Phantom II - Say Hello To Godzilla

[FouadHafeez]

If you use two stock bib hinges you could make all hinge forward and come off... Two people doing it of course


Or have it all hinge back ... Bib and all

Interesting idea.

I'm more inclined to go the traditional route, though...with everything bolted down securely. It'd minimise on squeaks and rattles, and keep everything nice and tight.

On the other hand, I actually see nothing wrong with this being a potential commercial venture in the future. We have some fantastic workers with fiberglass here, who have worked some absolute wonders with the material (a replica Lamborghini Gallardo not the least of such efforts). It'd be pretty straightforward to have a fiberglass tub prepared...with bolt on windscreen, rear cowl, rear window frame and roof...which you can then mount by means of bib hinges or in the traditional way. It'd probably save you weight, be safe from rust, and be a great DIY build.

 

[uted]

http://www.ozeastfibreglass4wd.com.au/bodykits.html

http://www.ozeastfibreglass4wd.com.au/bodykitsreplacementparts.html

 

[FouadHafeez]

http://www.ozeastfibreglass4wd.com.au/bodykits.html

http://www.ozeastfibreglass4wd.com.au/bodykitsreplacementparts.html

Those are some great ideas, in there!

I can see how fiberglass panels would be a great fit for a build such as this, primarily from the viewpoint of keeping weight to a minimum...the aesthetic aspects aside. Doesn't quite dovetail into the 'rat rod' theme, though. And those parts that'd be utilised from scrap (which we're trying to recycle and re-use)...would STILL be headed to the melting pot...wouldn't they?

 

[FouadHafeez]

And the more I study these pictures, the more I get the feeling that this COULD be resorted to, for lowering the vehicle to hug the ground...

The FJ40 Frame...



The FJ40 Frame...flipped...



Of course, at this point in time, this is all conjecture. But I do think it's workable in theory. You'd have a very low-slung Land Cruiser, indeed...with a ready-dropped platform for you to mount your body parts on. This would provide for a nice low centre of gravity...to keep your high speed beast stable around bends and curves. At the same time, though, this would also entail reworking the body mounts, engine mounts, spring mounts, reducing the shackle length, some readjustment of the U-bolts, re-positioning the shocks...and may probably NOT just work altogether. But Like uted said up there...isn't facing problems and finding out-of-the-box solutions to 'em, part of the fun?

BTW...has anyone attempted such a thing? Physically, or in principle?

 

[FouadHafeez]

Thinking out loud...

The Pros

Low-low slung stance.

Stock frame, makes it cheaper than a custom-fabbed one.

Provides all the necessary mounting points for everything...making it easier to adjust them accordingly, in proportion.

Since it lowers the entire frame, you can still retain decent amount of leg-room and head-room, as opposed to channeling...which raises the floor higher.

Allows you to chop away at everything above the waistline of the car, with more ease, since the floor of the vehicle, vis-a-vis the body panels would remain largely undisturbed.

Actually encourages you to use humongous wheels and tyres with the vehicle...as opposed to other lowered cars which need smaller, lower profile tires.

The Cons

The suspension keeps the frame PULLED aloft rather than keep it LIFTED aloft. A very big con, since it's easier for conventional sprung suspension to do the latter rather than the former.

Uncharted territory...for me, at least.

 

[FouadHafeez]

Today was a good day, in that it marks the start of the "Execution Stage" of this project.

We've decided to stick to the FJ40 frame after all. A 1984 frame, no less...which makes it the same vintage as the 'original' Phantom.

To this frame, though, we're going to add suspension parts from a very different sort of Toyota 4WD; a Toyota Hilux SSR-X, of 1999 vintage. These are plentiful here, and fairly cheap, too. Their robustness, coil-sprung comfort and traction, and all-wheel disc brakes made this, an easy choice.

For wheels, we're going to opt for Yokohama 315/75/16 Geolander M/Ts mounted on beautiful-yet-utilitarian steel rims. The 35 inch height of the wheels should contrast dramatically, with the low-slung profile of the car, eventually.

The most important change of plans (or "shifting of the goalposts", as I fondly refer to it), is regarding the engine. Originally, I'd planned on fitting a 1999 Toyota 3.0L inline-6, twin-turbocharged 2JZ-GTE VVTi along with a 4 speed automatic transmission in it, to drive the rear wheels only. The last part is the only thing that stays unchanged...

The engine is now going to be a 2003 Toyota 5.0L V12 1GZ-FE VVTi, along with a 4 speed automatic transmission (that I'd been saving for another project).

More updates (including pictures) soon!

 

[sknyfrnchguy]

Has this been built? Does anyone have any more info on it?