My kid wanted a Jeep, she's getting a 77 FJ40 LS Swap instead (3 Viewers)

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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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