Builds My 1981 HJ45 Troopy build (1 Viewer)

[RufusTheDufus]

It's been almost two years since my Troopy arrived from AU. I think I've waited long enough to get started on making the thing road worthy. My wife and I are planning a trip to Baja California this December and this is the way we're getting there. We'll most likely do close to 10,000 miles over the course of 8 weeks driving from Maine to Cabo Pulmo and back. So I have to get my rear in gear.

This is where I am today:

Last fall I put an OME suspension under it and built a turbo manifold for the 3.6 H diesel engine. There's an intercooler in there too. I hated the stock H canister style oil filters and the lack of an oil cooler so I modified mine to use a PH8A style cartridge filter.

I blew the head gasket last fall turning up the boost too far and it's sat untouched up until recently. I sold the H41 that was in it and bought a correct 40-series H55+splitcase. That's going in soon along with a Toybox and twin-stick tcase shifter. While I have everything apart I'm replacing the clutch, pressure plate and rear main seal.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Dealing with rust

The truck is rusty. Not too bad, but bad enough that I need to address some problems before they become major problems. That's why it's up on jack stands with everything out from underneath it.

I bought some floor pans from Real Steel Cruiser parts. They are nice, stout units but unfortunately needed a bit of massaging to get them to fit. They also don't completely extend back along the skinny area along the rocker panel that rusts out horribly. I had to fabricate my own patch panels for those areas. I did both sides and hit them with Rust Bullet.

Before the transmission goes in I plan to put a few coats of Second Skin's Spectrum under the seats and front floor area. A layer or two of Damplifier Pro will go on top of the floors.


There's a bunch of rust to deal with under the tub. This is the worst of it. I'll plan to cut this support beam out and replace it with something a little stronger that could be used to support a rear fuel tank. I'll most likely lose the stock front tank due to the Toybox so I'll build a nice big one to fit where the spare tire usually goes. The spare tire will move to a swing out carrier on the rear bumper.

The thing that's bummed me out the most about this Troopy is the rusty frame. I've spent about 5 hours cleaning the crap out of both side of the frame. The previous owner routed the crankcase vent tube down the LH side frame rail. (presumably because of the crankcase vapors where horrible due to a bad piston that was subsequently replaced.) That side has no rust other than minor surface rust. It was full of an oily sand that was very difficult to get out completely. The oil slick was impressive.

The RH side is a different story. Very typical rust problem near the rear spring hanger. This repair is a little more involved. I've cut out the inner frame channel so I could see the problem and get access to work on it.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Fixing the frame

I've read lots of threads here on Mud and elsewhere about proper ways to fix a frame. Here's where I'm going.

I'm designing some sheet metal parts in Solidworks. This part will fit on the outside of the frame channel to strengthen the metal around the cast spring hanger. I'll cut and fit this piece so it's very snug on the outline of the spring hanger. I am considering TIG welding the hanger to this plate. I'll most likely make it out of 4 gauge steel.

A friend locally has a CNC plasma cutter and a few different brakes. I'll give him a DXF of the image above and get back a part that looks like this.

I had to do all of the individual tabs because the curve in the frame is gradual. The tabs make it easier to follow that curve without some very fancy stamping machines.


I'm not sure if I need to replace the spring hanger reinforcement plate on the inside of the frame. (You can see it in the last photo in the previous post.) It's rusted pretty badly. You can't tell how bad the rust is because I hit it with a little Eastwood Rust Converter.

I'll design another piece to replace the inner frame channel to box the frame in. I'm hoping to have the sheet metal parts back by late next week from the fab shop.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Lockers and disc brakes

I'm going to go through both the front and rear axles as part of this project. I'm swapping to discs all around and ARB air lockers front and rear. I bought the ARB units from IPOR when they had their sale at the end of the year last year.

I'm not sure if I should keep the rear sway bar or get rid of it. I don't plan to do crazy rock gardens. At the moment I think I'll keep it but I'm not sure. Is it really necessary with OME heavy rear springs?

 

[owlridge]

rear sway bar

it is up to u if u choose to use it or not, but 100% its not doing a thing when using the heavy duty ome springs. Prob just gets in the way when adding rear fuel tank mod and lines. My thought is keep it but do not use it.

 

[Sloop Imports]

What are you using for the rear disk brake conversion?

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I bought a rear full-floater disc brake kit from Downey a couple of years ago.

 

[Chamba]

Howdy Rufus,

What about using the frame from the 82 HJ47? Then you would also have the bigger spring eyes. Or are you still planning to restore that one?

