My kid wanted a Jeep, she's getting a 77 FJ40 LS Swap instead (1 Viewer)

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Transfer case is now done, I just need to add the shift linkage and add some oil too. The body work is in progress, the underneath has been raptor lined and all the work on the side of the tub is also done. My painter should be raptor lining the inside of the tub today and the exterior will be painted this week. By next weekend I will drop off all the other items to paint and by mid may I should be starting assembly. I will need to wait till the body is on and add some weight to collapse the springs before I can get the rear and front shafts cut down/lengthened to be the right length.

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Th tub is back from the painter, there are still more items for paint that he will be working on this week. I do like the raptor liner on the inside of the tub, my 74 has the same thing. On this build I had the underside of the tub, trans tunnel and fenders all sprayed with the liner. The last pic is the tub back in the garage, things are cramped again.

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Mounted the tub, still lots to finalize for the alignment before snugging it down. 8 of the body mounts are in, need to move two brackets, drill two holes and figure out how to fasten the two rear mounts over the rear gusset. The topnault tub has a view inconsistencies from the OE that I need to overcome.

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The battle of the body mounts is almost over. I used the energy suspension kit, real nice product but the welded nuts on the backing plates are a challenge. The Topnault tub has several locations where there are welded nuts so I improvised to ensure both sides of a mounting surface were isolated by the bushing. As a side note, the A-pillar posts were not the same height so I had to shim the drivers side a little more to square it up on the frame. In the 3rd and 4th photos you will see the two rear mounts inside the frame rails. Impossible to access the bolt to tighten it and you cant slide the energy suspension backing plate in there either. I was able to get a bolt and washer and bushings in place and was able to start a nut on it. I may end up making a hole to access the bolt heads eventually to secure it.
The last photo is the gantry crane I picked up off of FB, the price was really good as I had to drive to the middle of nowhere in the middle of black fly/Nat season and disassemble from someone's shed and haul away. A little late for the tub but will work for my 74 to get the top off. And will work great on the next cruiser project that I get dumb enough to start.

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Steering install. So back to the pro's and con's of a Topnault tub, in the first pic you will see the hole the steering passed through. You will see there are four welded nuts, you will find this in the later tubs (79+) and not in the 72-78 as this tub would otherwise be. When I looked up the correct part it seemed that it would not work with my steering column. I drilled three holes and installed rivnuts and mounted the steering. From the drivers well, all looks normal. I also installed the steering shaft from CruiserMatt.
Things are starting to shape up, only 1781 more things to go!

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I had an old fuel tank that was questionable to use long term, the good news is that it was good to test out the Range Industries clamp in fuel ring GM Clamp Style Fuel Pump Mounting Ring (Large Diameter) - https://range-industries.com/products/copy-of-aluminum-weld-in-fuel-pump-mounting-ring-1?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=f3000d98d&pr_rec_pid=7174515294417&pr_ref_pid=7586058076369&pr_seq=uniform.
The advantage is you can use this ring without purging the tank of fumes and filling with water to weld a ring in. I had a nibbler for my Ridgid JobMax tool and made the job of making the hole real easy. Once installed, I will use a GM style fuel pump, kinda future proofing this build with readily accessible parts. The location can work but is better more centered. I have a new tank on order and will change the location on the new one.

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Time for the nasty. I started the process of stripping down the harness with excessive amounts of repairs and regular electrical tape. I imagine the harness will take some time to track down all of the repairs and eliminate items not needed. For those who have done an LS swap and kept the OE harness, did you eliminate non-essential wires/circuits or just dead headed them.
I installed the BP harness, I am about 75% complete after 20 min. Its an excellent product.
Last but not least, I installed the case mount shifter and modified the 4WD shifter so it didn't hit the body. I still need to extend the lever for shifting in to Low and or 4WD to align with the holes in the transmission tunnel.

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For those who have done an LS swap and kept the OE harness, did you eliminate non-essential wires/circuits or just dead headed them.
I dead heard the unused circuits. I’m not sure why but I have this ethos that it could one day be returned to stock. I think the easiest way to accomplish this is buy a new cruiser…
 
I dead heard the unused circuits. I’m not sure why but I have this ethos that it could one day be returned to stock. I think the easiest way to accomplish this is buy a new cruiser…
I think your right, its possible to convert this one back and under rare occasions I have heard of people reverting back to stock drivelines.
 
You really shouldn’t have any modifications to the stock harness, the only connections that go to the 2F are the oil pressure, water temp, which you will use both of if you’re using a stock cluster, and the carb Ics and coil wire wiring which you can use for triggering your swap relays.

Did you install the support bearing on the steering shaft? I can’t see it in your pics.

Also what is going on with the transfer shifter? We had a seriously difficult time making it come up in the stock location and have the original amount of throw in each direction on the 76 we did last year. We figured it out but it was hard, and involved a bellcrank, heim joints, an FJ62 transfer high-low linkage and internal shift selector, etc

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Hey Matt, thanks for chiming in on the harness. What had me racking my brain was the wires that used to go to the coil, the alternator wires that no longer are connected to the alternator, and the emissions computer would remain unplugged. What concerns me is something energized that could ground out later on.
Yes, the steering shaft bearing is tacked in.
Yes, the transfer case shifter is going to be a real "peach" but I think I have it figured out. The AA adapter pushes the transfer case back, they have a mount for the levers but is further back and doesnt align with the stock transfer case shifter hole. I heated the 4WD shifter and bent it to the Drivers side a little, now it doesnt hit the tub and works fine. The high/low shifter is going to get extended before being bent up through the hole in the tunnel. I cant remember where I found it but I did read it somewhere here on mud how two different installs were done this way. Most seem to use the AA twin stick and that seems to make it easier for this "Giuseppe engineering".

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I spent another hour or so on the stock harness, still many repairs and I will be on that for some time. I need to get a little further on before placing an order with Coolerman. I found the typical splicing in of a flasher, several wires cut and 3 separate splices within 3" of wire.
I think I found a good spot for the PCM/TCM, I have a 74 so I am guessing the spot I picked was where the voltage regulator used to go (new topnault tub so who knows). I am not sure if I like it horizontal or maybe it should be vertical instead. On some installs I have seen the PCM/TCM on the fenders or where the fan is now. The 72-78 tub from Topnault isnt the same on the firewall as stock, they added an oval and the tabs are found on the 79+. Not a big deal and I can make it work but did help with the chosen location for the computer.
The last pick is for the GM ignition wire, I am also guessing that my BY should be able to plug in when it comes time to start it. Feel free for anyone who's figured this out to tell me what's the best way for connecting the ignition. Do I need to change the wire end?

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Do you mean the starter solenoid? At least, your last pic looks like the connector plug for the starter solenoid.
Looks like you have a +2010 (I think) starter which uses that connector, you could pick up one of those from somewhere like this, or replace your starter with an earlier one which use a regular M5 ring terminal. You may or may not need to add a relay. It’s about 50/50 with LC wiring carrying enough voltage to get GM starters to crank. Interestingly we have a lot more issues with 60 series then 40 series with this on the conversions my shop has done

 

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