old school 80 series (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 23, 2003
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Ok, so i had this fj40 body and bought a 94 80 series for the locking axles. Then started thinking that the motor and trans only has 200K on it - should be good for another couple hundred K, but the FZJ80 drivetrain in a fj40 frame only leaves room for an 11 inch rear driveshaft...

So what to do...

Between my great wisdom and a few beers I decided that a 112 inch wheelbase (FZJ80) fj40 was the way to go. i started with a 90 inch wheelbase with the stock fj40, then planned on extending the wheelbase with rear springs to 94 inches, so 112 wasn't too far, at least it didn't seem like that much of a difference. One picture is the 40 body on the 80 frame, one is the original 40 truck.

I kinda just jumped in with both feet... Really, how hard can this be?
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as-purchased (1).jpg
 
Nothing to contribute, but good luck with the graftification/project!

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!
 
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The next step was to split the fj40 body and extend it 19 inches. It seemed to be best to cut the spot weld in the center of the fj40, just behind the door pillar so I would have a flat, consistent place to weld the middle pieces to when I tried to put it back together. Somewhere in this process I realized that it would have been a good idea to weld in supports across the body to keep it square. I skipped that part and just cut the body apart with a spot weld cutter. BTW - this is a great invention and I highly recommend this tool to remove spot welds.

Here are pics of the split body and the body mounts cut from 2 x 3 by 1/8 rectangle steel.
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The fj40 tub i had already had cut fenders, so I had to rebuild the front of the fenders if I wanted it to look something close to stock. So I decided to cut the rear of the fenders to fit the tires and start over with the front section of the fenders. I had a friend bend up a section of 18 gauge steel - zinc plated, so I had to sand the welded sections to avoid the toxic fumes produced from welding zinc.
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A friend of mine donated the top tub rails from a fj40 he was contributing to his sweet FJ45 project. Thanks friel01.


Tim
 
Each side took about 2 days between cutting to fit and spot welding a 1/4 inch at a time. once it was welded together it took another day of grinding to make it flat again. Probably 5 weekends between the 2 sides to get everthing lined up an welded and then ground back down to flat. I am already tired of grinding...

I don't have a gas filler yet. Once I decide on where the tank goes I will use the stock component or try and use an aluminum gas filler cover and whatever works to fit the filler tube.

Tim
 
Nice. I will be following this very closely as I have a "spare" 97 FZJ80 that I'd like to put a FJ45 body on. Where are you planning on mounting the radiator? Is there enough room under the hood? Is the extra width of the 80's axles a concern or will you just be running wider fenders?
 
In the hard core corner there is a build up pretty similar .. which it's your target .. ? big tires or DD ( could be both :D )

congrats great project .. !
 
I don't want to spoil the next few installments, but the hood does fit and the radiator will be in front of the engine, but it took quite a bit of grinding and welding to get there...

I will have to build front fenders from tube, so they can be as wide as I want. I am not really sure what to do on the rear. I really like the clean lines of the tub, so I don't really want to add "fender extenders" if I can get away with it. I hope to get some guidance from the board on this issue.

Tim
 
Thanks.


My goal is to eventually replace my daily driver/camping rig 80 series. That means road-friendly, but tough enough to handle Pritchett Canyon, Rubicon, etc.

Do you think 39.5 tires would be too small?
 
I am already tired of grinding...


Tim

Completely understand. I have speculated on past projects that it might be quicker to just grind a truck out of a solid billet of steel. ;)

I find it helps to have a few grinders set up with different abrasives. A wire wheel, a flapper disk, a sanding disk and a grinding wheel. Grinders are cheap and you'll save all kinds of time by not swapping.

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Nothing to contribute, but the good luck with the graftification/project!

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!
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Very cool project. When my resources improve, I'd like to put a '45 style body on a 80 chassis/engine.

Livin' the dream vicariously. Subscribed.

Dan.
 
Thanks.


My goal is to eventually replace my daily driver/camping rig 80 series. That means road-friendly, but tough enough to handle Pritchett Canyon, Rubicon, etc.

Do you think 39.5 tires would be too small?


If you are wanting a DD I dont think 39.5s are small enough. I would say 35/36's are the upper limit of being reasonable for a DD.

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If you are wanting a DD I dont think 39.5s are small enough. I would say 35/36's are the upper limit of being reasonable for a DD.

For an 80 body on an 80 drive train, I would agree that 35's would be the top limit for a reasonable DDer.

But for a 40 body on an 80 drive train, wouldn't there be a whole lot of weight saved, which would change the weight to power ratio and let you run 38-40 without too much trouble? I would think that you'd end up being about the same as running 35's with a (true) 80.
 
For an 80 body on an 80 drive train, I would agree that 35's would be the top limit for a reasonable DDer.

But for a 40 body on an 80 drive train, wouldn't there be a whole lot of weight saved, which would change the weight to power ratio and let you run 38-40 without too much trouble? I would think that you'd end up being about the same as running 35's with a (true) 80.

I wasnt really talking about the weight of the tires, ability to move around at speed, etc. I was talking about the feasibility of driving a vehicle around town/city that is that large. To each his own when it comes to what is DDable and whats not. If you have kids or a wife or one who is pregnant or will be, etc it make you take things a little more into effect.

I think that the concept of this turning into a fj43 on a 80 chassis is sweet. Just dont think its as cool when you start making it huge. The perk for me would be the comfort and drivability of the 80 drivetrain. But the same could be said for the offroadability in stock form.
 
cool project!!! can't wait to see more
 

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