you're EONS ahead .. slow down! I need to catch up!

If you are worried about me being too fast, fret not; my dumbass has decided to merge/graft/integrate the 80-series ABS into the 60. That will take me at least a year to figure out so don't worry.

...snippity snip... snippity snip...

What could possibly go wrong!?

 

[Swissmat]

nice, that's on my list too but haven't gone there yet .. rust ... always more rust first ..