Builds My 66 FJ45 Build Up (1 Viewer)

[Mightymes]

Hi everyone,
I was lucky enough to acquire this 66 45 from a fellow mudder, KellyO, back in June and I'm going to try and do a more thorough build thread then I did on my 40. This won't be a total frame off restomod as I did on the 40 since all the parts are there to put her back together. When I got it from Kelly it had a 3 speed that was on the floor and that was how he got it from the previous owner. I was going to swap it out for a 4 speed, but I came across a smoking deal on a 5 speed/split t-case that I just couldn't pass up. That was the first thing I did was swap out the 3 speed for the 5 speed. Here are some pics of when I picked up the 45 from Kelly.
Craig

 

[Mightymes]

I've cleaned up some of the holes that are of no use. I think someone at some point got happy with aftermarket gauges as there were 3 identical 2" holes cut into the dash. I also cleaned up some areas that had cancer.

 

[Mightymes]

Some more filled holes.

 

[Mightymes]

Earlier this fall I converted to disc brakes on all four corners. Got Poser's rear disc conversion and Kelly had acquired a 78 front axle so I rebuilt the knuckles on that and redid the brake lines. One thing I'm going back and forth in my mind with is whether to go with or without a booster. Kelly had already swapped in a 78 2F and there isn't much room without either cutting up the firewall or changing out the carb and intake manifold.

 

[Mightymes]

Here's a shot of the 5 speed and t-case along with Georg's twin stick set-up.

 

[Mightymes]

Another issue I had to wrestle with is the lack of seating room in the cab. I don't have the original seat frame and tried to find one, but that's not gonna happen. I had a some nice bucket seats that came with the truck and a seat frame, but when I put the tank in the cab along with the frame and seats the seats reached to the top of the upper cab. And the seats were about level with the bottom of the dash. There's just no way that was going to work for me. So, I decided to go with the S10 Blazer tank option under the bed and fabbed up a seat frame for the bucket seats. Here's what I came up with. I gained about 5 inches of height and I don't feel like my knees will be slammed against the dash.

 

[Mightymes]

Here's some cottage cheese that I'm not to confident on fixing. If anyone has had to fix this section I'll take any pointers you can throw my way.

 

[65swb45]

Craig

I like your seat frame design. Nice and simple. What size tube and wall thickness did you use?

 

[Downey]

Craig

I like your seat frame design. Nice and simple. What size tube and wall thickness did you use?

Mark, speaking as a guy who's first law suit involved a broken seat frame, Mightymes metal choice and design will be ok, but quality of welds will be most important.

Gee Whiz information: we won the law suit, we were able to prove vehicle hit a solid rock mountain at 80 mph.

 

[Martyt]

Litigation is not my area but, as I recall from law school, that type of accident would not fall under the category of res ipsa loquitur

 

[Downey]

Litigation is not my area but, as I recall from law school, that type of accident would not fall under the category of res ipsa loquitur

And since I never went to law school, what's res ipsa loquitur???

 

[Martyt]

It means the thing speaks for itself — sorry for obscure reference.

 

[65swb45]

Litigation is not my area but, as I recall from law school, that type of accident would not fall under the category of res ipsa loquitur

Southwestern, class of 1987.

 

[Mightymes]

Craig

I like your seat frame design. Nice and simple. What size tube and wall thickness did you use?

Thanx Mark,
I used 1" square tubing with 1/16th thickness. I added a few more pieces to it. This is pretty much the finished frame.

 

[65swb45]

Maybe it’s just me, but I would put verticals under the mid points of the front to rear spans, as that is likely where the highest chance of buckling the tubes would be.

You’re close enough that I’d like to come jump in that when it’s done. At 6’3”, I’m always curious how the legroom vs headroom plays out with these kind of mods.

 

[Mightymes]

Mark,
You're more than welcome anytime!

 

[Mightymes]

I was able to get a few more things done since the last post. I figured out where I wanted to put the e-brake handle and junction mount.

 

[Mightymes]

Awhile back I had to make some mods to my tranny cover in order to fit in the 5 speed. I hated cutting up a nice tranny hump like that, but it was what I came up with. I also have the shifters in place. But, as some of you have found out that shifter hits your leg in 2nd gear...DOH! Here's a few pics:

 

[65swb45]

How far is it from the dash in the forward positions? I wouldn’t hesitate to straighten the elbow to increase leg clearance. Did that even with my H42s.

That said, I wouldn’t touch it until the bucket seat installs are final. Don’t want to bend it mod times than necessary.

 

[Mightymes]

I took it out of the transmission yesterday and stared at for awhile trying to figure out what I'm going to do with it. I had the seats in place when I discovered that it was going to hit my leg in 2nd. I gotta find a machine shop around here that has a torch to heat it up and make the bend. I don't have one myself plus I don't feel comfortable with a torch...lol.