Josh

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I'm going to end up building that one too.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Slow progress on rust proofing

I'm making some slow progress on the underside of the tub. I scraped it to remove all of the loose stuff. Then used some rust converter on the surface rust. Next was two coats of Rust Bullet and now I'm onto two coats of Second Skin's Spectrum elastomeric sound deadener. I'm also spraying a couple of coats of rattle can black rust proofing on top of this. When I'm done with the tub I'll move onto the frame repairs.

It's slow going because each layer of coating requires long drying times before it can be top coated with a different product. 72 hours on the Rust Bullet, 36 on the Spectrum. So I've been doing it in sections from front to back.

I have finished the assembly of the H55+Toybox+splitcase. I'll have to cut the center torque tube for it to fit. I'll jump on that after the frame rust repairs are complete.

This Monday I'll be cutting a custom long range fuel tank from sheet metal on the CNC plasma cutter at my friend's shop. It will be about 40 gallons and fit where the spare tire mounts on a Troopy.


Here's a few photos of the progress.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Rear tank design

Some quick views of how the rear fuel tank looks in SolidWorks.

It starts off as a flat sheet.

And gets folded and welded to look like this:

I'll add baffles, fuel pickups and fill tubes after it's welded up.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

Looks like mine

 

[2manycruisers]

You can actually fit the h55 with that crossmember in place. I imported a '79 with the H and an h55f from a 60, mounted using the early bellhousing ears instead of the crossmember. The frame crossmember was untouched. I was able to get the tranny/tcase out by removing the mounts at the ears and lowering the rear of the engine.

I like the fuel tank design, how much will it hold? I have a long ranger in front of the rear axle that holds 27 gallons. Still fit a stock spare underneath if I wanted. It's a little tight with the 5 speed, but everything works.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

It's been like a year since I made mine but 27 gallons rings a bell. I remember doing a bunch of calculating because of the funny sloped and tapered shape - might have been 17 gallons - can't remember. This will be the primary tank on my rig with another ahead of the axle kinda straddling the drive shaft.

The tubed cross member may fit my 45 with 3B/H55f/Toybox/Splitcase also. I measure 7.25" clearance and the toybox is 7". I'm thinking if anything I'll do a cut and rotate rather than moving it. It goes through and through the frame and I only need maybe another 1/2".

 

[RufusTheDufus]

The calculations I did has the tank around 31.7 gallons. The baffles will take up some space so maybe 31-ish when it's done. The tank is 35" from front to back. I forget how wide. It's 11" deep at the front tapering to 8" in the back. (The long range tank in my 42 that Man-a-Fre used to sell is 21 gallons and it's significantly smaller.

I have a Toybox between the H55 and split case. It's 7" longer than just the H55+splitcase. I will have to remove the torque tube.

 

[Awl_TEQ]

I'm curious if an FJ45 and HJ45/7's have the same frames with regard to the tube

Curious but too lazy to check


I think my tank was 11" in front and bout 5" in back and so about 27 gallons

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I'm curious if an FJ45 and HJ45/7's have the same frames with regard to the tube

The FSM shows the FJ/HJ45 share the same frame in the same year. The frame changes when the HJ45 becomes an HJ47. There are quite a few changes. I don't know if it matches a 45 of the same year.

 

[2manycruisers]

That is surprising to me. What are the changes? I assumed the only real change from HJ45 to HJ47 was the engine itself. Can't imagine having a different frame for the HJ47 from the FJ45 of the same year, as it seems all 3 engines are pretty interchangeable, and why else would they vary?

With the Toybox you would definitely have to remove that tube xmember. Mine is a tight fit for a stock h55f.

The FSM shows the FJ/HJ45 share the same frame in the same year. The frame changes when the HJ45 becomes an HJ47. There are quite a few changes. I don't know if it matches a 45 of the same year.

 

[herbs]

The only differences between petrol and diesel models of the same year is engine mounts. The late 1979 vehicles had the cab mounts change and this same system was kept through to the end of production, the gearbox crossmember and larger spring eyes were introduced across the range in August 1980.

 

[Chamba]

I'm curious if an FJ45 and HJ45/7's have the same frames with regard to the tube

Curious but too lazy to check


I think my tank was 11" in front and bout 5" in back and so about 27 gallons

Kevin,

I have the same clearance from transfer case to frame tube on my HJ47 with BJ42 5 speed as I do on my FJ40 LX with factory 5 speed. So, from the frame tube forward, I don't think there is any difference between HJ and FJ. Obviously mine are different aft of the tube as one is a troopy and one a shorty.

Like David, I've never had any trouble putting the gear box in and out with the tube in place. This was even so on my troopy with the hand brake assembly on the back of the 5 speed transfer case. Now with the Vortec, I've moved the engine and gear box forward 2.5", so even less of an issue.

Josh