Minus 7 - Travis builds a Troopy (80+40+3UZ) (1 Viewer)

[Scheefdog]

I have always wanted an FJ45 troop carrier and I have decided to build one. I am starting with an FJ40 roller and an FZJ80 chassis. An Aqualu 3/4 tub will provide the “troopy” dimension. A 2UZ will push it down the road - edit: actually a 3UZ will push it down the road.

The “Minus 7” name comes from the one difference it will have with a typical troopy. “Minus 7” will be 3.5” shorter in the wheelbase and 3.5” shorter in the rear overhang than a normal troopy - for a total of 7” shorter. Hence the “Minus 7” name.

There are a few important points for this build:

• Modern drivability is important because this will be driven frequently.
• It will have 3 pedals because in my opinion rowing gears in a 40 with a clutch is part of the proper driving experience.
• The engine and powertrain will be all Toyota.
• I am not building a rock crawler, this will be a good daily driver, local trips, and trail rig.

I know there can be a lot of skepticism about proportions of a 40 body on an 80 frame. I get it, there are lots of examples that just look wrong. For me, the look is important.

This build will maintain the front wheel in the correct position relative to the body and the body will sit fairly low on the frame thanks to Aqualu’s work of providing a body fabricated to fit the 80 frame. I am going to run FJ cruiser 17” steel wheels because the tires will still out less than stock 80 wheels. The plan is to run 10.5” wide tire because this will help keep the tire poke to a minimum as well.

Here is the tub drawing from Aqualu. It does a decent job showing the proportions.

 

[Scheefdog]

Jumping into the build, the first step was to separate the bodies from their respective chassis.

I gave the 80 chassis a quick power wash to make it cleaner for fabricating and modifying mounts.

Next was setting the Aqualu tub on the body and drilling holes for the existing 80 body mounts.

Placing the 40 cowl onto the frame to see how it matches up and come up with a plan for body mounts. Aqualu includes a template to create body mounts that utilize the existing 80 body mount, but I decided against this method because they are far forward enough that it doesn’t support the cowl vertically that well. In my opinion it would create a hinge point where the Aqualu tub meets the cowl and I’m not into that. I’m sure it works great for when the entire tub and cowl is aluminum - and in hindsight that would be a great reason to pony up and spend the money on their entire tub.

 

[Scheefdog]

I decided to cut off the existing 80 mounts and fabricate my own body mounts to meet the 40 factory cowl locations. In order to get the cowl to clear the 80 frame, I had to add 1” spacers on the existing 80 body mounts. Aqualu must have taken this into account because the 80 rubber bumpers near the rear coil towers end up being the correct height with 1” spacers elsewhere.

 

[Scheefdog]

Time to move onto the front end now that the cowl mounts are tack welded in place. The frame cross member up front on the 80 frame has to be cut out and relocated further back to line up with the bib. Turns out, you can flip it over and the height comes out damn near perfect for the 40 bib. I measured the bib mount location on the 40 frame I have and transferred that measurement to the 80 frame to unsure the proper position.

 

[whitey45]

Very well done and thought out. Too many of these are not done right. Very curious as to the steel cowl to aluminum tub connection? I haven't seen too many done this way, and I prefer a steel cowl as well. Im guessing it will be all bolt on?

 

[Scheefdog]

Very well done and thought out. Too many of these are not done right. Very curious as to the steel cowl to aluminum tub connection? I haven't seen too many done this way, and I prefer a steel cowl as well. Im guessing it will be all bolt on?

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoy seeing your 45 pictures and posting - certainly inspiring for my build.

The aluminum tub will be bolted to the steel cowl and sealant is also applied at the joints/overlap (Sikaflex). I believe this is how Aqualu does all of their 3/4 tubs for stock 40s (and has been doing them for a long time). I plan to have the cowl sandblasted (and either paint or powder coat it) before I permanently join the two.

 

[Tank5]

Cool build, I will be watching your progress. I like the idea of a shorter than stock Troopy.

 

[Scheefdog]

Cool build, I will be watching your progress. I like the idea of a shorter than stock Troopy.

I have been following your build and have been enjoying seeing it come together. So keep up the good work!

I am excited about the slightly shorter than stock troopy because it strikes the right balance of usable space inside without being a long wheelbase and back end. I am fairly certain I will be able to comfortably do a bench seat and then short jump seats in the back.

 

[Scheefdog]

When the front crossmember moves, the steering damper mount and the power steering cooler lines need to be relocated. I decided it was best to tackle this now while the stock 80 setup is fresh in my memory.

I opted to utilize the existing steering damper mount and turn it vertical. By turning it vertical, I was able to get it in the same location relative to the axle as it was before.

The power steering cooler line will still mount on the crossmember and I added a tab to support the end (that was previously bolted to the frame).

 

[tmarx]

Very nice build !
Following it with interest !

 

[greenbeasty]

This is super cool!

 

[Scheefdog]

Next up was mounting the fenders. This is tricky because the fender supports and inner fenders have to be cut to fit around the coil buckets and shock towers.

I got lucky in picking up a set of junk fenders from @SteveH that were otherwise destined for the scrap yard. Thanks Steve! These fenders allowed me to take a no pressure first pass at cutting to create a “template” to transfer to my new fenders.

Everything went smoothly with the fender cutting and fitting. The drivers fender is more complicated because it needs to be cut around the steering box.

 

[Scheefdog]

The whole front end alignment of panels seems somewhat tricky and compounded because my cowl has some damage on the passenger side (that needs to be straightened out). I am making the assumption that the top of the aprons typically run level (assuming the tub is also level). Or another way to describe it is that the top of the apron is parallel to the top of the tub. Does anyone know for sure on that?

For supporting the fenders, I am going to make mounts between the shock tower and fender supports.

 

[Scheefdog]

I ended up dropping the front end panels down a little bit and this prompted making a custom bib mount instead of utilizing the stock hinge.

For mounting the fender I made some support plates that bolt to the shock towers and are slotted to allow for movement to adjust the fenders both for and aft - as well as up and down.

I also decided to re-do my cowl body to frame mounts in order to utilize the 80 series body mount plates/bushings. This way all of the body mounts are 80 style and keeps it nice and clean. To get the height right on everything I had to adjust the height on the cowl mounting plates by cutting off about a 1/4” and then welding them back on.

 

[Scheefdog]

Since I had the cowl off to modify the mounts I replaced the lower corners that had rust with new patch panels that I fabricated. This allowed me to make a nice flat surface on the factory cowl where the Aqualu tub mounts to it.

 

[Tennessee80]

Wow, great work so far!

 

[frankenyota]

Awesome work Scheefdog, l like the brackets you made for the guards and front bib keeping them adjustable.
Guards look like factory, coming together well.
Might copy some of your ideas one day when i start my 45/80 build Ute

 

[Scheefdog]

With everything mounted in place I wanted to roll it outside to get a good look at body and proportions. I am happy with the proportions. It will be good to get the engine and drivetrain in place to see the suspension come down in the front.

The frame will be cut off in the back (and the trailer hitch removed).

 

[Scheefdog]

Awesome work Scheefdog, l like the brackets you made for the guards and front bib keeping them adjustable.
Guards look like factory, coming together well.
Might copy some of your ideas one day when i start my 45/80 build Ute

Thanks. I wanted to have it stock looking rather than doing tube fenders which seem to be popular with these builds. I see you are in Austrialia. The 40-80 seems to be popular down there with some companies doing a lot of them and selling body mount kits etc. I follow the "80 Chassis 40 Series Owners" Facebook group and have seen (and utilized) some great info from others on there.

 

[frankenyota]

Some great info on the 80 chassis 40 body Facebook page about everything that needs to be done.
I also prefer the look of the standard guards and was thinking about extending some 80-100mm to cover the wheels.
Love the extra length of the body, wish we could get these down under.
Coming together mate